Hello everyone and welcome back to HellFall! The last chapter ended with a cliffhanger, if you remember, so lets get right into it. (Also this chapter contains probably the most alcohol consumption in the story, so if that's a problem for you be wary)
I reached over and took some of Steam's food. "Soon," I replied, "but not now"
"Why?" Petunia demanded.
"I have to get back to business." I replied, "I'm working now, remember? And explaining could take a while"
"Well, when then?" Petunia asked.
"After the tournament," I replied, "when we've figured everything out"
"Promise?" Hail asked, leaning forward on the couch.
"Promise" I replied.
"Do what you have to do" Petunia sighed.
I stopped for a second, then stood and left the cafeteria to return to the audience seats.
"What took so long?" Thunder asked without looking over.
"The team wanted to hang out afterwards." I replied, "Turns out there's free food for the fighters"
"I see" Thunder said.
"Plus they wanted to do some catching up"
"Huh" Thunder said half-attentively.
I looked over to see him glued to the arena. Turning back, I saw that the fight was pretty exciting.
"Who's fighting?" I asked.
Thunder didn't reply.
"Hey" I said, pushing him slightly.
"Huh?" He asked.
"Who's fighting?" I asked.
"RWBY and SLMN (salmon)" He replied.
"Thanks" I replied, looking out at the fight. "Who's in what team?"
"RWBY is red, white, black, and yellow. The others are SLMN" He replied.
"Kay," I replied, looking over at the fight. The winner was clear; team RWBY. Somehow Thunder was so excited by this. Team SLMN was getting their butts handed to them on a silver platter.
When the match ended the announcer said that that was the last fight of the day, and that it would resume the next day.
Leaving the arena, I walked with Thunder.
"What did you think?" I asked.
"There are some good teams in there" He replied.
"It's pretty clear who's going to get ahead already eh?" I asked.
"Yes." Thunder replied, "I know for certain that I want your team, and same with RWBY"
"RWBY?" I asked, "After one fight?"
"Sure." He replied, "I mean, did you see that fight?"
"Yeah," I replied, "I saw lots of recklessness and scattered battle tactics. They're pretty disorganized"
"Then how'd they win?" Thunder challenged.
"They have lots of strength," I replied, "They're all brawn and no brain. SLMN on the other hand had neither"
"Hmph" Thunder grunted.
"Gaz!" Someone called behind me. I turned, it was Hail. She was standing in front of Steam and Petunia.
"Hold on" I told Thunder, walking over to them.
"Where are you staying?" Hail asked.
I shrugged, "I'll find a hotel somewhere" I replied.
"That's no fun!" Hail said, punching my arm. "Come join us"
"What kind of place do you guys have?" I asked.
"You'll see" Hail replied.
"Alright." I replied, somewhat nervous, "Hold on" I turned back to Thunder and told him where I was going.
"Go ahead." He replied, "Take this though, and look it over tonight" He handed me a sheet of paper. "It's the tournament match-ups." He told me, "Mark the teams you're interested in, and so will I. We'll talk about it tomorrow at the tournament. Meet me in the same place as today"
"Got it" I replied, returning to my team.
"Is that guy your employer or something?" Petunia asked.
"He's like that" I replied.
"So are you sure we won't have time to talk tonight?" Hail asked.
"I'd rather not" I replied, folding up the paper and slipping it into my pocket.
"Fine" Hail said, looking frustrated.
Petunia turned, "Let's go" She said, starting to leave.
We arrived at a truck shortly after and started to get inside. Hail and Steam got into the front, but there weren't any seats in the back.
"You'll have to sit in the back" Hail told me.
"There aren't any seats in the back" I pointed out.
"Dang city-folk," Hail cursed, "in the trunk, the back, whatever you want to call it. We've set up some nice seats back there"
I walked around to the back, where Petunia was already sitting in the trunk, leaning against the back of the cab of the truck. There were long body pillows set up along the sides, and a large blanket set up on the bottom. Black straps for handles lined the rim.
"Welcome," Petunia started, "to the PHGG Machine" She spread her arms out where she sat, lazily welcoming me.
I laughed, climbing up into the trunk and leaning against one of the pillows next to Petunia.
"Want a drink?" She asked me, pointing to the end of the trunk. There was a long cooler stretching across it where body pillows would normally be placed.
"Isn't that illegal?" I asked.
"We aren't driving Gaz" Petunia pointed out.
I shrugged, smiling, "Sure" I replied, standing to go to the cooler. All of a sudden the truck started moving, and I fell face-first into the blanket on the floor.
