The time had finally arrived. Everyone had been waiting two years for this momentous occasion to take off yet again, and it was finally here. The Vytal Festival had begun! Team CSRD was walking down the street, taking in the sights and scenery from the festival. They were following Axel, who was walking with his hands behind his head giving a sort of tour, informing them of the event schedule.
"Dude, there's a tournament?" Sebastian asked. "We have GOT to enter. It could be fun, and it would be a good training opportu-". Axel held his hand up, cutting him off.
"Unfortunately, my feline friend, we can't."
"What? Why not?"
"Because registration is already complete, and there has to be an equal number of teams between schools."
"What? Who's going instead of us?"
"Well, Beacon has teams RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, CRDL, and a few more." Cyrus added, checking his scroll.
"Cardin's team?!" Sebastian grunted, angry to be finding out that some punk loser like Russel would be in the tournament and not him. "We have to sabotage!" Sebastian took a second to think about sabotaging but shook his head. "On second thought, that would only get us in trouble."
Cyrus put his hand on Sebastian's shoulder.
"I know you're upset with Russel, but I know for a FACT those guys are gonna get obliterated by Pyrrha and team JNPR."
"Of course you would think so, Mr. Amateur Artist."
Cyrus flinched, and squeezed Sebastian's shoulder tightly.
"You know, I was trying to help. Now, you just bought yourself a one way ticket to SLAM TOWN." Cyrus grunted as he balled up a fist. Unfortunately, Damien grabbed his arm, stopping him before he could throw the punch.
"Dude. Chill. it 's just a joke," he said, smiling. "Besides. I would call you a novice, not an amateur." Cyrus pulled his arm free, and looked at the two of them.
"Alright, now BOTH of you are cruisin' for a bruisin'."
"ENOUGH." Axel interjected. The boys looked up to see that they had stopped right in front of Axel's shop. The group turned to him, confused.
"What are we doing here?" Cyrus asked.
Axel rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Well… you see… I might kinda have to… miss the Festival this year." he said sheepishly.
The group jumped in surprise.
"WHAT?!" they shouted collectively, eyeballing him inquisitively.
"You're abandoning us?" Damien asked.
"No. It's just… With all the people in town, Dad's gonna need all the help he can get," Axel replied, "And no one knows this store better than me. So I'm gonna be helping out around here until the Festival is over."
"So why did you drag us all over town? To give us a rundown of all the stuff we can't do?" Sebastian asked.
"No," Axel said, his head drooping a little lower. "You guys can still do all that stuff, I just can't come and do it with you. But you know where to find me if you need me."
Axel's dad heard the noise from outside the shop and walked out to see Axel and his teammates
"Hey Axel. Who are your friends?" Ash asked, wiping his greasy hands off on a rag.
"Hey, Dad," Axel said, walking over and giving his dad a hug. "This is my team."
"Nice to meet you all," Ash said, holding out his hand.
One by one the team shook it, introducing themselves.
"I'm Cyrus. You might remember me. I sorta slept on your couch the day before move-in." Cyrus said with a nervous chuckle.
"I'm Damien. I've been here a few times to get my gear fixed up."
"Ah yes, I remember you," Ash replied, "I never forget a regular around here." He turned to Sebastian.
"And who might this feline fellow be?" he asked.
"I guess my long hair really doesn't cover the ears, does it?" Sebastian laughed a little.
"Nah, it covers them fine. I can just tell. I could smell the fish when you walked in." he said with a laugh as he shook Sebastian's hand.
"I knew I ate too much. Anyways," said Sebastian shaking his head. "My name's Sebastian. I'm your son's partner in combat."
"Ouch. I'm sorry to hear that."
"DAD!" Axel shouted, his face turning red.
"I've also been somewhat of a drifter until Beacon. But I've met some great people because of it as you can tell."
"Glad to hear it, son." Ash replied with a smile. "It's important to have good people in your life. Keeps you grounded. Keeps you sane."
"Yeah. I guess so." Sebastian said, smiling back.
