Hello everybody! I am The Burning Ruler and I am here with chapter 17 of Team BAWM. First of all, shout out to my co-authors Nightmare 6-4 and RebelKira. Remember to show them some love, because they deserve it! Anyways, let's get this chapter started!
Chapter 17: Moving forward
Falcon woke up to see Crys still asleep, and Carnel and Alicia gone. He got up and rubbed his eyes. As he was opening them, he saw something move out of the corner of his eyes. He looked to the side and saw Kinzie waking up.
"Good morning Kinzie." Said Falcon with a smile.
Kinzie let out a noise which Falcon assumed was a good morning as well.
Falcon grabbed his clothes and went for a shower. After he got out of the shower Crys was still asleep.
"I guess she would be really wiped out. I mean, after yesterday. I don't think a cave is the best place to get a good night's sleep. I guess I'll just head to get breakfast. She needs the sleep." Said Falcon, leaving the room.
Once he got to the cafeteria, he saw Carnel and Alicia sitting with Team JNPR and Team RWBY.
"Hello everyone, who isn't Blake, and a special hello to everyone else." Said Falcon, winking at Blake before sitting down next to her and put his arm around her.
"Alright. That was pretty good Falcon." Said Yang.
"I try." Said Falcon.
"Where's Crys?" asked Alicia.
"She's still sleeping. I figured I'd let her get some extra sleep. After everything that happened, I think she needs it." Said Falcon.
"Yeah. She probably does." Said Pyrrha.
"Anyways, we got the Vytal festival tournament in a little, while don't we?" asked Carnel.
"Yeah. We do." Said Blake.
"Looking forward to it." Said Falcon.
"Wonder if we'll meet any of you during it?" asked Alicia.
"Well, if we do meet up, don't expect us to take it easy on you." Said Yang.
"Hey. Same here. We'll go all out, and we expect you too as well." Said Carnel.
"What if Falcon and Blake meet in the finals?" asked Nora.
"I'd still go all out." Said Blake.
"I'd expect you to. I would as well. I wouldn't want you to let me win and I doubt you would want me to let you win either." Said Falcon.
"Yeah. If we meet, I want an actual fight." Said Blake.
"You'll get one." Said Falcon.
"Anyways, I don't think the odds of that are too likely." Said Weiss.
"Fair enough." Said Falcon, finishing his food. Carnel and Alicia had also finished.
"Hm. I expected Crys to be here by now." Said Alicia.
"Wanna go wake her up?" asked Carnel.
Falcon just shrugged as they left to see if Crys was awake yet. They arrived at the dorm and opened the door to see Crys sitting on her bed still half asleep with Kinzie on her lap.
"Morning Crys. About time." said Falcon.
Crys looked to the door to see the other three. "Morning. How long have you been up?" she asked.
"Not too long myself. Just got up and got breakfast before coming back." Said Falcon.
"We didn't wake up long before him." Said Alicia.
"Alright." Said Crys, yawning.
"Still half asleep?" asked Carnel.
"Yeah. Kind of." Said Crys.
"Want some help waking up?" asked Alicia.
"How do you suggest?" asked Crys before she was splashed with ice water.
"That's how." Said Alicia with a smile.
Crys just glared at Alicia before sighing. "Alright. Guess I should've seen that coming." Said Crys, heading for the shower.
"I feel your pain Crys. I can't even begin to count how many times I've been woken up that way." Said Falcon, getting a slight chuckle out of Crys.
Once Crys got in the shower there was a knock at the door. Falcon opened it to see Ruby there.
"Oh, hey Ruby. What is it?" asked Falcon.
"Can you guys come to the training room once you're finished up here?" asked Ruby.
"Yeah, sure." Said Falcon.
Carnel, Alicia, and Falcon waited for a little while before Crys got out of the shower. "Hey Crys. Ruby wants us to head to the training room." Said Alicia.
"Did she say why?" asked Crys.
"No. She didn't say anything." Said Carnel.
"Alright. Well, I don't think we should keep her waiting." Said Crys as they all left and went to the training room.
When they got there, they saw Jaune sparring with Pyrrha while Nora, Ren, Team RWBY and Team CFVY sat in the stands. They walked in to see Team RWBY waving them up to the stands. They all went up and sat next to them.
" So, what did you need us for?" asked Falcon.
"Well, sparring against each other repeatedly won't help us improve. None of us have faced you guys a lot, so we want to spar with you guys as some training before the tournament." Said Yang.
"Well, it might be a good idea to get some training in before the tournament." Said Alicia.
"So… is that a yes?" asked Blake.
"Sure. I'm always up for a fight or two." Said Carnel.
"Yeah. I could do with some practice too." Said Falcon.
They looked down to see that Pyrrha had defeated Jaune. Pyrrha congratulated Jaune as they walked up to the stands. Falcon stood up and walked down to the arena and waited for a challenger. He investigated the stands to see everyone talking amongst each other as to who would fight him.
Ruby eventually called down to Falcon. "Do you have a preference as to who you fight?" asked Ruby.
"I'll fight whoever is willing." Falcon called back.
They continued to discuss before Carnel stood up and started to walk down.
"Let me guess, Nora's idea?" asked Falcon.
"Who else?" asked Carnel back.
"Alright." Said Falcon about to pull out his brick while Carnel pulled out honey badger and rested it on his shoulder.
"Wait wait wait." Said Alicia from the stands.
"What?" asked Carnel.
"We are here to practice against each other. Not kill each other." Said Alicia.
"So?" asked Carnel.
"How about we just spar hand to hand?" asked Falcon, throwing his brick to the side and cracking his knuckles.
"Sounds good." Said Carnel, putting honey badger back into his rift and squaring up.
Falcon and Carnel started circling each other for a few seconds before they both ran in to meet each other.
