Chapter 15: You Done Fucked Up, Neptune

Hey, folks, The Draigg here once again. Now, instead of rambling about something with middling importance, I'm going to do something good by someone. Have you heard about my friend, Falcyon? If you have (or ARE Falcyon), great! He's a fun, Velvet-loving guy! And, if you haven't heard about him, go ahead and check out his account on this website. He has a few stories in the wings (some which yours truly helped out with). You might just enjoy a few! Anyway, go ahead and check him out! He'll more than appreciate it! Anyway, let's get to the story at hand!

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It took at least Blake and Neptune about an hour or so to get to Café Trussardi. At least it was within decent walking distance from the hospital. And, at least it was far enough away that it wasn't in the immediate area, where Neptune might be recognized as some asshole who lit a fire in a hospital.

Neptune didn't lift his head once on the way to the café. He was too ashamed that he'd guffed up his one job. The Random Number God sure wasn't on his side today. It was that damn ten he rolled. His luck went the negative way, instead of the positive. Maybe he should start seeing a card reader instead of divining his luck from a random die toss. At least cards gave more specific reasons why or why not something would work.

Blake, on the other hand, was still fuming over her—no, Neptune's failure. If it wasn't for his mistake, then she could've gotten what she needed, and interrogated the subject flawlessly. Really, he was the weak link in the chain. In hindsight, she probably should have taken over distraction duties. At least she wouldn't have just defaulted to "start a fucking fire" as a normal, innocuous distraction.

Opening up the door to the café, the arrival of Blake and Neptune was announced by the chiming of small bells attached to the door bar. Immediately, Blake saw that Weiss and Ruby were waving them over to a table near a large window, the one with a view of the street.

Quickly, Neptune and Blake slipped into Ruby and Weiss' booth. Once seated, Neptune cradled his face in his hands, and Blake couldn't help but let out a long, annoyed sigh. That made Weiss and Ruby look at each other nervously.

"Uhh… how was your, uh, hospital visit?" Ruby cautiously asked.

"Ask the hotshot over here," was Blake's strained reply. She jabbed a thumb at the still moping Neptune.

"Well?" Weiss asked towards Neptune.

"…Don't wanna say…" Neptune moaned, his voice muffled by his palms.

"Hey," Blake sternly said, "It's your fault. YOU explain it."

The tension between the two was beginning to seriously discomfort Team White Rose. They could just feel their associate's auras give off negative vibes. Whatever it was, they needed to know just what the hell happened, so they could fix the gap. Between them, Ruby and Weiss could probably mend the issue.

Unfortunately, they couldn't do that if Neptune just flat out refused to elaborate on what had gone so wrong on their end. Instead of explaining himself, he'd just completely shut down, and didn't make another noise.

"Ugh, fine, I'll talk about it," caved in Blake.

Weiss and Ruby leaned in closer, interested in what Blake had to say.

Looking around briefly, Blake continued on in a lower voice, trying to keep what happened on the down-low. "Neptune was supposed to cause a distraction so we could get to the target's room. For some reason, he decided starting a fire was the best idea." She punctuated that last sentence with a glare at Neptune.

Ruby's jaw hung open, and Weiss simply face palmed at what Blake had to say. What kind of moron decides that lighting a fire is the FIRST option he should go to? Especially in a hospital where tons of innocent, hurt people were? Was his mind briefly taken over by a pyromaniac, or what? What moronic, boneheaded move.

"You MORON!" Weiss shouted, taking the hand off of her face. "Did you even think for a second about what you did?! Seriously, what when through your sub-human mind that you would even THINK of something like that?!"

Ruby looked around nervously. "Please, don't shout, Weiss," she pleaded, tugging at Weiss' sleeve. She was worried that unwanted attention would be drawn to them. Fortunately, not very people were in the café at the moment. At least Ruby had her luck in check.

Weiss pressed her lips tightly together in frustration. Her jaw moved back in forth in anger. This… this… dolt had just put not only Blake, but a whole bunch of innocent people in danger's way! That's not what a hunter does! That's what the people they fought against would do!

"Sorry…" Weiss mumbled in apology to Ruby. Honestly, she was just frustrated at it all. What if they'd gotten tossed in jail? Then she'd have to bail them out, and that wouldn't reflect well on her or the rest of her friends at all. In fact, Neptune was lucky that he didn't get them arrested.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Neptune suddenly announced, sliding out of the booth. Before anyone on Team RWB could say anything, he was gone, looking for a place to be alone for a bit.

xxx

Neptune walked into the stall and locked it behind him. Putting down the lid and cover on the toilet, Neptune sat down, needing some silence to think. By now, the full weight of what he did had sunk in. Man, he just felt low. Really, really low. Even he was at a loss on how he thought starting a fire was anything resembling a good idea.

"Moron…" Neptune muttered to himself, massaging his temples. Maybe he should have re-rolled.

Trying to make himself feel better, Neptune pulled the green d20 out of his pocket. With a brief toss in the air, Neptune hoped that his roll for luck would be good. Almost on reflex, he caught the die as it nearly fell into his lap.

Closing his eyes, Neptune thought to himself, "Please let this roll be in my favor…"

Opening his eyes, the blue(?) haired hunter looked at his clenched hand. Unfurling his fingers, he checked the number facing him on the die. It was another ten. Shit.