"Well, I've gotta get back to work. You coming, Axel?"
"Yeah. I'll wash up and meet you in the forge." Axel said. Before Ash walked back to the back of the store he gave a smile to Axel's teammates and said, "Now you boys go and enjoy yourselves. Oh and steer clear from any of the potential riff raff that might be going on during this one more thing: all sales and services are discounted for the entirety of the festival, so if any of you need anything done, give me a call." The team nodded, and Axel turned back to face his friends.
"I guess I'll catch you guys later." he said with a shrug.
Cyrus glared at him.
"You better."
As the rest of the team walked off Sebastian thought to himself.
Riff raff huh? Could it mean...? He was cut off by Cyrus who waved at him.
"What are you standing there for, Sebastian? We're burning daylight here!"
"Oh, hehe. Sorry," he chuckled nervously.
The remaining three walked around town, taking in the festivities. They ran into Team MGAT on their way to get food.
"Hey guys." Mola said, waving to them as the groups approached each other. "What have you all been up to?"
"Nothing super interesting, really." Sebastian replied. "Just kinda watched people dance, listened to the music. Oh, and saw a guy fall over in the middle of a parade, collapsing the entire row in front and behind him. It was like dominos, but like if dominos could scream. Or feel pain. Or both."
The group laughed. Gemma stopped laughing suddenly, her expression turning stone cold. She narrowed her eyes at Sebastian.
"Hey, where's Axel?" she asked, glaring into his very soul.
"Uhhhhhh." Sebastian began to freak out when two little Sebastian's appeared on his shoulders: shoulders, one with a halo, the other with devil horns. One of them went,
"You should tell her. Maybe she'll leave you all alone." the one with the horns said.
"No! Don't do it! If you do, Axel is guaranteed to die!" The other said.
"I mean, he is YOUR partner, right?" she asked impatiently, her arms crossed, foot tapping madly on the ground.
Oh gods. I am in deep crap if I don't tell her. It's either my life or Axel's. Sorry about this one, bud, just please don't haunt me. I'm dealing with enough shit as it is!
"He's at the shop. You know, the festival brings in a lot of business, so he decided to stay and help out." Sebastian points in the general direction.
Gemma stood there a moment, thinking. Suddenly, her smile returned to her face and she started laughing again. Sebastian stood there, confused.
"So, you're not going to go track him down?" he asked, still on edge.
"No, silly! If there's one thing I know, it's to never get in between that boy and his work." she replied, "I'll go visit him later."
Team CSRD let out a collective breath of relief. They lived to fight another day…
Damien cleared his throat to interject.
"So," he said, attempting to break the tension. "You guys wanna go grab some food? I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume Sebastian here has already sniffed out the nearest seafood place." he chuckled nervously, praying for a positive reaction.
"YEP," Sebastian said excitedly, "It's about... *sniff* three blocks that way." he pointed down the street. The group walked and talked until they came upon a seafood restaurant, just as Sebastian had predicted. It was a smaller place, with a big glass window and a few tables inside.
As they took their seats, Mola leaned in and addressed the group.
"Hey, did you guys hear about the robberies around town lately?"
"Yeah, actually," Damien replied. "I've been trying to figure out what the White Fang has been planning to do with all that dust, but I had to postpone my investigation." he shrugged. "You know, school and stuff."
"Wait. How do you know it was the White Fang behind all the robberies?"
"I've been working this for a long time, and I wouldn't doubt they'd increase their activity now, seeing as shops are resupplying for the festival."
"Smart." Mola responded. Damien shrugged.
"I try."
"White Fang is it?" Sebastian turned to Damien, looking far more serious than usual.
"What about it?"
"You wouldn't happen to know the areas of their operations around here would you Damien?"
"I don't know what you're getting at here Sebastian but, didn't Axel's dad say to NOT get into trouble?"
"I know but… I have to look into this. Please." Sebastian looked Damien straight in the eyes, telling him that he wouldn't back down.
