Chapter 2: Mercury Black "With the Mouth"
Sounds of chattering teenagers and various pokemon cries filled the distant air. The forest itself was mostly serene; sober. Well...there was one annoying twat looking to ruin all that for me.
"You don't look so hot yourself, buddy." She spat, a sneasel standing upon her left shoulder, glaring at Jag.
The girl's combat boots were tan and tucked into them were a pair of brown puffy pants, a shade similar to her skin color. Just as I grinned at the hilarity of dying one's hair green to match a name like Emerald, I was suddenly drawn to the flexing, exposed muscles of her midriff. Quickly, however, I remembered my frustration.
"Look, Calamity Jane, you wanna go right now?" I suggested, stepping over an above-ground root to better leer at her, "Jag's up for it!"
"Jaaaaa!" The tiny Jangmo-o hollered, leaning forward and attempting to look as fierce as possible.
"His name is Jag? How creative." The girl yawned, "No, I wouldn't wanna humiliate you...this soon, anyway."
Sneering a grin, she turned to walk away and yet, I was having none of it.
"Dragon Tail!" I ordered with a point.
Jag immediately sprang into action, leaping toward the pair. Without even turning her head, a pale green glow enveloped Emerald's body.
"Haitus, get ready!" She called, diving and rolling across the dirt.
The sneasel stoodfast, ready to take Jag's Dragon Tail. It was almost too easy...until the little fool missed, connecting his attack with the soil and vegetation just to the side of his opponent. Jag looked at me with shock and fear. I saw the sneasel, apparently called Haitus, grin much like her partner and promptly lace her claws with spiky chunks of ice.
"Ice Shard!" Emerald ordered, kneeling on one knee.
Before Jag could react, he was suddenly pelted with sharp, frozen projectiles, yelping in pain all the while.
"Again, Haitus." The girl ushered, "Finish him."
"No, use Protect, Jag!" I hollered.
The little dragon and fighting type raised his arms to generate an opaque, concave force field; a barrage of ice identical to the last soon shattered against it. This play was risky, but it was all I had.
"Delaying the end doesn't change the outcome, Merky." Emerald taunted, "Again, Ice Shard!"
"Counter!" I shouted in return.
Haitus once again formed the formidable icy spines upon her claws and hurled them forth. Jag growled, hopping directly into the attack and traveling straight toward our shared enemy. The tiny sneasel silently gasped, unable to evade as Jag connected a punch on her cheek and sent the smaller pokemon tumbling to the ground.
"Haitus!" Emerald shrieked, sprinting to put herself between Jag and her newfound fallen friend.
"Jaaaa!" The Jangmo-o hooped, glancing to me for approval.
"Maybe next time you'll think before running your mouth." I spat, stepping closer, "Doubt it, though, to be honest."
"You got lucky." Emerald hissed quietly, her sneasel de-materializing to a pale green blob of aura and subsequently joining with her, "Didn't know you had Counter."
"Too easy." I shrugged, bending to offer a hand, "Come on, Jag, high five!"
The tiny pokemon mimicked me, but the moment our hands collided in the light-hearted gesture, he fell to the ground with a whimper and dissolved into a mass of granite grey aura.
"Uhhh…" Stammering, I felt my pokemon return to me, his thoughts rampant with embarrassment.
"Too easy?!" Emerald rose to her feet, crossing her arms, "You knocked him out with a high five!"
"Yeah, well-"
"You were a hair away from losing to that third Ice Shard." Her eyes narrowed to a grimace.
"Yeah, well-" I went on, beginning to walk past her toward the forest's entrance, "We didn't, though."
"Ohh." Emerald started, barely catching my wink her way, "You're a real dickhead, aren't you, Mercury Black?"
"Guilty!" I called over my shoulder, spying a chocolate wooded berry tree in the distance.
"Worst partner ever…" She mumbled, reluctantly following.
Finding a nice hard stone, I took aim at the multi-hued harvest situated at the tree's apex and let it rip.
