Let Us Drink Their Blood

by GodSaveTheKings

Betrayed by a former ally, the stakes have never been higher. After months of struggling in the fascist Kingdom of Atlas, Team RWBY has entered Vytal. But with their Headmasters united against them and their fellow students scheming to claim victory, Team RWBY and their allies must risk it all to secure the power to change the fate of Remnant.

16. Brunch with the Boys

Note: Some musings on things.

First, about those Teen Titans lol. Or I guess, Justice League folks? Really, half and half. When needing to fill out the character roster for Vytal, I had to turn to some unusual sources. Using Team BRIR from Arrowfell, for example. I try whenever possible to use canon characters for my stories, even if I have to change them a lot. I think audiences respond more naturally to canon than to OCs, so limiting them was important to me. But when I needed one last team, I didn't have many places to go. I already mined the background characters from V3 for all I could. Then, the realization came. Those RWBY x Justice League movies are sort of canon. I know they say they aren't, but come on, they are. Like, they go out of their way to fit into the canon timeline. And while WB doesn't own RWBY anymore, I think it still counts. So, with the need for one more team and my love for Jessica Cruz guiding me, I thought I had a chance to do something surprising and throw those characters into the mix. And yeah, Raven from Teen Titans isn't from the RWBYxJL movies, but I needed someone whose name started with 'R' to make the name work. So, there. The Justice League is in Remnant now... at least, something resembling them.

And then Team MNSS, the team I dreaded writing the most, so much that I literally outsourced the first chapter. I don't know why, but I have a really hard time writing boys, especially teenage boys. It's not a misandry thing, I swear, I just have a hard time being compelled to write for them. There's a reason I overwhelmingly write stories about lesbians, you know. But with this chapter, I think I found a way to finally make writing them interesting. And that's just to be fucking extra with it. So, I hope you enjoy this strange take on Mercury, Neptune, and the boys.

---

Mercury loved his team. Really. He did.

He loved the way they controlled his schedule, so he didn't have to think about it. He loved how they had to unequivocally support him whenever he did something stupid. He loved that they distracted the media whenever he ran away into a dark alley. Seriously, they were so useful. Like slaves. Or pets. Probably more like pets. Brothers may have been the desired term. But he liked pets.

Team MNSS were having brunch. It was like breakfast but slightly later than usual, so apparently, it deserved its own special name. Mercury thought that was dumb. The brunch place was called something, but he didn't look at the name. The atmosphere inside was nice, very spacious, with wooden tables, and large brown fans spinning overhead. It reminded him of one of those food halls at a water park, the ones meant to accommodate the most casual of tourists. He faintly heard country music playing overhead. The foods were what anyone would expect from a reasonably sized breakfast. Eggs. Toast. An assortment of fruit, because Scarlet was on some weird health kick and he insisted that melon was good for his skin. Maybe that was true. Mercury would have to look it up though, and he couldn't be bothered to do that. There was also sausage in the form of patties, and sausage in the form of links, one made of turkey and the other chicken, and Mercury thought they both sucked. Just use pork. It was the better sausage meat. They were sat in the corner of the restaurant, with Mercury squeezed into a booth in the most corner-y spot of the corner.

Oh, that was another thing his teammates were good for: blocking all the fans from staring at him.

The restaurant did a decent job of that themselves, of course. With all of the chaos of Vytal and the constant intermingling of Huntsmen and the common folk, most establishments went out of their way to provide some form of privacy to the contestants. In the unnamed brunch locale, the solution was to put up a large velvet rope in front of their table. Somehow, that was sufficient to keep all of the fans at bay, create an illusion that Team MNSS were off in their own, isolated world. The power of imagination was incredible, and if it could keep the onlookers from messing up his fried eggs, he would live with it.

"Isn't this great?" Neptune asked through a mouthful of buttered sourdough bread. "Four bros, eaten some brunch together. Just like old times."

"What old times are you referring to?" Mercury asked, lounging in his chair.

"You remember, like when we first got together," Neptune said. "We used to go to the dining hall super early in the morning and carbo-load."

