Chapter eight: Beatdown at the no-name Cafe

"Well, here we are!"

Velvet said, smiling as she pulled me towards a small cafe. I looked over, giving her a brief smile as I saw what she'd opted to wear today. It was starkly similar to mine, other than hers had no sash around her waist, she wore no hat, and her shoes were gold-netted instead of white-netted. She'd basically drug me out of Oobleck's Clinic through most of downtown until we arrived here. I saw a few people walking around outside, most without faunus parts but, a few with them. The cafe itself was a small brick building near the edge of downtown, about at the meeting point of the city and the slums. There was evidence of both in the men walking by in three piece suits and teenagers walking by in ripped jeans and ratty hoodies. Sometimes I caught the flash of a knife from inside someone's jacket, sometimes it was the flash of a scroll.

Velvet walked towards the building with no hesitation, pulling open the door and nearly dragging me inside with her. The second we walked in, my nose was immediately hit with a plethora of smells. Freshly baked bread, pastries, waffles, pancakes, all sorts of things. Even the scent of meat grilling over an open fire… well, I more saw that one through a window but, it was still there. Velvet pulled me over to a table near the edge, me facing away from the exit. While I sat there, I could block out everything. Everything, that is, except Velvet. Frankly, that was just fine with me. It'd be nice to not have to worry about the world for awhile. Velvet sat down, smiling over at me, "So… what do you think?" "I think this place seems really nice. What did you say it's name was again?" I asked, frankly somewhat confused that the place had no sign on the front or in the window saying it's name. Velvet opened her mouth, then closed it, her face sporting a puzzled expression.

"Hmm… you know, I don't remember. I always just called it 'the place on main'. No one ever really asks." "Huh… odd." I muttered, looking around. Sure enough, there wasn't a sign, billboard, anything that would give a hint to the name of this place. When one of the employees walked over to our table, she didn't even have the name of the place on her name tag. "Why would a restaurant not want people knowing it's name? Or -even stranger- how could a restaurant not HAVE a name?" I thought as the waitress walked over to us. She was about my age, maybe a few inches taller than I was. She was clad in what looked to be the standard uniform of the place: A black shirt (with the name tag over the right breast) and a pair of dark pants. She walked over, smiling down at me with energetic blue hues. She brushed a few strands of orange hair out of her eyes as she spoke. "Hey Velvet! Random girl I've never seen before! What can I get cha?" she asked, her voice loud and cheery… and somewhat obnoxious, admittingly.

Though, Velvet only smiled, "Hey Nora. I'll take my usual. Weiss?" "Uh… can I see a menu or… something?" I asked, raising an eyebrow when I saw that she wasn't carrying any. She pointed behind her, towards what looked to be a large chalkboard. I looked over, squinting slightly to read it. It was so hard to see from here…

"BOO!"

"GAH!" I nearly yelled, falling back against the window. I looked up, my heart pounding in my chest as I saw Nora and Velvet laughing, a few people from nearby joining in. I felt my face burn as I pulled down my hat, trying to hide away from the embarrassment. I felt a tapping on my shoulder, but that only got me to pull the hat down further. "Aw Weiss, don't be like that. It was just a joke." I heard Velvet's voice say. I pulled up my hat, seeing a menu now on the table, Nora holding her notepad in hand. I sat back up, looking over the menu as I kept darting my eyes to Nora, making sure she wasn't about to do something again. I handed her the menu, watching her snatching it out of my hands, the same way she did with Velvet. "I'll take a croissant and a coff-." "Comin' up!" Nora said, holding her leg up before, dashing back towards the kitchen, carrying her notepad.