"What the hell are you doing, now?" Emerald chastised as my rock skimmed its mark.
"What's it look like?" I snarled, "I'm hungry."
"Just climb up there and pick it for yourself. Did you forget we have aura?" She reminded with hands on her hips, "Besides, you'll only bruise the berries like that...or worse."
"What could be worse than that?" I questioned, then locking onto snow-white puffy looking berry, "Never seen one like that before."
Jaaa…
Bad feeling? Yeah, right.
"Mercury…" Emerald's voice came, laced with unease, "Maybe you should-"
"Fuck it!" I declared, throwing with all my might.
Sure enough, my aim was true and the stone struck square on the white berry. Except...it didn't fall. No, it twitched.
"Mercury…!" Emerald's voice was a swirl of emotion.
Out from the lush, green leaves came the white puff, falling to the ground and revealing itself as a pokemon! Immediately, I recognized the creature as an alteria but...something was different. Its cloud-like body was stretched out on either side like wings, yet its thin blue tail was longer than usual and dragged along the earth as it hovered.
"Aaaaaal!" The Dragon bellowed, staying very near to the ground and charging toward us.
"Okay…" Energizing my aura, I pivoted and ran, "That was my bad!"
"You idiot!" Emerald hollered, glowing and giving chase.
A pale, bluish and uneven spiral of destructive force surged just over our heads, wrecking an adjacent tree.
"Just keep running!" I yelled back, dividing my regard between scanning for snagging roots and making certain the way was clear.
"Aaaaal!" The alteria screeched once more, releasing another Dragon Pulse to my left.
Controlled environment my ass…
Just as I was considering this, a spiral of energy spewed forth from the bushes; its color a rainbow yet most prominently featuring a deep purple. The attack met with the alteria and forced it to pause.
"Good one!" A male voice exclaimed from somewhere hidden, "Now, Ria, Belch!"
Aimed at the alteria, out from those same bushes came an absolutely noxious splash of foul purple semi-liquid. With not a moment to evade, the raging blue and white Dragon took the full force of it and briefly retreated, screeching all the while.
"W-who's there?!" Emerald demanded, panting.
"Uh, me." The answer came, succeeded by a dark haired boy of diminutive stature, possessing hazel hued eyes, "I'm Oscar."
"Cuuuu…" A young cufant came close by his boots, nuzzling him with its green and orange trunk.
"This is Ria!" He chirped proudly, "And my partner is…"
Oscar turned to poke his head into the bushes, whispering something. To my genuine surprise, a girl even shorter than him stepped into the light. Her hair was one hemisphere strawberry pink and the other dark chocolate brown. While noting that the girl's eyes followed the same coloring, I noted the gothita clinging to her white, muddy boots.
"And this is Neo." Oscar introduced, nudging his partner more forward.
"Aaaaal!" The screech of the strange looking alteria from before suddenly pierced my ears.
"Yeah, I'm Emerald and this is Dipshit." Emerald spoke quickly.
"Hey!" I harped, spinning to glare at her.
"Right…" Oscar shrugged, "Do you two happen to have pokemon?"
"Duh, short stuff." I replied easily, noticing Neo tense up at the moniker.
"They aren't exactly in fighting shape…" Emerald confessed, slapping me on the arm.
"Send them out!" Oscar yelped, "Neo can help!"
"Alright, sure." Emerald said, "Come on out, Haitus."
"You too, Jag." I echoed, hearing the rampaging Dragon type draw nearer.
Our respective pokemon materialized, both appearing quite tired and slumped over. Neo then nodded, her gothita sending a series of pink rings into Haitus. She immediately perked up, standing straight and stretching.
"It's Heal Pulse." Explained Oscar.
"That's great, now do the stupid jangomo-o, already!" Emerald urged.
"No time." I announced, seeing the alteria was upon us, "Jag, Protect!"