"Yes, and then we found out that you are supposed to carbo-load for dinner," Scarlet said, brushing his fingers through his stylish hair. "I ate all of those eggs because you wanted to!"

"Eggs are good," Neptune said defensively. "They're like… nature's steak?"

"What?" asked Mercury.

"You know what I mean."

"I literally don't. That's why I said that."

"Cows are nature's steak," said Sage Ayana, who was getting the most out of the brunch by piling protein onto a bagel and eating it as a sandwich. It built energy for his Showcase later, though it was a bit heavy on the salt.

"Yeah, you're just a dumbass," Mercury sighed.

Neptune huffed. "I am incredibly smart. If I didn't come up with our strategies, we wouldn't even be in Vytal."

"And I am so grateful," Mercury rolled his eyes.

Scarlet picked up a piece of pineapple with his fork, swishing it around like a sword as he spoke. "We were excellent candidates for Vytal anyway due to our social status. If Ne0N Katt could enter Vytal, then clearly popularity is a major factor."

Neptune refused to believe that. Yes, the rumors were abundant that Team FNKI essentially purchased their Vytal slot through Ne0N's reputation, but Leosandra Lionheart would never be bought so easily. There had to be some other explanation, though Neptune couldn't imagine what it was. He wasn't too good with imagining. Thinking in the moment? He was great at that. Super talented at the whole improvisation thing. But imagining? No.

"Didn't you see Ne0N yesterday?" Sage asked Mercury. "I saw the picture on her KnightsPage."

"You follow Ne0N on KnightsPage?" Scarlet said with disgust. "Darling, what have I told you about keeping your socials clear? People will say obscene things."

"I follow everyone from Mistral. BRIR. FNKI. I'd follow CSVR if they had socials."

"Hideous."

"But Merc, you saw her?" Neptune asked, trying to keep the conversation on track. "What'd she say?"

Mercury just shrugged. The truth was he had tuned her out the second she opened her dumb, rainbow mouth. She probably didn't even notice, and like… good for her? He didn't give a shit if Ne0N lived in her own little dream world. As long as he could stay out of it for the most part, he let people live their lives. He was cool like that.

Neptune, slightly peeved that Mercury wasn't giving him a response, pressed the conversation elsewhere. "So, do we think she's going to be doing her team's showcase?"

"I'd be surprised if she wasn't," Sage reasoned. "Even if Professor Lionheart wanted someone else to do it, Ne0N would make her team choose otherwise."

"She expertly runs her ship," Scarlet declared. "I have to say that despite her unorthodox style, she is an immaculate team leader."

"Better than you, Nep," Mercury quipped.

"I am a great team leader," Neptune shouted.

"Neptune. Buddy. Pal." Mercury placed his hand on Neptune's shoulder, and the bluenette instantly whimpered under the strong touch. "No."

Neptune pouted. Not just any pout. That one, really pathetic puppy dog put where his lip quivered and his chin dipped and looked like the most innocent, hurt, heartbroken thing in the entire world. That kind of pout that Mercury detested with every fiber of his being because some small part of him—that honestly he wished he could just set ablaze and throw out into a patch of cacti where it could be stabbed until the end of days—actually felt bad for hurting his feelings. Some little silver sliver of human kindness stirred within him, and his bad boy persona flickered away for a millisecond, a quantum collapse into his truer self.

"You're fine. Jeez," Mercury said under his breath. It was enough to still Neptune's whimpers and return him to his normal, elevated state.

"You really mean that?" he asked sweetly.

"Hey, so who else is doing these Showcases?" Mercury asked suddenly, kicking back in his chair. "You gonna be fighting people, right?"

Sage finished his egg sandwich and shook his head. "No, we are fighting stone golems."

"I don't know what those are."

"Big stone knight things," Neptune explained. "Sage should be able to handle them no problem."

"I hope," said Sage. Though always proud of himself and what he had achieved, Sage carried the least amount of confidence of the group. For the others, confidence was often unearned. Neptune had it by necessity. Mercury by ignorance. Scarlet by cockiness. Sage was more careful, considerate in his actions, and defensive in strategy and life. Protecting these three knuckleheads from themselves required him to mature faster, he supposed.

