Fate's Wild Card Ch.31 (Relased) (Patreon)

The first victory as a team should have been celebrated at the club and since they had a free day, it would have been the perfect excuse to have some fun in Vale and not worry about hangovers or staying too late. Although, Neo would have invented herself and probably caused chaos in her own special way.

But everyone refused, using Ruby being younger as to why not go clubbing.

He forgot that small detail when giving that suggestion. It kinda sucked though, so here he is back at the room eating chips and soda with his team and playing a party videogame—well, that's what Ruby called it. "Huntsman Havoc" it was called, some colorful board game thing with chibi versions of huntsmen characters competing for coins and stars across a digital map filled with bright spaces and obstacles.

Even Weiss was playing since it was a quite simple game to learn, though she kept insisting it was beneath her to play videogames while simultaneously getting very competitive about every single turn. ‘I'm only playing because Ruby insisted,’ she'd said earlier while studying the game manual.

So Pryce pushes the button and rolls the dice, hitting a 5, and his chibi character—a little rabbit faunus with a tiny gunblade that he'd spent way too long customizing—moves 5 squares across the board. He lands on a red space that starts glowing ominously, and warning sirens blare from the TV speakers.

RANDOM EVENT: Grimm Rush

And all other three characters get hit by a swarm of tiny Beowolves, losing 10 coins each in a shower of sparkling lights.

"WHAT?!" Ruby shouts, nearly dropping her controller.

"WHY?!" Weiss demands, her eyes wide with indignation.

"COME ON!" Pyrrha exclaims, her usual composure cracking as she stares at her shrinking coin count.

Everyone instantly glares at Pryce, who just laughs at their misfortune, his ears twitching with amusement. "Hey, don't blame me. Blame the dice."

"That's it!" Weiss declares, her competitive fire fully ignited now as she grips her controller tighter.

It's Weiss's turn, and she hits the dice, which lands her right on the Mystery Shop space—a glowing blue square with a treasure chest icon. A cheerful shopkeeper NPC appears on screen. She immediately buys the "Corporate Takeover" service for 25 coins and uses it to steal ALL of Pryce's coins, putting her squarely in first place with a smug expression on her face.

"What?! Why me?! Why me! Why me!" Pryce protests, watching his coin count drop to zero in real time as they fly from his character to hers.

Weiss just sticks out her tongue at him in a surprisingly childish gesture. "Revenge is a dish best served cold, as they say in Atlas. Perhaps you'll think twice before celebrating my misfortune next time."

Bitch!

Ruby's turn comes next, and she rolls a perfect 10, landing right on a star space. "Yes! YES! Finally!" She pumps her fist in the air enthusiastically. "I'm gonna get the star and—and then I'll be in first place and you guys will have to catch up to me!"

But then Pyrrha plays a "Distraction" card she'd been saving for three turns, her expression apologetic. Chibi Ruby gets turned around in a confused animation and goes the opposite direction, landing on a trap space that sends her back to start with a sad trombone sound effect.

"PYRRHAAAAAA!" Ruby wails dramatically, flopping backward on the floor kicking her feet. "I thought we were friends! Teammates! Sisters in arms!"

"We are friends," Pyrrha says with an apologetic smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "But I also want to win. Nothing personal."

"Everything's personal in Huntsman Havoc!" Ruby declares from the floor.

The game continues with everyone screwing each other over at every opportunity, the friendly atmosphere from earlier completely evaporating into ruthless competition.

Weiss uses a "Lawsuit" card to force everyone to pay her 5 coins, citing some made-up legal clause.

Ruby lands on a bonus space that gives her a choice to steal from one player, and she immediately targets Weiss out of petty revenge. "Take that, Weiss! You can't buy everything!"

Pyrrha quietly accumulates coins through safe, strategic plays, landing on blue spaces that give steady income while everyone else fights.

Pryce manages to land on a duel space against Ruby, and they have to button-mash a mini-game where their characters fight with oversized foam weapons. His fingers blur across the controller buttons, and he wins by a narrow margin, earning 10 coins from Ruby.