The little dragon stood his ground against the much larger one and put up the, now familiar, temporary but impenetrable force field. After blocking the full force of the alteria's Dragon Pulse, an Ice Shard slammed into it before it could respond.
"Ria, use Tackle!" Oscar commanded, prompting his cufant to charge forward and slam into our shared opponent.
The enemy suddenly surrounded itself with a collection of clouds, then brought them inward to cover its body.
"It used Cotton Guard!" Emerald loudly observed.
"Great, that rules out physical attacks!" I expressed to the group, "Unless...Jag, Dragon Tail!"
My partner pokemon quickly responded, swiftly hopping and swinging his tail into the alteria's body. Upon connecting that direct hit...nothing happened. The larger Dragon simply roared and gathered more clouds, maximizing its defense. Jag then ran to my side, arms up and ready for blows.
"What...just happened." Emerald was flabbergasted.
"I got nothin'." I confessed.
Movement in my peripheral, Neo hastily scribbled two words into a barren dirt patch. They read "TEAM" and "SPECIAL".
"She's right." Emerald decided, newly resolute, "As a team."
"Okay, i-it's like this-" Oscar began, ducking behind his cufant as it took the brunt of our enemy's Dragon Pulse, "For Dragon Tail to have no effect like, this alteria must somehow be part Fairy."
"Sounds crazy." I confessed, diving from the wrath now pointed my direction, "But I've heard worse."
"Dragons can't stand other Dragons." Oscar went on, "Dipshit, have your-"
"That's not my name, goddamnit!" I bellowed, glaring at Emerald's sly, smiling face, "It's Mercury!"
"Ah, that's…" He giggled nervously, "Just have your jangmo-o draw it near and halt it with Protect. Neo will have Gothita ready with a heal pulse and Emerald and I will strike it together. A combined Poison and Ice attack should be enough."
Neo grabbed her gothita and hopped up, inching forward with a sideways smirk and a head nod.
"Let's do it." Emerald snapped.
"Alright." I exhaled, looking over the trio, "Run it."
Alteria hovered nearer, blasting Oscar's cufant with the full fury of another Dragon Pulse. Being resistant, the little creature mostly shrugged it off and moved to make way for Jag's approach. Intercepting his foe's path, it took only one growl to obtain its attention and a subsequent Protect to block its offensive. Acting in tandem, Emerald's Ice Shard and Oscar's Belch struck simultaneously. Screeching incessantly, the alteria was thrown backward to the ground, still.
"It w-worked?" Oscar started, looking around, "I m-mean, of course it worked!"
"Don't get a big dick about it, kiddo." Emerald cautioned, calling Haitus to crawl up her arm, "But it was aight."
"What she said." I gestured toward the green-haired girl while petting Jag on his scaly scalp.
"Oh…" Oscar's head drooped, "And you, Neo?"
The short girl pressed a finger to her chin, gazing upward as if in thought, then walked right up and stopped in front of him, smiling happily and offering her free hand. Gradually, Oscar gripped hers in return, looking quite nervous. Neo nodded her head approvingly and enthusiastically shook his hand before pointing a fierce stare at my partner and I, her gothita cutely imitating Neo from her place cradled in the multi-colored girl's arm like a baby.
"I mean, it was like, okay, I guess." Emerald rolled her eyes and looked away.
"Sure, it was cool." I mumbled, "Or whatever."
The alteria suddenly de-materialized into an orange blob and flew up into the trees.
"Whoa!" Oscar exclaimed, ducking down.
"You did well defeating a wild pokemon, boys and girls." A woman's silky smooth voice reached us from above, "Be sure to pay attention in class, a strategy like that simply won't do against a smarter opponent."
"You toyin with us?!" I questioned to the leaves, still unsure exactly where to direct my fury.
"Hey, cool it." Emerald whispered, "Whoever that is, it was her mutant alteria."
"Right…" I whispered in return, begrudgingly realizing she was right, when four scrolls came falling to the grass.
"W-what's this?" Oscar stuttered, stumbling forward to inspect them.
