Chapter 17: Sun And Neptune Are Dead
You know, it's kind of weird to look at the statistics of the stories you've written. I mean, everything thing you think your story is and will be can be put into a number. It's kind of bizarre. And slightly disappointing. Like, I know for a fact that people like my romantic comedies better than anything else. But, all I want is for people to like the other things I write, too. I don't want to just be boxed in a corner, only writing romantic comedy. That's why I'm writing this, after all. I mean, I won't stop after looking at the numbers for this story. All I'm saying is that I hope it isn't a sign of being a pigeonholed writer. Well, let's just get to the story. You've heard enough from me for now.
xxx
There were a few things agreed on during the airship ride back to Beacon Academy. First of all, most of the group agreed that Weiss and Ruby only had ONE job to do, and they completely fucking blew it. After all, hanging around a café was the same as looking around hardware shops where a bomb maker could have gotten supplies, right? Wrong. Very wrong. Weiss and Ruby were verbally pissed on by the rest of the group for not actually helping in the slightest. But not literally, though. It wasn't nearly as kinky. This is a T-rated story, after all.
But, after the dust had settled, the group collectively agreed on one point: if they were going to chase after a criminal plot with its fingers all over Vale City's underground, they needed more supplies and backup. The inclusion of Roman Torchwick was a real wakeup call to Sun and Neptune. Before, they were just up against some random White Fang lackeys. But, if Roman was involved, that meant that someone was probably backing him. There was no way some asshole like him would get involved with the White Fang for charity. He was a thief, not a terrorist. That could only mean someone was offering something he wanted.
Sun and Neptune couldn't help but speculate why Roman was now involved in this bomb plot. Was it for money? Maybe for priceless jewels and gold? Or, perhaps by some twist of fate, he was forced into doing this for lack of a better choice? It was hard to tell. But, regardless, the reasons why weren't as important compared to the here and now.
So, when the airship docked at Beacon Academy's air dock, Sun and Neptune didn't even bother to say farewell to their companions for the day. They had one goal in mind: go to Ozpin to get some official help.
Currently, Sun and Neptune were walking down the path towards Ozpin's office. While Sun looked rather determined, Neptune couldn't help but doubt his own chances at saving the day. After all, today had just proven that chance can swing either way. Neptune had failed, while Sun had succeeded. Sun won a bet, and Neptune didn't think things through. It was like they were the two sides of a coin.
Bah, this was weighing too much on his mind. Neptune just needed to vent his frustration. "Hey, Sun?" he quietly asked.
"Yeah, what?" Sun replied.
"Do you think we're lucky?" the blue(?) haired hunter asked.
"…Lucky?" parroted Sun.
"Well, yeah," Neptune mumbled.
Sun scratched his messy blonde hair as he paused in thought. Then, after a brief moment, a cocky grin formed across his face. "Well, yeah!" he exclaimed. "How else have we fuckin' got this far?"
"Well, for you, maybe…" Neptune mused. "But what about us, you know, as a whole?"
"Why're you bein' this emo all the sudden?" Sun counter-asked. "I thought you were mister sir lady-killer motherfucker!"
Neptune gave a weak, docile shrug. "I dunno… I've been using the die… and I'm gettin' nothing much. Like, it's the high of lows all the time."
Sun couldn't help but laugh at his friend's perceived slight. "Bwhaahaha! Seriously?! Stop bein' such a fuckin' nerd, man!" he chuckled.
Neptune shot Sun a cold look. "I'm serious, man. What if… we don't have a chance at all? What if shit just happens, and we can't do anything? Huh? What about that? What if we're all drifting alone in this fucked up world, and luck won't even save us?! Huh?! What if we have no say in life at all?!" he suddenly ranted.
Sun stopped laughing at Neptune's outburst. It was really unlike him to suddenly have a panicking rant like that. And why was he being all deep and shit? It must have been weighing on his mind for a while, Sun guessed.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I… uh… Can't really answer that. I mean, does it fuckin' matter? If you didn't know about it, would you be different?" Sun calmly mused.
With a heavy sigh, Neptune simply reached into his pocket and pulled out the green d20. Holding it between his fingers, he displayed it to Sun. "I've rolled this thing a dozen times already. And I keep on getting NOTHING conclusive! Just tens! What's that even supposed to mean?"
"Look, ya can't just base shit on some die. If ya roll it again I'm sure you'll get something other than ten." Sun dared.
Neptune suddenly held his hand in front of his partner. The pair of them stopped in the middle of the walkway. "Just watch," Neptune ordered. He briefly rattled the die in his hand before he tossed it into the air.
Both Sun and Neptune watched the small arc that the die made as it soared through the air. Then, gravity taking it's hold, it fell to the ground with a small clunk. The hunter pair leaned over the die to check the result. It was a ten. Sun simply raised his eyebrows, while Neptune took the opportunity to start up another existential rant.
"See?! Another ten! We have no choice! Or is the universe is just fucking with us?! It's chaos, but it isn't! ARRGGHHHH!" Neptune freaked out.
"Look, stop freakin' the fuck out, okay?" offered Sun. "We'll just roll again, okay?". Before Neptune could protest, Sun grabbed the d20 off of the ground and blew on it for good luck. With a heave, Sun tossed the die into the air.
The pair went dead still as they watched the die clatter to the ground again. Bending over, Sun and Neptune looked at the die again to see if anything changed. Nope, it didn't. It still landed on another ten.
