Chapter 4: Minutes to Midnight
"No."
"Okay, what about this one?"
"No."
"How 'bout this?"
"No."
"Or-" Oracle trailed off at the glare Ulysses was sending her, black eyes unamused. She rolled her eyes at the unspoken question, dropping the dress onto her bed. "You're the only one that'll give me an actual opinion."
The black-eyed warrior slowly tilted his head, eyes narrowing.
"The captain has no sense of fashion and Lance…" She frowned. "Something lewd, probably."
Ebony rolled his eyes and turned away. "Red."
"Red?"
"Red."
"Thanks, hon!"
Ulysses gave an affirmative growl as the gunslinger tossed the two extra dresses back into the closet, leaving the red one hanging off of the side of her bed. She plopped down onto said furniture, kicking her legs idly as she gave her teammate a curious look.
"So who you goin' with?"
That threw Ulysses for a loop, the giant huntsman stilling to stare at the top of his desk with wide, shocked eyes. "What?" He rumbled out.
"The dance. Who you goin' with?"
He slowly turned to her, face not returning to its default snarl. "Who am… what?"
"Don't play stupid. Who ya goin' with?"
"You keep asking. I don't think you know what you're asking."
"I do. Who ya-"
"Yeah, I got that part!" He growled out, cutting her off as she gave him a coy grin. "No one."
"Why not?"
"I'm not going."
"Why not?"
Ulysses stared at her for a long few moments before turning back to his desktop, apparently done with the conversation.
"Is it something embarrassing?" She asked, voice filled with legitimate curiosity.
"Why would I go." He mumbled, not turning from his Scroll.
"Why wouldn't you?"
"Not my thing."
"Not the captain's. And he's still goin'."
"I'm not 'the captain.'." Ebony growled, face slowly darkening with each question. Oracle sighed as she caught the expression, turning away.
"Where are the goobers anyways?" She asked, dropping the subject.
"Get your Opossum Man, free Opossum Man, not taken, looking for a date to the dance- get your Opossum Man-"
"Lance." Shinai said evenly.
The blonde turned to his leader with a smile. "C'mon, pumpkin, it's a dance! You need a babe to dance with."
"No. I really don't."
Zaffre nodded. "Oh, I get it. Not a babe then? Alright, I can swing that, I'm sure we can find a du-"
"Lance."
The shirtless huntsman shrugged. "Oh well. Worth a shot. Wonder if Daria's got a date?"
"Let me guess. You want to go ask."
"You betcha!"
"And you want me to go with you."
Lance rounded on Shinai, holding the samurai's shoulders- an action that made the brunette frown in distaste- and stared into his eyes. "I guarantee you; Rainier's going to be there."
That peaked Kyani's attention. "And why does that matter?"
"Because you two got your reaaally weird thing going on and I need you to distract him while I ask."
"…You want me to be your wingman."
"The best."
When the two huntsmen found the aforementioned D and R of Team DRGN, they also found the N, and Y of Team RWBY, sitting around one of Beacon's many water fountains- simply enjoying the setting sun, it seemed.
Rainier perked up as Lance and Shinai approached, elbowing Daria.
"Hey, guys!" Yang yelled, waving at the duo.
"Nice evening, huh?" Lance greeted coolly, sitting down next to the DRGN team leader.
Xiao Long's eyes flitted from Daria and the other blonde, before subtly turning to Shinai, raising an eyebrow.
The swordsman didn't exactly respond, simply staring coolly back at Yang, purple eyes affirming. She made a noise of understanding and nodded. "Hey, Nash, wanna see something cool?"
The boy blinked. "Maybe. That sounds like a trick. How cool?"
"Like, blow something up cool."
"Oh. Yeah. Definitely."
They two blondes rose to their feet, and Yang held up three fingers for Shinai, eyebrows raised to convey the message. He simply nodded, turning to Rainier.
And the faunus was grinning widely, pale yellow eyes obviously not fooled one bit.
Kyani rolled his eyes. Lance looked between the two warriors, frowning. "Hey, Shinai, didn't you have something you needed to ask Rainier? Like, something super important?"
Rainier shrugged. "I'm certain whatever it is he must ask me, can be asked right here, right now, no?"
"It's important." Shinai droned.
"Yes, your voice is simply dripping with urgency."
Lance threw his hands up. "OKAY, COOL, THAT'S FINE," He shook his head, turning to the tan huntress, who was looking at the trio of guys in confusion. "Hey, so the dance is tomorrow."