No answer came, however.
"Hello?" Emerald called, much louder.
"I think she's gone." Emerald posed, also walking to grab one of the dubiously delivered devices, "Team LMNE?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned, joining the other three at the scrolls landing spot.
"I...think it stands for...lemonade…" Oscar's face reddened.
"What're you blushin about, shortie?" I inquired, swiping the scroll from his grasp.
"Are...are we a team?" Emerald spoke slowly.
It seemed benign at first, merely showing the kid's innocent smile and printing his name as "Oscar Xiao Long", but it took a turn for the worst at the words "Team Leader" under the aforementioned acronym "LMNE".
"Yeah." I scoffed, "And this little twirp's the leader!"
"No way…" Came Emerald's voice, laced with shock.
"I know, right." My tone was incredulous, "Really-"
"Holy shit, you guys." The green-haired girl interrupted, peering intently into a second scroll, "Check out Merky Merk's student I.D.!"
"Hey, let me see!" I demanded.
Attempting to jerk it, her slight of hand proved formidable, however. Instead she took a step back and allowed me a fleeting glance. The holo screen showed none other than a baby picture from two or three years old, me dressed in overalls and smiling hugely.
"What the-what the hell is that?!" I exclaimed, instantly lamenting not showing up for picture taking while also making a more pronounced effort to retrieve the infuriating device.
Neo grinned and pointed wildly to herself. Emerald giggled and obliged, tossing it over my head. Neo's gothita grabbed it from the air with her telekinesis and levitated it into her master's hand. Silent laughs soon showed themselves on the tiny girl.
"Oh, yeah? Think that's funny, huh?" I began, trying to get to the front of her, "Let's see yours then!"
Neo instantly shrugged and haphazardly tossed her scroll over her shoulder. Catching it easily, I was pissed and embarrassed to find a rather alluring and modelesque portrait, the subtlest of smiles on her powerful expression. The girl knew she was cute, that much was clear. The next thing I noticed was her name: "Neopolitan Torchwick".
"Her name's Neopolitan." Scoffing, I threw it to Emerald.
"Cute pic." She confessed.
Tossing it to Oscar, he began to fumble around with it as if it were something private he should respect. Neo winked in return and started paying attention to her gothita.
"Torchwick…" I hummed, "Haven't I heard that somewhere?"
"Hey, Ice Cream." Emerald said.
Earning a look of unamused contempt from the girl, she followed with a series of finger and hand movements that could only be sign language. Neo's face instantly lit up, eyes going wide, as she hopped up and signed rapidly in return.
"Hey, whoa, slow down, there, Sugar Tits." Emerald cooed, holding up a stop, "I'm no expert, but I got a deaf uncle."
Neo's expression melted into annoyance; several signs followed.
"Watch your mouth, I know how to say 'cunt' and 'bitch'." She professed, "And balls. And dicks. And cum."
"Classy." I snorted, taking a survey of the area.
"So, I'm the leader…" Whispered Oscar, receiving a playful slap on the back from Neo, "Ah! Oh…"
The mute girl then waved her hands in a fast-finishing gesture.
"She's right." Emerald sighed, crossing her arms, "Your plan worked and I guess you're kinda smart. What with the whole knowledge of Dragons thing."
"Th-thanks, guys." Oscar grinned widely, blushing ear to ear and hastily dropping down to pet and hide behind his cufant.
"Speaking of that." I started, searching the tree tops for any more hidden eavesdroppers, "Did that lady know you were gonna be the leader ahead of time?" I held up the solid section of my scroll, "We just got these."
Neo slapped a palm to her forehead and exhaled, signing. Emerald snorted at that.
"What? What was that?" I flicked back and forth between them, "What's so funny?"
"Uh, guys?" Oscar cut in, meekly raising his arm for attention, "Maybe we should get out of here? It says on my scroll that our room's on the second floor, near the stairs."
