Chapter Twenty-three
Once back in his room Damian flung off his blazer and changed into his casual cloths. When he returned form the bathroom Gagana was at her desk typing away, presumably on her report. Nathan was sprawled out on this bed also writing. Probably not a report though, he thought to himself. Lastly Ryu had decided to take up the entirety of the floor space by disassembling his weapon.
"Ryu what are you doing?" He asked.
"Just cleaning out Zang Jisuh, a clean gun is a happy gun." He added cheerful. Ryu's unusual tone threw him off so he turned to his bed. Damian decided to see if any of the other teams were up to anything interesting, the captains had special access to contact each other supposedly for emergencies but he decided he might as well try it out. First he started to write a message to Scarlet then remembered that she would still be in Gwynn's class. Next he set a message to Brett but got no reply. Well that's the main guys ruled out, he thought to himself. After a while he thought about contacting Ulrik but decided against it as he didn't know him that well, which in turn meant Maya was also not really an option for the same reasons. Lastly that left Bianca, who he had no real desire to talk to after lunchtimes incident. He rolled over and looked around his dorm. It was very nice with its sleek grey walls and its silver highlights but it didn't feel very much like a home yet. He wondered. Suddenly his stomach let out a huge groan.
"Getting a bit hungry are we?" Nathan asked still tapping away.
"You could say that." Damian replied, "Anyone want to join me in the cafeteria?" He asked.
"Can't." Ryu replied bluntly.
"Why's that?" Damian asked.
"It's closed till tomorrow for maintenance." He replied not looking away from his pile of plates and bolts.
"How are we going to eat then?" Nathan asked now sat up and giving his full attention.
"I guess we'll have to go and get some food." Gagana replied, finally drawn away from her work.
"Are we allowed to leave the campus?" Nathan asked.
"I mean I don't think there is a rule saying students can't leave during free time." Damian said.
"No you misunderstand, can WE leave." Nathan said again with more enthuses.
"Good point, were basically under house arrest." Ryu said clipping the last parts of his weapon together.
"I'll ask Ironwood I guess." Damian said taking out his scroll. He scrolled through his short list of contacts and found the headmaster.
"Hello Mr Ironwood do you have a moment." Damian asked trying to be as polite as possible.
"Damian why are you called me, is something wrong?... Did you brake something." Ironwood said, his implications were as unjustified as ever.
"No we, I was just calling to ask if it's okay if we leave the academy grounds to get some food as the cafeteria is out of order." Damian said earnestly. A slow groan emitted from the speaker.
"Yes it's fine, you can leave whenever you don't have a prescribed duty. In future unless you have an actual problem please do not phone me." Ironwood replied then hung up.
"Well that's that then, let's grab some food." Damian said as he grabbed his boots.
A couple minutes' latter the team was walking down the corridor down to the main gate where they were confronted by Lafayette.
"Where do ya think you lot are going?" She asked.
"Oh fuck I forgot about her." Nathan said quietly to the rest.
"Play it cool." Damian whispered back. "We're just off to grab some food." He said to Lafayette. She looked unconvinced.
"How do I know you're not off on some suicide mission to hunt some Grimm?" She asked.
"Well you got us there." Ryu said sarcastically. Nathan punched him in the arm.
"You're not helping." He then turned to Lafayette
"Well why don't you follow us then."
"Maybe I will." She replied
"Well maybe we're already gone." Damian said as he jumped on all fours and sped off. DRGN barely got five feet before Lafayette outrun them. The team stopped.
"Okay well go peaceful. Damian said reluctantly.
"Smart idea." Lafayette replied.
Once outside the academy's gates they headed into the shopping district. They had to take a hover tram so Lafayette led the way.
"Hover trams are great when you know how to use them." She said as she held a rail and looked down to her students, "the city is split into colour coded sections; blue is living, red is business, yellow is retail, green is industrial, Pink is healthcare, grey is military and white is education. So we've taking white onto the ring track then onto yellow."
"What colour is the ring track?" Ryu asked fanning interest.
"Black." She replied, "We're on it now actually."
The train made a little beep sound as it entered the main ring. Lafayette clicked a button and the roof of the tram turned yellow and a mechanical voice said
"Departing ring route for Retail district, I hope you have a nice time."
"Does it do that every time." Damian asked
"It says different things depending on where you're going." She replied.