Falcon took the initial offense, lading a solid right to Carnel's stomach. He tried to follow it up with a left hook to the head, but Carnel duck underneath it, rolling forward and driving his elbow back into the back of Falcon's knee. Falcon spun around with his leg extended, barely grazing the side of Carnel's face with his foot as he rolled away from the kick. Carnel went in for a kick to Falcon's stomach, but Falcon just managed to move out of the way before landing a good shot to Carnel's cheek and a sharp kick to his thigh before Carnel moved to the side and landed a sharp jab to Falcon's ribs. Falcon then went in for a right hook, but Carnel ducked under it, about to sweep Falcon's legs, but Falcon jumped and used the momentum from his punch to spin and kick Carnel in the head, sending him back a little bit. Falcon went for a kick to Carnel's chin, but he moved to the side just before Falcon connected and swept out Falcon's leg, causing him to fall backwards. Falcon rolled backwards and got back onto his feet. Falcon and Carnel smiled at each other. Carnel ran in and landed a sharp blow to Falcon's face before following it up with a roundhouse kick to the side of his head. He tried to punch him again, but Falcon ducked and brought his head up into Carnel's chin. Falcon spun around to try and kick Carnel, who ducked under it, Falcon continued his spin, which made Carnel duck again. As Falcon went around for a third time, Carnel ducked once again, but Falcon stopped and lifted his knee into Carnel's face. Carnel ran towards Falcon before he had time to react and clotheslined Falcon, causing him to do a full flip before falling on his back. Falcon kicked up and turned to see Carnel going for him again, but he jumped up, landing on Carnel's shoulder, and forced himself backwards, forcing Carnel to flip with him and driving his head into the floor. Falcon got up and checked his aura. He was down to about 38%, while Carnel was at about 46%. He had thought he would be higher than Carnel but realized that Carnel's strikes had more power behind them, so even if he had more attacks, he wasn't hitting Carnel as hard as he was getting hit. Once Carnel got back up he started to circle along with Falcon as they started to strategize. Falcon knew Carnel was stronger than him, so he needed to use his speed to keep on the move and land as many strikes as he could while also avoiding as many as he could. Carnel knew he wasn't as fast as Falcon, so he needed to keep Falcon nearby and make sure he couldn't get away. Carnel immediately tried to close the distance, but Falcon moved behind Carnel and kicked his side, however Carnel spun and landed a hard blow to Falcon's stomach and lifted his leg over Falcon's head before bringing it down on his neck forcing Falcon onto his face. Falcon got up and saw his aura was down to 25%. Falcon started to breathe heavier. He wouldn't be able to take too many more hits. He needed to wait for his opportunity. It came very soon, as Carnel charged him again. As Carnel approached Falcon moved slightly to the side and landed a hard kick to Carnel's gut forcing him to bend over and cover his stomach. Falcon locked Carnel in a headlock. He began driving his fist into Carnel's ribs with as much force as he could, as many times as he could. He landed five direct punches before Carnel forced his way out. He held a hand to his ribs and checked his aura to see he was at 28%. He also started to breathe somewhat heavily. They both approached each other slowly and threw a hard punch. Falcon's connected with Carnel's cheek, dropping his aura to 21%, while Carnel's connected with Falcon's ribs, dropping his aura to 16%. They both dropped to a knee, looked at each other and started to laugh.
"Whew. Hell, of a fight man." Said Carnel, standing up.
Falcon stood up as well and shook Carnel's hand.
"Honestly, I didn't expect to win, but I'm happy I was able to keep it as close as I did." Said Falcon as they went into the stands.
"I knew a real fight between you two would be one for the ages." Said Nora once they got back to their seats.
"Didn't expect it to be that close." Said Jaune.
"No? I thought Falcon might win." Said Velvet.
"No. Falcon's good, but Carnel has been fighting for much longer than Falcon." Said Alicia.
"Yeah. I would never bet against Carnel in a fight." Said Falcon.
"So. Who's fighting me?" asked Yang, leaving the stands.
They group looked around before Falcon nudged Crys. She turned to him and he flicked his head towards the arena.
"Really?" asked Crys.
"Why not?" asked Falcon.
Crys just shrugged and stood up, walking towards the arena and standing opposite of Yang.
Falcon looked at his friends to see Jaune beet red while he was talking to Coco. Deciding to mess with him a little bit he said "Hey Jaune? You feeling Ok? Your face is really red."
Jaune turned to glare at him. "Yeah. I feel fine." Said Jaune.
"Oh, so you're just nervous because you're sitting next to Coco then?" said Falcon with a grin.
Jaune seemed to get angrier. "Well, I guess I am feeling a bit strange." Said Jaune, trying to cover his nervousness up.
"Oh, well if you aren't feeling Ok you should just head back to the room and get some rest." Said Nora, noticing what Falcon was doing and joining in.
"No. I think I'll be Ok." Said Jaune.
"Are you sure? If you're sick you really should head back and rest." Said Coco.
"Yeah. I mean, you don't want to get Coco or any of us sick too, do you?" asked Falcon.
"Of course I don't but…" Jaune tried to find an excuse to stay there.
"But?" asked Alicia, also joining in.
"Well, we need to practice for the Vytal festival." Said Jaune, thinking he had a solid excuse.
"Is that all? We can handle that. It isn't a good idea to fight if you're sick. We can handle training. We've got plenty of people." Said Falcon.
"Well…" Jaune let out a sigh. "Alright. Maybe I should go back and rest." Said Jaune.
"Alright. Good. Go on Jaune." Said Nora as Jaune left.
"He's so cute when he's flustered." Said Coco.
"Really?" asked Carnel.
"Yeah. You know, now that I think about it, he seems flustered around me a lot. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he liked me." Said Coco.
"Well, what if he asked you out? How would you respond?" asked Falcon.
"Hmm. Good question." Coco thought for a bit. "Well, I'm not entirely sure how I would respond. I never really thought about him like that. I guess I'd be willing to give it a chance if he asked me out." Said Coco.
"I see." Said Falcon.
Falcon was just able to stop himself from continuing, knowing that he would eventually slip up, leading to him spilling, and looked down towards the arena at this point to see that Crys was thrashing Yang. Yang was at only 29% of her aura, but Crys was still at 83%. Falcon's jaw dropped, as did most of the group when they saw. Crys swung her axe at Yang and knocked her aura into the red after a few more seconds.
"Thanks for the practice Yang." Said Crys, walking back to the stands with Yang to see everyone in shock.
