Chapter 22: Minute to Burn


Character Change: Ifiral Phenrix - Viralious

Location: City of Mantle


The Bullhead would land in its normal spot, three blocks away from the Glass Unicorn. The pilot made sure to let them know that he'll be on standby, and he'll pick them up at the drop location they send to his scroll. After that brief exchange, the Bullhead lifts off and disappears into the night.

Ifiral breathes in before starting to walk towards the Glass Unicorn following his normal schedule.

"Ifiral, what the hell is going on?" Eckhart says pulling Ifiral from his normal routine.

Ifiral rolls his eyes, "Just keep up and follow my lead." his tone is unreadable before he continues on.

Viralious scowls but starts to follow behind motioning for Winter and Eckhart to follow.

Eckhart simply shakes his head and waits until Winter is next to him before whispering to her, "I don't like this one bit."

Winter shakes her head and leans in, "Neither do I, but we need to trust Ifiral, he's, our teammate. Besides, it could be something as simple as going to a party." Winter says with a shrug.

Eckhart's face gives a look of 'really' before he shakes his head, "Why would he have us bring our weapons if he was going to a party?"

"I don't know, just trying to keep an open mind…" Winter responds.

"If you're done talking behind my back try and keep up, we're almost there." Ifiral calls out to Winter and Eckhart, pulling them out of the conversation.

Eckhart shakes his head, "This is going to be a long night."

After a minute of walking the four of them found themselves outside the remains of a burnt-out hotel. While looking mostly structurally sound the facade and general look of the hotel was in rough shape. White stone charred to be black, once great looking balconies rotted and looked like they would collapse with any extra weight. The sign showing the name was little more than a row of metal sticks and illegible.

"A hotel?" Viralious questions looking at the building.

"It's long since abandoned. Follow me." Ifiral says pushing forward and entering the building.

Viralious looks back to the rest of his team, "Well, we've come this far might as well see what this is… who knows maybe it's just a fight club." he says with a shrug.

"You're strangely casual about this Viralious." Winter responds.

"Trying to follow some of Ironwood's advice… Don't question the madness." he responds with a shrug.

"Come on, we should get inside before we get too far behind." Eckhart says walking towards the entrance to the hotel.

Viralious turns to Winter and shrugs before following behind Eckhart, Winter stands there for a moment before following the rest of her team inside… She can't help but shake the feeling that she knew where she was at… a thought that for some reason deeply unsettled her.

The interior of the hotel looked much worse than the outside, the once grand lobby looked in tatters. The pale-yellow floor was covered in a large amount of soot and grime, the multiple tables and chairs that littered the floor, overturned and looked like they were heavily damaged. The once grand blood red carpet was little more than a dirty black line on the floor, but the most terrifying thing was the two crystal statues of Grimm. One Beowolf and one Ursa were deeply covered in soot mimicking the actual look of the creatures only missing their bone white masks.

"This place has certainly seen better days. I highly doubt this is the place that would have a mint on my pillow." Viralious jokes trying to lighten the mood. No one gives a laugh or anything.

"Tough crowd tonight. So Ifiral, what brings us to an old hotel?" Viralious says turning to his auburn hair ally.

"The fourth floor, keep up." Ifiral says in a quiet tone before walking toward the stairs.

Viralious turns to the rest of his team who are looking around the lobby a look of realization slowly setting in, "I've seen that look in your eyes Winter, what's up?"

"This is the Glass Unicorn…" Winter responds.

"Am I supposed to know what that is?" Viralious shoots back.

"It was a popular hotel in Mantle, one of the last beacons of luxury in the city of Mantle they said… until last year it suddenly burned down and the family that ran it died inside." Eckhart drones out, giving the rundown.

"Okay, but so what's that got to do with Ifiral?" Viralious says

"I don't know, but I'm not liking it." Winter says curtly.

"Same here, for now let's give him the benefit of the doubt… besides it's not like he's acting a vigilante fighting crime or something right?" Viralious responds.

