Chapter 25: Let's Regroup, Team!

TROPHY UNLOCKED: THE DRAIGG

An author who writes fan fiction for others to enjoy, he sincerely likes the fact that he has a bunch of loyal readers that follow his work. What he likes less is that he doesn't own RWBY. Monty Oum owns that instead. However, The Draigg still types away, for the sake of his fans.

xxx

On the van ride back to the condo, Team RWBY was congratulating themselves on a job well done.

"That. Was. BRILLIANT!" Ruby cheered, holding her hand out of a high five. Yang obliges her and beamed that wide grin of hers.

"I know, right?! Sure, it got a little bumpy there, but man, we sure made it work!" Yang agreed.

"I guess my little addition wasn't that bad after all," Blake also added. However, instead of agreeing with Blake, the others gave her odd looks instead.

"Yeah, about that, Blake," Ruby said slowly, "While I think it was… okay to have in there, you could have at least told us you were going to say that. Or, you could have put that in the script instead,".

"No kidding," Weiss said, sounding a little annoyed now.

Blake lowered her head a little in shame. She knew that it probably wasn't the best idea to just change a large chunk of the script, but she just couldn't pass up the opportunity to have her message heard by a lot of people. What depressed her even more was that the lines she spoke weren't the only way she disappointed her friends today. She had also left Yang to her fate earlier. Yang decided in the nurses' office that Blake wasn't going to touch her for a week. This day wasn't good for her, and she caused most of it.

"I'm sorry for that…" Blake mumbled in apology.

Weiss shook her head and sighed, and Ruby crossed her arms across her chest, deep in thought. "Well…" she drawled out, "Just make sure that it doesn't happen again. If you want it in the script, actually put it in the script,".

"Can I?" Blake asked in some disbelief. Was Ruby really willing to have the message she wanted to give in the PSA?

"I don't see why not," Ruby replied with a shrug.

"Now hold up," Mr. Brass interrupted from the driver's seat, "I'm not sure the Schnee Dust Company would exactly agree with what you said on stage,".

"He has a point, Weiss agreed.

"Well, um, she didn't mention it specifically. It isn't that much of an issue… I think," thought Ruby to the others.

"Who else would it be? The Schnee Dust Company is almost a monopoly at this point. Their name is so big, that's the first thing that would come to mind for the audience," Mr. Brass pointed out. Ruby couldn't help but agree with his logic.

"And the company would find out what we're saying up there. Information always travels upwards," added Weiss.

"So, I guess we're not going to make the ad-lib official?" Yang asked everyone.

"Well, unless you can think of a way to make it sound less specific, then I would put it on hold for now," Mr. Brass concluded.

Blake slumped into her seat a little at that news. Of course the truth would be so easily swept under the rug as to not cause a stir. What could she even do? Blake couldn't fight it, she had already left the White Fang and that part of her life behind. And, apparently she couldn't just flat out say her grievances, as they would just be censored again. What Blake needed to do, was to write something even better than before.

The ride back home was uneventful after that exchange.

xxx

The work group wound down in their free time. Well, except for Blake. As soon as she got back to the condo, she snatched up her laptop and made for the upstairs workspace. Clearly, she was up to something involving the show. Either that, or she wanted to watch her weird porn again. Knowing Blake, it was probably both.

Mr. Brass had retired to his room to smoke and look over some of his work e-mail. Just because he was on a business related trip didn't mean that he still wasn't needed for other things.

Yang, Ruby, and Weiss had decided to relax in the living room. Right then, they were watching some animated movie right now. It was some generic story about a magic princess or something like that. Well, at least it was better than nothing, especially stock news.

Of course, Weiss, acting like the film connoisseur she believed herself to be, took this time to just blast and critique the movie.

"Okay, if this princess has magic, why doesn't she just break the spell herself?" Weiss asked the others.

"It has to be broken with the power of love, Weiss," explained Ruby, as if it was almost expected to be that obvious.

'That makes no sense! She has the power beyond her subjects, and she can't do anything? Why should that schmuck on screen be the one to lift the curse?" Weiss gestured to the screen. More specifically, she was referring to the rather generic looking farm-hand, who ha departed on his quest to save the fake kingdom.

"Because he's the hero!" Ruby dramatically declared, pointing her finger towards the sky. It became clear to Weiss that her girlfriend was projecting onto the main character a little. Why else would she be so enthralled with this dreck?

Weiss pointed out, "That isn't much of a reason, Ruby,".

"Oh come on, let her have this one," Yang asked of Weiss.

"All I'm saying is that this movie is unrealistic, generic, and bland. I don't even get the appeal of it!" Weiss said as she threw her hands in the air. She knew what she was talking about, she had watched plenty of good movies before… as far as her opinion went.

"But it's enjoyably unrealistic, right?" Yang argued.

Well, Weiss couldn't exactly argue with that. Despite her strong opinions on film, Weiss had to realize that when the chips were down, the only thing that really mattered to the average viewer was if they enjoyed the show or not. That was the one overarching fact about any type of media, after all.

"I guess…" Weiss mumbled in reply. Still, she didn't enjoy the movie herself. But, like all things, she acknowledged it was all a matter of perspective.

Admitting defeat, Weiss cuddled closer to Ruby on the couch. Sure, Ruby was squirming and moving around in excitement, that didn't mean that it didn't still feel nice. The heat radiating off of Ruby's small frame made Weiss feel rather comfortable. It was as if Ruby made for the best pillow ever.