"Before I told you guys everything I was holding back so as not to draw any unnecessary attention to myself." Said Crys.
"Ok. Just how much were you holding back?" asked Falcon, still in shock.
"A lot." Said Crys, smiling.
"Sure seems like it." Said Alicia.
"My turn." Said Ruby, heading down to the arena.
"I'll fight." said Nora, running down as well.
After the fight started, Falcon looked to Ren, who was completely absorbed in the fight, but he almost looked somewhat troubled.
"What's on your mind Ren?" asked Falcon, noticing his troubled expression.
"I think you already know." Said Ren.
"Ruby's feelings huh?" asked Falcon, getting a nod.
"What else." Said Ren.
"Have you given anymore thought to a response?" asked Crys.
"I have. I still haven't settled on a definite answer for a relationship now, but I have answered some questions I had." Said Ren.
"Such as?" asked Falcon.
"Well, I think I might as well accept that I do feel something for Ruby. Whether it's love or not, I'm not sure right now. As far as a relationship goes, I would be open to trying it out to find out how I feel." Falcon cut in here.
"It sounds like you have it figured out." Said Falcon.
"BUT… if we get together and I find out I am not in love with her, I wouldn't want to stay in the relationship." Said Ren.
"Meaning you would break up with her…" said Crys.
"Right. That's why I'm so hesitant." Said Ren.
"If I may make a suggestion…" said Blake, joining the discussion.
"Sure. Go right ahead." Said Ren.
"If you're that worried about it, tell her that. Tell her you have feelings for her, but you don't know if they are love or not. Go out with her a couple times to figure your feelings out, and if your feelings turn out to not be of love, tell her. She'll understand. I'm sure of it." Said Blake.
"Are you sure?" asked Ren.
"Of course. She's my teammate after all." Said Blake.
"I mean I guess I could…" mumbled Ren.
"You should." Said Falcon, giving him the final push he needed.
"Alright. I'm going to tell her." Said Ren, steeling his resolve.
"Good." Said Falcon.
A few more matches went on as the group continued practicing. This took them into the afternoon. They decided to get something from the cafeteria for lunch. When they arrived, they saw that the cafeteria was nearly deserted.
"I guess the rest of the school is training as well." Said Alicia.
"Probably against grimm. Not smart. Grimm don't think like people. They don't strategize, they don't learn during fights. They just fight. Grimm aren't good substitutes for human and faunus practice partners." Said Falcon, eating.
"He makes a good point." Said Pyrrha.
"True, but I can see why people would be hesitant to train against other people. If you train with someone and then meet them in the tournament, they will already know your strategy, giving them an advantage." Said Weiss.
"Not really. You'll also know their strategy. It's still even. Plus, with me, there is very little risk of people knowing my strategies, and not just because I used hand to hand for practice." Said Falcon.
"That's right. His semblance makes him nearly impossible to prepare for." Said Crys.
Falcon finished eating here and stood up. "I'm gonna hit the weights for a bit. Anyone feel like joining me?" asked Falcon.
"I'll go." Said Yang.
"Alright. Anyone else?" asked Falcon. No one else spoke up so Falcon left with Yang. They got to the weight room and went for the bench press. Falcon walked over to the weights and grabbed 150 pounds, putting them on the bar. He layed down and lifted the bar. Yang stood by, spotting him.
"So, how's it going Yang?" asked Falcon.
"Pretty good. Why?" asked Yang.
"Well, you still seemed to be angry at Crys after yesterday. Or at the very least you still didn't seem convinced after most of us sided with her." said Falcon.
Yang let out a sigh. "Alright. Fair enough. I want to believe her. Really I do. It's just… I'm having a hard time believing her." Said Yang.
"Alright. I can understand why you would have hard time believing her. But, for what it's worth, I believe her whole-heartedly. She isn't lying again. She no longer has a reason to." Said Falcon.
"Right. I suppose I was a little quick to judge. Besides, Carnel did make a good point. He has done way worse than lie, and we accepted him." Said Yang.
"Yeah. He has killed. Well, I have killed too, but he is a mob boss, so he's done more." Said Falcon.
"When did you kill?" asked Yang.
"Same night you saw Carnel kill. I thought you guys saw that too." Said Falcon, finishing his bench press.
"No. Who did you kill?" asked Yang.
"You remember Blaze? Turns out he survived. He tried to force himself on Alicia. You can imagine what happened after that." Said Falcon.
"I see. By the way. Fifty? Not bad." Said Yang, setting up as Falcon got in position to spot her.
"So, Blaze tried to rape Alicia with you and Carnel there?" asked Yang, lifting the bar.
"Yeah. He did." Said Falcon.
"What did you do to him? Other than killing him I mean?" asked Yang.
"Well, I ripped his prosthetic leg off and beat him with it. I slammed his face into the concrete repeatedly. I castrated him. I ripped off his chest plate, which made up about half of his upper body, and then I shot him in the head with a fire round, which promptly exploded inside his head." Said Falcon.
"Hm. Lovely." Said Yang, sarcastically.
"He had it coming." said Falcon.
Yang hit seventy-five before she put the bar on its holder. "Nice." Said Falcon. He began looking around the room for a while before he saw a couple punching bags hanging in the corner. He walked towards one while Yang went to the other. Falcon began punching along with Yang, throwing in a couple ducks and dodges occasionally, while Yang unleashed on the other bag. After about thirty minutes of that they both broke off to do some different workouts. Yang went over to the barbells to do some more lifts and Falcon went to do some squats. Falcon grabbed 200 pounds and started his own workout. After a little while, Blake showed up to see Falcon still doing some squats. After Falcon stopped doing squats, he noticed Blake outside the room.
"Oh. Hey Blake, what's up?" asked Falcon.
"Oh. Nothing. I guess… I just wanted to see you." Said Blake, blushing.
"Aw. That's sweet." Said Yang, noticing Blake.
Blake just rolled her eyes.
"Anyways. I think I'm done here. I should probably grab a shower." Said Falcon, noticing he had worked up quite a sweat. He walked back to his room with Blake.