Nodding excitedly, Neo began skipping on down the forest path, her gothita mimicking every step.
"Girls…" Grumbling, I resigned myself to bring up the rear and follow them back to Beacon.
PAGE BREAK
"Wow, not bad." Emerald remarked at our apparent team room, "Looks like they got our bags up here too."
A rather run-of-the-mill bed in each corner, its walls were darkened lime in color. Each corner featured a nightstand and an opening in the wall for a humble closet.
"It'll do." I agreed, looking it over and finding my stuff neatly placed upon one of the beds.
"Is that seriously all you brought?" Emerald inquired, guffaw directed at Oscar.
"It's-it's all I needed!" Our fearful leader replied, clutching a sand hued backpack.
It was mid evening when we finally arrived back at the school grounds proper. There was a distinct lack of traffic along the way. I thought that was odd but could've been a possible sign that we didn't perform as quickly as other teams.
These fuckin nards are gonna make me look bad…
Neo silently yawned, threw her vest to lay on several pink and brown bags, then got right to work on her kneehigh boots. Digging into my own effects, I found several essentials. Among them, a poster depicting a masked man with spiked, crimson hair. A formal, form-fitted suit adorned him and he his position was looking over his shoulder at the camera while a marshadow stood at his side, exuding enmity.
"Wow." Emerald's incredulous voice reached me from across the room, "Adam Taurus? Really?"
"What's your problem this time?" Continuing to smooth the poster's edges, I asked without facing her, "He's a bad dude."
"Yeah, I know." She went on, plopping her head onto a pillow, "Like, 'in prison for murder' bad."
"Hey, Adam did his time." I staunchly defended, "He had a hard life and I, for one, can relate."
"Pfffs." She blew a raspberry in response, lazily laying on her bed.
"Hey, you don't know me." I refuted, pointing an outstretched arm her way, "Besides, who else can find a marshadow, let alone bond with one? Adam's a legend."
"I'll tell you what I do know, Merky Merk." My partner yawned, "I'm hungry."
Neo then shot a hand up from her relaxed position and signed something small.
"Ha! You got that right, sister." Emerald remarked, sitting up, "Ice Cream makes a great point: why don't you boys go russell up some grub for us?"
"Yeah, right." I scoffed, hanging various monochrome colored clothes into my closet, "Do it yourself."
"Oh, Mercury, pleeeeaaase." Emerald falsely begged, as Neo signed something else, "Sugar Tits says her shoes are too hard to put on and so are mine. Pleeeeaaaase!"
Looking to Oscar for support as the only other boy, I saw he was spreading a bed sheet about and his closet had what looked to be three outdoorsy outfits in it. He reminded me of a farmer, for some reason.
"Hello, earth to Xiao Long?" I called across the room, "You gonna back me up here or what?"
"Well…" He started, stopping his task, "I am hungry too…"
"Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaassssseeee!" Emerald screamed while Neo fell to the floor in a begging position, fingers intertwined.
"Alright, shut up!" I bellowed, stalking over to Oscar and grabbing him by the wrist before bee-lining for the exit, "Let's go, leader."
"Thaaaaannnnnk yoooooouuuuu-"
Slamming the door on Emerald's protracted display of gratitude, I saw Oscar had his scroll out and was tapping on the holo section of it.
"And what the hell are you doing?" I asked, taking the lead down the stairs, directly adjacent to our room.
"Looking for the mess hall." He replied, following slowly, "It should be on the map, right?"
Ignoring him, a muffled cacophony of noise met me at the base of the first floor.
"We might not need a map at all…" Calling over my shoulder, I began to feel a bit left out of whatever the commotion was.
Continuing down the way, students quarters on each side, until suddenly opening up into an octogonal entryway of sorts. Two enormous and expertly carved darkwood doors seemed to be between us and where the party was at. A sign reading "Freshman Feast" only served to support my hypothesis.
"A-are you sure we should go in there?" Oscar trembled.
"Come on, Xiao Long." I said, once again gripping his wrist and pulling him forward.