I looked at Velvet, "Okay… what was that?" "Oh, that's just Nora being Nora. She's always all bubbly and weird like that." she said, leaning back in her chair, as if me being scared by a waitress was the most natural thing in the world. I looked around for a moment, seeing other people eating pastries, waffles, pancakes, salads, steaks, all kinds of things really. What kind of restaurant was this? I turned back to Velvet, finding that she was just… looking at me. She wasn't even saying anything, just… looking at me. "Why are you looking at me like that?" "Oh… I'm sorry it's just… you look so cute when your blushing." she said, giving me a warm smile as I felt my blush get even darker. I decided to play it up slightly, gripping at my hat and lowering it down. I heard Velvet holding back a squeal as I looked up, seeing her covering her mouth with both her hands. I let go of the hat, giving her a smile as she did the same.

"Yo! Bunny!"

Velvet raised an eyebrow as she looked behind me, towards someone no doubt coming over. I looked to my right, seeing a tall woman walk over. She sat down next to Velvet, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her over. Velvet slightly protested as the woman wrapped an arm around her neck, pulling her over and noogieing her. "Ah! Coco stop it!" "Hehe, why didn't you tell you me were coming today!? Here I thought I'd be eating alone again!" the newly named Coco said, pulling back and giving Velvet a cocky smirk. I looked her over, and she seemed… out of place, to say the least. Most of the people here were wearing jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, none of which were anywhere near as expensive or flashy as what Coco wore. She was wearing a brown beret, designer jeans, a blouse that no doubt cost more than me and Velvet's outfits put together, and high heels that were the same brand as mine at home. She looked like a million lien compared to nickels and dimes for the rest of us.

She finally turned to greet me, pushing down her sunglasses when she noticed me. "Uh… Velvet? Did one of your friend's die recently?" she leaned closer, whispering loud enough I could still hear it. "I think she's haunting you. And man she looks pissed." "Even if I was dead I can still hear you." I said, giving her a slight glare as Velvet giggled, Coco laughing. She held out her hand, one that I quickly took. She nearly jerked me over the table with how strong her grip was… apparently the designer clothes covered up something much more powerful. "Coco Adel's the name, what's yours snow-face?" "Weiss." I said, keeping a blank expression at her joke. Even Velvet didn't laugh at that one. Coco looked around, cracking her neck as she leaned over, wrapping an arm around Velvet as she leaned down, looking over at me. "So, what're you two lovely ladies doing out here?" "Long story." Velvet said simply, giving me a wink when she thought Coco wasn't looking. I gave her a grateful smile… I'd rather not have everyone in Vale know how I broke down and ran to Velvet crying because of a dream.

"Huh? COCO! Where'd you come from!?" Nora asked, setting down mine and Velvet's drinks. Turns out Velvet had gotten coffee too. Coco stood, wrapping her arms around Nora as the two laughed, Coco stepping back and patting her shoulder, "Nora! Just the girl I was looking to see! Figured I'd come get some breakfast when I ran into these two lovely creatures." she said, gesturing back to us. Velvet and I both blushed from the compliment, me pulling my hat down slightly, rousing a giggle from Velvet. I looked up, watching as Nora sat down across from me, putting her elbow on the table. Coco did the same, reaching up and clasping her hand in Nora's as the two sat back, both smirking at each other. A few seconds later they flexed their muscles, both of them straining to move as I felt the table rocking. Me and Velvet picked up our coffee's, not wanting them to get spilled. I leaned over the table, raising an eyebrow, "What're they-?" "It's called arm-wrestling. It's sort of like thumb-wrestling but, with arms." I looked at her blankly for a few seconds. "You… have no clue what thumb wrestling is either, do you?" I shook my head no.

I looked over, watching as Nora slammed Coco's hand into the table at last, standing up and holding out her arms like a bodybuilder. Coco smirked at Nora, shaking out her hand. "Lucky you I haven't eaten yet." "I'll beat you on a full stomach or empty! Doesn't matter!" Nora said, still smirking at her as she stood, about to walk away to -assumingly- do her job. Though, before she did, Coco reached over, audibly slapping her ass. Nora looked around, smirking slightly at her as she reached down, eliciting a gasp from Coco as she grabbed one of the taller woman's large breasts. Then she turned away, walking back towards the kitchen. I looked at Coco, "Uh… what?" "It's how they are, you get used to it." Velvet said, giving me a somewhat tired smile as Coco went back to wrapping her arm around her.