"Now's not the time for humor Viralious… But you're right, we should keep an open mind." Eckhart says motioning for them to follow him up the stairs, rounding the corner on the fourth floor they find the Ifiral in front of one of the doors seemingly meditating in front of a picture and two lit candles.

"That seems like a fire hazard…" Viralious says once he sees the candles which results in Winter Elbowing him in the stomach as a result.

"Show some respect, it is obvious he's praying or paying respects." Winter says glaring at Viralious

"I know, just stating the obvious." Viralious says in a huff.

Viralious, Winter, and Eckhart stand there watching over Ifiral while he finishes paying respects to his family. After an indeterminate amount of time Ifiral puts out the candles before reaching over and grabbing his blade. Attaching it to his back, he turns to his team and begins to pull out a plain looking scroll. Punching in a few keypresses he pulls up what looks like a navigation app and punches in something. Eventually, Ifiral turns to Viralious and says, "We're doing this my way, so now's the time to leave if you don't want to participate in this." His tone is serious and uncompromising.

"Mind telling us exactly what you're doing, that way we can actually make the informed decision." Winter says, raising an eyebrow.

"Getting justice for…" Ifiral starts before trailing off.

"Oh my god he's really a vigilante." Eckhart says under his breath.

Viralious breathes in once before saying, "I trust you Ifiral, I'm in."

"WHAT!" Winter and Eckhart say at the same time. In response, Viralious turns to them.

"Truth, is it doesn't matter what he's doing, Ifiral's our teammate so I'm going to support him. Besides, better a chance to lead him on the right path if he is being a dumbass." Viralious says in conviction.

Eckhart closes his eyes for a minute lost in thought while Winter fidgets nervously. Eventually Winter breathes out a deep sigh, "Alright, Ifiral I trust you. So long as we aren't becoming terrorists by helping you." her tone is still slightly nervous.

Ifiral smirks, "Terrorists? Nope, but you might break a few trespassing laws if you're lucky." His tone is a humorous one.

"I don't like this one bit…." Eckhart says, breaking through the rest of his teammates' conversations. "But that being said, I would be remiss of not trusting my partner." he says while walking towards Ifiral. "If you are certain this is what you want to do, I'll do what I can to help. But so help me god, no more secrets after tonight for fuck sakes, we're a team might as well keep everyone in the loop."

This gets Ifiral to smile, not smirk but earnestly smile. "Alright, after tonight, I'll do my best to tell you everything… but first we need to get towards the Industrial sector. The target hasn't moved in a good 15 minutes." his tone turned serious towards the end.

"Target?" Viralious says raising an eyebrow.

"I'll explain later, just follow me." Ifiral says moving towards the stairwell.

With a shrug Viralious follows behind. Eventually Team VIEW exits the Glass Unicorn and begins moving through the cold streets of Mantle.


"I never realized how large Mantle really was before now." Viralious says to his team while they are walking the cold street. Around them the dimmed-out streetlights flickered on and off. The streets were starting to become more and more littered and damaged as they moved away from the Old Atlas quarter, around them the lights on the buildings were out and a few were boarded up. Truth be told they were approaching the side of Mantle no one wanted to be at, sure they were still a good few kilometers away from the Crater and the slums that that was, but it was closer to the industrial sector rather than the residential areas that most people stuck to.

"It's the original kingdom before Atlas flew into the sky. I mean, the last census put it at around 4 million people, they have to go somewhere." Eckhart responds scholarly, answering Viralious. Around them a few people moved into their homes or the nearest building upon seeing their weapons. This action gets Winter to raise an eyebrow.

"What are they doing?" Winter asks in general confusion.

"Hiding from huntsmen." Ifiral answers deadpan.

"Why? Huntsmen are the protectors of the people we ke-" Winter starts

"That's all-true Winter, but Huntsmen in Atlas means that they follow the Council and Ironwood." Ifiral says interrupting her.

"Not only that, there are plenty of corrupt huntsmen willing to push their weight around." Viralious pipes in, remembering a few unpleasant memories from Mistral.