"No fair! Your faunus reflexes gave you an advantage!" Ruby complains, rubbing her sore thumb.

"That's not how that works!" Pryce shoots back.

"It should be against the rules somehow!" Ruby pouts.

Then Weiss lands on a "Charity Event" space that forces the player in first place to give half their coins to the player in last place. Since she's currently in first and Pryce is in last after her corporate takeover, she has to give him 32 coins. Her face goes through several shades of red.

"This is a travesty!" Weiss fumes, her ponytail practically vibrating with indignation. "Why should success be punished?!"

"Thanks for the donation, Ice Queen," Pryce says with a shit-eating grin. "Very generous of you."

"I will remember this," Weiss mutters darkly.

Ruby's turn arrives, and she rolls high enough to land on a special "Swap Space" that lets her swap positions with anyone on the board. She immediately swaps herself with Pyrrha, who had been camping near a star.

"Ruby!" Pyrrha gasps.

"All's fair in Huntsman Havoc!" Ruby declares with a mischievous grin. "Besides, you used that distraction card on me!"

"I suppose I deserved that," Pyrrha admits, rubbing the back of her neck.

The final rounds become absolute chaos. Weiss and Pryce form a temporary alliance to stop Ruby from getting another star, blocking her path with teamwork cards, only for Pyrrha to quietly swoop in and grab it while they're distracted by their schemes. Ruby uses a "Grimm Invasion" card that makes everyone lose 15 coins except her, prompting groans from around the room. Pryce lands on a bonus coin mini-game—a coin bag shooting challenge—that he absolutely dominates, earning back most of his lost coins.

"How are you so good at these?!" Weiss demands.

"Natural talent," Pryce replies smugly.

"LAST TURN!" the game announces cheerfully with dramatic music.

Everyone tenses up. Pyrrha is in first place with two stars and 47 coins. Weiss is second with one star and 51 coins. Ruby has one star and 35 coins. Pryce has zero stars but somehow has 72 coins.

It's Pryce's turn. If he can land on the star space and buy it for 20 coins, he might still have a chance at victory—

He rolls a 3.

One square short of the star.

"NOOO!" he groans, his chibi character stopping tantalizingly close to victory.

Weiss just laughs mockingly. "Better luck next time! Perhaps you should have saved that lucky streak for when it mattered!"

The game forcefully ends, calculating bonus stars with fanfare. Ruby gets the "Most Mini-Games Won" bonus star. Weiss gets nothing, which makes her scowl. Pryce gets the "Most Coins Collected" bonus star for his economic recovery, bringing him to one star total.

But Pyrrha gets the "Longest Distance Traveled" bonus star, solidifying her victory with three stars total.

Ruby Second, Pryce Third and Weiss Last.

"WINNER: PYRRHA NIKOS!" the screen announces with digital confetti and triumphant music.

Pyrrha smiles modestly, setting down her controller. "That was quite fun! Thank you for suggesting this, Ruby."

"Pyrrha's too good at everything," Ruby pouts, crossing her arms. "Even videogames! How is that fair?!"

"I demand a rematch," Weiss declares, already reaching for the controller before Pyrrha can even set hers down. "I refuse to accept second place. This game is clearly flawed, but I will master it."

"You got last," Pryce points out.

"Semantics!" Weiss snaps.

Pryce leans back against his bed, munching on chips as Ruby begins frantically skipping through the victory screen and end credits to start another match.

This might not be clubbing and drinking, yet he is having fun.

-----------------------------------------

Pryce arrives at the table sitting next to Pyrrha. There was nothing special with their free day except that he spent a good chunk of it studying with Weiss—who had been surprisingly patient despite his occasional attempts to distract her—and so they're back to the normal academic schedule. The dining hall is a little empty since the students who picked the excursion departed way earlier in the morning, leaving gaps at several tables that make the space feel oddly hollow.