"Alright. I'll see you again soon Blake." Said Falcon, kissing her. He walked in the room and saw that Crys was the only one in the room. She had Kinzie on her lap and was feeding her.
"Hey Falcon." Said Crys.
"Hey Crys. Hey Kinzie." Said Falcon as he walked into the bathroom. He got into the shower and washed himself off. He dried himself off and got dressed. When he walked out Crys grabbed him and pulled him out of the room.
"What's going on?" asked Falcon.
"I got a message from Carnel while you were in the shower. He told me that he and Alicia were on their way back and that I should clear out of the room and to make sure you weren't there either." Said Crys.
"Alright. I get it." Said Falcon.
As they continued walking down the hall, they bumped into Jaune.
"Why did you do that to me?" asked Jaune.
"Oh? Whatever could you be talking about?" said Falcon in a fake regal tone.
"I was close to asking Coco out, and then you had to cut in with that crap." Said Jaune.
"You were going to ask Coco out?" asked a voice from behind Jaune.
Everyone looked behind Jaune to see Velvet was standing there in shock.
"Um…" Jaune couldn't speak.
"Awkward…" said Crys.
"Just a bit." Said Falcon.
"Hey guys!" said Blake, showing up.
"Hey Blake." Said Falcon.
"What going on?" asked Blake.
"Jaune's mad at Falcon for ruining his opportunity to ask out Coco." Said Crys.
"No. He wasn't going to ask her." Said Falcon.
"Yes, I was." said Jaune.
"So, if she was here, you'd ask her out right here, right now?" asked Falcon.
"Of course I would." Said Jaune.
"Ok. HEY COCO!" yelled Falcon.
"What?" asked Jaune as he looked behind Velvet to see Coco at the end of the hall behind her.
"Oh. Hey Falcon! What's up?" asked Coco.
"Can you come here for a second?" asked Falcon, waving her over.
"Sure." Said Coco, walking towards the group.
When Coco got to the group, Falcon turned to Jaune, who turned red.
"What is it Falcon?" asked Coco.
Jaune looked at Falcon angrily.
Falcon shrugged. "Time to put your money where your mouth is Jaune. Coco's here. You know what you said." Said Falcon.
"I hate you so much right now Falcon." Said Jaune.
"Quit stalling." Said Crys.
"Fine. Um, Coco?" said Jaune.
"What is it Jaune?" asked Coco.
"Confidence Jaune." Jaune whispered to himself before nodding. "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me sometime?" asked Jaune.
Coco looked at Falcon.
"You didn't think I'd ask that for no reason, did you?" asked Falcon.
Coco nodded. "Fair enough. Sure Jaune. Text me later and we'll work out the details." Said Coco, leaving.
Falcon turned to look at Jaune. "Congrats Jaune. Didn't think you'd actually pull it off." Said Falcon.
"I hate you substantially less right now Falcon." Said Jaune.
"Have fun." Said Falcon, walking away with Blake, Crys and Velvet.
"You knew how he felt about Coco?" asked Velvet.
"Yeah. He asked me for advice on how to ask her out." Said Falcon.
"He didn't ask Velvet?" asked Crys.
"I never said he asked the right person." Said Falcon.
After walking around the school, they walked past the training arena to see Ren and Ruby.
"Hey Crys. Look." Said Falcon.
Crys looked to see Ren seemingly explaining something to Ruby. Ruby was nodding along, occasionally saying something back. After a little while Ruby smiled and hugged Ren.
"Atta boy Ren." Said Falcon with a smile.
Ren looked over Ruby's shoulder to see Falcon smiling.
"Good job Ren." Falcon mouthed.
"Thank you." Ren mouthed back.
Falcon checked the time to see it was almost dinner time. He thought for a second then got an idea.
"Hey Blake?" asked Falcon.
"Yes?" asked Blake.
"You wanna go out for dinner?" asked Falcon.
"Of course!" said Blake.
Crys looked at Falcon and Velvet looked at Blake. They pulled them away to talk.
"What is it Crys?" asked Falcon, slightly irritated.
"Well, I was wondering of you wouldn't mind a double date?" asked Crys.
"Well, I don't really care, so, I guess it's up to Blake." Said Falcon.
"OK." Said Crys, going over to Blake as Velvet walked over to Falcon.
"Hey Velvet." Said Falcon.
"Would you mind if me and Crys…" Falcon cut Velvet off.
"That's what Crys asked me." Said Falcon, walking over to Blake.
"If Falcon's Ok with it, sure." Said Blake, once he got within earshot.
"I'm fine with it if you are." Said Falcon.
"So, we can assume that you are ok with this being a double date?" asked Crys.
"Sure." Said Falcon.
With Carnel and Alicia
Alicia cuddled up as close to Carnel as she could.
"That was amazing Carnel." Said Alicia.
"You are welcome." Said Carnel.
The two layed together in silence for a little while, falling asleep not long after. Carnel awoke to his scroll going off. He rubbed his eyes to see he had a message from Falcon which read "White Fang in Vale. Too many for us four. Get everyone fast. Can't hold them off forever. Move your ass."
"Alicia. Get up and get dressed quick. We got a situation in Vale." Said Carnel getting up and getting dressed.
Alicia stood up and got dressed before grabbing her mace.
"What's going on?" asked Alicia.
"No time. You get RWBY and JNPR. I'll get the Undead and CFVY. Get to the airship when you have them. Vale needs some protectors." Said Carnel, starting to call the Undead as Alicia ran off.
Alicia arrived at team RWBY's dorm first and knocked. Yang opened the door.
"What is it Alicia?" asked Yang.
"We need to move." Said Alicia.
"Why?" asked Weiss.
"Carnel wouldn't tell me, but I think something bad is going on in Vale." Said Alicia.
"Got it." Said Yang and the three members got ready.
Alicia knocked on team JNPR's dorm next. Ren answered and saw the others ready, so he nodded. He grabbed his gear along with the other members of him team and they all took off for the airships.
Alicia arrived at the airships and saw Carnel with team CFVY about to board one. They picked up the pace and got on the airships.