"Hey look, Coco dragged the bunny in again."

I didn't need to look, seeing Velvet looking at her feet, her hands in her lap was enough. This wasn't like Coco calling her bunny, with the friendly nature of teasing. No, this seemed more… malicious. I turned my head, watching as two men walked towards us. One of them was tall, a head of slicked back brownish hair, peaking towards the front. Indigo eyes gazed down at us, arrogant and condescending. The other had a head of slicked back gray hair, stretching almost down to the base of his neck. Bright blue eyes shined down at us in that same manner of arrogance, though seemed slightly less condescending. The two were both clad in what looked to be hole-filled jeans, brown jackets over white t-shirts with red bands on the left forearm. On both of those bands -oddly enough- were two black X's. They walked over, Coco standing up and immediately glaring at the two of them.

"What do you Razzies want?" Coco asked, glaring at the two. I raised an eyebrow, looking between them. What the heck was a 'razzi'? Or… was it 'razzy'? Maybe it didn't matter. Either way, what were they? The brown haired one scoffed, "What else? Take the trash out of our turf." he said, looking down at Velvet. I saw her gulp, a single tear falling onto her lap. I stood, walking between Coco and the taller man. "Alright look here Mr…" "Winchester. Cardin Winchester. Sky Lark is this bastard's name." he said, gesturing behind him. Sky just waved, keeping that small smirk on his face. I glared at him before turning back, keeping my eyes on the taller one. "I'm giving you one chance, and one chance only to leave without anyone getting hurt. You do, nothing happens. Sound fair?" I asked. He looked back at Sky, both of their faces going red for a second before they burst out laughing, Cardin placing a hand on my shoulder. "Alright, you don't seem to know who we are."

"Me and Sky here, we're part of the best group in this city. Razzies. See, we don't tolerate animals in our territory, understand? So, here's what's gonna happen. She's going to leave, now. Or, there's gonna be-"

SLAM!

I didn't let him finish, grabbing the side of his head and slamming it into the booth. I stomped on his foot as hard as I could before I grabbed my wrist in one hand, slamming my opposite elbow into his throat. He fell back to the ground, Sky still stunned at the display. I held up my fists, getting into a fighting stance. "Your move creep." "..." Sky turned and ran out the door, jay-walking past a few cars as he scrambled to get away from me. I slowly stood back up, looking down at Cardin, who was slowly coming too, gripping his throat and coughing. I looked up at Velvet, cold blue eyes meeting shocked brown ones. "How bad do you want me to hurt him?" I asked, placing my foot on his chest as I set my hat on the table. Velvet walked over, looking down in confusion. I grabbed his throat, hoisting him up and pinning him to the booth. "Say the word Velvet. I'll let him go. Or, I'll beat the crap out of him. It's up to you." I said.

Velvet shook her head, "Let him go… he's suffered en-." "No, he hasn't." I heard another voice suddenly interrupt. I looked over, seeing Nora walking over, cracking her knuckles the second she saw Cardin. She lightly tapped my shoulder, giving me one of the sweetest smiles I'd ever seen. "If you're done breaking and manhandling that lump of human refuse called Cardin Winchester, would you mind if I had my turn to play?~" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes slightly. I looked over at Velvet, my eyes asking the question my words didn't. She looked between us, hesitating. I could almost hear the thoughts running through her head. He'd hurt her in the past, that was clear. It was clear he'd hurt more people in the future, one way or another. Did he deserve pain now? Hell yes. The question was… was Velvet willing to give it to him?

