Snickerdoodle

"And that was the tale of my fierce battle against my troublesome foe. I believed I could have won if I only had a hundred more pants on my side," a somewhat prideful Manchester boasts.

Damn, this monk guy sounds like serious business. I wonder if my party is strong enough to take him on. Everyone is just sitting on a pile of pants while Manchester finishes his report on this monk guy.

"Yes well… um I don't think you would have won regardless of the amount of pants in your possession," Colonel Bianca responds.

"Nonsense, I'll have you know that my power grows exponentially the more pants I have in my possession," Manchester argues.

"Yes, be that as it may, this group called the reapers still seems like a threat that should be dealt with immediately. Such powerful foes may be able to have a great effect on the rebellion. If they were strong enough to overpower an imperial knight then they may be able to hinder the progress we've made here on the western front."

Well that sounds really bad. If I were her I would send the strongest platoon of knights or warriors after this group called the reapers. I feel sorry for the poor saps who have to fight these guys.

"First Hero, I implore you and your party to help us with this matter. Please take down the Reapers!" Bianca pleads.

Ah poop. Just my luck.

"Wait a moment, are you sure? I'm sure there are knights under your command who are stronger than us, right? Right?!" I plead nervously.

"I'm sure General Zachary informed you of this back at our headquarters in the north, but many of our knights are fatigued and tired of fighting the rebellion so we are actually quite short of help at the moment. I bore witness to you and the 2nd hero's fight against the emperor so I have faith in your strength," she reassures me.

"Yeah don't worry Will, I believe in our strength, I know we can beat them," Remi chimes in.

"That's a lot coming from the person who's wolf gets its ass kicked every battle," I tell her.

"Remi does the least amount of damage in our fights so far," Nazuko adds.

"Heh," Lilith chuckles.

"Hey! That's just due to bad luck. Usually Ryder is the one who takes out our opponents before we get the chance to engage so I don't get many opportunities. When we fight this monk guy it'll be different this time," Remi retorts.

"It's not my fault that our opponents are unable to withstand my grand explosions. If you want I could attack a mini cannon to your wolf so it could also make things explode," Ryder offers.

"No, I don't think that would be a good idea. I think it's good where it's at," Remi says, refusing his offer.

"Yes, because we clearly need another creature that has a tendency for explosions," Azura says sassily.

I'm not going to say anything because I thought it was a cool idea. If I could get a sword that causes an explosion when it comes into contact with something it would be so cool, although it would be a one time use, so maybe not an explosive sword.

"Indeed there is no cause for worry because I shall aid you in this fight. I simply cannot allow myself to be beaten and let that monk get away with it," Manchester says with a look in his eyes showing that he's eager for a rematch.

"I guess that's reassuring. You're worth like 15 Nazukos in terms of power. If Ryder and I are worth about 13 Nazukos, Azura who is worth 10, plus Lilith who's worth 14 then we should be good for battle strength," I say, analyzing the situation.

"Wait, what about me?" Remi questions.

"You're worth -1 Nazukos."

"Why am I worth less than her?!" Remi complains.

"Because reasons. And before you ask Nazuko, you're worth zero," I tell the small girl.

"Why am I worth less than myself?" she complains.

"Because you're priceless."

"Yay that means I am of value to you," she exclaims while jumping up all happy.

"Only because I find you amusing," I say, shutting her down.

"Oh… well that's still higher than Remi so I'll take it," she responds.

"Back to the topic at hand we need more information about these Reapers. Did the monk guy ever say what his name was, Manchester?" I ask him.

"Hmm, good question. It was raining at the time so I didn't really catch his name all that clearly. I think he said his name was Snickerdoodle?" he says unsure of himself.

Did I hear that correctly?

"Snickerdoodle?"

"Yes that's right, he was a fierce foe indeed, that Snickerdoodle," he says with a straight face.

"As for more useful information, I do know which direction he was headed. If anything he may be somewhat in the vicinity. By now he's most likely on the outskirts of Arty waiting to attack you the moment you leave to help fight the rebellion. However I believe he won't wait long, if we are to fight him we should do it soon," he continues.

"I don't really think that's his name, but I guess that's what we're calling him for now. As for the other stuff that's great, I'm probably going to get assassinated."

"Oh no no no no, I could sense it when we fought, but this man is a true martial artist. His pride wouldn't allow him to try something so underhanded. If he faces you it will be in a direct, face to face fight. I believe we can use that against him, meaning fortify ourselves and maybe set up traps near the place we plan to fight him," Manchester suggests.

I don't know how I feel about being someone who fights dirty like that, but I won't say anything if it's our best chance for defeating this guy. Maybe if possible I could get Quincy's help in fighting this dude.

"Come on guys we need to go talk to Quincy about these reapers and how we're going to deal with this 'Snickerdoodle' guy," I say signaling for my party to come with.

"Ah when you see him please assign his party to also take down the Reapers as well, if you would my dear," Colonel Bianca orders.