"Fuck…" Neptune hissed. Not that it was a bad roll exactly, but it didn't give him an idea of good fortune, either. It was the same reading as last time: luck and chance could swing either way.

Well, it wouldn't hurt to roll again. After all, that roll was only for luck. Now he could roll for intuition. Once again, Neptune rattled the die in his hand, and tossed it in the air again. However, this time, he caught it while it was midway through its descent. Maybe if he changed it up, his chance would change too.

Opening his hand, Neptune checked the die. It was blank. Not a single number was on that side of the green plastic.

Wait, what?

Neptune rubbed his eyes and blinked. Looking at the d20 again, he saw that it was a ten again. It was nothing conclusive. Still, it was better than… whatever he just saw. Well, he wasn't even sure if he saw anything. Maybe his eyes just tricked him. Yeah, that was it. Clearly, his eyes were the problem, not that his die had somehow failed to give him a number reading, which should be impossible. But, if it was real, and if the die was blank for a brief moment… maybe that was a good sign? Neptune couldn't decide whether that it was a sign of bad of bad, or increased insight to come. The Random Number God sure liked to mess with its followers from time to time.

Now that he was feeling completely baffled, Neptune decided to shove his d20 back into his pocket. Maybe that was for the best for now. He'd already had enough stress today from fucking up a chance to interrogate a criminal. The idea that the supernatural was messing with him now was a bit too much for now. Or ever, really. Yeah, that last one was preferable.

Sighing, Neptune stood up. Opening the latch, he exited the stall and walked over to the sink. He stared at himself in the mirror. Man, that frustration was starting to put small bags under his eyes. Or maybe his personal disappointment was the cause. Either way, he didn't like it.

Neptune turned on the sink, letting the warm water run. Cupping his hands, he splashed some water on his face, hoping that it would make him feel better. Well, that was the idea, anyway. He grabbed a few paper towels and dried off his face.

"I wonder how Sun's luck was…" he couldn't help but wonder.

Sighing, Neptune crumpled up the paper towel into a wad and tossed it into the waste bin. After that, he went right back to staring into the mirror. Nope, nothing had changed. He was still same. He was still the same unlucky bastard that he'd been all day. He hoped that Sun had at least made up for his lack of luck with something good. For all he knew, Sun had gotten all the information he needed.

It was odd to think, that luck could be divined by the simple toss of a die. But, that was chance for you. It wasn't ever meant to make sense. The chaotic mess that governed chance and luck was called the Random Number God for a reason, after all.

Neptune was done in there. He had nothing more to do in the bathroom. He couldn't just hide away from everybody forever, after all. There was nothing more he could do in there, anyway. Might as well face the music. Or, judging the way his day had been going so far, spread 'em, lube up, and take it with a smile.

Nudging open the door, Neptune began to make his way back to Team RWB's booth. But then, all of the sudden, he felt a familiar buzz in his pocket. And, its partner, a certain familiar song, began to chime.

"I used to rule the world / Seas would rise when I gave the word

Now in the morning I sleep alone / Sweep the streets I used to own"

Pulling out his scroll, Neptune saw who was calling: Sun. Neptune's eyes lit up briefly. Maybe he could bring something good to the table! Maybe his friend succeeded where he had personally failed!

Eagerly pressing the 'answer' button, Neptune held the scroll to his ear an greeted Sun. "Yo, Sun! How's it going on your end?"

"Fuckin' SICK, man! I owned some gangster douche, and I got a huge fuckin' lead! Like, your mom sized!" Sun gleamed on the other end.

"Yeah!" Neptune cheered. Then, Sun's insult hit him. "Hey, wait a minute! My mom isn't fat!"

"I know, I know, I'm just yankin' your dick. Anyways, where are you? Me n' Yang want to meet up," Sun said on the other end.

"Café Trussari. It's near the air dock. Oh, and everyone else is here. Might as well meet us all here," said Neptune.

"Did Weiss and Ruby get anything?" Sun asked.

"…You know, I didn't ask. Should I?" wondered Neptune.

"Nah…" Sun said through the receiver," I'll just ask 'em when we get there. Anyways, I gotta go. See ya there, ya lug!"

"Bye!" Neptune said. Sun didn't reply. He'd already hung up by then.

Despite the fact that Sun hung up on him, Neptune didn't mind. In fact, he was glad. Sun really did do a good job! He got the information they needed, and now they have a lead on this case! Just like the die said, the group's luck did swing both ways! It just wasn't for him personally, was all!

Now smiling, Neptune sat back down at the booth. Nothing the others said about him would bring him down now. He had faith chance, and it had provided. It worked out in the end, in some way.

Finally, with Sun on the way, the tip of the spear was sharpened. They were at the head of the case, finally becoming players in the game of laws and crimes. And all due to chance.

xxx

Gotta like some Coldplay, especially the song, "Viva La Vida". I think we can all agree that it's easily one of their best albums, if not THE best in some fans eyes. Anyway, moving on, let's not talk about Coldplay. Instead, let's talk about another friend of mine, JimboYokimbo. Now, I know you've seen his name here from time to time. He's my editor, after all. But, did you know he's a burgeoning writer as well? That's right, he's a wordsmith, like me! Anyway, go ahead and send him some kind words. I know he needs some motivation to write some great things. And, maybe you'll write some nice things for me too, in the reviews section!

This is The Draigg, and I'm gone in a flash… for now!