"Since no one is answering, I'll ask again," Mercury groaned. "Who is doing the Showcases aside from Sage?"

"I don't know," Sage shrugged. "Probably other team leaders. Everyone wants to put their best foot forward."

"Okay, who are the team leaders?" Mercury asked, resting his hands behind his head.

"Y-You don't know?" Scarlet said, stunned.

"Nope."

"Were you not paying attention at all during the Opening Ceremony?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Didn't feel like it."

Scarlet slapped his hands onto the table, causing the silverware to clatter and more than a few eyes to turn his way. "Mercury, you have to do some research on your opposition! Do you just expect to walk into Vytal unopposed and beat everyone without trying?"

"Yep."

"No, you cannot! To defeat the enemy, one must understand the enemy. Know their strengths and weaknesses inside and out. Mastery of the battlefield requires intense discipline."

"Yeah, for you, maybe," Mercury snickered. Scarlet bared his teeth like a rabid chihuahua, though Neptune was quick to intervene and calm him down.

"Look, Mercury, just repeat the team leaders after me," he suggested. "Vivian, Ruby, Coco, Pyrrha."

Mercury rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna do that."

"Do that or… I'll…"

"What?"

Neptune thought fast on his feet. "I will make you pay for this entire meal."

Mercury narrowed his gaze. Neptune couldn't make him do that. Could he? No, it was a bluff. Vytal paid for all their stuff. Maybe. Actually, he wasn't sure. He didn't remember that part of the contract, mainly because he didn't read it. Anyone who read a whole contract was a blue-haired nerd. But if they did have to pay for it, wouldn't Scarlet pay for it? His dad was the head of some modeling agency or something, wasn't he? Shit, maybe he wouldn't. Was this a risk he was going to take? For some stupid late breakfast, he barely ate?

He groaned tiredly. "Repeat that last part."

Neptune held up four fingers. "Vivian. Ruby. Coco. Pyrrha."

Mercury frowned. He couldn't put names to accurate faces, so he just imagined some instead. Closing his eyes, he leaned back and tried to focus for once. "Vivian." Really old and tan. "Ruby." Smoking, sexy hot. "Coco." Some dark-skinned chick—wait, was that racist? "Pyrrha." A different smoking, sexy hot lady.

"Good," Neptune said. "Now from our school, it's Bianca, Jessica, and Ne0N."

Those ones Mercury actually knew, and he repeated them with ease. He summoned their correct faces in his imagination… well, Bianca and Ne0N, anyway. He didn't actually remember what Jessica looked like. She was probably hot though, so he just pictured that.

"Okay, and then from Shade Academy, it's Nebula, Alyx, Arslan, and… Cinder?"

"Nebula." Hot lady.

"Alyx." Less hot but still hot.

"—hang on, what's she doing here?"

"Arslan—"

"No, Merc, hang on a second."

"You sure that's her?"

"Yeah, dude, look at her?"

Mercury opened his eyes, the nervous stuttering of his teammates snapping him from his babe conjuring. A light commotion had broken out in the restaurant, the sort of conspicuous chitchat that occurred whenever someone drew the crowd's eye with dazzling beauty. And lo and behold, such an event had occurred within the confines of this nameless breakfast establishment. A single woman, more beautiful and perfect than anything Mercury's limited boy imagination could create, had appeared at the entrance of the restaurant. Blonde hair. Glassy blue eyes. Hips that could shake so hard they would break boulders. She wore leggings that clung to her thighs and a low-cut scarlet top that sucked Mercury in like a black hole.

Her name was Cinder Fall, allegedly. Mercury may have caught a glimpse of her one time on tv and another during the Opening Ceremony. He hadn't noticed how buoyant she was until now, though. No one could ignore it. Sure, her celebrity was a factor. A winner of Vytal, gracing all of these peasants with her presence and not charging them one Lien? It was a sight, sure. But Cinder's power was more than that. Everyone could see it in the fire behind her eyes, one that hadn't shown as brightly since her early days as a Huntress.

Mercury stared deeply at Cinder—and eventually, she stared back.