"Fine," Damien relented. "Just… whatever you do, be sure you come back safe and tell us anything you find out." Damien fetched the map from Cyrus and folded it out, pointing to several locations. "I don't know why you and the White Fang have issues Sebastian but, I can tell that whatever it is, it means a lot to you."
"It does… and I'm sorry I can't say anything about it yet. I just don't feel like I can." Sebastian put his head down in shame.
"That's alright. Just tell us as soon as you feel like it. We'll understand."
"If you two are done chatting over there," Cyrus butted in from the back, "can we get to eating yet?"
"Yeah," Damien and Sebastian replied at the same time.
The group ate until they couldn't eat anymore. Then, they decided to see more of the sighs during the festival to take it all in and relax. Team MGAT eventually departed saying they had team training to get to. While walking past another shop, Cyrus noticed a familiar person with somebody he couldn't recognise.
"Who's Blake with over by the store across the street?" The team hid behind a lampost totally inconspicuously. Sebastian poked his head and tried to get a good look.
"The monkey. I've seen him somewhere before in my time being a drifter. Definitely Faunus, of course. But what would he want with a person like her? Unless…" Sebastian narrowed his eyes at Blake.
"Unless what? I'm a little lost here." Damien turned his head slightly.
"So she is a Faunus afterall. I thought something was up with the hair bow. Which, if my intuition is correct, and it usually is, they're discussing the recent White Fang activities."
"Is that bad?" Cyrus asked.
"Not necessarily. I could get some answers from them."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, stranger!" A loud and booming voice shot out towards the group, a figure barrling into all three of them, knocking them from their 'hiding spot'. Shaken and a little stirred, the group got up to see a girl in a tan dress and black pants with green stripes standing straight up.
"I'm sorry for startling you everyone! My name is Penny! It is a pleasure to meet all of you!" The strange girl spoke with such energy and excitement that the group couldn't handle it all at once.
"Um, hello Penny, I'm Cyrus."
"Name's Damien."
"And yours truly is Sebastian."
"You all seem like wonderful people. I hope to see you all around." The girl named Penny turned around and was about to literally speed walk away when Sebastian stopped her.
"Wait a second!" he exclaimed. Penny stopped mid motion. "Why shouldn't we listen in?"
"Blake is having some issues right now and the boy with her is a rowdy monkey. They won't be willing to stop for questions!"
"Wait, you know her?"
"Indeed I do! I met her friends Ruby, Weiss, and Yang as well!"
"Gotcha." Sebastian looked back across the street where the two Faunus were talking. "I guess I just have to do things on my own then," he uttered under his breath. "Well it was nice to meet you Penny!"
"Likewise Sebastian! Oh and your friends as well! Now if you don't mind, I'll be off!" Penny took off at lightspeed, disappearing from view.
"Well. She was an oddball to say the least," Cyrus said with complete bewilderment.
The sun began to dip lower into the sky, signaling the boys that they should head back to the dorms.
"Dang it! I wanted to try the other fish places." Sebastian dropped a little in discouragement.
"Wait. There were OTHER fish places?" Damien asked.
"Only three."
"THREE?!" Both Damien and Cyrus cried out.
Sebastian laughed, and the group started walking home.
When they arrived back at the dorm, they found the door open, and the lights on. Sebastian caught a whiff of something…
"WAIT." he exclaimed. Halting the group.
"What is it?" Cyrus asked, concerned.
"Its… FISH," Sebastian said with a huge smile as the rest of the group sighed and facepalmed. Then, the group entered to find Axel, sitting on the couch, watching TV. The group looked at each other, confused, then back to him. He looked up at them, noticing their confusion.
"What? I live here."
"Yeah, but we kinda assumed you were staying with your dad," Cyrus said skeptically.
"No, I'm WORKING back at the shop. But, Dad said it would be a good idea if I stayed here. That way, I'm not really missing any training or something." He said with a shrug. "Oh, and I went out to eat. Sebastian, if you want, there's some fish lef-" he was cut off by Sebastian bolting to the fridge, grabbing the white container, and gobbling down its contents. Axel sat there, his mouth open in awe. "Uh, nevermind. So, what did I miss?"
