Hey dudes/dudettes! SmallTownGamer here with another chapter for you guys!
…
I don't really have much to say so here is the next chapter.
Excerpt from the Journal of Glynda Goodwitch
I suppose this Ex-White Fang member is a good candidate, even though she is self taught she fights on par with our best first year team. As I have always said, I trust Ozpin with my life. But the question is… which team deserves five members?
End of Excerpt
"What the hell?! How did you get your guy to slide like that?!"
"It's called a wavedash."
"Why can't I move out of the blue reflector thingy like that?"
"You have to wavedash out of it."
Ruby threw her hands up in the air and watched in dismay as her Falco hit the front screen after getting nailed by a up smash, while Cyan's Fox taunted. Weiss and Yang watched in idle amusement from the heiress' bed at the one sided beat down the engineer was performing on his team leader. "Alright, I'll get you this time."
"I sure hope so. At the rate you're going, you'll never get your money back."
Ruby tried to fire a few lasers, but Cyan only jumped over them and hit her with a fast falling neutral air, which he L-canceled the landing lag and followed by waveshines off of the stage into a shine spike.
"Jump when you laser, otherwise it has a lot of lag and you'll get punished for it."
The crimsonette grimaced and leaned forward on the bed, she had one stock left and the engineer had four. She took a minute to gather herself and tried to approach aggressively, only to get caught in Cyan's up throw chain grab.
"Falco moves much faster in the air, his ground game is subpar."
"Now you tell me."
The engineer's character grabbed the ledge before his opponent could, sealing her fate. Ruby grumbled and pulled out her last bit of money, and handed it to Cyan. The Star Fox victory song played while the engineer counted money.
"Whose idea was it to play for money again?" The only male on Team RCWY gestured at Yang with his head, "Blame her." Ruby stuck her tongue out at her sheepish sister. Cyan smirked, looking at the non-combatants , "Any other takers? Or you guys want to play two on two?"
Weiss shook her head and Yang grinned, "I would but I'm all out of money from earlier today." Cyan shrugged and with a click of his Omni-Tool the game shut down, and the GameCube dissolved into Omni-Dust. A glance at the clock told the engineer that it was ten at night. Ruby bid Weiss a stiff good night and gave Cyan a hug before skipping out of the room with Yang in tow.
"So what do you want to do?" Weiss reached down into their movie collection and pulled out the first Hobbit. She held it up questioningly, to which Cyan gave a shrug. He turned on their TV with a wave of his Omni-Tool, the heiress insisted that they have 'normal-non-melting-into-Dust' tech as well as the things Cyan had stored on his Omni-Tool.
The engineer made a bowl of popcorn and sat down on his bed, the movie started and Cyan began munching on it. "Pass that over here." The cyborg gave weiss a cheeky smile, "You don't want to get crumbs on your bed, remember? You're gonna have to come and sit over here."
Since when did you get some confidence?
When I asked a pretty girl out and she said yes…?
Weiss rolled her eyes, but there was a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, "Yes, I would suppose you are right. Scoot over." Once the pair had made themselves more comfortable on the bed, they started to watch the movie in earnest.
So I have some bad news for you…
Oh?
I just checked your checking account, you don't have enough money to take Weiss on a good date.
That is… unexpected. I'll have to see if I could pick up a few shifts tomorrow and Tuesday at the centrifuge. How many hours am I going to have to work?
Well, seeing as Weiss is a classy lady, which means you are going to have to make a reservation at a fancy restaurant, call the place and see what the most expensive thing on their menu is and get twice that. Then find out how much tickets cost at the movies and a price check on the popcorn, plus the cost of renting a Bullhead to get out there.
…
We're looking at the broad side of two hundred and eighty dollars. Since you just won thirty dollars from Ruby, and make roughly nine dollars an hour down in the centrifuge… twenty nine hours just to be on the safe side.
...Shit.
So you have two fourteen and a half hour days in front of you.
*sigh* Ask Fish if he even has those shifts open first.
Already did, you start at six.
About halfway through the movie Weiss started to lean into him more, prompting Cyan to wrap his arm around her shoulders. She sighed contently, and both continued to watch the movie. "Hey Weiss?" "What?" the heiress murmured sleepily. "I got called in to do some work at the centrifuge tomorrow and the next day, so I wont be around."
"When do you work?"
"Six in the morning till eight thirty at night."
Weiss picked her head up to look the engineer in the eye, "You're working that long?" Cyan coughed, suddenly nervous, "Y-yeah." The heiress humphed and went back to leaning on his shoulder. The engineer blinked, but wisely decided just to keep his mouth shut and continued watching the movie.
Team RCWY and Team JNPR had both decide to stay at the school during the break, when most others hadn't. The cafeteria was mostly empty while the two teams talked, minus a certain cyborg. Nora was reciting to all of them her latest dream while Ren translated.
Weiss sat with Pyrrha at the end of the table. "So Aurelius asked you?" Pyrrha nodded, taking a bite out of her croissant. "He asked me yesterday, and I said yes." The heiress' gaze turned to Ren and Nora, "Are they…?"
"Ren denies anything more than friendship, and it's one of the few things that will make Nora clam up, but yes, they are going together."