Just as I reached for the handle, a powerful thud sounded on the opposite side. This was succeeded by a blast of cheers and laughing. Smirking, I felt this was gonna be fun.
Jaaa!
Yeah, you're right.
"Come on out, Jag." My body glowing grey, a piece separated and became the small Dragon and Fighting type, "Let's open this door!"
Focusing aura to my arms, we turned the handle and cracked the divide where the titanic doors met, immediately bombarding us with a shower of unabashed racket.
"Holy shit!" I shouted to Oscar, who looked terrified, and recalled Jag to me as we waded into the crowd.
There were students and lunch tables all around; it was a real riot. Slices of pizza spotted the floor, nearly robbing me of equilibrium, while other areas were drenched in soda and a white liquid.
Milk?!
"Hahaha!" A high-pitched female voice rung loud over the clamor of conversation and yells, slightly horse, "If anyone wants a piece of this chocolate-chip cookie cake, they gotta go through team Rosebud! Who's next?!"
Standing on top of a lunch table, it was easy to recognize Ruby Rose. If her striking features weren't enough, the appearance of a grey and shimmering corvisquire would do the trick. Hovering in front of her, its wings sent her black dress and red cloak fluttering dramatically. Behind her sat a magnificent and tall brown cake, black dots on every visible inch. Flanking her on the ground were three sturdy looking white boys. One with a green mohawk, another with a blonde bowl-like cut, and the third possesed hair of a navy blue hue, wearing it long and slicked back.
"Hey!" Oscar spoke, hardly audible, and pointed.
On two lunch tables facing Ruby's, I narrowly glimpsed two girls stepping off them and into the crowd. One had huge, blonde hair and the other possessed pure black upon her head.
"Know them?" I inquired, leaning over to Oscar's level.
"The blonde's my sister." He answered, "Yang."
"Neat." My reply succinct, I began pushing through the mass and neared a table enough to swipe a piece of pizza, "It's good!"
Oscar grabbed for a buttered roll while my peripheral vision alerted me of movement. A boy draped in what looked to be a bathrobe climbed onto the lunch table opposite Ruby's.
"We have a challenger!" She exploded in unison with the caws of her Flying type, "Alright, call your pokemon."
"Go, Pally!" He ordered, pale blue glow become a palpitoad, "Use Toxic!"
"Not so fast, Taunt!" Ruby countered, her corvisquire squawking and spinning to shake its ass, tail feathers up, at its opponent, "Now, Pluck!"
"Wow, did you see that?" I pointed, pulling Oscar with me as we approached the impromptu fight, "She was this close to getting fucked. Luckiest Taunt ever."
"Heh, I guess so." He whispered back.
"Acid, Pally!" Bath-robe Boy commanded in return.
Having shrugged off the physical assault of Pluck, the palpitoad opened its mouth and spewed a splash of purple liquid.
"You can take that, Cres." Ruby informed, expression stern, "Use Hone Claws!"
The corvisquire cawed and sharpened its talons while taking a second acid spray. This time, however, a bit of the attack stuck to the grey bird pokemon.
"Ha!" Bath-robe Boy hooped, hopping up and down on the lunch table, "Special Defense drop! Next one's gonna hurt…"
"Roost, Cres!" Ruby exclaimed, her pokemon obeying and subsequently landing on the table.
"Mud-shot!" Her opponent commanded, causing his palpitoad to cough up a clod of moist dirt and spit it at Crescent.
"Grrr…" Ruby growled, visibly uneasy as the mud stuck to her pokemon's sparkling feathers.
"See that shit?" I quietly remarked, mid-way through stuffing my face, "Bad time to Roost. That Mud-shot lowered her Speed."
"Yeahh…" Oscar acted as coy as the moment I met him.
"Hone Claws!" Ruby called as her corvisquire took another Acid, "Get ready to Pluck."