As Vale started to come into view, Alicia and Carnel knew why Falcon had called for help. There was almost a full army of White Fang members in the middle of Vale. They could see a few people fighting them off, but they weren't doing well. The members were getting up as fast as they were getting knocked down. Carnel saw the Undead arrive in multiple SUVs and help fight off the members, but they were still getting overwhelmed as they opened fire into the crowd of White Fang.
"Fuck! I've never seen this many White Fang at once. There has to have been something they wanted if they sent this many insurgents at once." Said Carnel.
The airship landed and they ran towards the people they saw, fighting off as many members as they could on their way.
"HEY GUYS! OVER HERE!" yelled Falcon, when he saw everyone show up.
Carnel and Alicia ran over to where Falcon, Crys, Blake and Velvet were fighting off White Fang members.
"What's going on?" asked Carnel as he shot another member.
"I'll tell you later." Said Falcon, swinging a hammer.
With the addition of the others it didn't take long for the White Fang members to retreat.
"Phew. Thanks for the backup." Said Blake.
"Come on. You didn't think we were going to stay at Beacon, did you?" asked Alicia.
"Well, we didn't know if you two were finished yet." Said Crys.
"I've got good stamina, but not that good." Said Carnel.
Falcon just shook his head.
"Didn't expect you to have so little reaction there, Falcon." Said Alicia.
"Yeah. I guess I've accepted that you two are together." Said Falcon.
"Really?" asked Alicia.
"Yeah." Said Falcon before turning to Carnel. "Just don't make me regret it." Said Falcon.
"I won't." said Carnel.
"Good." Said Falcon.
"So, Falcon. You should probably tell them what happened." said Blake.
"Right." Said Falcon.
"What does she mean?" asked Alicia.
"It was after we left the restaurant." Said Falcon.
Before the battle
The group of four left the restaurant after paying. They walked around the town for a little while before Falcon looked away and seemed confused.
"Huh?" said Falcon.
Blake noticed that Falcon seemed confused first. "Falcon? What is it?" asked Blake. She followed his gaze to a man standing behind them. He looked to be in his late thirties to early forties.
"I feel like I know him from somewhere, but I can't remember where." Said Falcon. Falcon continued to think but couldn't put a name to the face.
"Maybe I just imagined it." Said Falcon. As they continued, they heard a voice behind them.
"Falcon!" yelled the voice.
Falcon turned around and said "Yes?" only to see that the man was closer to them but had turned around and said "Yes?" as well.
Falcon seemed confused, as did the man.
Falcon looked past the man and saw the origin of the voice was a large man.
"Oh, sorry kid I wasn't talking to you. I was calling Falcon Bliss." Said the man.
"His name IS Falcon Bliss." Said Blake, confused.
"What?" said the man behind them.
"My name is Falcon Bliss. How is that strange?" asked Falcon.
"It's strange because my name is Falcon Bliss." Said the man.
"That's odd." Said Crys.
"Wait a second…" Falcon paused to think.
After a few seconds, Falcon seemed to have an epiphany.
"Have you ever had a wife?" asked Falcon.
"Only once." Said the man.
"She got pregnant didn't she." Said Falcon, seemingly mad.
"How did you know?" asked the man.
"My father left my mom before I was born. My mom named me after him." Said Falcon.
The man gave a small smile and a light chuckle. "She named her kid after me. Unbelievable." Said the man.
"So, that is what's going on here then." Said Falcon, seemingly angry.
"You seem upset. You never even knew me. What problem could you have with me?" asked the man.
"You left my mom for no good reason. The only reason was that you couldn't be bothered to be a parent." Said Falcon.
"Alright. So, what are you planning to do about it?" asked the man.
Falcon seemed to become more enraged and whipped out his brick, forming it into a katana.
"I'm going to pay you back for all the grief you caused my mom." Said Falcon, swinging his katana.
The man smiled a pulled out a katana of his own, blocking Falcon's swipe.
"While I would love to stay and catch up, I think you should be more worried about that." Said Falcon's father, pointing behind him.
Falcon turned to see an army of White Fang members, rushing into Vale. In that moment of hesitation, Falcon's father took off in the opposite direction, getting out of sight too fast for Falcon to give chase.
"Dammit." said Falcon, running to fight off the White Fang after sending a message to Carnel about the situation and switching his katana to a hammer.
Back to the present
"You found your father?" asked Carnel.
"Yeah, but I didn't get the chance to kill him." Said Falcon.
"At least now you know that he's in Vale. You'll find him." Said Crys.
"Hopefully." Said Falcon.
"We should get back to Beacon. It's getting late." Said Blake.
"Yeah." Said Falcon. As they were walking back Falcon felt like someone was watching him, but he couldn't see anyone when he looked around.
"What's up Falco?" asked Carnel.
"I just feel like someone's watching me." Said Falcon.
"Really?" asked Alicia.
"Yeah, but I can't see any…" Falcon was cut off when he heard two gunshots in rapid succession. One bullet impacted the ground just to the side of him, while the second impacted behind him.
"What the hell was that?" asked Falcon, looking around frantically.
Everyone else began looking around for where the shots came from, before Carnel shouted.
"YOU MOTHER FUCKER! GET THE FUCK BACK HERE!" yelled Carnel before running off and climbing to the top of a building.
"Carnel!" yelled Falcon running after him using his revolver and gravity dust to launch himself to the top of the building. He ran, following Carnel, who was jumping over to other buildings. Eventually Carnel stopped and started looking around.
After a few seconds of looking around Carnel shook his head.
"God damn it!" Sad Carnel.
At this point, Falcon had caught up with Carnel.
"What the hell did you see Carnel?" asked Falcon.
"I know who took a shot at you." Said Carnel.
"Weren't there two shots?" asked Falcon.
"Yeah, but the second shot was Redeye, she shot the bullet off course so that it would miss you." Said Carnel.
"Wow. Thank Redeye for me next time you see her." Said Falcon.
"Sure." Said Carnel.
"So, who tried to shoot me?" asked Falcon.
"Slater." Said Carnel.
"You mean… THAT Slater?" asked Falcon.
"Yeah. That Slater." Said Carnel.