"Who is blonde and scraggy over there asking?"
"I think he is going to ask Ruby."
Weiss nodded thoughtfully, her eyes turned to the young crimsonette and shook her head. Pyrrha frowned, "Don't tell me you two still aren't getting along?" The heiress scoffed, "There aren't any arguments anymore, but we don't talk unless absolutely necessary."
"What do Yang and Cyan think of it?"
"Yang does… Yang things, and Cyan will just leave.."
"I see…"
"And it's starting to become worse after that White Fang fiasco. I think she blames me."
"Weiss, yo-"
"It's not like I could've prevented it, I had to take Verdant and run.
"Verdant? Whos-"
"Then we have to fight through hordes of the dumb brutes and-"
Pyrrha clamped her hand over the heiress mouth, "I get it, you two don't like each other." The amazon took her hand off of Weiss' mouth, "What happens one day when your lack of a relationship gets one of your team hurt?" The white haired teen's eye cast downward. "I think the two of you just need to get to know each other more, maybe find a common interest? I have team training and Cyan is working. You're going to have to socialise with her."
Weiss rolled her eyes, her ears picking up her team mates bickering, "Yang! I need to go get them!" Yang picked at her food, wary not to look at her little sister's puppy dog eyes, "I have stuff to do, see if Pyrrha or Ren will take you. Why do you need to go back to Vale when we were there yesterday?"
"I… forgot to grab it…"
"Then it's your own fault."
The heiress caught her amazonian friend's eye sparkle, a sense of dread built up in her stomach. Ruby turned toward Pyrrha to ask but the redhead held out a hand, "Ren and I have team training, but I'm sure that Weiss would take you." A small smile grew at the corner of her lips, "After all, she does have a Bulhead license." The young crimsonette looked hesitant, she kept on looking between the two older girls, "No, it's fine. I can wait." She turned back to her food silently.
Weiss sighed in relief, only to feel Pyrrha's glare digging into her soul. "Ruby? I will take you into Vale if you want to go… get whatever it is you want to get." Silence reigned around the table, and Nora stopped reciting her epic dream, a pancake still sticking out of her mouth.
Ruby was the most surprised, "R-really?" The heiress could see a smidge of hope in Ruby's silver eyes. Maybe this wouldn't be that bad?
The ride from Beacon to Vale was quite. Neither girl had much to say to one another. Ruby idly listened to her headset, the heavy guitar playing spilling from her headphones out into the cockpit.
"Ruby."
The crimsonette kept on bobbing head to the beat, not hearing the heiress calling out to her. Weiss reached over and tapped on Ruby's shoulder, prompting the younger girl to turn down her music. "Yes?"
"What was it that you wanted to get?"
"W-well… promise you won't get mad?"
The heiress gave her a flat expression, and Ruby fidgeted. "W-well you see… I wanted to get something for Yang…"
"Oh?"
"Her birthday is coming up and well…"
"You wanted to get her something."
"You're not mad?"
"Contrary to your beliefs, I'm not heartless. I should get her a present as well."
Ruby grinned widely, "Thanks Weiss!" Weiss, in spite of her earlier reservations about this day, found herself smiling softly. When they made it back to the mall though, the irritation returned.
It was weird to the heiress how childlike her leader could be some days and be all business with bullets and deadly scythe swings the next. Here was one of the most dreaded people to be paired with in Goodwitch's sparring class skipping along in front of her, humming a nameless tune. Weiss called out to her, "Ruby! Don't stray so far away!" The crimsonette stopped skipping and waited until the heiress caught up to her.
"Sorry." Weiss bit the inside of her mouth. Remember what Cyan said, just think of her more like a little sister. The heiress let out a deep breath. "It's fine. What did you have in mind to get your sister?"
The younger girl frowned as she looked around the same mall that she had been in with the rest of her team the day before. "I'm not too sure actually. I was hoping that coming here and looking around would help me find something."
"Your sister loves her hair. Why not get her some hair conditioner?"
"I was thinking something more special."
Ruby glanced at the store they were passing, her eye catching on an item in the window. "Oh! That would be perfect!"
Cyan sighed tiredly and closed his work locker. He threw his jacket over his shoulder and began to trudge through the circular halls of the centrifuge back to the entrance. He nodded to a passing Fish, who was dragging an unfortunate Aurelius back into the centrifuge. The engineer swore he heard something about losing another bet, but at the moment he didn't care.
Food then sleep, and then rinse and repeat tomorrow. Hopefully I will look at least partially presentable.
Don't worry, the movie I bought your guys tickets too is at about five so you will have plenty of time to catch up on your sleep.
Nice.
What? No 'Your the best A.I. ever Verdant' or 'How was I so lucky to get an A.I. like you?'? That just hurts.
Too tired.
"Hey."
Yang was leaning against the door to the entrance of the centrifuge, a smirk graced her face. Cyan looked into her eyes curiously, "Hey yourself, what are you doing down here?" Yang winked playfully, "What? Am I not allowed to say hi to my friend?" The engineer shrugged, far too tired to argue. Yang studied him for a moment, her lilac eyes sweeping his face, "You look like crap." The engineer let a humorless laugh, "That tends to happen when you have a fourteen hour day."