In the end, I guess her need for vengeance won out. She nodded, and I stepped aside, letting Nora take up the reins. She smirked as Cardin opened his eyes. "Oooooh, shoulda kept 'em shut!" she said, a wicked smirk on her face as she punched both of his eyes, him reaching up to hold his head. Then she tossed him down, walking over and picking up a stool. She looked at Coco, "Should I hit here," she tapped her foot against his left knee, "Here," she tapped against his right knee, "Or HERE!" she said, stomping on his groin, causing Cardin to howl in pain. Coco shrugged, standing up and letting Velvet walk over to me before she laid back, her head facing Nora. "My top says you can't break his leg." "My pants say I can! CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!" Nora shouted, heaving the stool over her head.

WHACK!

"AAAAHAHAHA! PLEASE STOP!"

WHACK!

"GOD IT HURTS! PLEASE! PLEASE!"

WHACK!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

CRACK!

Nora smirked, the sickening crack resounding as Cardin fell back, leaning his head over to the side. I didn't doubt he'd lost his voice after all the shouting. Coco sighed, surprising me by reaching down, pulling her shirt over her body, exposing her chocolate brown bra. She tossed it at Nora, Nora leaning over and squeezing Coco's breast again. "I win!" "Yeah yeah, your ass is mine next time!" Coco said, shouting over her shoulder as Nora happily skipped away with her new trophy. I looked down, seeing Velvet holding onto my arm for dear life, her entire body shaking. I slowly sat down, Velvet sitting with me as I felt her ears brush against my forehead. I reached over, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

She leaned in, letting me wrap her in my arms as she looked down, her eyes shocked and awed as I leaned down, whispering faint, comforting words from her. It was about five minutes later that she finally spoke, meeting my eyes. "Never let Nora do that again… ever." she said, still shaking. I nodded, going back to comforting her. I slowly started running a hand down her back, wondering if that would help her a bit more. To my surprise, it seemed to, making her shake less and making her breathing slower. I looked up, meeting Coco's eyes over Velvet's back. I looked down, raising an eyebrow at her bra. She met my eyes, raising her own as she asked the question… well, asked what the question was, questioned the questioned… what were we talking about? Oh! Right, the question. "Is this uh… normal, for you?" "Yes." was her only reply, sipping at Velvet's coffee as if she'd stopped existing… then again, given how shaky she was, coffee was hardly the thing she needed right now.

"Me and Nora make bets like this all the time. 'My top says you can't do this', 'my pants say you can't do that', 'my ass says you can't do one thing', 'my tits say you can't do another'. You get the idea." she explained, shifting around and leaning her back against the window, propping her feet up on the edge of the table. I slowly nodded… I wasn't sure I even wanted to know what those last two meant. I looked down at Velvet, then up at Coco. She shook her head, "I can tell what you're thinking, and no. Our little Vel's too pure for me and Nora's kind of fun… one second." she said, standing up… in the booth. She crouch-walked over the table, sitting next to me. I was about to ask what she was doing when she placed her hands on the sides of my face, leaning in and nearly slamming her lips against mine.

I didn't move -not that I really could. I was frozen in shock, my muscles going rigid as I felt my face turn beat red. When she pulled back, her face was exactly the same, that same small smirk on her face. "Uh… what just… why?" I asked, looking over at her as I felt embarrassment give way to confusion. Coco chuckled slightly, reaching down and -if I had to guess- unbuttoning and unzipping her pants. She leaned back, letting out a small sigh as she sipped more of Velvet's coffee. "Your innocent too, just not as pure as Velvet. We could guilty you up just fine, have some fun. More than I can say for Velvet, she ran off and wouldn't talk to me for a week after I did that to her." she said, chuckling. I glared at her as I felt my face turning red for a very different reason.

"So… you kissed her even though she didn't care about you that way?" I asked, glaring slightly. She leaned back, her face slightly paling as she held up her hands, letting a nervous chuckle fly. "Look it was almost four years ago alright? We've made up since then, we're still friends. I did it the same reason I kissed you. Find out if you could make a threesome with me and Nora." she said. Despite the fact she'd said threesome so casually, and I suspected she didn't mean it as in the sexual act, I couldn't help the blush on my face… then again, that blush was already there so, maybe Coco didn't notice. Velvet finally seemed to regain some level of control, slowly sitting up on her own as she looked over at me. "You okay?" I asked, laying a hand on her shoulder. She nodded a few times, giving me a small smile before turning to Coco.

