Chapter 7
DeathGrip
A man about the age of 22 was walking the streets of downtown Vale. His long navy blue hair was in a ponytail. Around his neck was a green bandana which he had pulled up over his mouth. His shirt was brown with blue shoulders and a picture of a blue and red gear under the left shoulder. He wore brown khaki pants and brown combat boots. On his right hand he wore a blue wrist band. On his left hand and fore arm, he wore a large navy blue metal gauntlet with silver coloured lines of steel wrapping around it.
He was downtown looking for work. Every day, he would go downtown and visit local bars or bounty hunter stations in order to get work. But so far, he had no such luck. The man sat down on a bench to relax. He would always have to go out looking for work, but today, work came looking for him, and it came in the form of Roman Torchwick.
Roman sat down next to him on the bench. "For someone always looking for work, you were not easy to find." He said without facing the other man.
"Maybe I'm trying to avoid people like you."
"Well people like me have work to offer and I know that people like you are looking for it."
"Why would I work for you after what you did?"
"Tough choices have to be made sometimes." Roman said grimly.
"You were just trying to save your own ass. I'm just lucky I escaped with my life."
"Come on, DeathGrip. Don't be so dramatic." Roman exclaimed.
"It's all I've got. Since that incident, I've been barely scraping by. That was supposed to be my big break."
"It was supposed to be mine as well. But sometimes things happen."
DeathGrip sighed. "What do you want Roman?"
"I have been sent to enlist your services. If you agree, we will let you in on the reward."
"You've been sent?" DeathGrip asked. "Since when do you take orders from anyone?"
"Things change. We have to adapt to new situations, otherwise the world we live in will kill us."
"And when did you become so wise?"
"I didn't. I just have a great way with words."
"If that was true, you would have already convinced me to join your little operation."
"I wouldn't say that it's a little operation."
"Doesn't make a difference. Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass."
Roman stood up and began walk away. "Suit yourself. Cinder will be disappointed to hear that you said no."
DeathGrip's eyes widened. He stood up and grabbed Roman's shoulder to turn him around. "I assume you've changed you mind?"
"Wanna tell me why Cinder wants me?"
"That depends. You in?"
DeathGrip thought this over for a minute. He was trying to decide if learning Cinder's true motives were worth getting wrapped up with Torchwick. But eventually, he came to a decision. "So what's this operation?"
"I was worried you would never ask." Roman said as he walked beside DeathGrip. He put one arm around DeathGrip's shoulder and the other extended towards the sky. "Tell me. What would you say if I told you that the key to eternal life was within our grasp?"
"Project Survivor?" Asked DeathGrip.
Roman nodded. "It's as real as you and me. And now it's ours. We are just missing one key component to unlocking it."
"Well then. Shall we get going?"
The two began to walk. "You still haven't answered my question." Said DeathGrip.
Roman chuckled. "The truth is I don't know. We could gotten anyone for the op. I guess you'll just have to ask Cinder." After a several more steps. "You gotta tell me how you manage to always do it?" Said Roman.
"What do you mean?" Asked DeathGrip.
"How do you manage to never get caught and keep your face hidden?"
DeathGrip chuckled as he readjusted he bandana. "It's all in the act, Roman. It's all in the act."
Beacon Academy – Sparring Class
Yang and the rest of her team sat and watched as Jaune was getting his ass handed to him by Cardin. While most of team RWBY was had looks of pity on their faces directed at Jaune, Yang wasn't really paying attention. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Brick. "What should I do?" She thought. "If he likes Blake then I don't want to ruin that. I want them to be happy. And what if that ruins my friendships with them. If I don't say anything, then none of that could happen. But I need to know. I need to know if he would like me back."
Yang was brought back into reality by the sound of Jaune giving off a loud battle cry as he charged towards Cardin. He easily dodged Jaune's attack and quickly finished the match. Goodwitch gave a short speech to the class about checking the aura bar on our scrolls during combat and then the class was dismissed.
The team went to the cafeteria for lunch. The two teams ate mostly in silence, with the exception of Blake and Weiss who weren't actually eating. Blake was reading a book while Weiss was busy filing her nails. As Weiss continued to mold her nails to the perfect length, she was thinking about the different tactics Jaune could have used to win that fight.
Weiss's thoughts eventually trailed back to what her father had told her the other day. Weiss didn't actually know too much about the thing that her father told her about, but she had never seen her father so filled with fear in her entire life. But not knowing what it was, made her want to know even more. "What could have been in that crate? Why was it important enough for my father to tell me about it, but to also hide it from the media? As far as I know, we only transport dust in those crates, and we've lost a lot of those to the White Fang."
Blake who was reading her book, was filled with thoughts about Adam. "Why on Earth would he come for my help? A person like Adam doesn't look for a person like me after what I just did unless he wanted them dead. So then why did he ask for my help? It doesn't make sense."
Ruby looked at her teammates and saw them all in deep thought. "Why is everyone being so weird? This all started with that date and that phone call. I need to know what happened. Weiss will be difficult to crack, Blake doesn't really share and I know what's wrong with Yang. How can I help my teammates if I don't know what's wrong?"