Winter frowns and looks at the scared faces of those around them. She locks eyes with a small little girl, she has a dark complexion, teal blue hair and cool blue eyes. In her hands is a large, tarnished watch. Upon locking eyes with Winter, the girl runs away into the nearest store not before saying an unsettling thing: "The preachers of a new world are here." her tone shows one of true fear.

Viralious is the first to respond after that, "That's not fucking ominous at all.'' His tone is a mix between serious and joking.

"I have to admit, that's a new one." Ifiral says chilled by the girl's words.

"Whatever it is, it's not good." Eckhart says deepening into a scowl.

Suddenly they hear a scream and see the same girl rushing out of the store when two men follow her out.

"Little girl, no need to scream, we simply wish to show you the wonders of a new world." One of the two men says reaching towards the small girl, he's about to grab her arm before a purple shatter appears under the girl pulling her away from him.

The small girl appears behind Winter from the other side of Viralious' gate, he then announces, "Eckhart, Winter, keep the girl safe! Ifiral, with me!" He says while unsheathing his weapon and rushing towards the two men.

Ifiral nods before joining Viralious. The two men seeing the huntsmen (in-training) rushing towards them decide to cut their losses and rush into the alleyway behind them. Viralious and Ifiral run after them. Eventually, after a few minutes both Viralious and Ifiral return empty handed, "Sorry they lost us in the twists and turns of the labyrinth that are those back allies." Viralious says jogging back towards Winter.

"It's fine, it's just a good thing you managed to chase them off." Eckhart says, nodding his head.

Winter hears a small sniffle behind her as she turns, she sees the little girl has started to cry. Kneeling down, Winter pulls out a handkerchief and wipes away the forming tears in the girl's eyes "Shhhh, don't cry. You're safe now… the bad men are gone." She says in a comforting tone.

"*Sniff* they… they took my… father please you have to." The small girl says through small breathes

"We will, don't worry." Viralious says kneeling down to be level with the girl. "That was a brave thing you did there. What's your name?" he asks in a compassionate tone.

"*Sniff* it's Ciel…" Ciel says shyly.

"A beautiful name, reminds me of my half-sister a little bit." Viralious says smiling.

"Viralious, it's not safe here, we should probably take her home." Ifiral says looking around.

"You're probably right… Ciel, do you have a house nearby? Do you have any family there?" Viralious asks.

Ciel is quiet for a few minutes before she speaks, "Y-yes… I have a mother there… but Dad is-!"

"Could you allow us to walk you back? Don't worry about your father like I said we will get him back."

Ciel gives a few nods before starting to lead them towards her house. Team VIEW sticks by her the whole distance. Eventually after a few minutes they come up to a small blue door with the words 'Soleil Residence' in a swirly font on a small sign.

Viralious steps forward and knocks on the door twice. After a few frantic moments a woman who looks like a much older version of the small girl still standing behind Winter. It's obvious that she had been crying.

"What do you want?" The woman says in an annoyed tone.

"We found your daughter being accosted by two people promising a better world. Figured we should walk her home to make sure she stays safe." Viralious says compassionately.

"Ciel?" The woman says, nearly breaking down into tears. Winter steps aside allowing for the mother to see Ciel standing there shyly. After a moment's pause Ciel rushes into her mother's arms.

The mother and daughter embraced for a good few minutes before the mother turned back to Team VIEW and says, "Thank you…"

"Ciel mentioned her father was taken by those people… can you give us more information?" Viralious says.

This gets the mother to give a confused look "He's meeting with the General today… Ciel what did you do?"

Ciel looks down. "But I heard him say he was going to do something about them then… the next day he disappeared!"

This gets Viralious to give a small laugh, "Ah the imagination of a child, I mean Yang and Ruby would probably do something similar." Viralious says reminiscing on some of their hijinks.

"I'm sure Ciel was just worried about her father." Winter says

"Ciel… Promise me you will not run off like that again." Ciel's mother says, concerned.

Ciel is still for a few moments before speaking, "I promise…"

"Well glad we were able to make sure she was safe. Have a good night." Viralious says turning away.

