Some Author's notes: For the first few chapters, this fanfiction will be rated K, but will eventually reach the M rating in later chapters. This is in progress and I hope to at least update this monthly. There are 13 planned chapters, planned to be completed before RWBY returns from hiatus. More characters will be involved with the story, but the main characters are Roman Torchwick and Cinder Fall. There will be a couple of scene runovers, the first being the biggest, but shouldn't coincide with the real storyline of RWBY too much. Thank you for reading!
Chapter 1: Grimm Rose
"You're a good thief, but if I were the police, you would have been caught and surely you would have been put down, seeing you have no way to fight back."
A young woman approached the ragged man, who froze as she approached. The young man's hair was messily tucked away inside an old beanie, his clothes tattered and the typical fingerless gloves, ripped to shreds and a couple shades darker than they were originally from overuse. The woman shook her head, a small "tsk tsk" sound that danced on her lips as she approached.
"So what? You're going to report me to that worthless scum?" He counted the small amount of lien retrieved from the victim's wallet, frowning a little before shoving it into his pocket.
"No… But I would like to talk to you about a certain… Job opportunity."
"Not interested in being an underling for any big companies, or anyone at all to be frank."
"I'm looking for a business partner, in a kind of career choice related to the one you're pursuing now. You'll make more than you would need to live, and I could offer you a safe place to stay.
"I'm listening."
She gestured to the bench, politely asking "Mind if we sit and I ask you a few questions?"
He nodded, following her to the bench, the dim street light flickering out as they sat down. The woman conjured a flame and took a good look at the man's face. He wore a poorly cut beard and mustache, a dirty bronze that matched the tufts of hair escaping his beanie. The man got a good look at the woman's serpentine face, clean with thick, dark hair that adorned her face. It seemed to fall around her left shoulder, and her eyeliner was sharply pointed at the edges of her eyes. She was beautiful and glowing, especially in comparison to the man cautiously watching her flickering flame.
"What is your name?" she asked, watching the man with a false curiosity.
"Roman. Roman Torchwick. And yours is?"
"Fall. Cinder Fall. If you let my name be known to anyone else, I'll be sure to stop you from speaking ever again."
Roman just grinned, "I can agree to those terms."
Without a change of expression, she continued. "Why do you live this way? I understand you don't want to work under anyone, but why choose a lifestyle of thievery and such a poor state?"
He frowned a little, relaxing against the back of the bench, a tiny creak sounding as he took a deep breath of the night's crisp air. "I lost everything at a young age, and let's just say I don't agree with the higher-ups. I think everyone here should be eating sh-"
"I think I get the idea. Do things around Vale seem a little… Unjust to you?"
"Well, yeah. I wish I could make them pay."
"I do, too, and that's why I want you to join me in making them suffer. Here's the deal: I have big plans and need a distinct face for the media and a distraction. You'll be famous, under my protection, and we can finally lash back against these worthless people."
"And what's in it for you? Why do you care?"
"My reasons are a little more personal for now, but I can promise we're one in the same. Yes, the Faunus have reason to be angry with the people of Vale, but their hatred doesn't quite extend as far as it would for people like you. Me. Us."
"My question to you is simple; will I be able to keep clean and finally have some free time not running from the cops?"
"Of course, as long as you obey."
"Light the way, Miss Fall."
She let her lips fall to a straight line, unamused at what was supposed to be a pun. "Please do not use such childish demeanor in a situation such as this."
… Two years later …
"Let's go over the plan one more time; we go in, we grab the dust and take down any opposition. If the VPD shows up, we leave with the dust we've gathered. I will not wait for stragglers."
The similarly dressed men nodded, readying canisters and weapons. Roman, now cleaned up with new clothes, a nearly clean shave, a classy cane, and some eyeliner famous in his mug shots, started walking away from the Bullhead with his hired help following close behind. The sign before them read "From Dust Till Dawn" and from what Roman could see immediately, there wasn't any police; the shopkeeper was the only one in sight.
"Go check the rest of the store and stop anyone who tries to stop us."
Roman opened the doors, walking straight up to the shopkeeper and tapping the ashes from his cigar onto the glass display.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?" Roman asked, unamused as a henchman raised a gun to the shopkeeper.
"Please! Just take my lien and leave!"
"Shshshshsh, calm down, we're not here for your money," he said calmly. He then turned to the henchmen, saying in a more serious tone "Grab the dust."
Meanwhile, Cinder fondled a note between her fingers, which read:
"Cinder,
I don't believe bringing henchmen was necessary, but I trust your word. Our big plan is finally moving forward and with my notoriety, there is no doubt I will cause a stir and create a distraction big enough to keep the higher-ups off our backs. With the other two around and a crowd watching, it looks like we can't display much affection to each other anymore. I'll miss it.
Love,
Roman"
Cinder took a look at the black rose with mysterious markings, sealing the rose in a glass casing hugging the flower's every curve. "Pathetic," she mumbled to herself.
Back at the shop, as the henchmen grabbed the dust and searched the store, Roman picked out a red dust crystal, checking the quality. Suddenly, a large black object flew through the corner of his eye, crashing into some merchandise. A henchmen looked to him, and Roman gestured to take care of the problem. Another henchmen went flying through the window, along with a young girl dressed in red and black. Roman turned to see, slightly irritated.
"Okay…" He looked to the henchman and gestured as he said even more irritated "Get her!"
Roman watched the girl take down the henchman, some powerful hits at the very least knocking out the henchmen. After the henchmen fell, Roman said sarcastically to himself, "You were worth every cent, truly, you were." Louder now, he addressed the young girl. "Well, Red, I think we all can say it's been an eventful evening!"
Police sirens were sounding, and Roman knew he needed to leave. "And as much as I would love to stick around, I'm afraid this is where we part ways." He lifted his cane a triggered the crosshair to pop open at the end, launching one of his signature incendiaries at the girl.
Roman ran to get to the bullhead while the girl was distracted by the fireworks display. Standing at the edge of the room, he heard a small voice exclaim "Hey!" and more irritated than before, he said in a low voice, "Persistent."
The Bullhead roared to life, rising to pick Roman up. Roman climbed into the Bullhead and shouted "End of the line, Red!" and threw the red dust crystal down by the girl, shooting at it with his cane. He let out a joyful laugh before noticing a purple glyph in front of the girl. The Bullhead was being bombarded by dust, shaking it.
"We got a huntress!" Roman told Cinder before taking her place as driver. Cinder went to the doors as shards of ice pummeled the Bullhead, and Cinder was quick to retaliate and take care of the attacks. Keeping vigilant, Roman maneuvered the Bullhead to ricochet the huntress's projectiles, and in turn, after a stumble, Cinder dissipated them to prevent another pummeling. As soon as Cinder created enough of a distraction to leave, Roman closed the doors and skillfully maneuvered out of the vicinity.
Cinder smirked and joined Roman up front in the Bullhead. "Don't go soft on me, Roman. You'll regret it." She picked up the rose, fondling it again as Roman replied.
"I'll think about it," Roman chuckled, relaxing back in his seat as they flew back to their hideout.