Petunia laughed, "You okay?" She asked.
I pushed myself up, "Yeah" I replied, laughing a little.
Petunia hit the back of the cab, "Watch it!" She laughed, "We're trying to get a drink!"
"Don't get too drunk before we get home!" Hail called back, "I want to join you afterwards!"
"Of course!" Petunia called back, then turned to me. I was still on the floor, slowly crawling to the long cooler. I didn't want to risk falling over again.
"What kind of stuff have you got in here?" I asked.
"Black wine," Petunia started, "Liquor-Ice, Daft, Bear Hugs, Bunny-Hops, everything. We've got the whole package"
"What about Eric's Might?" I asked.
"Yeah, I think so." Petunia replied, "Why? I thought you hated that stuff"
"It's grown on me" I replied.
"I thought you said it's too alcoholic"
"It is"
Petunia paused, then smiled, "I see" She replied.
I opened the cooler, looking at everything drowning in ice. Pulling out a Bear Hug, I turned, "Want anything?" I asked.
"Get me some Keinan Garry" she replied.
I pulled a Keinan out from the cooler, then crawled back over to Petunia. Handing her the bottle I said, "I used that as an alias a few times"
"Really?" She asked, "Did you ever fool anyone?"
"Oh yes" I replied, cracking open my Bear Hug.
"Clearly some people don't know their alcohol" Petunia said.
"Yeah but who's ever heard of Keinan Garry?" I asked, "I mean, seriously, how do you even drink that crap?" I gulped down a bit of beer.
"Hey!" She called out, cracking hers open, "If it's so bad, why would you use it as an alias?"
"First of all," I started, "because that's all you ever drink and I tend to get drunkest with you of all people. Secondly, nobody's ever heard of it but us"
Petunia gulped down a bit, then held up her bottle, "Cheers" she said. I clinked my bottle against hers, then took another swig.
By the time we reached the house, I had gone through two bottles, and Petunia was on her third.
Hail hit the side of the truck, "Wake up kiddies," she called, "we're home"
I looked around, but already I was having trouble seeing.
"Why don't you just come up here?" Petunia suggested to Hail.
"Remember last time we got drunk in there?" Hail asked.
"It wasn't that bad" Petunia said, taking another sip.
"We had to run those blankets and pillows through the washer a few times. That puke was really on there" She reminded her.
"We'll just wash it right away" Petunia suggested.
"Good idea." I said, "Get it while it's soft and mushy"
Hail sighed, then opened the back of the truck and pulled out the cooler.
"No, wait" Petunia reached out lazily.
"Come and get it" Hail said, turning and walking away.
Petunia sighed, then slowly stood up and started after her. I stood and staggered out of the truck as well.
Inside the house, I could barely tell what was going on.
"Put those down thief!" Petunia called after Hail.
She laughed, and so did Petunia. Hail put the cooler down, then opened it up and pulled out a drink. I couldn't tell what it was. Steam came and pulled one out as well.
"Remember Petunia," Hail started, cracking open her bottle, "don't wander around, or you'll stain all the furniture again"
Petunia put her bottle down after sipping from it, then waved her hand, "Pfft!" She spat, "Since when have I done that?"
"You know when" Hail replied, taking a sip of her drink.
"Why are you so boring all of a sudden?" I asked her.
Hail looked over at me, "Because I'm not drunk yet." She replied.
I raised my bottle, "Join the crew" I said. Hail clinked her bottle against mine, then took a drink.
I downed my whole third bottle, then reached for another. Looking at the label, I vaguely made out the words 'Eric's Might', and took it.
"Eric already?" Hail asked.
"You gotta start somewhere" I replied, cracking open the cap and taking a large swig.
After that everything started to blur together until everything went black, yet I still felt conscious.
So yeah, cliffhanger fake-out. Nothing was revealed. Sorry (not really)
Although hopefully you guys learned a bit more about the characters. They like to get drunk quite often. I don't plan on having this happen too much though, as I don't like writing about it much and the story will get too serious for this stuff pretty soon.
I actually almost forgot to upload this today. I recently started writing another original story, so I haven't been writing this as much. Good thing I'm several chapters ahead though. I'm planning on posting my new story online as well, but on another site called Fictionpress. I'll tell you when I start posting it, but for now if you want to check it out then go ahead (I'm under the same name by the way, if you want to find me)
And I think that's about it. So as usual, favorite, follow, review, tell your friends, tell your enemies, or don't if you don't want to, and I'll see you all in the next chapter.