"That means he's in Vale. You can get your revenge too!" said Falcon.
"Looks like both of our pasts have come back to haunt us." Said Carnel.
"Except this time, we can put an end to them." Said Falcon.
"Hopefully, but Slater is a fucking snake." Said Carnel.
"Anyways, we should probably get back to the group." Said Falcon.
"Yeah. That makes sense." Said Carnel.
Carnel and Falcon made their way back to where they had left the group. When they got back all their friends were just shaking their heads at them.
"Slater was the one who took a shot at Falcon. You understand why I had to go now?" asked Carnel.
"Ok, that makes sense." Said Alicia.
"Why did you have to go with him though Falcon?" asked Blake.
"You think I'd just let my teammate go off alone?" asked Falcon.
"Well since it's apparently open season on Falcons, I thought you would want to do anything but stay in the open." Said Blake.
"Alright. Fair enough. How about we just head back to Beacon?" asked Falcon.
"Yes please." Said Crys.
With this, the group left for Beacon. They boarded and airship and arrived back at Beacon just before curfew.
"Well, I'm not sure about you guys, but I am going to head back to the dorm and get some sleep." Said Blake.
"Alright. Talk to you tomorrow Blake." Said Falcon, kissing her goodbye.
"Think I'm going to head back too." Said Velvet.
"I'll come with you." Said Crys, leaving with Velvet.
"Well, if you need me, I'll be on the balcony." Said Falcon, heading to the balcony.
Falcon arrived at the balcony and layed down. Even though he went there to relax, he couldn't sit still.
"Damn. I didn't think seeing him would give me this much anxiety." Said Falcon. Falcon sat there, trying to think of a way to calm down when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned to see Carnel, holding up a joint and smiling.
Falcon nodded. "Yeah. That'll work." Said Falcon as Carnel sat down next to him. They stayed on the balcony and finished the blunt before heading back to their room.
Falcon walked in to see Alicia still awake and Crys out cold on her bed. Deciding to follow in her footsteps, Falcon collapsed on his bed and passed out almost immediately, while Carnel stayed up for a bit.
"Damn. Falcon's asleep." Said Alicia.
"What's up babe?" asked Carnel.
"I wanted to talk to him about something." Said Alicia.
"Well, he'll be up tomorrow." Said Carnel.
"True. Ah, it can wait." Said Alicia, laying down next to Carnel as they both fell asleep.
The next day
Falcon sat up to see everyone else still asleep. He immediately went for a shower and got dressed. When he got out, he saw that Alicia was up.
"Morning sis." Said Falcon.
"Morning." said Alicia. Falcon was about to walk out when Alicia stopped him.
"What is it?" asked Falcon.
"Once everyone is up, I want to talk for a bit." Said Alicia.
"Alright. I'll be on the balcony. Just come get me when you're ready." Said Falcon.
Falcon got up to the balcony and saw Jaune there.
"Hey Jaune." Said Falcon, sitting next to him.
"Oh. Hey Falcon." Said Jaune.
"So, have you and Coco gone on your date yet?" asked Falcon.
"Not yet, but it's set for after breakfast today." Said Jaune.
"Oh. Good luck man." Said Falcon.
"Thanks. I'll need it. By the way, thanks for the help with asking her out." Said Jaune.
"No problem." Said Falcon.
The two kept talking for a bit before Alicia arrived on the balcony.
"Falcon? Everyone's up." Said Alicia.
"Alright. Gotta go Jaune." Said Falcon, leaving.
Once Falcon got back to the room he sat down on his bed.
"So, what's up Alicia?" asked Crys.
"Right. Well, last night I was thinking. We've shared a lot with each other, haven't we?" asked Alicia.
"You know, now that you mention it, yeah we really have." Said Falcon.
"Right. Everyone in this room knows the past of everyone else in this room." Said Alicia.
"You make a good point Alicia." Said Crys.
"So, I was thinking, why don't we make a pledge?" asked Alicia.
"What do you mean 'pledge'?" asked Carnel.
"Well, we stuck together after finding out that you're a mob boss. We stuck together after finding out about Crys. So, I don't think anything can separate us." Said Alicia.
"Ok. Not seeing where you're going." Said Falcon.
Alicia balled up a fist and held it out. "Team BAWM sticks together. No matter what." said Alicia.
"Oh. I see. No matter what." said Falcon, putting his fist in.
Carnel got up and stretched. He balled up a fist and put it into the mix as well. "No matter what." said Carnel.
They all turned to look at Crys. She nodded, stood up, balled up a fist and thrust it into the mix. "No matter what." said Crys with a smile.
They all smiled at each other.
"Anyways. Let's get some food." Said Carnel as they all left for the cafeteria.
When they got there, they sat with team RWBY, JNPR and Velvet.
"Hey everybody." Said Crys.
"Hey." Said Ruby.
After team BAWM sat down Falcon saw Jaune looking over to where the rest of team CFVY was sitting. When Jaune turned back around he saw Falcon looking at him and wearing the smuggest grin he had ever seen.
"What?" asked Jaune.
"You know what Jaune." Said Falcon.
"I don't think I do." Said Jaune.
"Jaune, everyone here knows at this point. If you want to sit with her, go sit with her." Said Pyrrha.
"Really?" asked Jaune.
"Just fucking go over there, man!" said Carnel.
Jaune got up and started walking over to where Coco was sitting with Fox and Yatsuhashi. He spoke for a bit before Coco offered him the seat next to her. Jaune sat down with a smile.
Falcon looked to Pyrrha to see a small tear roll down her face. "I'm sorry Pyrrha. I know how you felt about him." Said Falcon.
"I promised myself I wasn't going to get upset. I said I was going to be happy for him." Said Pyrrha.
"But you clearly aren't." said Velvet.
"Look Pyrrha, I want to say I know how you feel. I want to, but I don't. I don't know how you feel. But what I do know is this. I know that despite you wanting to be with Jaune, you would much prefer him to be happy with someone else than unhappy with you. Just remember, there is always a chance that it may not work out for them, but if it does, I honestly believe that he will be very happy with Coco, and besides, I'm sure that you'll find someone else." Said Falcon.