"Come on. Let's go see about getting you a late dinner."
The duo walked up to the cafeteria together, passing the walking time with idle conversation ranging from Ruby's new obsession with beating the engineer at Smash Brothers to semblances.
"So you shoot a electric wave out of your hand?"
"Well, technically it's conducted through my Omni-Tool, which is why when I get some dust capsules installed in my arms I can shoot ice and fire as well. And when I have those I can set up Tech Combos."
"Tech Combos?"
"Different elemental explosions, one tech is the 'fuse' and the other is the 'detonator"."
"Then you can make it explode with ice, electricity, or fire?"
The duo made it to the cafeteria and Cyan wasted no time grabbing a slice of cold pepperoni pizza from the fridge. The engineer didn't even bother getting a plate before he began nomming on it. Yang stifled a chuckle at his disregard for cleanliness. "You got something right there." The brawler pointed to a smear of pizza sauce on his cheek, "Here let me get it for you."
Oooh~!
What?!
Don't you see it~?
The blonde licked her finger and began dabbing away at the corner of Cyan mouth, causing him to flush slightly. "T-thanks." She gave her trademark grin and winked at him, "No prob, Engi." Yang scooted a little closer, causing the engineer to give her a curious look. "So Engi, are you going to the dance?"
"Uh, y-yes…?
"How would you like to take this babe with you to the dance?"
I love this~!
"I, uh, already asked Weiss… sorry."
"O-oh. When did you ask her?
"Right before I got kidnapped... literally."
Yang forced a smile and backed off, "Well I got to go make sure that Ruby doesn't over eat those cookies she loves. I'll see you later." and just like that that she was gone. Cyan finished his pizza slowly, and started on his way back to the dorm, thought about it and went back to grab another slice.
Cyan frowned, eyebrows furrowing. He opened the lock on his and Weiss' room with a wave of his wrist. The engineer finished off the last of his pizza crust and turned around to come face to face with a irritated Weiss.
"Uh...Hi?
"Don't you 'Uh... hi?' me! It's almost ten o'clock! You said you were done at eight."
She got up into Cyan's face, causing the engineer to blush hotly, "I had to spend the entire day with Ruby and… it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but still." The heiress gestured to the desk in their room, where a fast food restaurant togo box. "We even brought you home some food, that stupid meat filled sandwich that you love so much."
"...sorry."
She rubbed her temples, and stepped away from the engineer, "Don't do it again." Cyan rubbed his head in the way Nora deemed, the 'Novak Rub'. "So you spent the day with Ruby? How did that go?"
"It was actually sort of pleasant, surprisingly. At first we were more distant, but then she started talking about her family and… well…" Cyan smirked and poked her playfully in the ribs, "So you two are getting along then?" She swatted his hand away and humphed, "Better... maybe."She turned back to the engineer and held her arms open. The engineer stared blankly at her and mimicked the motion. "I want a hug, idiot."
"Oh." The duo embraced, Cyan set his chin on her head, and Weiss buried her face in his chest. The engineer was a little surprised at her uncharacteristic display of affection, "Are you alright, Weiss?" The heiress sighed, "I'm fine. I just…" she mumbled something into his chest.
"Sorry, I didn't hear that."
"..."
"Weiss?"
"...missed you."
Cyan flushed slightly, and squeezed a little. The two broke apart, and The engineer yawned, "I'm gonna go hit the shower." He stopped suddenly and turned back to Weiss. "Uh… for the record.. I missed you, too." And without a another word the cyborg turned into the bathroom and shut the door.
The next day was much like the previous one, Cyan got up and went work at six. Team RCWY and Team JNPR ate together, with Yang being quite through all of breakfast. To everyone's, surprise Ruby and Weiss had a non-forced conversation about next semester classes, something that made Pyrrha smile softly.
Eventually the teams went their separate ways to enjoy their time. Yang was, surprisingly, the first to go. She left just as quietly as she ate, causing her little sister to become concerned.
Weiss stretched, a full and content feeling after breakfast. She idly considered what she was going to do for day. Studying had already been done, she cleaned her side of the room already, and she had organised her and Cyan's collective movies... twice. The engineer didn't let anyone touch his video game collection (Which was only thing the engineer ever organised.) Later she could see if Cyan could break for lunch, but until then…
"Weiss!"
The heiress turned around to see Ruby jumping up and down, "Hey… I was wondering if you would like to do some team training? Yang is coming as well" Weiss considered the idea for only a moment, "Alright. As a team we should practice some."
"Yeah! We will just have to get Cyan involved later."
The white haired teen was mildly surprised when Ruby tentatively laced her fingers through her own. It felt weird to heiress, but in the end she supposed it wouldn't be too hard to get used to it.
Excerpt from the journal of Professor Ozpin
These current events have troubled me greatly. The A.I., Verdant is what she called herself told me of the fate of our world before the appearance of Mr. Novak. I was skeptical at first, but when they discovered all the weaponry in Mountain Glenn… I'm curious as to where things were changed for better or for worse.
End of Excerpt
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SmallTownGamer