AN: So I am conducting a little bit of an experiment. This is the second of three one-shots I am releasing together with a different plot to see which one gets the most interest. Whichever one receives the most views and favorites after an undetermined amount of time (basically whenever I decide I am bored of life to write something new) will be the main focus of my next big story. For those of you who came her from my other stories, 14 Hunters will still be updated regularly (whenever I finally get the chapter finished and published) and will most likely be mostly finished before I start on the next one.
This is number two of three one-shots that I have had going through my head and finally put down and on this site. The other two are named And Unto Dust You Shall Return and Color of Life. Each will have a completely independent plot, although I may have recurring characters between the three that are of my own creation. So if you would please check out the other two as well, I would love to hear/see which one intrigues people most.
"Come on Ozpin. We all know better than this bullshit you are telling us." Cinder sipped at her cocktail, a dry vodka martini, as she gazed lazily at Ozpin. Here partner Coco slid the sunglasses down her nose to give Ozpin a pointed stare. "Ironwood fucked you over and you want to see him cut down to size. You must realize that this is how Meadows business is done." Ozpin laughed softly under his breath.
"Handshakes with the dagger clutched behind the back is not what I call business. That's the one thing I find appalling about this place." Ozpin raised his mug to his mouth and took sip of his concoction, black coffee with a cinnamon rum creamer. "I have often considered selling off my buildings and leaving this behind. However, it does allow me some luxuries Beacon can't provide."
"Like escorts that are of legal age?" Cinder let out a low laugh at Ozpin's gentle scowl. "I know you aren't into that, but I do know what you mean. My question is why are you not using this to screw over the guy who has been trying to one-up you for the last decade or two? Put him back in his place and establish yourself apex predator?" Cinder set her glass one the table and leaned back in her chair, head tilted and resting against her hand.
"Because I am confident in my own abilities. I don't need to undermine my opposition to get ahead of them." Ozpin set his own mug down and interlaced his fingers in front of his face, staring down the younger temptress in front of him. He had long respected Cinder's Huntress abilities, but the young woman still used her body in ways he found disrespectful to the woman it belonged to. Cinder had never agreed with him on that, claiming she used seduction as a means to an end and it was more fun than outright killing them.
"Yes Ozpin we know you believe yourself to be apex already. Just humor us, we are looking for a little fun. We are here in the Meadows, at least give us an allowance that we may have our own fun." Coco chimed in trying to convince the old man to ease up. "We will be home by curfew, we just wanna play with the boys a bit more. And I want to get some new shoes." Coco kicked her feet up onto the table between them, showing off her fashionable button up heeled boots.
"Very funny Coco. I may humor you, but I want to know who you've got in mind for this little bit of fun. I suppose I don't need to point out that if you succeed, you will make history, and if you don't I will be unable to chastise you girls." Ozpin smirked at the women across from him who shared smiles of their own.
"Well, there is the two of us who will be heading the whole operation." Cinder began counting on her fingers. "Since it is regulation to have enough Lien in the Vault to cover all chips in play, and all of Ironwood's casinos funnel to the same vault, we need someone to infiltrate. That will be Neo."
"In order to raise the take, on fight nights the minimum is raised substantially. We have Pyrrha Nikos and Lie Ren who will agree to fight main stage in the Tartarus pits. High rollers who can get our materials in the Vault will be none other than the Princesses themselves, Weiss and Winter Schnee." Coco interjected with more names, holding up four fingers of her own.
"We need people on the casino floors so I am thinking the Jaune Arc kid." Cinder held up another finger and earning a splutter and cough of surprise from Ozpin. "I know he isn't on par with everything, but he is a very fast learner and is a people person. The kid will be great and will give us an in on the rest of it. Ruby and Yang will be our staff in the hotel and wherever else we need them. Tech is pretty easy, we have the Neptune Vasilas kid from Mistral. Old friend of Pyrrha and looking for some nerd work."
"Come on Cinder, her prefers the term 'intellectual badass' but yeah he will be our tech boy." Coco chuckled at Cinder. "Last one we really need is demolitions and that's where Ren shines again. His childhood friend Nora Valkyrie will prove to be our greatest asset their. Explosive fetish and great knowledge of anything that goes boom can give us plenty of options. That just leaves you to round off the dozen as our funding."