Students were hollering, cheering, and throwing things as the corvisquire took another Acid only to flutter forward, biting the palpitoad with a furious Pluck.
"Paaaaal!" It cried out, falling off the table before melting into the same pale blue aura as when it came.
"There!" Ruby screeched, jumping in place and hugging her pokemon, "Too easy."
"How?!" The boy demanded, "How did you take so many Acids?! It's impossible!"
"It was all in the cards." The cloaked girl cooly replied, waving to screaming fans.
"Wow, she really is the luckiest huntress ever." I said to Oscar, "That was a crit and I know it."
"Alright, that's it. You!" Ruby bellowed, garnering my regard.
Although staring right at me, she couldn't have meant me. After all, what did I do? So, I turned and took a glance over my shoulder.
"No, I mean you! With the mouth!" Ruby clarified loudly, voice breaking from overuse, "And silver hair!"
Pivoting to face the girl, I pointed to myself for one more helping of clarification.
"Yes! You were talking hot garbage for the whole match." Ruby explained, "So get up here and show us what your whimpy pokemon can do, whatever it is."
"What?!" I exclaimed, grabbing Oscar by his collar, "How did she hear?! I was whispering!"
"N-no, you were shouting." He replied bashfully, "You just thought you were. Plus, Ruby has good hearing."
"Well, can ya tell me next time?!" I shook him over and over, "And how do you know so-"
"Hey there, cuz." Ruby suddenly spoke, seeming slightly cheery, "Didn't see ya down there. Heard you made leader. Gotta tell ya, didn't see that coming at all. You always struck me as more of a, uh, well, a loser."
"O-oh, th-thanks." Oscar moved his eyes to his feet and sunk a bit.
I couldn't explain it, maybe it was our experience fighting off a mutant alteria earlier in the day, actually, it was most definitely that, but the way Ruby Rose spoke of Oscar really irked me. He was a sweet kid. I could never tell him that, though.
"Watch your mouth, Rose." My voice was laced in subtle anger, "Xiao Long knows his way around a pokemon."
"Oh yeah?" Ruby gawked, the immediately circling crowd growing quieter, "You gonna shut me up?"
"Yeah, I will." Stepping to climb on the lunch table, I felt someone grab my shirt.
"W-what are you doing?!" Oscar rasped, "You have no great way to damage her and she can just set up Hone Claws and hit you for super effective damage with Pluck."
"Oh, fuck!" I whispered back, taking extra care to actually do so this time, "But I already said I would shut her up?!"
"You already saw what happens when you cross Ruby!" Oscar pleaded, "Just let her have her way and move on."
As his words bounced around in my ears and thoughts, I kept staring straight at the silver-eyed girl.
"No, fuck that." I shook Oscar off and started climbing.
"Alright, Mouthy." Ruby began, arms crossed, "Call a pokemon."
Jaaaaan!
That would be funny, huh, boy?
Jaa…
Alright, let's run it.
"Jag, out!" I ordered, unable to resist a grin as my grey aura became the tiny jangmo-o.
"Ha! Is losing funny to you?" Ruby remarked, "I'll give you a free turn before I beat you down. Cres, Hone Claws!"
"Say, thanks." My smile only grew larger, "Dragon Tail!"
Sure enough, my partner leapt across the table and landed, preparing to swing a temporarily Dragon charged appendage. Ruby's corvisquire floated, ready to tank the attack, but Jag suddenly changed targets and batted his tail into the center of Ruby's lunch table.
"Wha-"
She could barely make any noise before it split in half, sending her and the chocolate-chip cookie she guarded splattering all over her.
"You...you...brat!" Ruby screeched, wiping cake off her face and hurling it my direction.
Thankfully, she missed her mark and pegged some girl to my left.
"Hey!" She cried, reaching for food to throw back.
"Oops." Ruby's eyes went wide, then grabbed another clod of cake and let it rip.
By the time I landed back on the ground, a full food fight was in effect. Slices of pizza, cereal, ice cream, chicken wings, all sorts of sustenance was being tossed from one end of the mess hall to the other.