We all head down to the barracks to look for Quincy's group, but we're unable to find them in the common areas at all. I stop a nearby knight to ask them if they've seen Quincy.

"Hey you, wait, have you seen Quincy around in the last few hours?" I ask.

"Quincy? Oh you mean the one of blackness. Yes I heard that his party is currently residing in the infirmary," the knight responds.

Infirmary? Damn, I guess there goes my plan of getting his assistance to fight the monk guy. I wonder what happened. We walk into the infirmary to find Quincy and Warren lying in hospital beds.

"Jesus! Why do bad things happen when I get drunk? First there was that thing that happened with Remi, then this. I have to make a mental note never to get that drunk again," I complain.

"What happened with me?" Remi asks.

"Do you remember what happened this morning or last night?" I ask her.

"Nope, when I woke up, I found myself in bed with a hangover. I have no idea what happened last night after that bar fight with Lilith, which I won," she says smugly.

"Just because you can drink more doesn't mean you won that battle," Lilith argues.

Well that's good I will ABSOLUTELY NOT tell her what happened this morning, mostly since I don't even know what happened so I don't want anyone jumping to conclusions.

I see that Quincy is currently unconscious so I need a way to wake his ass up. I look over at a book on a nearby desk, pick it up and start waving it around his face. I'm hoping the musty smell of his book will be enough to wake him up.

"Will what are you doing?" Azura asks.

"Just watch, I know this will work," I respond.

A few seconds of forcing him to smell the musty book immediately wakes him up. He takes the book from my hands and starts to read it, no questions asked.

"Book!" he yells as he wakes up from his slumber.

"Well I see you're still alive. It would be such a shame if I went from first hero to only hero," I say sarcastically.

"Oh hi Will," he says as he continues to read somewhat unphased by my sarcasm.

"Hi Quincy, it seems you had a fun night," I tell him.

"No it wasn't, I got my ass beat, and it was all Adam's fault. Where is he? If I see him I'm beating him up," he remarks.

Suddenly Adam walks into the room in response to someone yelling.

"Quincy are you ok I thought I heard yelling!" he says in a panicked tone of voice.

"Will step to the left a little," Quincy tells me.

I do so and watch as Quincy takes the book he was just reading and tosses it at Adam's face. The book is thrown with such force that it causes him to fly backwards and hit Nazuko so they both end up tumbling into the hallway and down the stairs.

"Ow ugh, my head," Adam groans in pain from afar.

"Hmm, I'm not hearing any pain noises from Nazuko so I think she's knocked out at the moment. Oh well, Azura if you please?" I ask her.

"On it," she sighs.

"Sooooo, what happened last night? I'm starting to think you had a worse night than me."

"Short story is I went to a bookstore, Adam followed and annoyed me. Then due to his stupid mouth I got attacked by a Reaper that uses blood. And Warren saved the day. Adam did nothing and just watched," Quincy says summarizing his experience.

"Well that sounded bad. Wait?! Did you just say Reaper?"

"Yeah man, I think she's being held in the basement or something. I'm sure Warren has a few things he wants to say to her right Warren," he says looking at Warren who's now awake.

I would really love to stay here for that interrogation, but unfortunately I don't have time to waste. It would be nice to have info on our opponents prior to fighting them, although I doubt the girl would sell out her teammates.

Then again, you can never tell with some people how much they may hate certain members of their party. Take Quincy for example. I swear if that interrogation gives them info on someone I have to fight and I'm not told of it, I'm gonna be slightly annoyed.

"As soon as I can get out of this bed, we're interrogating that girl," he says.

Dang, Warren makes no noise when he wakes up. I feel if his warclass was a thief he might be someone to be wary of if he wasn't already. This reminds me, I have a question I need to ask Warren. I go up to him and quietly ask the question that's been at the back of my mind the whole time.

"By the way Warren you wouldn't happen to know what happened with me and Remi last night, would you?"

"Oh that, you slept with her."

If I had a drink in my mouth I would spit it out right now.

"What exactly do you mean by SLEPT with HER?"

"You. slept. With. Her."

"Yeah, but slept as in intercourse or fell unconscious next to her?" I interrogate

"Yes."

Goddamnit I swear to Vienna, I'm just going to drop this, act as if nothing ever happened and no one will be the wiser.

"By the way, where is Nerva?" I question looking around for the red head.

Adam walks into the infirmary now looking healed and Quincy looks upset that he has nothing else to throw at him.

"Oh she got mad that she missed out on another fight and stormed out of the tower venting," Adam tells me.

"Oh ok just wondering. So I have bad news and… uh well just bad news. The colonel wants us to take down the rest of the Reapers so get prepared to fight in the future. My group is actually about to set off in finding the person that defeated Manchester."

"Oh well then good luck Will, try not to die. I need you to live so I can go home," Quincy informs me.

"Yeah I'll do my best, bye Quincy, bye Warren," I tell them and walk out of the infirmary, ignoring Adam.

Our group prepares for the upcoming battle and heads for the outskirts of the city. I am not looking forward to my next fight.