"Thanks for trying to cheer me up Falcon." Said Pyrrha.
"I didn't?" asked Falcon
"Well, I wouldn't say you didn't succeed at all. It's just, who?" asked Pyrrha.
"Well you seemed to have a good time with Nora at the dance. Why not her?" asked Carnel.
Pyrrha put her head down on the table and groaned. "Just when I had forgotten about that."
"Can we just not talk about this anymore?" asked Falcon.
"Yes please. Thank you, Falcon." Said Nora.
"No worries." Said Falcon.
Alicia looked over to where Jaune had gone to see that Coco and Jaune were nowhere to be seen. "Where'd they go?" asked Alicia.
"Probably their first date. They planned it for after breakfast today." Said Falcon.
After this everyone finished their food and they all went to train. After quite a few matches they decided to take a break for lunch. They got to the cafeteria and were joined by Coco and Jaune not long after.
"Oh, hey you two. How was your date?" asked Falcon.
"Does this answer your question?" asked Coco, giving Jaune a quick peck on the cheek.
"No." Said Carnel sarcastically.
"Yeah it does." Said Falcon sneaking a peek at Pyrrha, who was smiling.
"Congratulations you two." Said Crys.
The rest of the day consisted of practice between the group, taking breaks for food and rest regularly.
Two days later
All of team BAWM woke up at almost the same time.
"Morning everybody." Said Falcon.
"Morning." said Alicia.
"Should we just eat quick and get back to training or, do you want to take a break for today?" asked Crys.
"I think we're ready." Said Carnel.
"I know we are." Said Falcon.
They all got ready and went to the cafeteria to meet up with the group. When they got there, they saw that only team RWBY was there.
"Hey everybody!" said Ruby.
"Hey." Said Falcon.
"Not training today." Said Weiss.
"Not today. We think we're close to ready. How about you four?" asked Carnel.
"Of course." said Blake.
"Well, we have been training for a couple days now." Said Yang.
"Yeah. We've been training hard lately." Said Falcon.
"If we aren't ready now, we never will be." Said Ruby.
They group kept talking for a little while, while the others showed up.
"The tournament is soon. Gonna be fun." Said Nora.
"Damn right it will be." said Alicia.
Falcon seemed to remember something and spoke up.
"Just remembered. Hey Carnel?" asked Falcon.
"Yeah? What is it Falco?" asked Carnel.
"It's about lock-up. You said it simulates not being able to breathe, despite there being plenty of oxygen?" asked Falcon.
"Yeah. Why are you asking?" asked Carnel.
"Well, I know that a lot of you… well… maybe all of you will say I'm insane or stupid or something along those lines about me asking this, but I want you to put me in lock-up." Said Falcon, shocking the group.
Carnel was the calmest one, but he still seemed confused. "Ok, just, help me out here. I'm having some trouble understanding your thought process here. Being in lock-up is considered absolute hell, but you are ASKING to be put in it?" asked Carnel.
"Yeah. I guess I'm curious. But not for long. Only an hour or so." Said Falcon.
"Well, alright I guess." Said Carnel, snapping his fingers and opening lock-up.
Falcon walked over to the portal and stood in front of it. He turned around.
"This is dumb idea, but, screw it. See you later everyone." Said Falcon, giving a two-finger salute and jumping backwards into the portal.
Carnel closed the portal. "I don't think he knows what he just got himself into." Said Carnel.
"I am sure he doesn't." said Crys.
Blake just sighed and shook her head.
"Being fair Blake, it was his idea." Said Jaune.
"True." Said Blake.
"He'll be fine. Like he said, there is plenty of oxygen. He is in no danger, just a lot of pain." Said Carnel.
"You know Carnel, that doesn't make me feel any better." Said Blake.
"He's trying to say that there is no need to worry about him." Said Alicia.
"Right. Ok. That makes me feel a little better." Said Blake.
"Anyways, any plans for today?" asked Nora.
"Maybe a date?" asked Alicia, looking at Carnel.
"Sure. Where do you wanna go?" asked Carnel.
"Not sure right now." Said Alicia.
"Well, you wanna head into town and see if anything sticks out?" asked Carnel.
"Sure." Said Alicia, finishing her food along with Carnel and leaving for town with him.
Once they arrived in town, they walked along the street and looked around for something to do.
"Any ideas yet?" asked Carnel, smiling.
"You ever gone ice skating?" asked Alicia.
"Actually, I haven't." said Carnel.
"Come on then." Said Alicia, pulling Carnel towards the skating rink. They went inside and saw that there weren't too many other people inside. They went to grab a pair of skates and went to the ice. Alicia stepped onto the ice first. Carnel followed her and started to stumble but managed to stay up.
Alicia skated up to him. "Want some help?" asked Alicia.
"Yeah. I'm completely new to this." Said Carnel as he took her hand.
A few hours of instruction later
"BAD IDEA, BAD IDEA, BAD IDEA!" yelled Carnel as Alicia let go of his hand again, before he fell again.
"You ok?" asked Alicia.
"I am hopeless on ice." Said Carnel.
"I don't think you've been doing that bad." Said Alicia.
"Nice of you to say so for my sake, but I've got the bruises to prove that I have in fact, been doing that bad." Said Carnel.
"Do you want to leave?" asked Alicia.
"If you want to keep skating go ahead, but I should stay off the ice." Said Carnel.
"Alright." Said Alicia, helping him to the edge of the rink before going back to skating. Carnel watched Alicia skate around skillfully for about an hour before she decided to leave.
"Ready to go?" asked Alicia.
"Of course." Said Carnel.
"You want to grab lunch?" asked Alicia.
"Yeah sure. That sounds good. Where do you want to go?" asked Carnel.
"Why don't we go to that sub place?" asked Alicia.
"Alright. That works for me." Said Carnel.
They went to the sub place and went to the counter to get their subs. Alicia was happy to see that they could pick any toppings that they wanted rather than picking something off the menu. Alicia ordered first and went to a seat. Carnel joined her afterwards.
"So, what all did you get on your sub Alicia?" asked Carnel.