The two women finished and looked back at Ozpin who had the names they rattled off to him on a piece of paper in front of him. Brow furrowed slightly, he read the list several times. "Okay this is a good start, but with the take, you may need more hands on the job. I have some young contacts of my own who may do some damage to Ironwood if played right and I will be in touch." Ozpin returned to his list and coffee.
Coco and Cinder stood up from the table and took their leave. Exiting the grand mansion Ozpin called home in the Meadows, the two women got into Cinder's waiting car. A dark grey sports car with bright orange-red edging pulled out of the drive and drove deeper into the city.
"Who do you think Ozpin has in mind?" Coco gazed lazily out the window up at the eastern peak towering high above the city. Coco had never been one to find excessive beauty in nature, preferring the beauty and artificial colors of architecture and the fashion of the people walking amongst them. However, the natural beauty of the twins peak standing guard over the city nestled along the river separating Vacuo and Vale.
"I've got a suspicion that he wants to use a few of the promising students at our alma mater. On my last visit I did notice quite a few children that could prove useful should they learn." Cinder's right hand draped lazily over the wheel while she ran her left through her hair. "There is a raven haired beauty whom I suspect to be a cat Faunus. She has the yellow angular eyes and her bow is probably just a disguise. There are also some of my young apprentices there he may want to test."
"Fair enough. Say we get his blessing, where do we get our supplies?" Coco turned her head back to Cinder, who smirked.
"Come now, darling. The only place we ever shop. Roman's suppliers can get him just about anything. If he can't get it, he has plenty of leads to get us to where we need to." Cinder slowed the car as they pulled onto the main drag, Rainbow Boulevard. The traffic was very slow moving as tourists gazed longingly at the miracles around them. On either side rose magnificent buildings of various design drawing upon the cultures of old Remnant, predictions of the future, and the most popular stories of the last decade.
As they snailed along, they came upon four casinos standing proud on either side of the street, linked by only three features. Each were based upon a different story of Mistral mythology several millennia before: the creation of the planet, the realm of damnation, the encircling seas, and the beauty of the sky. These were also the architectural feats of General Ironwood of Atlas, deeming the ancient myths to be the most beautiful literature on Remnant. The third, and most enthralling feature to the two young women, were the fact that each casino was connected below the surface by one key feature, the Iron Vault.
"There is the playground. Should daddy Ozpin give us our allowance and the permission to play with our friends." Coco's eyes shone with glee as she let out an excited giggle. Gazing out her window at the magnificent globe that shone of lights signifying night and day across Remnant. The massive casino, Gaia, stood next to a much shorter rust red rock building spreading across the open space. While Coco had never set foot in the infamous Gates of Tartarus casino, she had seen the massive gash carved out of the ground that set the dark mood of the casino. Sighing, she turned away from the feats and focused on two large buildings coming up.
"The Wizard gave us the penthouse suite in the Emerald City for a couple of nights, at least until he either decides against the plan and kicks us out or we move into one of Ironwood's so we have access to his networks." Cinder pulled into the drive for the massive bright green building with a cool glow radiating from the outer wall. Coming to a stop, a young valet with ruby red hair and warm burgundy eyes walked up to the car. "Please be careful darling, you scratch my car and I may just have to run a nail down your back." Cinder smiled darkly as the young man nervously fidgeted on the spot. "Ease up honey, just watch yourself." Cinder placed a quick kiss on his cheek and walked away. swaying her hips seductively at the shell shocked boy.
"You really know how to make a man second guess himself." Coco grinned back over her shoulder and the kid climbed into the car, holding a hand numbly to where Cinder kissed him. Catching up with Cinder, she wrapped her arm about her waist and pulled her to her side. Cinder smiled and wrapped her own arm about her partners waist entering the waiting elevator.
"What floor will it be ladies?" The elevator operator asked them as they leaned against the back railing.
"Straight to the top please." Cinder cast a critical eye over the young man sharing the elevator with them. Feeling the floor shudder slightly, the elevator shot upward through the tallest tower of the casino. As the elevator began to slow, Cinder began rummaging around in her handbag finally retrieving the thing she was after. As the doors opened to a beautiful arched hallway with a gold inlaid floor, Cinder dropped the extra key card into the young man's breast pocket. "Come keep us company when you get off. It does get awfully lonely up here with just the two of us." With a sly wink Cinder sauntered from the elevator before he could protest.