Pyrrha gazed at the RWBY girls sitting across the table from her. "Are you guys okay?"
The four girls snapped back into reality. "Don't worry about it." They all said at the same time.
"Alright then. So Jaune, wanna talk about why you let Cardin push you around?" Pyrrha asked.
"He's not pushing me around. It's just rough housing. You know, boys just being boys."
"Oh yeah? Well then, how about the time when he…" Pyrrha listed off just a few off the things Cardin had done to bully Jaune.
"I didn't fall that far from the school. Besides, he's not just a jerk to me. He's like this to everyone."
Outside the window, Adam stood and gazed into the cafeteria. His gaze was focused mostly on Cardin, who was busy pulling on Velvet's ear and laughing. A part of Adam wanted to shoot Cardin, but he knew that Cinder wanted him on their side, so he would let Cardin keep his head. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed. "This is Taurus…You were right, he is definitely the one we want."
That Night – Beacon Academy – Library
"Why again are we doing this?" Asked Ruby.
"Because we have a History test coming up," Weiss said. "And as the leader of this team, you need to be able to keep your grades up. How do you expect to support your teammates if you can't take care of yourself? Now read!" Weiss commanded as she passed Ruby a textbook.
"Ugh. But Weiss, this is sooo boring!" Ruby whined.
"Well not everything in life will be fun. The sooner you learn that, the better."
"I'll study more on one condition. You tell me what your dad told you the other day."
Weiss froze. "I-I already told you. It was just heiress stuff. None of your concern."
"It didn't look like just heiress stuff to me. You looked like some had died."
"Ruby, please let it go."
"No. I won't be able to take care of myself if I know that my teammate is worried about something."
Weiss sighed. "What I'm about to tell you will make you a part of something that could end with people dying, so are you sure you want to hear it?" She asked.
Ruby nodded her head and Weiss sighed again. "Alright. My dad told me that the White Fang had stolen a crate that was being transferred to the Fridge. Before you ask, the Fridge is the Schnee Dust Company's most secure storage facility. We only put the most dangerous things inside that place."
"So what exactly was stolen?" Asked Ruby.
"My dad didn't tell me. All he told me was that this wasn't the first time the White Fang tried to steal this crate and that the last time they did, people died."
"Oh my god. So why did he tell you?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe he just felt I should know. As heiress of the company, if something important was stolen, I am told about it. But never have I been given this vague of a report, and never has the report come straight from my father."
"So what are you going to do?"
"Until I know more, I probably won't do anything. Are you happy know?"
"Not really." Ruby admitted.
"And that's why I didn't want to tell you." Weiss explained. "Now get studying. And don't tell anyone else about this."
Ruby nodded and then began to read.
Beacon Academy – Team RWBY's Dorm
Blake was lying down on her bed, reading the same book that she always read. The door beeped and Yang came in wearing an orange tank top and white gym shorts. She had a towel around her neck and she was dripping with sweat.
"Man, Brick can put up a good fight." Yang exclaimed.
Blake giggled. "So I'm assuming that you had a good workout. Where's Brick?"
"He's is still going. He got challenged by Pyrrha after we finished going at it."
"Thanks."
"Actually…" Yang started. She wiped off her face with the towel and sat down in the desk chair. She turned herself to face Blake. "I wanted to talk to you about him."
"Alright. What exactly did you have in mind?"
"Did anything happen when you guys went out for dinner?"
Blake got nervous. "Does she know about Adam?" She thought. "Besides him scaring the shit out of me with his flying motorcycle, no, nothing happened."
"So nothing happened between you two?" Yang asked, just to be sure.
"So this isn't about Adam." She thought. "Why would anything have happened between us? We just went out for dinner. It wasn't a date or anything. I just wanted to thank him for helping me during the Nevermore attack. Why do you ask?"
"Oh-uh…you know me. I like to pry."
"Yeah, but when you do you're much more direct." Blake said. "What's this really about? Do you have a thing for Brick?"
"Now why on Remnant would you say that?"
Blake just gave Yang a look. Yang sighed. "There's no fooling you, is there? Yes. I like him."
Blake closed her book and sat up. "I want you to go shower, and then you and I are gonna talk about this."
"Since when do you care about other people love lives?" Yang questioned.
"Because you two would be so cute together. Now go shower. I don't want your sweat all over my bed when we talk."
Yang stuck her tongue out at Blake, who smirked in return. Yang made her way to the bathroom and shut the door. Just as the sound of running water began to echo through the room, Blake heard a knock on the door.
Blake opened it to reveal a very red-eyed Pyrrha. "You okay? I thought you were working out with Brick." Blake asked.
"I was, but I decided to leave early. Anyways, my leader is a complete tool and I can't afford to let the rest of my team see me like this. Can I hide out here for a little while?"
"Sure." Blake said as she moved out of the way to let Pyrrha into the room.
"It's just me and Yang here so you can stay as long as you need to."