"Wait…" Ciel's mother says, stopping Viralious in his tracks, "Things are getting dangerous here… could you please unlock my daughter's aura." Ciel's mom says quietly.

"If you excuse me Mrs. Soleil, but Mantle shouldn't really be that bad…" Eckhart says.

"It wasn't… until Meteion showed up." She responds

"Meteion… Them again…" Viralious says. He then stepped forward, "Alright but only if Ciel wants me to." He says looking at Ciel.

Ciel stands there unsure before she turns to Viralious and nods.

Viralious then walks forward and places his hand on her shoulder, "Close your eyes and focus." He then breathes in and remembers when his mother unlocked his aura.

"It is in the darkest depths that we find empathy. Through others, we gain the will to shape our own destiny. Infinite in potential and free from the past, I release your soul, and by my hand, guide thee." Viralious says as a purple glow surrounds his body, eventually once he finishes speaking a soft blue glow of aura appears around Ciel. Breathing out a heavy sigh, Viralious takes his hand off of Ciel's shoulder and gives her a smile. "There, Auras unlocked but it's up to you to train it."

"Thank you… If something happened to her, I don't think that I could have…" Ciel's mother starts.

"Don't worry about it… besides It's better safe than sorry." Viralious says with a smirk.

"We should get going, we've taken a bit longer here than we meant to." Ifiral says trying to get everyone to leave quickly.

"Yeah, we'll head out in a minute." Viralious says reaching into his pocket and pulling out his scroll he then flashes his number on it and shows it to Ciel and her mother, "I might not be Ironwood but if you are ever in trouble like that again, give me a ring and I'll do what I can to help." He finishes with a smile.

Ciel's mother writes the number on a small piece of paper before nodding and motioning Ciel inside. With one final wave she closes the door behind her. Viralious starts to walk away but does overhear the extreme dressing down that Ciel is getting from her mother is giving her.

"I don't envy her right now." Viralious says meeting back up with the rest of his team.

"Granted she did basically run away and was brought back by four strangers in the middle of the night. Come to think of it, it's a miracle that her mother was even there." Eckhart says shrugging.

"Well, it doesn't matter, what's done is done. We've lost a good amount of time, but it looks like the target hasn't moved. If we hurry, we might still be able to catch them." Ifiral says picking up his pace.

Viralious shrugs before following along. Eckhart simply shakes his head and follows. Winter follows but is still distracted by both Viralious' deeds and the words he said unlocking Ciel's aura…

What does he mean by 'darkest depths?

She eventually breaks from her thoughts and moves to catch up to the rest of her team.


After what felt like an hour (it was 15 minutes) they reached a large warehouse. From the outside it looked just like a regular warehouse. Only thing out of place was a shiftily made banner on the side showing a map with a 'X' through it.

"Meteion." Eckhart says gritting his teeth.

Inside they could hear what almost sounded like a political rally, there was some key speaker and occasionally there would be cheers from people inside. Glancing towards the doorway they could see no visible guards or sentries. Ifiral turns to them pulling up his face mask.

"Stick to the exit, be ready to cover a retreat." Ifiral says seriously.

"Ifiral, the fuck are you doing?" Eckhart says before Ifiral makes his way inside.

Pushing forward, Ifiral makes his way through the crowd slowly pushing through. While doing this the speaker on the stage continues to talk.

"The Council and Ironwood continue to take everything that you need up to Atlas and leave Mantle poor and forgotten! When was the last time anyone mentioned that MANTLE was the kingdom instead of that floating eyesore?" His voice is rallying and rehearsed, "Think of how much you have suffered! The elites living in Atlas just take and take and take until there is nothing left for the common people down below! When was the last time you could get a piece of Dust that wasn't branded with that accursed snowflake on it? When was the last time you felt that you could walk home safely without being accosted by a huntsman or one of Ironwood's goons? When was the last time you didn't have to keep an ear to the ground to know which neighbors were spies for the council? The answer is far too fucking long!"