"Hey, Xiao Long!" I grabbed Oscar and pulled him toward the wall, "Let's get out of here! Now!"
More food bits splattered onto our clothes and hair as we made our way to the titanic double doors from whence we came.
"I'll take that!" Swiping a mostly filled pizza box from a nearby table, I then spied an unopened gallon of ice cream, "Grab that!"
Just as we neared the exit, the large darkwooded structures pounded loudly. They then swung open with a fury, knocking myself and Oscar to the wall in between where the doors were affixed. Every single body in the room went completely silent as the steady sound of dress shoes echoed throughout.
"What is going on here?" A man's distinguished voice beckoned of the crowd, "I'm gone for one hour and you lot turn to such maddening activities?"
Carefully peeking around the door, I recognized Doctor Watts standing with perfect posture, hands behind his back. What I did not recognize, however, was the hulking form of a celesteela hovering behind him.
"Now, who plans on telling me how this all began?" Watts reverberated like a disappointed parent, "Hmm?"
He continued striding forward, causing students to step away from his path and eventually begin to pile up around the exit. Some students were starting to say something unintelligible.
"Now's our chance." I whispered to Oscar, "Come on."
Turning the pizza box vertically, I knelt and motioned my teammate to do the same. We hastily crawled in and around the legs of others, eliciting some gasps and other quiet exclamations along the way.
"Close that door!" Watts demanded of his pokemon.
As the Flying and Steel beast began hovering through a mass of students, creating quite a commotion as none dared stay in its path, Oscar, myself, and a couple others slipped out into the hallway. Needless to say, we broke into a sprint.
"Easy money, Xiao Long!" I said to my teammate, "Easy fucking money!"
"I've...never done anything like this in my life!" He declared, beginning to pant as we cleared the stairs, "And...and I can't believe you stood up to Ruby like that."
"Eh, I just felt like it." Exhaling, I gripped our room's handle, "Nothin to it."
"But she's Ruby Rose!" He went on as we entered, the lights in our room off, "She's famous!"
"Listen up, Xiao Long." I started sternly, "Jacking off is fun and cool. God is fake. Do what you want."
"Huh?" Oscar raised an eyebrow, then fumbled with the light switch.
"I'm saying I live by those words-"
"Ahhh!" Emerald yelled, "Turn the light off!"
"Why?" Before the question had left my mouth, Oscar had already shut them back off.
"The movie's about to start." She answered, now faintly illuminated in the darkness by the blown up holo screen of a scroll, "Wait, is that food I smell?"
"Sneee." Emerald's sneasel said from her place, situated in her master's lap.
"What movie?" I lazily inquired, expecting a chick-flick.
"It's called 'Under the Skin'." She replied, voice low, "Sugar Tits won't tell me what it's about but swears it's good."
"Eh, I'm in." I decided, plopping on the bed they were both gathered on, Neo's gothita was snoozing like a baby in her arms.
"Fine, give me pizza." The green girl ordered, throwing me a bit of blanket as I got closer.
Jaang…
Alright, alright. Keep your scales on.
Relenting to my partner pokemon's request, I released him onto the bed and put my arm around his little body.
"I-it's...scary?" Oscar quivered, scooting up next to his partner and diving under the aforementioned blanket while his cufant laid down next to his feet.
"Just shut up and watch." Emerald barked.
It was silent for a moment as the movie opened, but it eventually showed us a naked woman.
"Whoa, she's hot." I whistled, to which Emerald snorted and Neo raised a finger to her lips.
"Shhhh!"
Hahaha wow, this was fun. i'm sure no one will like it but i don't care. i like fanfiction and I love RWBY and pokemon(recently got ultra moon and finished my sword and shield pokedex) this story is a nice break from working on my original epic fantasy(think game of thrones combined with RWBY) so yeah! next chapter's POV will be: Cardin Winchester "Perplexing Taskmaster"