"Okay?"
"You going with anybody?"
Her brown eyes widened quickly in realization. "Oh. OH! Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, Lance," The blonde Huntsman sighed, but didn't look too nonplussed, rather, shrugging slightly as if it was no big deal. "I'm going with Rainier."
"WHAT." Lance yelled, shooting to his feet.
"We weren't going with anybody, so… we figured we'd just go together. Like, a super casual thing, though."
"OH, YOU." Lance said, turning flaming blue eyes to the faunus.
Rainier turned to Shinai. "You had something you wanted to ask me? I feel as if dear Lance should be given a moment to relax. Perhaps dunk his head?"
"OH GODDA-"
Shinai nodded, and started walking away, unconcerned with Lance's frustrated rantings behind him, the faunus rising to join him.
The two huntsmen walked silently along Beacon's campus, Rainier's hands thrown behind his head as they watched the sun set behind the horizon.
"A question." Shinai finally said, breaking the silence.
"Of course."
"What's going on?"
Rainier turned his eyes towards the sky. "Well, it's quite a temperate day, and I'm enjoying a walk at the moment. What is going on with you?"
"I don't enjoy games, Platina. You're off. The scene at Goodwitch's class. Avoiding my team and I altogether. I want an explanation."
Rainier smiled, though it wasn't a full one. "Always so to the point," His smile fell completely. "Are you applying for the Vytal Festival?"
"What?"
"Is Team SOUL applying for the Vytal Festival. Tournament, I mean."
"Yes."
Rainier stopped, nodding to himself. Without another word, he turned and walked away, leaving a befuddled Shinai standing by himself as the sun set behind him.
Rainier's metal foot thumped loudly against the carpet of the library, filling the nearly quiet room, joining the lone sounds of the librarian reading, and someone typing. Sitting down at a computer, he stared at it quietly for a few moments, watching his reflection quietly.
"Rainier."
The faunus looked up as the typing stopped- across the way from him, sitting at a computer of her own, was Blake Belladonna.
"Belladonna."
He took a moment to look at her; her more vibrant yellow eyes were tired and hazy, dark bags hanging under them. Her posture was slouched over at her computer, form in a rare… vulnerable state. Introductions done, she turned back to her screen, eyes emptily taking in the information on it.
Rainier turned back to his own computer for a few moments before sighing. "If my words had hurt-"
"Your words didn't do anything. You think I care that much about what you think?"
The former faunus stared at her for a moment longer, eyes slowly narrowing. "You're not alright."
"Why do you care."
"I don't. But I do know people who do."
"We're done here."
And that was the end of the conversation. He shrugged, not entirely too upset by her response, tapping at his computer for a few moments, experimentally searching different keywords. It only took a few moments before Blake shot to her feet, irritated, and stalked off determinedly- though, not looking entirely put off by him. Rainier didn't miss the flash of yellow hair before the other faunus disappeared into an aisle.
Turning back to his screen, he was greeted with a glowing link, staring out at him: 'The Temple of Patch'.
"SHUT UP AND DAAANCE!" Nora cried out, grabbing Ren's hand and dragging him into the middle of the dance floor, the ninja giving Lance one last terrified look before disappearing into the throng. The blonde swordsman snorted, before taking a swig of his drink, gargling it before swallowing.
The ballroom bustled with activity, spilling out into the dark night beyond, lights flashing energetically; the grand hall was filled to the brim with students representing all four Kingdoms, comingling quite efficiently, most of the ground floor dedicated to dancing, a DJ placed at the front of the stage who was conversely switching back and forth between enjoying his job, and cowering under Weiss' furious glares.
"Oh, that's not right." Lance muttered as he gave said offending drink a sour look. Then proceeded to almost drop his cup as Oracle rather roughly bumped his hip with hers, a grin splitting her face. She was dressed in a simple deep red dress, the hem ending a few inches above her knees, spaghetti straps over her shoulders, suspended on rather ornate black platform heels. He looked her up and down for a moment before downturning his lips, unimpressed, looking back out into the crowd.
"Oh come on," She said, smile dropping. "It's the one time I'd let you get away with being... you and not a single compliment?"
"Nope."
"You're such an ass," He snickered as they both turned back to the dance floor, after a moment, she gave him a suspicious look. "And where the hell is your date?"