"So… what now?" she asked. I just shrugged, the two of us turning to look over at Coco. Coco seemed to have her own ideas, moving around and -if the flashes of blue were anything to go by- stripping off her pants and laying them aside. "Do you always strip down in a booth?" I asked, watching as she leaned back, pulling her bare knees up to her chest before she rested her hands on them, smiling at me. "Usually I'm not wearing underwear, but yeah, for the most part I do. I come in late at night usually, so me and Nora'll strip naked and have some real early breakfast in the back. You don't know speed until you've seen that girl toss on a shirt and take someone's order after being butt-ass naked three seconds earlier." she said, chuckling at the image it must've brought to her mind.

"Enough about me though," she leaned in, her smirk widening as our eyes met. "How exactly did you take them down snow-face?" she asked. I glared at her, looking down and lightly rubbing behind Velvet's ear. I had a feeling she was calm by now, at the very least calm enough that I didn't have to keep doing this… that being said, I wasn't about stop. "I've taken a few self defense courses." I said. Coco looked at me like I'd said the dumbest thing in the world, lowering her sunglasses and giving me a look that said 'Are you serious? Are you serious right now? Is this real life?'. "A few. I've never seen anybody take down someone that fast, and this is coming from the girl who's got three brothers in the police force!" she said, holding up three fingers. I looked away, glaring down at the now unconscious Cardin as Nora came back around, sitting down next to Coco.

"What're we talking about?" Nora asked, looking between me and Coco, laying her head in her hands with the most innocent of smiles, as if she hadn't just broken a man's leg just a few minutes prior. Coco squinted at me, "Nothing Nora… not right now." she said, turning and smiling down at Nora. I knew from her look that this wasn't over… though, right now that wasn't my concern. Right now, my concern was the police officer that had just walked through the door, moving over to Cardin. He looked up, glaring slightly when he saw Velvet. "Pardon me ladies, if I could just have all of you step out of the booth for a moment." he said, motioning us off to the right. We complied, me gently holding Velvet's hand to coax her out of the seat. She complied, the four of us walking away as the officer looked after us, his eyes following Velvet. "Did any of you see what happened?" he asked. No one spoke.

He looked at Velvet, "You speak English right? I asked if any of you saw or heard what happened… ma'am? Ma'am with the rabbit ears, I'm talking to you." he said, waving his hand in front of Velvet's unresponsive face. Velvet looked up, tightening her grip on my hand as she gulped. The officer didn't budge, "Ma'am, do you speak English? I'm just trying to get a picture of what happened here." "Y-Yes." Velvet said, taking a step back as the officer gave her a slight glare. He reached down, lightly patting on his taser for a second before he grabbed a notepad and pen, starting to write something down. "What can you tell me about what happened?" he asked. Velvet didn't respond, her brain no doubt grinding to a halt at the presence of the police officer. He raised an eyebrow at her, slowly reaching for his taser again. "Ma'am, I'm only asking if you saw anything. Yes or no?... we can talk now, or we can speak at the station ma'am, it's your choice." he said, seemingly getting impatient with Velvet's silence.

I stepped between them, "She hasn't done anything wrong." I said, giving the officer a slight glare. He nearly flinched back, standing up a bit straighter as he wrote something down on his pad, nodding a few times. "Okay then miss, did you see what happened?" "Yes." I said. The officer nodded, motioning for me to continue. I took a breath, letting it go as I felt my own nerves at being confronted by an officer fleeing, replacing instead with a strange feeling I didn't recognize. "I did. They threatened her-" "So you thought it was fine to injure a man because he threatened your friend here?" he interrupted, writing it all down as he pointed towards Velvet. Said girl shrunk back, looking away from the officer. Nora walked forward, standing next to me before she smiled at the officer. "Don't give yourself all the credit Weiss, I'm the one who broke his leg." she said.