"Hmmm…" Weiss hummed against Ruby's arm. However, the nice moment was ruined when Ruby leaned forward towards the screen to shout advice to the characters on screen. "Don't believe him! He's the warlock in disguise!" she tried to yell at the main character. Her cries of advice weren't enough to breach the walls of fiction, unfortunately.

Because Weiss fell face first onto the couch when Ruby moved, her head was squished when Ruby leaned back into her seat. "Get off of me this instant!" was Weiss' muffled cry. Not that she didn't like being that close to Ruby, but the head crushing was rather bothersome, to say the least.

"Ooop! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Ruby profusely apologized as she sat up so that Weiss could right herself.

Weiss sat back up in a proper position. "Really, you should be more careful next ti—" Weiss' scolding was cut off by a massive Ursa hug from Ruby.

"Ohh, I'm so sorry! I'll make it up to you, I swear! I didn't mean to hurt you!" Ruby apoligized even more. Even if Ruby didn't intend to hurt Weiss, that certainly wasn't showing now. Weiss was having an incredibly hard time breathing, and she thought one of her ribs cracked under the pressure of Ruby's hold.

"Can't… breathe…" wheezed Weiss. If she didn't know any better, Weiss could have sworn that Ruby was trying to physically merge the two of them. Luckily for her, Ruby heard her protests and let her go. Weiss panted as soon a she was let go. Ahhhh, that air was so refreshing to breathe.

"It's… all good… okay?" Weiss tried to diffuse between breaths. Her body wasn't ready for another round of apologies. For all she knew, the next time she might lose the ability to have children, or something else traumatic like that.

"Are you sure you're good?" asked a concerned Ruby.

"Yeah… I am," Weiss swiftly replied. Off to the side, she could hear Yang snicker a little at the sight of it all.

"Aww, how cute!" Yang remarked at the couple. Then, she batted her eyes at the pair, trying to mimic Ruby's puppy dog expression.

Weiss gave her best pout at the blonde boxer. Unfortunately, instead of having the desired effect (of displeasure), it made her face look cute, in an annoyed cat kind of way. Maybe that's why Yang liked teasing Blake in a similar way? Naturally, Yang had to laugh at the sight before her.

"It's not funny!" Weiss complained, blushing with frustration. Why did nobody take her seriously anymore?

"Oh, contraire!" Yang chuckled, "I think it's hilarious!".

"I don't! I think it's stupid! And you're stupid for thinking that!" Weiss shot back. That wasn't one of her better come-backs.

"Can you two please stop? You're talking over the movie," complained Ruby.

"Sorry," both Weiss and Yang apologized the same time. They then tried their best to pay attention to the television. However, neither of them was willing to let that argument slide, especially Weiss.

After a five minute silence, she said to Yang, "At least I don't have some disgusting chest like you,".

"Really? You're trying that insult again?" Yang asked with some disbelief. Yang had to admit, Weiss' pride didn't match up to her capacity for coming up with insults. Yang already had a reply ready for that tired shot at her.

"I'm so attractive, that standing next to me is like standing too close to a burning flame. In fact, I'm hotter than the sun in the middle of… wait what month is it again?" Yang trailed off. It was a shame too, as her defense started out pretty strong.

"Huh, I guess your intelligence matches your looks: dumb." Weiss spat at Yang. That metaphor made very little sense, so full points couldn't be awarded for it.

Now Yang looked a little insulted. It was ironic that that lame insult got under her skin a little. "Hey, I'm not dumb, I'm just… not good with calendars, okay?" she defended herself with. In reality, she frequently forgot what month, and even year it was. As part of her personal philosophy, she tried to live one week at a time. How else could you live life to the fullest? Still, it hurt a little when she was teased about it. It made her feel kind of dumb.

"Humph. Sure, I'll bet," Weiss said smugly. She believed that she had won the exchange then and there, as Yang had revealed a chink in her armor.

"At least I don't have a SHORT fuse," Yang said, invoking one of Weiss' angry triggers with a pun.

"Do you want to get beat up again?!" Weiss fumed, standing up and adopting a battle stance.

"I can take you on!" Yang replied, trying to get out of her chair. However, at that moment, many of the bruises on her stomach flared up in agony. "Nope, nope, nope, never mind.." Yang groaned through gritted teeth as she slid back into her seat.

"I knew it!" bragged Weiss as she shot a self-important smile at Ruby. What she got in return was a slightly annoyed look from Ruby and a gesture to be quiet. She was more invested in the movie than the argument in front of her.

Huffing in annoyance, Weiss sat back at Ruby's side. Well, that argument accomplished exactly two things: jack and shit. Yet again, that's how most arguments went with Team RWBY. The ones that actually had something were usually for the worst, like the time Blake disappeared after revealing herself to be a Faunus.

So, maybe it was for the best that this argument in question didn't do anything. After all, with all the stress of this trip so far, a nasty debate would just be the finishing blow to top it all off.

Hopefully, the success they had today would be an indicator for good times to come.

xxx

Well, thus concludes the day of their first performance! Let me clarify: their first GOOD performance. The other one was nothing but pure visual garbage. Anyway, let's just skip the part where I beg for reviews since, I take it you know what to do by now. So, this is The Draigg, signing off on this chapter!