A young huntress-in-training sat upon the central clock-tower of Lago, the bell tolling midnight. Mikado Falu, a tiger Faunus, had been relaxing atop the tower when she had spotted some rather suspicious activity occurring a few buildings down. From her vantage point, Mikado spotted a large group of people pulling up to a warehouse in black vans. Out of the corner of her eye, she had also noticed the three figures that had approached the warehouse by rooftop shortly after.
Mikado sat, waiting for any sign of activity when a gunshot rang through the air. She smirked, leaping from the tower to a building below. She dropped down into an alleyway before rushing towards the warehouse, as she began to hear shouting mixed in with the gunfire. "So this is serious?" Mikado spoke aloud. "Well then, all the more time for me to shi-!" She was quickly cut off by a figure that dropped down in front of her, draped in a large overcoat. The figure's head perked up, keeping its eyes latched onto the young girl in front of it.
Not moving its eyes off of Mikado, the figure spoke, its voice emotionless and uncaring. "An intruder is attempting to interrupt the operation. Suggested course of action? Over." The figure waited, before nodding. "Very well then. I will proceed. Over." In an instant, the figure had thrown off the coat, revealing a man. There was no expression on his face, but she could tell that he was very serious about what he was doing. His eyes, a dull green, locked onto Mikado's own amethyst orbs, as he reached for two long barreled revolvers.
It was clear at this point that he was looking for a fight, and she was going to bring him one. Mikado, despite only being fifteen, was more talented than her entire class, having the skills of a first year at one of the four Huntsman Academies. She drew her sword and charged at him. The man quickly drew his revolvers, firing off multiple shots from each one. Too easy. Mikado dodged and weaved through each bullet, lunging towards the man in a stabbing motion.
She hadn't been paying attention, as the recoil of the bullets had flipped the revolvers into a second mode, two blades emerging from the guns' chambers. She transformed her sword into its shield mode in time to block the swings from his blades. She jumped back, shifting her weapon back into its sword mode. The man remained completely still, remaining on the defensive.
She smirked again, as her eyes began glowing. A ball of energy formed in Mikado's free hand, hurling it towards the man before her. The ball landed only a foot in front of him before detonating and exploding. The man quickly leapt through the blast, and that was the moment she was waiting for. She charged at him, swinging and stabbing furiously. Blocked. Each attack was easily blocked, as if the man wasn't even trying to fight her. Mikado grew more and more aggressive with each strike, when an idea popped into her head. She made one last stab at him before she jumped into the air, slashing down at him.
KCHAANG!
Mikado was met with the sound of ringing steel, looking down shocked to find that her sword had been caught between the blades of the man before her. His blades latched together, forming a large pair of scissors. He raised the scissors, lifting Mikado's blade into the air. Mikado was sent flying back by the man's boot, losing her grip on her sword. Her head smashed into the wall of a building, the force of the impact depleting her aura a shocking amount. She looked up just as the scissor had dug into the wall around her neck, pinning her against the wall.
The figure came close, and she got a closer look at his features. His eyes seemed to glow, a single mole under his left eye. He was clean and well kempt, with short haired combed back. She couldn't see any emotion in his eyes, as he began to speak again without any notice of Mikado's growing worry. "I've apprehended the intruder, should I move to execute? Over." A look of sheer terror grew on Mikado's face, as she began to realize that she was now face to face with the idea of her own death.
She could hear the voice in his earpiece this time, and recognized a woman speaking. "No, Aubade, let this one go. Our job here is done, the target's down, we need to leave. Over." The earpiece cut out, as the man, now identified as Aubade, nodded. Police sirens wailed a few blocks away and Aubade pulled the scissors away, unlatching them and flipping them back into their revolver forms. Mikado slunk to the ground, paralyzed with shock.
Aubade kneeled next to her, removing one of his gloves. "I would very much appreciate it if you spoke of this to nobody." Mikado tried to formulate words, but none came out. He reached forward, pressing his palm into her head. Her eyes widened for a few seconds before she collapsed, knocked out cold. Aubade stared at her for a few moments before grabbing his coat, the cry of sirens ringing through the alleyway.