Coco (who'd somehow managed to pull her pants back on in the thirty seconds I'd looked away) stood, "She defended herself, and the rest of us. There were two razzies, she scared one off after this moron," she lightly kicked Cardin's unbroken leg. "Threatened the four of us if Velvet didn't leave." she said, wrapping an arm around me and Velvet. The officer looked between the four of us, then at Cardin, no doubt for the first time noting the brown jacket, the red band with the X's on it. Then he turned back, raising an eyebrow at me. "You… you're willing to go to prison for her? You didn't just go somewhere else?" he asked, his eyes masked with confusion. Most everyone in the cafe had turned their attention on us, a few of them recording us with their scrolls.

I nodded, placing my wrists together, turning my arms upright, never once taking my eyes off the officer. "If defending my friend is a crime, then take me away." I said. The officer looked down at Velvet, back at Cardin, then finally up at me. He shook his head, ripping out the page in his notepad, crumpling it into a ball before shoving it in his pocket. "I'll let you off with a warning. I'm officially required to tell you not to do this again… unofficially, I don't think it'd hurt to take these Razzies down a peg." he said, smiling and winking at me before he turned away, walking out the door he came through. I looked over at Velvet, finding her looking up at me, her face painted with that shocked expression. "Are you okay?" I asked, giving her the most comforting smile I could manage, taking her hand in mine.

She smiled right back, nodding a few times as I walked over to our booth. I grabbed my cup, downing the rest of my coffee before I turned to Nora. "How much-" "I'll cover for you, just head out before any more cops come." Coco said, standing up and laying twenty lien on the table. I gave her a smile before I turned, taking Velvet's hand before we started walking away. "Hold it!" I stopped in my tracks at the loud, male voice, swiveling around to see a tall, burly man walking towards us. Based on the outfit, he was the cook for this place. He grabbed my hand, making me hold it palm up before he moved his other hand from behind his back, dropping a bag in his hands. "Thanks for gettin' rid of those razzies. Always harrassin' my customers… best be goin' now. Have fun!" he said, giving us a -some teeth missing- smile before he turned away, walking back towards the kitchen. I turned, me and Velvet both walking out the store before I opened the bag, my eyes widening slightly.

Inside there were two muffins and two croissants, one what I'd ordered and one what Velvet did (if I had to guess anyway). I turned back, giving a faint smile towards the building before I looked at Velvet, showing her the bag. Her eyes widened… then she smiled, turning back and looking at the restaurant. "We'll have to come here more often." she said. I nodded, pushing back my hat slightly as we started walking. Where were we going? I didn't know, and frankly, I wasn't sure I really cared. Velvet lead me along, and for a few minutes, I was fine with that. I held the bag in one hand, gripping Velvet's with the other. I leaned against her shoulder, suddenly thankful for the strap beneath my chin keeping the hat on. I looked around, smiling as I noticed Oobleck's clinic in the distance. "Is it okay if we head back upstairs to eat Weiss?" Velvet asked, giving me a slight frown. I just nodded, smiling up at her. She smiled right back, guiding us to the clinic.

When we walked in through the doors, I noticed Oobleck walking out through the door his doctor's office normally was. He smiled at us when he noticed me and Velvet holding hands. "Have an eventful day you two?" he asked, his eyes -if we could see them- no doubt sparkling in mirth. I looked up at Velvet, brown eyes meeting blue as we both giggled. I could tell we were both thinking the same thing:

"You have NO idea."

(a/n- {Recurring plot device detected} {Rhetorical analysis begin}: It appears as if whenever one or more tears drop from Velvet's face, Weiss becomes enraged, which has thus far shown a 66% likelihood of ending in something drastic (50% chance of violence based on chapter eight statistics). {Rhetorical analysis end} {Plot device situation resolved} {Ending author's note})

(a/n- Also fun fact, Razz is actually short for 'Razzista', which means racist in Italian… appropriate huh?)