Then, she started walking over.

Cinder strutted by the crowds. Fuck the stares. Fuck the requests for a picture. Fuck the waitstaff. She walked over, step by graceful step, maneuvering around the wooden tables and shrugging off the gazes of the others. She remained in contact with Mercury every second, until she stopped in front of the velvet rope, a flimsy little barrier holding her back from what she wanted. Even with her so close, he didn't waiver. Not for a damn second.

"Hey, boys." Cinder smiled with blood-red lips. "Got room for one more?"

Team MNSS's instincts around women were, objectively, terrible. This was evidenced by the fact none of them had girlfriends, and their opinions on getting girlfriends ranged from 'Well, that seems like a fun thing to try out,' to 'Get that shrill harlot away from me or I'm going to scream my lungs out.' Yes, women very frequently came up to them wanting to throw their panties like roses, but that was part of the job. When someone as vivacious as Cinder Fall walked up to them, asking to be seated among them as a genuine entity, their brains went into a collective shutdown. None of them responded to her, each waiting for someone else to take the responsibility on their shoulders. Cinder didn't seem to mind the fawning.

Eventually, Mercury learned how to play it cool, smirking at her with the dark, bad-boy charm that had come to define him. "Pull up a seat."

Perhaps that wasn't the reaction his teammates were expecting. As Cinder grabbed a chair from a different table, Scarlet snapped, pointing out that wasting their time on Cinder would distract from their preparation for the tournament. As Cinder politely disregarded the instructions of an ignorant waiter and explained her position, Sage looked awkwardly at the table, his gentle nature stifled by the intimidating power of a Vytal Champion. As Cinder slid directly next to Mercury, placing herself between him and Neptune, the latter felt a very slight pang in his chest. He nervously cleared his throat.

Mercury just smiled at her all the same. She loved it. That's what he told himself.

"So, uh, Cinder," Neptune asked nervously. "It is Cinder, right?"

"And you're Team MNSS," Cinder said confidently. "Mercury, Neptune, Scarlet, and Sage." Each of their names flowed off her tongue with savory passion.

"Those are our names!" Neptune said jokingly, trying to remove the lump in his throat. "It's… very nice to meet you, Miss—Ma'am. Madame Cinder."

"Just Cinder is fine," she claimed. She turned away from Neptune, toward the silver eyes of someone far more interesting. "I do hope I'm not intruding on anything."

"Of course not," Mercury said before Scarlet had a chance to counter him. "We were just having a late breakfast."

"I can see that," Cinder smirked. "It smells delicious. Do you mind if I take a slice of bacon? I haven't had the real thing in so long."

Mercury chuckled at the sudden request. "Hey, help yourself."

Cinder snatched one of the last bacon pieces with a fork, holding it in front of her face. It was floppy and undercooked, but some people liked it like that, and Cinder wasn't one to complain so openly about her circumstances. She folded the floppy bacon in on itself and ate it all in one bite. She closed her eyes, chewing it slowly, as if she had never experienced it before and never would again.

Scarlet pouted. "Do you like—"

Cinder raised a finger to silence him. She was still chewing. Stilllllll chewing. She refused to swallow it, almost like she didn't know how to contract the muscles in her throat. Really, she just wanted the flavor to linger. Bacon. Meat. Sustenance. Sage was convinced she was going to choke before she eventually gulped down the meat slice whole, patting her full lips dry of any lingering grease.

"Apologies for that. Haven't eaten anything all day," she smiled politely. Despite the optics of barging into a private meal and eating someone else's bacon, the boys didn't seem to mind. Sage and Scarlet knew Cinder enough to know that she deserved a piece of bacon after what she had been through. Neptune just immediately believed her excuse without question. Mercury loved watching the way she put meat in her mouth.

"What brings you here?" Mercury asked. "Aside from the breakfast."

"I don't want to stay long," Cinder said. "I know you have a lot on your plate."

"Literally!" Neptune said, motioning to the food. Cinder ignored him.

"If you don't mind, I'd just like to talk for a bit. Maybe… you can all tell me a little about yourselves?"

"Oh?" Mercury said, interested.