The man stood waiting at the docks to meet with the other two. Not too much later did he hear the voices of his companions. "Argilla Aubade! Stand at attention!" Called a deep, burly voice as the two figures approached him. He stood straight up, turning towards the two.
He nodded to them, "Marrubi, Suie, the hit went well, I presume?" The two removed their coats, as Marrubi Notturno stepped forward. Her hair was a strawberry blonde, and it reached down to her shoulders.
"It was mostly smooth. Started a bit of a firefight, but the job was done. Things would've gone much smoother had Suie been quiet like he promised." She shot a glance back towards the man standing behind her. Suie Serenade stood tall over the other two, as he stroked his stubble with a small smirk on his face.
"Sneaking around just doesn't seem to suit me, Marrubi. I'd much rather prefer to have one fire fight, y'know?" He grinned at her.
Marrubi sighed, turning back to face Argilla. "Besides that intruder you mentioned, did anybody attempt to enter or escape the warehouse? Did you get hurt at all?" Argilla shook his head not breaking eye contact with her, and Marrubi smiled in response. "Good. That was very well done Argilla, the Don will be pleased to hear it. Report back to him for us, would you?"
Argilla nodded, "Yes ma'am, of course." Marrubi, pleased, turned to walk away as Suie approached Argilla, placing a firm grip on his shoulder.
"You must'a been bored, waiting around for us, huh?" Suie said, giving a cursory glance back towards Marrubi. Argilla didn't respond, prompting Suie to speak again. "Don't worry, kid, that woman will make a fine hit-man out of you yet, and then you'll get to join us adults in the fun stuff!"
"Yes sir," Argilla agreed. "I intend on completing my training soon." Suie gave him a pat on the shoulder, and like that, Suie turned and disappeared into the night. Argilla stood for a moment, looking out onto the water before leaving the docks and entering the back alleys once more.
Argilla approached a small convenience store on the outskirts of the Lago, the bell ringing as he entered. He looked around, making sure nobody else was around before motioning toward the cashier. "Do you happen to carry the sheet music for 'A Romantic Night on the Lake' by Wenge? It's a Classic Chamber piece."
The cashier smiled and nodded. "Of course! It's in the back, please come with me." The cashier lead Argilla into the back, pushing aside a few crates to reveal a hidden door. Argilla thanked him, entering the door and into a lift, waiting to take him into the lower depths of the store. The doors let him out into what seemed like an office space, but was in reality the working grounds for Classic Chamber, an underground mafia.
Argilla found multiple people clad in suits packaging Lien, dust, and other products. Argilla pulled somebody aside. "Where's the Don?" He was directed to one of the offices, where Don Giallo Aubade had been discussing his coming plans for taking over the baking industry in Lago with other high ranking members. Argilla patiently waited at the door until Giallo spotted him.
Giallo halted the meeting, and the others left the room. He was a very stout man, but he could still hold command over a large group of people. Giallo sat down, and motioned for Argilla to enter. "Dearest son of mine, what is it you need?"
Argilla began to speak, "I've come to report, sir, if I ma-"
"Yes, yes. Of course, report please." Giallo nodded, motioning for Argilla to get on with it.
"The Loch Mafia has been cleared out of the warehouse near city hall. Marrubi and Suie even succeeded in dispatching a high ranking member of the group tonight," Argilla recited robotically. "We've delivered a rather striking blow to their underground dust trade."
Giallo sat listening, nodding to every word that Argilla said. "Good! Good! At this rate, we'll be able to clear those rats out of our city permanently, and then we can leave them to the Grimm!" Giallo laughed at his own words, as Argilla stood listening patiently. Following his laughing fit, Giallo looked back at Argilla, "You get a good night's rest, boy. You did a good job tonight!"
"Yes sir." Argilla turned and left, returning home for the night. "Thank you for your services," He said, passing the cashier and stepping out into the cold streets of Lago.