"Well this is definitely a fast way of getting around the city, sure beats walking." Damian said.
"You walked from the train station to the academy?" Gagana asked.
"Well no I got a lift." He replied.
"You got friends in the city?" Nathan asked
"No," Damian said laughing to himself, he forgot he hadn't told anyone about this train ride yet. "I got a lift from a nice police officer" he said. There was then a ding sound as the tram doors opened and the voice said
"You have now arrived at your destination, please be careful while you depart."
"Are you sure you didn't just end up in prison?" Nathan asked jokingly.
"I was in holding." He replied causing the others to stop.
"You what?" Ryu said eyebrow raised.
"I don't think I can work with an x-con." Nathan said
"Man what did you do." Lafayette asked.
"Oh you know just got into a fight on a train no big deal." He said trying to play it off.
"We never did find that suspect." A voice said from behind him causing him to jump. He turned to see Sargent Azure Marine.
"Evening Sargent." He said with a little salute.
"Put it away," she said, "I'm off duty." She definitely didn't look on duty, instead of her blue and grey uniform she was wearing a black and purple jacket with a shorts and strapped top. She looked to the other three students then to Lafayette. Realisation hit her, her mouth fell open and she dropped her cigarette.
"Babe you're here!" She said as she leapt onto Lafayette and gave her a hug. She then turned to the three students.
"Now children here's a quick rule never trust a scoundrel like this with money, you will never see it again." She said with a cackle.
"Ignore the crazy bureaucrat I know not of what she speaks." Lafayette said trying hard not to look at Azure.
"You are very different off the cloak." Damian said bluntly.
"What is that supposed to mean." She said sounding hurt, "Just because I have to have a stick up my ass at work doesn't mean I can't have fun in my free time."
"I'm pretty sure you like a sick up your ass in your free time too." Lafayette mumbled then immediately got silenced by Azure.
"How do you two know each other?" Gagana asked in an attempt to move the conversation.
"I busted her once and now she's working for Ironwood as a way to pay off her debt." Azure said coldly. The four students looked shocked.
"What did YOU do?" Damian asked, making sure to copy Lafayette to the best of his ability.
"I was an adventurer." She began
"A gipsy." Azure interrupted.
"I travelled the world fighting Grimm and looking for treasure."
"and evading tax laws and sleeping in people's driveways and let's not forget stealing my boyfriend!" Azure snapped.
"Sorry Sis, he was a bit of a dick to be honest so I really did you a favour." Lafayette giggled.
"Sis?" Nathan said, "You two are related?"
"Yes we are, by the only bond thinker then spit, blood." Layette said proudly.
"That's still disgusting." Azure said bluntly. She then turned back to the students. "so what made you leave the academy, old man Ironwood being a drag again."
"Well I mean that is a constant. Were just here because some of the students busted up the cafeteria so we have no food." Nathan replied
"Well that sucks, why don't you come with me I know a place that does great Eastern Vacuo food." Azure said keenly.
"Well sure why not. Lead the way." Lafayette said. The students followed as the two sisters lead the way through the bright neon streets and tunnels that shopping district was made of.
"I've never had Eastern Vacuo food what's it like?" Damian asked.
"My mum is from there actually," Gagana said, "We had it quite a lot at home. It's, at its base anyway. Cured meats, fruit pasts and flat bread. Oh and they use lots of herbs and spices to give it a lot of punch."
"Not sure how my bland Mantal stomach will handle something with punch?" Nathan said. Damian nodded in agreement.
"I've always thought that the food here was colourful enough." Gagana said.
"Na," Nathan replied, "that's Atlas city food, they import a lot of that. The food I and I assume Damian here is use to is quite bland and mushy you know porridge, fish soup, actually fish snaps are kinda great."
"Oh I love them." Damian said mouth-watering at the thought.
"What is a fish snap?" Ryu asked.
"Oh it's like… Imagine beef jerky with a fish instead of a cow." Nathan replied slowly.
"Sounds disgusting." Ryu replied almost visibly disturbed by the notion.
Damian suddenly felt his scroll buzzing. He and answered to a familiar voice.
"Howdy."
"Hello Scarlet what's up?" Damian asked.
"We just got out of class and realised we have nothing to eat where have you guys gone off to?"
"We're out with Lafayette and one of her friends getting some food."
"Do you think you could pick us up something? Oh and Brett is asking as well." Damian rolled his eyes, I'm not a take away joint, he thought to himself.