Now Sun felt a little creeped out. Twice in a row was a little odd. "Weird…" he muttered.
"See what I mean?!" Neptune heatedly pointed out.
"Again!" Sun growled, taking the die once more. This time, he didn't even bother to do anything else. He just tossed it in the air as quickly as possible in order to end this fucking thing once and for all. Neptune didn't join him in looking at the result this time.
"Oh, come the fuck ON!" Sun groaned as he saw what side the die landed in. Indeed, it was yet another ten. Beside him, Sun could hear Neptune let out a strained whimper.
Now Sun was pissed. How could something this simple be frustrating him so much? Heatedly, he picked up the die and shoved it back into Neptune's limp hands. In his mind, he tried to work out what went wrong. The die wasn't weighed. Sun had worked with enough loaded die in his time to know the difference. And nothing else was affecting how the die was rolled. All he could come to was that the universe was just fucking over the d20.
"I'm done with your fuckin' die," Sun growled at Neptune before storming down the path.
Neptune briefly stared up at the sky. He suddenly got the distinct feeling that maybe some higher power was just playing with him and his friends. Damn nebulous cosmic forces. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Well, he guessed he only had himself to blame. After all, he regularly invoked chance through the use of his die. Perhaps it was a case of karmic balance.
Looking back down, Neptune then noticed that a significant distance was growing between him and Sun. Well, his existential crisis would have to be put on hold. He needed to catch back up to Sun. He DID have a duty to perform, after all.
With a brief sigh of resentment, Neptune resigned himself to his current fate. He then picked up his pace after Sun, hoping to catch up with his speed-walking partner.
xxx
Some time later, Neptune and Sun found themselves staring at the doors that led into Ozpin's office. It had taken them more than enough time to get here, considering the completely unintended and frustrating existential journey they'd taken along the way. But hey, now it was time to put that all behind them. Now they could tell Ozpin all about the bomb plot, and call in the cavalry they needed.
"Wonder if we're gonna interrupt, anything…" Neptune wondered out loud.
"Meh, Ozpin's a cool dude. He'll understand," Sun verbally waved away.
With that notion in mind, Sun reached out and pulled on the door handles. Nothing. The doors wouldn't budge. Frustrated, Sun tugged on the doors again. It did him no good. The doors were firmly locked.
"You've gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me…" Sun cursed under his breath. He then kicked the door for good measure. Unlike a human, the door didn't immediately collapse under such a rough kick.
"He's not in there," Neptune observed.
"Thanks, Captain Fuckin' Obvious. Wanna report that to Private Dickcheese?" Sun spat at his partner.
"Hey, don't blame me!" Neptune cried.
With a frustrated sigh, Sun leaned against the wall and slid down into a seating position. He anxiously ran his hand through his hair, and then massaged his temples. Yeah, this is JUST what he fucking needed right about now.
Neptune decided to sit next to him on the floor. Together, the pair stared off into space, not saying a word. The silence permeated around the two for several frustrated, disappointed minutes. Subconsciously, Neptune pulled the d20 out of his pocket and rolled it around in his hand. He couldn't help but feel a little relieved at the familiar shape in his hand. Then, just taking things into chance, he dropped the die onto the ground.
Sun paid attention to Neptune was doing once he heard the small die clack against the floor. Leaning over, he tiredly asked Neptune, "What's it say?"
"Nothing we want to hear," Neptune bitterly replied. Sun already had a good idea in mind what the result would be.
Groaning, Sun leaned his head against the wall. "What the fuck are we supposed to do?" he asked the air. "Just fuckin' wait?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Neptune noted.
"How the fuck can we wait if the fuckin' city can just randomly blow up?" Sun rhetorically mused.
"We could always go back to the police…" Neptune suggested.
"I doubt they want our ugly mugs around there. I bet they're fucking pissed about the shit we did," Sun shot down.
Neptune pressed his lips together in a thin line. Opening his mouth, he then said, "We could just come here first thing tomorrow."
"Ya think?" Sun half-sarcastically asked. At this point, he was willing to accept that as an option. If nobody was going to show up this late in the afternoon, then he doubted Ozpin was coming back at all.
"I guess…" Neptune sighed.
With a prolonged grunt, Sun put his hand against the door and hauled himself to his feet. Bending and stretching his back, he felt a few segments of his spine snap and crackle. "Well, c'mon then. Let's just go home," he said. Sun then offered his hand to Neptune to help him up.
"First thing tomorrow. That's the plan, right?" Neptune questioned, a cautious look in his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Now let's go already," Sun replied.
Neptune briefly looked at Sun's hand before seizing it firmly. With ease, Sun helped Neptune get on his feet once more. Then, looking at each other's expressions, the duo turned their grip into a manly hand clasp.
"We're badasses, right?" Sun said to Neptune. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"You bet," Neptune replied, looking at the grin forming on Sun's face.
The detective pair shook hands. That's right. They could do this. They just needed to be in the right time and place. But, hey, if luck and chance were like a pendulum, it would eventually swing in their favor.
Right?
xxx
I guess it's fair to say that this chapter is just the nerd version of Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead. I certainly don't mind. Liked the play and the movie. How can you not like the duo of Tim Roth and Gary Oldman? Right? Exactly. And I really like the themes presented there as well. Anyway, enough about my preference in plays. Instead, let me remind you to leave a review before you leave. It makes me write more, and also makes me feel better about my writing. So, please, go ahead and do that.
So, this has been The Draigg… And was I even here at all?