"For my role as Host, you see, I have to be familiar with the competitors," she explained. "It's nothing too important. Occasionally, I'm going to be doing guest commentary for fights, and in giving my professional opinion, it helps to have an understanding of a fighter's background."

"So, you're watching us fight?" Mercury asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hope that doesn't make you nervous."

"Never."

Neptune felt that pang grow slightly bigger.

"What kinds of things do you want to know?" he asked tepidly.

"Anything that would allow the audience to form a deeper connection to you," Cinder said casually, rattling off a few things as they came to mind. "How do you know each other? What motivates you? What are some interesting anecdotes from your past? Interesting things."

Cinder put slightly too much bite on the last words, and though Mercury was entranced by her—well, her tits mostly—Neptune's keen senses picked it up.

"I mean, that all sounds like it's publicly available anyway," Neptune said, confused.

"A lot of it is," Cinder said. "Believe me, I've had to do a lot of research on a lot of students for this job. With sixty-four competitors, there's so much I have to memorize. At a certain point, it all blends together."

"So, you want a more personalized story to help you remember?" Neptune asked.

Cinder nodded. "I want to know the real Team MNSS. Whatever you can spare."

The panging pain grew into something more awful. Neptune had absolutely no problem blathering on about his life. Seriously, no problem whatsoever. He could chat someone's ear off like no tomorrow. But maybe it was Cinder's immense confidence or the size of Vytal's audience, or maybe he really just didn't like the way she kept looking at Mercury's chest, but Neptune felt strangely cautious about telling Cinder anything very personal. It all just seemed a little… odd? Like, who conducted a random interview at brunch with someone less than five minutes after meeting them? And what was with that way of eating bacon? That was some freak-ass way to eat beacon…

Before he had a chance to intervene, Scarlet swooped in with a flippant scoff, putting his concerns into words better than he ever could.

"Well, Cinder, our deepest apologies," the dashing rogue confessed, "but we actually try to restrict the personal information we reveal to the public. We have dealt with some unfortunate incidents of fans harassing our families because people tried to leak our information to the media."

Yeah, that made sense. Despite their massive fame, they tried to avoid too much of a good thing. Take Sage, for example. He was immensely proud of who he was, but if his past ever got leaked, it could lead to a huge, stupid backlash. They didn't know Cinder. Didn't trust her. Turning down her spontaneous request for deeply personal information seemed like a good idea. There was a short flicker of fury in her eyes, though it quickly dissipated when Mercury spoke up on her behalf.

"Come on, Scarlet," Mercury rolled his eyes. "You think Cinder is going to leak anything?"

"She literally just said she would say these things on live commentary over our fights."

"No, she didn't."

"Do you have the memory of a goldfish?"

"No, but you got the face of one."

Scarlet growled. Mercury sneered. But neither came to blows. Sage, trying to maintain some semblance of maturity in front of a woman, bowed his head.

"Apologies for them, Cinder," he said quietly. "They can be a lot, sometimes."

Cinder sighed. "No, it's all right. I didn't mean to cause a controversy. Actually… well, this is embarrassing."

"What is?" asked Mercury intently. Cinder smiled gently, a little girlish grin that instantly melted their defenses.

"I have to confess: I didn't run into you by accident."

"No?"

"Rumor on the street was that you were here, and… well, I wanted to say hello," Cinder confessed. "You've made quite the stir recently. I couldn't help myself. I just… wanted to meet you so badly."

She brushed a blonde streak of hair out of her face. There was something on her expression that could easily be confused for shyness, and Mercury pounced like a hyena.

"Well, we just live our lives," Mercury said casually. "The attention comes to us, not the other way around."

"You've attracted a lot of it, in either case," Cinder stated. "You know, all-male Huntsmen teams are something of a rarity these days, especially at the top level. Women make up so many high-ranking Huntsmen. And for all of you to be so charming… it's easy to see why people love you."

Mercury leaned forward, resting his chin on his knuckles. "And do you love us?"

Cinder smiled to herself.

"So, the Showcases are coming up," she said, not even pretending to continue the previous topic. "I assume that you have selected who will participate."