Ifiral was approaching the front of the crowd by this point when he noticed the two men who tried to abduct Ciel standing by the stage. Carefully he shifts and looks down at his scroll, noticing the target is the speaker on the stage right now. Breathing in he continues to push forward.

"The truth is you are not slaves of an economic system you are workers chained to the greed of the elite! You must rise up and break your chains. Comrades! Seize the factories you work in! Kill your bosses! Turn the weapons you produce against them! Break your chains and show your teeth! Too long have you suffered under the oppressive rule of Atlassians! It's time that you rise up and create a better world! Meteion is here to guide you! Thordan Skobeloff, the man who had been cast out for his Ideals and who the council tried to Silence has returned to lead you to seize what is truly yours!" The speaker says in conviction.

Upon hearing this Eckhart's face drops to one of surprise, "He's alive?"

"The world is unfair and a shattered remnant of what it could be! There is greatness in each of you. It's time that we seize it!" Ifiral was at the foot of the stage and began climbing the steps. "Meteion will create a new world a world where we need not fear even the very grimm for it is time that you rise up and seize the means of-"

The speaker never has the chance to finish as he is interrupted by a point-blank shot by one of Ifiral's shotguns. The whole room goes Quiet in an instant.


Character Change: Viralious- Kairi-Tsugumi Basil

Location: Atlas Academy: Professor Basil's office.


Basil was tired of working late. Sure, she was more of a night owl then a morning person (The amount of coffee she drank showed that) but the amount of paperwork that had started to pile up from her picking up the position of temporary student counselor. She was hoping that Viralious would have stopped in after the announcement but so far, the only first year who actually showed up was Issac and he just came to bitch about his team.

Letting out a guttural sigh, Basil looks over to the digital clock sitting on her desk. The readout said around 11:06 Pm meaning that Ifiral would be making his way down to Mantle.

She really wasn't supposed to know the reason and Kaine was pretty good at hiding it, but the truth was, it's not smart to take a call with your significant other in another person's office… especially if that office has listening devices hidden in basically every other piece of furniture.

Sighing again, Basil pulled up the camera feed for the stretch from the locker rooms to the airship docks. Everything seemed normal and Ifiral was doing a surprisingly good job at keeping hidden from the cameras… She was about to close the screen when a glimmer of white caught her eye. Refocusing she sees the entirety of Team VIEW boarding the Bullhead… something that wasn't typical. Meaning there was trouble occurring.

Alarm bells rang in Basil's head. Quickly she grabbed her scroll and weapon from her desk and rushed out of her office nearly hitting a stunned Makoto in the process, she didn't wait to hear the squirrel faunus' question she just dashed towards the communications portion of the academy and called someone on her burner scroll.

"This is ASF Basil, Division G requesting GS1 for immediate launch" her tone is harsh and militaristic, a hint of the normally stuttering mouse professor is not present.

"This is Atlas Special Forces, this request has been approved and taken off the books with official protocol… Should I inform General Ironwood?" The voice on the other end says.

Basil thinks for a moment before responding, "No, the general doesn't need to know about this." She says closing the call on the scroll reaching the hanger. A Bullhead pulls in quickly and opens its door for her not a moment later. Climbing on board she turns to the pilot. "Track these four scrolls and keep a profile on them. Get in contact with Sherfira 115 and tell them all requests are to be filtered to this Bullhead!" Her tone is still militaristic.

"Understood." After a few moments the pilot responds, "They are requesting an authorization for that last order, sir!"

Basil walks over and picks up the radio "Authorization is November, Oscar, Charlie. ASF business!"

"Understood. Authorization code checks out, just let me radio my boss and let them know what's up." the pilot on the other line says.

"Pilot, if you value your job, you will not. You will tell them that you followed your normal routine. Down to the wire. Is that clear?" Basil says harshly.

"With all due respect, I'm still going to report this after all it's a part of my j-" the pilot says.

"If you do not comply with these orders, I will be forced to label your aircraft as hostile. So, if you wish to live you will comply." Basil says

The pilot on the other line is silent for a few minutes before responding, "Affirmative I will tell my boss that tonight was routine. Sherfira 115 out." The line goes silent a few minutes later.