Coco ran a hand along the jawline of the young man before exiting the elevator herself. "See you later." Coco waved a hand over her shoulder as the doors slid shut, walking down the hall to the intricate mahogany door. Sliding her key through the slot, the door swung inward revealing a beautiful suite with walls inlaid with veins of glittering emeralds and a polished white marble floor. Across the floor was a massive window overlooking the magnificent city below, and the targets of their little field trip.
Cinder began walking around the room, which was completely circular. The room encompassed the hallway and the elevator the two rode up on. Around the back of the room stood two walls that separated the bedroom and bathroom from the rest of the suite. Cinder strode past a large screen set into the wall with an assortment of seating facing away from the window behind. On the other side of the bedroom stood the kitchenette, complete with oven and stove top set into an island and a smooth metal refrigerator set into the wall next to cabinets with the kitchenware.
"Well at least the old man gave us plenty of room to accommodate everyone before we move the operations. This will also give us plenty of sleeping space if Ironwood decides to get stingy." Cinder poured two glass of blood red merlot and approached Coco at the window, offering her partner a glass. Accepting the glass, Coco brought the glass to her lips and took a slow drink.
"Do you ever stop to think that we shouldn't do this Cinder?" Cinder's eyes narrowed at these words and stared intently at her. "I'm not talking safety for me or you because we can handle ourselves. I am also not talking about the innumerable laws we will be shattering if we pull this off. I am talking about the extra hands we are bringing in on this. Jauney boy has a lot of potential but this may be a bit big for him. Yang and Ruby are always looking for a new adventure but they have tendencies to go way the hell over the top. That's not even stopping to consider who daddy Ozpin would want to bring in." Coco turned her head to stare at Cinder.
"I suppose you could be right, but you have to look past the risk and focus on the reward. Not only will be be set for life with this job, but we will ensure out place in the history books and legends told to the children in generations to come." Cinder smiled at the thought. "I want to make sure everyone knows who they are dealing with when they find me at their doorstep. I will be the one who lead a band of renegades against the man with too much on his plate and got away without a scratch." A knock on the door cut her thought short as the two looked back at the door.
"Who's there?!" Coco hollered at the door.
"M'ladies it is me. The elevator operator, my shift just ended and I wished to return the key you mistakenly left in my possession." The voice called through the door, causing wicked smiles to creep onto the faces of the two women in the room.
"You've got that key for a reason, sweetheart." Cinder cooed through the door as she and Coco finished off their glasses of wine. Moving swiftly to the sofa, Cinder sat on the end while Coco perched herself on the arm next to her. The door lock slid back and the door opened to reveal the young man gazing open mouthed at the two women staring right back. "Come on sweetie, it's all lonely up here and we need a big strong man to keep us company, don't we Coco darling?"
"Absolutely." Coco stood up and swept over the the man, wrapping her arm around his and dragging him to the couch as the door slowly swung shut. Just before it clicked shut, Cinder used a tongue of flame to sweep the 'Do not Disturb' sign to the outside of the door. The door clicked shut and the two predators moved in to enjoy their prey.
AN: Hey! You made it to the end! *clap* That was me high-fiving myself.
This one draws heavily from arguably two of the coolest movies featuring Las Vegas to ever hit the big screens, Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Thirteen. I have watched those two and Italian Job a couple times within the last few months so I decided to try my own hand at a heist. Granted I have also been playing GTAV and some GTA Online so there are more heists that I am reasonably excited to see. This also draws some inspirations from other stories I have seen concerning high stakes heists with different video games and different shows. For those of you who have watched the heist movies, I will say that it may not end as smoothly as it does in the movies (except maybe like the original Ocean's Eleven with the Rat Pack), so don't expect everything to work out perfectly.
So yeah! As I said in the beginning, this is a little social experiment/some way to sort out which of my ideas are most interesting and popular. If you want to see this before either of my others (which you will find either on my page or by searching the names from the beginning of the story) hit favorite (follow is you wish as well), leave a review or hit me with a PM. There are no real weightings on one versus another but I will be counting how many different people show interest. Thanks again for reading!