Although surprisingly it's a rather silent breakfast with his team as everyone eats. Ruby is still half-asleep, mechanically shoveling cereal into her mouth while her eyes remain half-closed, her hair sticking up at odd angles. 

Weiss is reading some textbook propped against her juice glass, occasionally taking delicate bites of toast without looking up from the page. Pyrrha is eating scrambled eggs, occasionally glancing at Ruby with mild concern like she might face-plant into her bowl.

Pretty normal start.

However, Pryce's ears twitch as he catches footsteps approaching him specifically from all the hall noises—the clatter of dishes, conversations, chairs scraping against the floor. He pretends he doesn't hear them, continuing to cut into his breakfast, wondering who might be approaching, but then he feels a finger sensually tracing across his shoulders which surprises him. His ears perk up straight and he turns to the right to see a pair of retreating brown rabbit ears.

Velvet.

And she is smiling, flashing her teeth at him in a way that's both innocent and decidedly not before she puts a finger to her lips in a hush gesture. Then she exits the dining hall very slowly, her hips swaying in an exaggerated manner that's impossible not to notice.

"Is something wrong?" Ruby asks him, finally looking up from her cereal with bleary silver eyes, milk dribbling slightly from her spoon. The question gets everyone to look at him curiously.

Pryce quickly clears his throat, his ears flattening slightly as he returns his attention to his plate. "Thought I saw something, but it was just my imagination."

"Oh." They all went back to eating without much interest, Ruby returning to her zombie-like cereal eating.

So obviously Pryce is the first to leave, as he ate faster than usual, making up a random excuse about needing to grab a textbook from the room before class, and quickly leaves the hall. 

As soon as he's outside in the corridor, he notices a little too late a hand grabbing his wrist and pulling him around the corner with surprising strength.

But he quickly recovers and slams his palm against the wall, catching the elusive faunus between his arms in a classic wall-slam position. His eyes stare directly into Velvet's brown eyes, and she's biting her lower lip rather provocatively, her cheeks already flushed.

Before Pryce can ask what the hell this is about, she leans in to kiss him, her arms exploring his chest and then breaks away, madly blushing, to whisper directly into his ear, her breath hot against his skin. "10 PM. Room 118, Building B. Stomp the floor twice."

And she quickly slips under his arms and leaves him behind, still surprised by that whole interaction, her brown hair and ears disappearing around another corner as her footsteps fade.

Pryce stares in Velvet's direction for a moment, processing what just happened, but quickly composes himself and heads back toward the main building to catch up with his team.

That only reaffirms how naughty Velvet is, the freaky naughty type.

Once he arrives at Professor Port's classroom, he sits down in his usual spot near the middle and waits for his team, which isn't long. Ruby comes rushing in at the last second, nearly tripping over her own feet as she slides into her seat. Weiss follows with considerably more dignity, though she shoots Ruby a disapproving look. Pyrrha arrives with perfect timing as always, greeting him with a warm smile.

The class with Professor Port proceeds as normal—which is to say, the man talking and talking about his life more than actually teaching anything useful. Stories about his glory days hunting Grimm, anecdotes about his youth in the wilds of Vale, random tangents about proper mustache grooming and the importance of maintaining one's weapon in pristine condition. It's a challenge to not fall asleep, especially with the warm sunlight streaming through the windows and Port's droning voice creating the perfect sleeping atmosphere.

Pryce's mind keeps wandering back to Velvet because he plans to go with her tonight… Although she didn’t say when or maybe she didn’t say it because this was like he could visit any day. Would it be a more normal time? Or she would get freakier and riskier?

His ears twitch occasionally as Port drones on about the time he single-handedly defeated a Beowolf pack with nothing but the wooden stock of his gun after his gun broke. "And that, my dear students, is why one must NEVER underestimate the value of a sturdy weapon construction! The clubbing end is just as important as the shooting end!"

Ruby is actually taking a couple of notes, somehow finding value in Port's ramblings. Weiss taking pages worth of notes. Pyrrha maintains perfect posture and an attentive expression, though Pryce suspects even she's struggling.

This is going to be a long class.