"I could hear him shit his pants from here commander." The pilot of her bullhead said, "You've still got it."

Basil breathed a quick sigh "Y-yeah…. I-I wish that I d-didn't have to."

With that the final checks were completed and GS1 flew into the dark sky of Mantle air space.

A/N+ short story

So fun fact, apparently there is a comment limit for Google Docs and once you reach it the document kind of almost becomes bricked… that is a bit of trouble since everything was on one document… This issue reared its ugly head after chapter 19 went up so if you are reading this it's been resolved. From this point on the story was broken down to be more segmented in the writing process. Anyhow enough behind the scenes issues onto the actual plot.

AmoebaHewdraw's Note: This way is easier on my computer anyways. It takes a while to load nearly 400 pages.

The plot picks up again. You may have noticed that this is going a little bit quicker than the Eckhart section of the arc. The reasoning for this is that Eckhart's was unfortunately built into the introduction period of the story which meant I had to put things on the backburner and introduce other concepts such as the professors and Team CARD. With all that stuff already established we can find that I can actually get to the main conflict a hell of a lot quicker! Now then let's break down what actually happened in this chapter.

The scenes outside and inside the Glass Unicorn are mostly meant to show the thought process of Viralious, Eckhart, and Winter while Ifiral goes about his normal midnight runs. They trust Ifiral but this is a little bit more than a secret girlfriend or something equally as silly that they were expecting. Other than that, it's to show how truly run down the Glass Unicorn had become after Cinder's escape. Other than that, just some simple jokes and light comedy intermixed with drama.

On to the second in the City of Mantle, this is meant to establish Meteion a bit more as in truth they have been in the background this entire time. The main characters haven't spoken or thought about them since Chapter 9! Getting them more established in the story is important as they are similar to the White fang in the show proper. So, getting them more into the spotlight is necessary. This also leads us to another Returning character from the show. Ciel Soleil, how many people remembered that she was a character? Truth is I didn't until I read Event Horizon by Bryon Nightshade; it's a great story and one that reminded me that she exists. I highly recommend reading it. For those who need a reminder, she was Penny's teammate during Volume 3. She shows up in the story to accomplish 3 things 1, set up a future plot point and get that moving and 2, give more background into what Meteion is currently doing in the poorer parts of Mantle and 3, give a mirror between Viralious and Ifiral. If you really think about it in more ways than one their situations are similar. This chapter has Viralious unlock Ciel's aura like Ifiral did with Velvet, reasoning it's like poetry it rhymes. I will say this is the last aura unlocking scene we are going to see for a while as it's unrealistic that all four members of Team View unlocked the aura of a member of the show proper. This also gives us Viralious' aura unlocking speech which is very different from Ifiral and Pyrrha's a bit more somber and shows that he really does look to others for his power. It gives some foreshadowing of Viralious' character moving forward.

This leads us to the Meteion rally which is the only really fleshed out part of my notes. I followed them pretty closely but delayed the ending for a bit so I could flesh out Meteion a bit more. They are modeled after a fusion of cults and the rose-tinted glasses view of communism. Everything they say is meant to entrap people and further their agenda. Considering you've heard from some of the leaders in previous chapters you can know it's a scam and a cult.

The last part of this chapter is showing more and more of Basil and she's acting a fuck load more suspicious. We learn a little bit more about her and what her agenda might be things are going to go down as the story goes on. But enough of that let's take a look at a more lighthearted short story.


Normally Cinnamon would be home after a long day's work, but she and Makoto really wanted to see if Basil was up to a girls' night on the town or something. Unfortunately, the mouse professor booked it out of her office just as soon as Makoto was going to ask. Makoto was currently in the back of their head being all disappointed, she had wanted to go to Kaine, but she had already left.

The bipolar squirrel professor would have gone home and spent a long night alone if she wasn't randomly invited to a card game by Beryl. Figuring it was going to be better than spending the night alone, I decided to go. She didn't know what to expect… but it certainly wasn't this. Beryl, Ironwood, Lute, and Murt were currently sitting in the Staff lounge drinking beer (Whiskey in Ironwood's case.) Betting poker chips. Upon entering she was immediately told by Ironwood not to mention this to anyone else and summarily handed a drink and a hand to play poker with.