"Don't got one." He said flatly, taking another drink of punch.
"Oh shut up."
"That one's not a lie."
"Really?" She asked. "You. Don't got a date. What, already piss off the whole female populace? Come on, every school is here- there's gotta be someone who doesn't know who you are."
"I waited too long," He muttered back with a shrug. "Sides- dances aren't my thing anyways."
"I... yeah. I could see that."
"Alright," He shot back, looking down at her with a cocked eyebrow. "Where's your date then."
"Oh, he's..." She trailed off, face souring. "Thought he was cute. Turned out to be an ass."
"Like, 'you're such an asshole!'? Or, 'Lance gotta go knock someone's teeth in, asshole'?"
She gave him a small chuckle. "I dealt with 'im already. Remind me not to date sketchy Mistrali guys."
"Oh, come on, Team SSSN aren't that bad."
The gunslinger burst out into laughter, doubling over, before wiping a stray tear from her eye. "Where was that bite when we used to chirp?"
"I told you; I only save my best material for a worthy challenge."
"And... SSSN are worthy challenges."
"Nah. But it sounded good."
They shared a sigh, before she nudged him again. "Alright. I'm gonna go find someone to bother. Stop standin' here, you're gonna ruin your reputation." With a smack to the chest, she sauntered off, peering around the crowd for other friends.
Lance watched her go for a minute, before downing his drink. He grimaced at the punch again, before tossing the empty cup to the side. "You're not wrong!"
With that, he cocked his head to the side, popping his neck, and grinned widely, marching out into the crowd.
Weiss rushed to and fro, pale eyes irritated as she readjusted streamers and banners, barked at the DJ, and continually refilled the punch bowl- even as she weaved, and pushed around dancers, music filling the air in Beacon's ballroom as the dance raged in full swing. She was dressed in a ornate sleeveless, short white dress with matching white heels. She stormed forwards- then skid to a stop, back-tracking and turning irritated eyes to Daria. "And where is Rainier?!"
The leader of DRGN pulled at the black fabric of her jacket uncomfortably. "Uh… excellent question." The Team DRGN leader let out a breath she had been holding in, slumping, pulling at her sleeves in discomfort. She had deigned against wearing a dress- instead, dressing in a black suit jacket and matching slacks, a white buttoned shirt underneath, top button undone, her sleeves rolled up almost to the elbow. She still was wearing heels though- that, was, apparently, not an option, according to her more fashion-inclined friends.
The Atlesian stared at her friend, before frowning. "I haven't seen him... when he gets here, you tell him that..." She trailed off at the look on the other girl's face. "...What's wrong?"
"I haven't seen him in, like, five hours."
"Oh."
"...Yeah."
The heiress mulled the thought over for a moment, before pushing Daria forwards. "Well, don't just stand here! Go, have fun- I demand it."
The diminutive huntress gave her friend a small smile as she stormed off, shaking her head. "Sure. Me. Have fun. At a dance," She sighed. "Gods, Gail, you lucky girl."
Shinai hummed to himself, leaning against the second floor's bannister, staring down at the other teens below. He was dressed in a simple three-piece black suit, a purple tie the only splash of color cladding him.
"Caped Opossum!" A very familiar voice called, rousing him from his silent musing. He turned curious purple eyes to the side where Nash was waiting, dressed in a white dress shirt, black pants, sneakers, and oversized tie, sleeves rolled up.
"I'm sorry?" The samurai muttered, the familiar name stirring rather intense feelings of distaste.
The diminutive boy jumped onto the bannister, taking a seat, nodding. "You look like Waylon Branson, the Caped Opossum. When he's not a superhero, he's a billionaire playboy philanthropist, and goes to all sorts of things like this. You look just like 'im."
Shinai gave a short chuckle (more akin to a sudden, loud breath than a laugh). "...Enjoying the dance?"
The boy shrugged. "I dunno."
"And why not."
"I kinda just wanna sit but girls keep comin' up to me askin' me to dance. I'm too cute."
The samurai looked over the rather distracted boy for a moment, before shaking his head. "Is that truly a weakness?"
"I dunno. I just wanna sit and drink punch. Why aren't you down there?"
Shinai only gave him a silent look for a long few moments. Nash stared right back, curious expression not waning once. After a moment, the older huntsman sighed. "I don't enjoy these things."
"Then why come?"
"My team wanted me to."
"You're a cool cat, Mr. Kyani."