"Tomato, lettuce, cheddar cheese, sriracha sauce, red pepper powder, and black forest ham. How about you Carnel?" asked Alicia.
"I'm trying that meatball sub that Falcon is in love with." Said Carnel, taking a bite. "Not bad at all."
They both continued to talk together before they left the restaurant and went to head back to Beacon. On the ride back there weren't any words exchanged, until they landed.
"So actually, I wanted to ask earlier but, where did you learn to skate?" asked Carnel.
"Oh, actually, Falcon taught me. Well, maybe instructed me is a better way to put it. He isn't a very good teacher." Said Alicia.
"What do you mean instructed?" asked Carnel.
"He didn't really tell me what to do, He isn't much for words. He mostly just let me watch him skate around so I could see how he did it, and then he let me try it out. He didn't tell me what to do or help guide me around like I did for you. He just let me learn on my own." Said Alicia.
"I see." Said Carnel.
As they began to walk back to the dorm, they saw Crys and Velvet sparring together. The two girls weren't using weapons, much like how Carnel and Falcon fought. Carnel and Alicia looked at each other, shrugged and walked in. They sat in the stands and watched.
Despite putting up a reasonable fight, Crys eventually lost to Velvet.
"Damn. You're good Velvet." Said Crys.
"Thank you." Said Velvet, kissing Crys.
"You left a lot of openings while fighting. It was easy to tell how you were going to fight even from here." Said Carnel.
"Really?" asked Crys.
"You aren't used to hand to hand combat, are you?" asked Carnel.
"Not really." Said Crys.
"That's probably why." said Carnel.
"So, how can I improve?" asked Crys.
"I could probably give you a hand. But I'm not much of a teacher." Said Carnel.
"Just be an instructor then." said Alicia.
"If you're Ok with fighting me, I can try to give you a hand." Said Carnel.
"Sure." Said Crys.
Crys and Carnel started to fight for a little while and after a few matches, Crys had made considerable progress.
"You're a fast learner Crys." said Carnel.
"Thank you." Said Crys.
"So, do you wanna continue?" asked Carnel.
"Maybe we should get some dinner before any more training." Said Alicia.
"Good idea." Said Velvet.
The group of four went to the cafeteria to see all of team JNPR the remaining members of team CFVY and all members of team RWBY minus Blake.
"Hey guys." Said Yang.
"Hey. Where's Blake?" asked Carnel.
"Wish we could tell you." Said Ruby.
"She's missing?" asked Alicia.
"Kind of. Wait, where's Falcon?" asked Weiss.
"No idea, but that's probably where Blake is. She's probably with Falcon." Said Crys.
"That makes sense." Said Ren.
They all sat a table eating until they decided to get some training in before they went to sleep.
They all took turns sparring with each other just as they had done recently until 10 pm rolled around.
"Strange. They still aren't back yet." Said Yang.
"Yeah. Unless they're already in the room." Said Crys.
"Yeah, Falcon's usually the first one there as far as our team goes." Said Carnel.
"Yeah. Blake's the same." Said Ruby.
"Well, maybe that's where they are." said Carnel.
"Yeah, at any rate, it's getting late, so we should get to bed." Said Weiss.
"Right. See you tomorrow then?" asked Velvet.
"Right." Said Nora as the teams went their separate ways.
Carnel, Crys and Alicia all got back to the room to see Falcon wasn't there.
"Where could he be?" asked Crys.
"Why don't we try to call him?" asked Alicia.
"Good idea." Said Carnel. Once he pressed call, there was a ring from Falcon's bed. They looked under his pillow to see Falcon's scroll.
"Well, there goes that idea." Said Crys.
"He'll probably show up at breakfast tomorrow. Let's just get some sleep." Said Carnel.
"Yeah. Good idea. Staying up won't change anything." Said Alicia as they all went to sleep.
The next day
They all woke up at the same time.
"Still no Falcon." Said Crys.
"God dammit. Where could he have gone?" asked Alicia.
"I'm sure he'll show up soon." Said Carnel.
"Yeah, I guess, but I can't help but worry about him." Said Crys.
"I suppose that makes sense." Said Alicia.
They all left the room and went to the cafeteria. When they got there, they saw everyone else there too, including Blake, but still no Falcon.
"Where could he be?" asked Blake once the three showed up.
"You don't think he got trapped somewhere last night, do you?" asked Jaune.
"No chance." Said Alicia. Everyone agreed but Carnel started to think. Eventually his eyes widened and he bit down on his knuckles.
"I know where Falcon is…" said Carnel.
"Where?" asked Blake.
"Um, well, I may have forgotten to take him out of lock-up." Said Carnel.
Everyone was silent for a little while before their eyes widened.
"THEN GET HIM THE FUCK OUT!" yelled Blake and Alicia.
Carnel snapped his fingers and reached into his lock-up portal, he grabbed something and pulled Falcon out, with him falling onto his hands and knees and taking a deep breath.
"WHAT PART… OF ONE HOUR… DIDN'T YOU UNDERSTAND!?" asked Falcon.
A few members of the group got a light chuckle out of Falcon while some were just worried.
"I am so sorry man. I forgot I put you in lock-up." Said Carnel.
Falcon finally caught his breath and sat down.
"Well, that was hell." Said Falcon.
"You ok?" asked Blake, worry evident in her voice.
"Yeah. Almost wasn't, but I am." said Falcon, before letting out a light chuckle.
"What's so funny?" asked Yang.
"Oh, just thought of something funny." Said Falcon.
"What?" asked Alicia.
"Well, we all know curiosity killed the cat, but it seems like curiosity almost killed the falcon too." Said Falcon, chuckling.
Everyone at the table groaned aside from Yang, who fell out of her chair laughing and Weiss whose eyes got wide before saying "My god, there's two of them…" in a horrified voice.
'Those were some terrifying individuals.' Falcon thought to himself as he laid he head down on the table.
There we go boys! Chapter 17. Damn this took longer than usual, but motivation was hard to come by. Anyways, don't forget to follow and favourite if you enjoyed, be sure to check out the homies Nightmare6-4 and RebelKira, leave a review of what you thought, and I hope to see you guys again! Goodbye!