Pyrrha sniffled. "Thanks."
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Blake asked as she guided Pyrrha over to sit on her bed.
Pyrrha shook her head. "I'm sorry but I can't. All I can say is that Jaune fucked up big this time."
"Well, I was just about to have a conversation with Yang about her guy troubles. Maybe it will help you take your mind off of whatever is bothering you." Blake said. She stood up and went over to the mini fridge. She bent over and opened it up. "Want ice cream?" Blake offered.
"Sure. What flavours do you have?"
"Well Yang likes to hides all the good flavours so your choices are chocolate or vanilla."
"Surprise me." Pyrrha decided.
Blake pulled out the chocolate and two spoons. "No bowls?" Asked Pyrrha.
"We think of ourselves as a family so we don't mind. Also that way we don't have to worry about cleaning them."
"Nice. So how long have you had that fridge?"
"Early on, Brick and Yang agreed that it was something that we needed to have. So far, it has been one of the best decisions we've made all year."
"I see. So what's this about Yang's boy troubles?" Pyrrha asked.
"Well, surprise, surprise, she has a crush on Brick."
"Took her long enough to realize. Does Brick have any idea about it?"
"Are you kidding?" Blake exclaimed. "Brick may be smart, but he kind of clueless when it comes to girls."
"Oh, I see. Does Weiss know about this new development yet?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'm not sure. Why?"
"Um-uh…" Pyrrha stammered.
"Okay, spill. What do you know?" Blake pried."
Pyrrha let out a sigh. "What if, hypothetically, Weiss also had a crush on Brick, and then she hypothetically found out about Yang's crush, what would happen between them? All of this still, hypothetical."
Blake gasped. "No way! Weiss likes Brick. This is too good!"
"Shhh! For all you know she could be right outside that door listening in on us." Pyrrha exclaimed.
"No need to worry. Weiss and Ruby are going to pull an all-nighter studying in the library. They won't be back here until tomorrow morning." Said Blake.
Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief. "Alright good. Thanks again for letting hide out here. Ren is still trying figure out the best way to explain to Nora why Jaune 'isn't home yet', and if they see me losing it then the whole team might fall apart."
"It's no problem. Besides, you seem to already be in a better mood." Blake pointed out. The sound of the water stopped. Thirty seconds later, Yang came out of the bathroom with only a very large towel to cover her body. Her hair was still damp.
"Oh, Hi Pyrrha. I thought you were working out with Brick. What are you doing here?"
"She's finished early and something happened between her and Jaune so she's hiding out here for a while." Blake explained. She then mouthed to Yang "Don't ask". "Anyways, we are going to be talking about you, miss. Don't think I forgot."
"Alright then. Let's talk."
Roman's Warehouse
Roman entered the warehouse to find DeathGrip leaning against a giant crate. "I hope that you find everything to suit your needs." Said Roman.
"So this is it?" DeathGrip asked as he knocked his gauntlet against the crate he was leaning on.
"Yup. In that crate lies the key to eternal life."
DeathGrip stood up straight and turned to look at the crate. "It doesn't look like much to me, just an ordinary Schnee transport crate."
"Oh yeah." Roman pulled out the key card and swiped it. The crate opened again and DeathGrip's eyes widened.
"This is it? This is the key to eternal life? You've got to be kidding me. How longs has it been like that?"
"About 8 years. But trust me, it's being perfectly preserved." Explained Roman.
The tapping of high heels once again echoed through the warehouse. "Do you think I would have something like this retrieved if it wasn't going to work?" Asked Cinder. The two men swiftly turned around. "DeathGrip…It's been too long."
"I agree. How have you been?"
"Fairly well. But if we pull this off, I'll be doing better than ever before."
"Great. Now care to explain why you had this guy," He pointed to Roman "drag me out to this place for ya?"
"Be polite now, he is your boss after all."
"Excuse me?" DeathGrip exclaimed.
"Yes. You heard me correct. Roman has insisted that we gather up supplies in order to have a fall back in the event something goes wrong. You are to assist him to the best of your capabilities. If you succeed, then you will be rewarded with being able to share with us what's in that crate. Am I clear?"
"Of course." DeathGrip said.
"I knew you be on board with me. I'll leave you two to sort out the details. Roman, please give me a call when everything is sorted out so I can provide you with what you need." She walked over to Roman and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later." She said before beginning to make her way out of the warehouse. She paused her walking. "Oh and DeathGrip, dear. Be a good boy and don't cause trouble for Roman." She resumed her walking. "Have fun, boys." She called out.
When she finally left, DeathGrip adjusted his focus to Roman. "You and her? Really?" He asked.
Roman chuckled. "She's may be a bad girl, but my heart still belongs with her." Roman said.
"Wow. How poetic of you." DeathGrip said while trying to stifle a laugh.
"Yes, and if you tell anyone I said that then I will deny it and kill you." Roman threatened.
DeathGrip chuckled and put one hand on Roman's shoulder. "No worries, man. Your secret is safe. Now then, shall we get started?"
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