"Not much," Sebastian said, his mouth still full of fish. "Walked around town, saw some stuff."
"We met up with Team MGAT," Cyrus added.
"Yeah, and Gemma was looking for you," Sebastian said, swallowing the rest of the fish.
"I'm sorry, but I had to tell her where you were. She had that look in her eye, one that even I'm not gonna try to mess with."
Axel cracked a smile.
"Probably wise, my friend. But no, she didn't bug me. She did come to visit, but she's easier to handle when it's just us."
"Oh, is it?" Cyrus joked, giving an overdramatic wink. Axel groaned.
"That's not what I meant."
"I know. You just make it too easy." Cyrus said as he walked over and sat down next to him. "What about you? Do anything interesting?"
"Like 'handling' Gemma?" Damien mocked.
"Dude, seriously. Stop." Axel said, glaring. Damien put his hands up in surrender, walked across the room, sat on his bed, and started playing a game on his scroll.
The team relaxed for the rest of the night, until they all eventually went to bed. During the night, Sebastian lay awake, unable to sleep, thinking back on the events of the past few days. He eyed the clock on the table in the room. It read 11:00 P.M. and he took a deep sigh. He slowly got out from bed and quietly slipped on his coat and stepped out of the room and went into the nighttime streets of Vale.
"If I remember the locations on the map Damien showed me, I should start my investigations around those areas. Maybe the docks are a good place to start. Sebastian quickly headed over to the docks, silence permeating all around. He eventually arrived, sitting atop one of the buildings, getting a birds eye view from above. He noted a group of mobsters awaiting boats of cargo arriving at the docks.
"Nothing interesting around here. Wait a second." Sebastian spotted a face he's seen on the news. It was none other than Roman Towrchwick himself. He was yelling about getting the cargo unloaded as quickly as possible once the boats arrived. A White Fang member approached him, whispering something in his ear. A cry rang out from Roman.
"Delay! What do you mean delay! We need that dust now!" Torchwick reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll. He began to talk to someone on a call.
"Hey Noir! What the hell is going on here! You specifically told me that the shipments would arrive tonight! A delay? Of course I know about the delay you idiot! They'll be here tomorrow night? They better be or it'll be more than just your pay I'm cutting!" He calmed himself down for a moment. "And make sure the prototype is spick and span as well. Can't have an investment like that go to waste! Just make sure you get your part done in the construction zone!"
"Construction zone?" Sebastian recollected its position on the map. "Better head there, and quick." He disappeared from the building and made his way across the town. Upon arrival, he perched himself amongst some scaffolding on a nearby building under construction and scanned the area for any sign of the man named Noir. He eventually found the person talking to the same girl he saw in the Forever Fall, but once again she was only slightly in view. Sebastian concentrated on the conversation and listened in.
"Torchwick certainly gave me an earful back there. I mean, how was I supposed to know that there would be a delay? Can't he cut me some slack? I know I am his right hand man, but come on!" The girl responded to Noir but Sebastian was unable to hear what she said.
"Be able to pull this off you say? Of course we will. With you and your fellow White Fang members helping us out, we'll get the job done. Naturally you'll be receiving a fair share of the rewards. Maybe a little bonus if they show up." Sebastian accidentally leaned too far forward and fell off the scaffolding but managed to grab a hold of the steel bar before anything worse happened. He pulled himself back up but made just a bit too much noise, alerting the attentive Noir.
"Hey who's up there?" Noir looked up at the scaffolding but hadn't noticed Sebastian. "Probably just the wind." He went back to messing around with other White Fang members.
"That could have ended badly." Sebastian took a sigh of relief. "I should definitely head back now. I need to tell the others this in the morning ASAP." Sebastian leapt off into the distance and made his way back to the dorms before morning. He was going to need to get some rest. The quiet serenity of Vale was soon to be ruined.