The night went on long and if one thing was learned… It was that Cinnamon had a better poker face then Ironwood. After only 1 hour of joining, she held 50% of the chips on the table.

"Damn, you're a lot better at this than I expected…" Beryl says cracking open an odd IPA.

Cinnamon gives a laugh, "There's a reason I'm the one playing and not Makoto… Knowing her with this alcohol she'd try and make it a game of strip poker." Upon finishing her face shifts to a more cheerful (And more obviously drunk) one.

"I woooULD NOT!" Makoto slurred, "Okaaaaaay maybe if Basil was here." she says quickly before blushing bright red.

This gets a laugh to go from everyone in the room and Lute passes Ironwood a 50 Lien chip. "I knew it!" Ironwood says through it all.

Cinnamon slinks down her chair blushing bright red, "I hate you all."

"Hey, honestly, I support it. You two would make a cute couple… or would it be three?" Murt says jokingly.

Lute looks Cinnamon dead in the eyes before sighing and standing up, "General, Beryl… Murt. I have something that I must say."

All eyes turn to him in confusion as he moves the table from the middle of the room. There is total silence for a few minutes before suddenly. Lute starts to sing,

"Let me blow you... away

You won't believe your eyes and ears today

You are in for a surprise

When you look into my eyes

You won't be able to deny my gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaze" Lute sings joyfully.

"Wait a minute Lute... your what?" Ironwood says quickly flustered.

"Come on General, you can't deny my deep, penetrating... Eye contact! My gaze! What did you think I said?" Lute says coyly.

"Um… Don't ask." Ironwood stammers out.

"Don't tell." Lute says turning from the general to Cinnamon who is starting to smirk and talk with Makoto in her head.

Cinni what's going OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!?

I don't know Koto but it's hilarious… Did you see the General's face! Wait, he's starting again!

Lute clears his throat and begins again "Let me blow you... away

There is nothing that I will not do or say

To entertain a red companion

In this hot and sweaty canyon

Like a stallion I am bursting through the ga... TE" His tone takes on the jovial singing it had before.

"A what?" Beryl asks in confusion.

"You know, a stallion. A stud, a horse with a big…!" Lute says smiling.

"Don't say it!" Beryl calls out.

"... Saddle! Now who wants to mount up?" Lute says grinning like a Cheshire.

"Oh God…" Beryl says with a sigh.

Makoto flies off of Cinnamon in a paper like light and is rolling on the floor giggling at Lute's display. Suddenly, Lute goes into a slower performance, and they could swear they heard a light piano start

"Let me start with this inquiry

Which I've recorded in my diary

I've got a secret thing I want to say

What's worse than a conundrum

Or a cheerleader threesome

Not taking time to enjoy life each day

You see the fun will never cease

As long as we've got elbow grease

There's really nothing to it

When you're using head.. light.. flu.. id!" Lute finishes holding out the -id for an unconforming amount of time.

Murt looks up confused, "Lute, you do know there's no such thing as headlight fluid?" He asks earnestly

"Depends on what you mean by 'head!' " Lute repeats back with a devious grin.

"I'm just going to pretend I don't know what you mean." Murt responds, getting red. While this is going on Ironwood unscrews the cap from his whiskey bottle and just starts downing the whole thing.

Just then Lute winks at Murt "Oh I know you do." Just then he coughs and continues with the song this time a bit more upbeat but not to the first flourish.

"I caught the fever for hot fun

And I'm recruiting everyone

You know, this Academy needs a little style

Hold my ankles, stretch my hammies

I hope that you like double whammies

Cause I'm gonna sing and dance until you smile

Some soldiers only work or nap

While I ride in Murt's lap

The solution's simple

I'll fill 'em up

With my po.. ten.. tial…" He sings starting Makoto dead in the eyes.