"Well, we put it to a democratic vote," Neptune said proudly.

"And who did you select?"

Sage raised his hand, and Cinder didn't try to hide her surprise. "Really?"

"It seemed like a good opportunity for him," Neptune said encouragingly, grabbing onto Sage's shoulder. Cinder pouted, and Neptune's pang-pain-suspicion-chest thing now morphed into some other new, weird-ass sensation. "What? What's wrong?"

"Oh. Nothing," Cinder said. "I think that's very thoughtful of you to give one of your weaker members an opportunity for the Showcase."

The words cracked Sage like a whip. "Weaker?"

Cinder badly faked an apology. "Oh no, I mean… you are certainly very strong. It's just…"

"Sage is more than capable of handling the task," Scarlet said defensively.

"I'm sure he is," Cinder said quickly. "I'm sorry. I misspoke."

"You don't seem sorry."

"I am. It's merely—do you think that's really what the people want?" Cinder asked.

Sage muttered under his breath. "What does that mean?"

"Look, would you boys like some advice?" Cinder said a touch forcefully. "Vytal is as much about the battles outside Amity as they are within. I was only able to advance past the third round because I was loaned Dust and intel by a sponsor. If you want to get far, you have to be able to show that you can win. Put your best foot forward. And Sage, while I know you are a talented Huntsman, you are not the star of the show."

Cinder gave Mercury a longing gaze, and Neptune's pang-pain-stomach-throat-pain-anger-hurt thing was now throbbing all over. First of all, how dare this woman steal their bacon? Second, how dare she thoroughly insult Sage like that? Maybe she really didn't mean it, but she basically just told his friend, his big bro, that he wasn't good enough to represent their team. Like, that was some bullshit. And what was with these gaga eyes all over Mercury, she was about to start grinding on him at the first opportunity. She was a little old for him, wasn't she?

Well, the joke was ultimately on her. Currying Mercury's favor was a fruitless goal if it meant getting him to do anything. Appealing to his sense of pride could only roll him off the couch, not get him dressed, shaved, and out the door to school. Even as she leaned slightly closer to Mercury, rolling her shoulders, crossing her tight legs, luring him with slightly bacony breath, it wouldn't be enough to sway him—

"You really think so?"

Gosh darn it, really?

"I do," Cinder said with a nod. "You are the member of Team MNSS. We were all looking forward to watching you compete."

Mercury sighed, playfully brushing his hand through grey locks. "Well, I don't want to disappoint all of you…"

"I'm sure you won't," Cinder smirked. She could feel Scarlet and Neptune judging her, though she tried to ignore them. What she couldn't ignore, however, was the buzzing of her Scroll. She reached into her bag and pulled out the Scroll as the rest of Team MNSS were forced to contend with the pipe bomb she dropped in the middle of them. She narrowed her gaze when she saw the name.

"What's that?" Mercury asked, peering at the Scroll beneath the table. The contact was just a single initial: E.

"Sorry, I have to take this," Cinder said, frustrated. She put on a fake smile for the boys. "It was lovely meeting all of you. And Mercury, definitely consider what I said, okay?"

Cinder stood up from the table, inching around the boys as she tried to leave their company. They watched her go—some more intently than others—and the moment they perceived her to be out of earshot, Neptune leaned over and jabbed Mercury in the side.

"Man, what was that all about?"

"What was what all about?" Mercury said.

"She just dissed Sage and you didn't stand up for him."

"She was just trying to be helpful. Calm your tits."

"Of course, the second a hot woman tells you to do anything, you immediately put the effort in."

"I'm not putting effort in. Sage is doing the Showcase. I didn't change shit."

"Could you at least be slightly less obvious about how hot she was?"

"Dude, don't be gay about this."

"Who are you calling gay?"

"You are gayer than Scarlet and he literally sucks dick."

"Why is my sex life getting dragged into this?"

"Don't deny it, dude."

As the boys of Team MNSS broke out into an argument over which one of them was the gayest—spoiler, all of them—Cinder picked up her Scroll, placing it to her ear. She would have loved to stay and chat, truly, but destiny was calling.