"Yea sure, I don't really know what the food is like but I'll just get you whatever Gagana recommends." He replied
"Okay thanks Damian."
"Yea see you soon." Damian hung up and was about to put his scroll away when he got a notification, it said: fifty Lien has been added to your student account by the Gold dust company. That must be Mary covering the cost, he thought. When Damian looked up they had finally arrived at the shop, it had a simple wooden look that clashed with the nearby chrome and neon. Inside was full of a think smoky sent that filled Damian's nostrils and caused them to tingle.
"Gagana can you order enough food for twelve." Damian asked as he had no clue what any of the words on the menus meant. He then taped his scroll against Gagana's and transferred the Lien. She nodded and trotted off to the counter and began talking very quickly in an accent Damian could barely follow.
Lafayette returned from the counter while her food was being processed.
"Do you think you guys can make it back on your own."
"Yea I think so." Damian said.
"Good it's been ages since I had a drink with sis so I'm gonna be here if anything happens, which it shouldn't." She added hastily before returning to the counter.
A few minutes later Gagana returned with two large brown bags filled with smaller paper wrapped parcels and two large bottles held under her arms. Nathan and Ryu took the bags off her leaving her with the drinks.
"He was such a nice man," Gagana said as they headed back to the academy, "he even gave me these drinks for free, they should help keep it cool." She said holding a bottle filled with what looked like light blue cream. "The other is just berry juice." she added.
"Sounds good." Nathan said as he decided to look into his bag, "looks like we have quite a feast."
"Yea Vacuo food is quite good for shearing." She said.
Suddenly something caught Damian's yes and he sprinted down a side ally. It was a streak of brown. He wasn't even sure where he remembered it from but he whipped around a corner, crashed into something and fell down. He heard a squeak and quickly jumped to his feet. Turns out he had knocked someone over.
"Oh fuck, I'm really sorry." He said as he leant a hand. The person got to their knees and turned around.
"Not you again!" It screamed. Damian upon seeing the persons face recognised her immediately. It was the girl from the train. She pulled out a large rifle from underneath her cloak and jammed the barrel between his eyes. A voice called out from behind Damian.
"What is wrong with you, you got caught again! And by the same guy."
"It's not like I intend for these things to occur." she whined. The voice signed and Damian didn't try to look behind him over fear of getting shot. "Melody put him to sleep the." The voice said coldly. Damian suddenly heard music and felt his muscles start to loosen up, his body grew heavy but his survival instinct kicked him to keep himself awake. He snarled then roared at the girl petrifying her and making her drop her weapon.
"For crying out load Bon you are useless!" The voice said angrily. Damian turned to see several figures on the roof top. The one talking, a boy dressed in green was the one who had been talking. "Rolo will you please take care of him."
"Dude that's a giant fucking Ursa." One of the figures responded.
"No it's not it's clearly and illusion or something." The green clad figure said.
"No it ain't!" Damian said as he jumped towards him and took a swipe. He then found himself flying backwards to the ground. He wracked his brain trying to work out what happen. Two of the figures jumped down onto him and pinned him to the ground.
"Good night!" On said venomously as he jabbed and barb into Damian's neck and started to electrocute him until he passed out.
When Damian woke up his team where huddled around him and he was back on the Main Street.
"What happened?" he asked. He tried to sit up but his limbs were numb and unresponsive.
"We were just about to ask you that." Ryu said.
"Yea we just saw you run into an alleyway then I chased after you but got lost. I heard you shouting then I found you passed out on the ground so I dragged you back here." Nathan said. A clatter of footsteps could be heard and moments latter Lafayette and Azure showed up and asked what happen.
"It was that girl." Damian said groggily his tongue felt a bit numb too. "The one I thought on the train. She had some friends."
"Come on kid I need descriptions." Azure said as she took out her scroll and started sending messages now with her hat and badge on.
"The girl is short brown haired, brown cloak she had a large gun. A boy dressed in green, another boy dressed in brown cloak and a shock baton and four other people in cloaks one of which had a musical devise." Damian spluttered trying to speak as quickly as possible. Azure patted him on the head.
"Good work." She then looked to Lafayette, "get this trooper home." And she darted off with her gun in her had. Nathan and Lafayette picked up Damian while Ryu grabbed the food.
"Let's get out of here." she said as the four of them marched of back to the academy.