By this point Makoto is full blown laughing on the floor rolling back and forth, tears of joy start to well up in her eyes. Cinnamon is doing a bit better at keeping herself composed but she's definitely smiling and laughing at the display. Just then Beryl pipes in.

"Lute, please, enough with the double entendres!" Beryl says, sinking into his chair.

"Double entendre? Is that anything like a ménage-à-trois?" Lute says with a smirk, getting a short snort of laughter from Ironwood in the process.

"I give up…" Beryl says before lifting his IPA to his mouth and chugging the whole thing.

"In that case...

Let me blow you... away

Like a needle I'll get lost inside your hay

Easy if you know how, just like milking a cow

Like we do it on the farm back in V-A-L-E!" Lute sings in a tone similar to the start of the musical number."

Cinnamon perks up at this and asks a simple question, "So you really grew up on a farm in Vale?"

Lute nods, "Yep. You spend a lot of time thinking when you're on the farm. And then a lot of time repressing those thoughts…" he says with a shudder before returning to his smiling face and looking back to the rest of the faculty.

"Let me blow you... away

I'm on my knees, just to have a chance today

If you see me winking, it's cause we're both thinking

This lightish red ribbon looks so ga... rish" he says in a flourish, pointing to a pink ribbon in his hair.

"Uh. What did you just call your ribbon?" Ironwood says finishing his drink.

"Garish! It means totally lacking in good taste." Beryl responds matter of factly before popping open another IPA.

"Hmm. Kinda like this song." Ironwood says taking another swig of his whiskey.

"For the millionth time, Lute, your ribbon is clearly pink!" Murt says in annoyance.

"It's lightish red!" Lute yells

"Why won't he just admit it…" Ironwood says.

"Yeah, you're not fooling anyone" Beryl says, starting to slur his words.

Cinnamon looks confused before asking, "Uhm, are we still talking about his Ribbon color, or something else?"

Lute just gives a smirk, "Enough talk, you guys! It's time for some action!"

Every male in the room except for Lute screams "NO!"

Lute does a vaudeville kick to the imaginary beat of the song,

"So let me blow you...

Blow you all...

One by one...

Individually...

Or in a group...

Blow you...

Away…" He finishes sliding across the room on his knees to be right in front of Cinnamon.

Makoto and Cinnamon are both dying of laughter at this point, truth is it's the first time most of them had heard Cinnamon earnestly laugh at something.

Lute gives a smirk, "Feeling better?" He says looking straight at Cinnamon."

"Ahahah, *Snort* Yes… Oh my god Lute, that was amazing." Cinnamon says through laughter.

"Seriously, where did you learn that? It was amazing! Cinni, we should try something like that!" Makoto says barely able to get a word out between laughing fits.

"A man never reveals his secrets for cheering someone up." Lute says with a bow.

"Ah so you were just cheering her up." Beryl says with a sigh, "for a minute I was questioning, but you're the straightest guy I know, Lute." He says, giving a cheer motion.

Ironwood and Murt give Beryl a side eye. Lute just looks Beryl dead in the eyes and says, "Bruh, I'm gay as fuck."

Suddenly Cinnamon who was just starting to get her laughter under control falls to the ground and starts another laughing fit.


This Short story is brought to you by Bacardi Rum… For I was drunk as fuck off of it when this idea popped into my head.

The song is a reimagining of Jeff William's Donut: the Musical From Red VS Blue. Reworked slightly to fit with Remnant and the characters. As I say with all songs, and such used in this story. Please support the official release.

I thought this was a great comedy thing to break up the drama and more serious chapters that have been occurring recently, I also put it as we haven't had a short story since the depressing one in Chapter 16. This purely meant to get people to laugh and see the ridiculousness of Remnant and this story at times.

Overall, this was a good chapter and I hope you enjoyed the short story. So next week we will see the fall out of Ifiral's actions.

This is where I would like to thank my editor AmoebaHewdraw who thought this short story was a mistake.

AmoebaHewdraw's Note: I'm your editor, not your legal team.

Until Next Time Xcom Out.