The samurai turned slightly narrowed eyes to the boy, before giving a more genuine chuckle.
"Wha?" Nash asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Nothing. Something just struck me."
"Kay, cool-" The boy's eyes widened as the song changed. "OM GODS, THIS IS MY JAM- BYE, MR. KYANI!" The boy dropped off of the bannister to the floor below, charging into the fray, leaving Shinai standing above, slightly bewildered.
"Children." He said, shaking his head with a small smile.
Daria uncomfortably stumbled forwards, struggling in her heels as she searched for her date. As she passed by the punch table, though, she came to a stop, looking over to where Ruby and Jaune were standing quietly, looking rather forlorn.
"Oh. Hey Daria." The former said quietly.
"Hi." The latter muttered, sipping at his punch.
She sighed and stopped next to them, leaning down to rub comfortingly at her heels. "You guys haven't seen Rainier, have you?" A chorus of nos greeted her. She sighed. "Awesome. What are you two doing?"
"Oh." Ruby started again.
"You know." He continued.
"Being introverts."
"Wanna join?"
Daria stared at them for a moment, before groaning. "Gods I wish. If I don't find Rainier, keep a spot warm for me."
"Can do." Ruby said, mustering as much energy as she could
The shorter huntress sighed and continued to trudge on, hope waning as the dance continued into the night. She skirted around the edge of the dance floor, peering in at the dancing crowd with a frown, searching for Rainier's telltale silver hair (or silver tail, or silver leg), to no avail though.
"You look lost!"
Daria rubbed the back of her neck as she turned around to Lance's curious face. "A...ha... a little bit."
The swordsman leaned forwards so that he could hear her over the thrum of the music. "Where's Rainier at?"
"Honestly, I was hoping you of all people could tell me."
He stared at her for a few moments before groaning, letting his head fall back, accidentally bumping a dancer, getting a glare in exchange. "This is what he gets!"
"What?"
"He's such a dick. We play the game, and he sucks at it- he does the friggin' impossible! And throws his chance away. Just- just throws it away. I'm actually kinda impressed!"
"You've actually completely lost me."
"Not important," He shook his head. "I haven't seen him since this morning. Hey, if I see him, you want me to point you to him, or just hit him myself?"
Daria sighed, face falling. "Honestly... just tell him he's an asshole."
"Hey- chin up. The wolf's a dick, we all know this. Tell you what, if I don't find him- you can have a dance."
That made her laugh. "And that's a prize?" He gave her a wink as he backed up into the crowd, slowly disappearing. She shook her head, before backing away, struggling in vain to peer above the universally much taller teenagers. "Where are you?" She pulled her Scroll out, calling her friend. The line rang for a few moments, before going to voicemail.
Just like the last five times she'd tried it.
She sighed in defeat, dragging herself elsewhere.
"You mind?" Lance called out, getting Oracle to jump in shock, turning from Yang and some of her other friends with wide, green eyes.
"What? Mind what?" She asked, voice filled with disbelief.
He extended a hand to her. "I'm not great at dancing, but..."
She blinked, staring at the offered limb. "Zaffre, are you... asking me to dance?"
"Cats and dogs are living together, Rainier's not a dick, the gods have returned, lots of miracles are happening tonight."
The gunslinger put a hand to her chest, giving him a coy look. "I'll have you know, I have a very high standard of dancing partners."
"Fair- counter point, it won't be the first time I've stepped on your toes."
"Fair!" She laughed, taking his hand. "Fine. Don't get handsy though, I will beat your ass."
"Hey, a promise is a promise."
Almost on cue, the music slowed to a more lethargic song, getting Oracle to sigh as the duo came together, slow dancing contently. After a moment, Lance sighed. "Hey, O?"
"Yeah?" She asked quietly, voice almost sleepily comfortable.
"You look good."
"Thanks, hon. You don't look like you just woke up and decided your bath robe was all you needed for the day."
"Man, I just can't win with you."
"That'd be too easy."
The duo lapsed back into silence. The swordsman looked up- to where Yang was staring with a beaming grin, lilac eyes sparkling with mischief. She gave him two thumbs up, getting him to give her a stern, sour look, mouthing 'no!' repeatedly at her.
"Cin, we've got a problem." Vegas Gold said into his communicator, looking out over the campus.
"What problem?" Cinder purred back through his earpiece, though her voice dripped with venom and dared him to tell her a problem.
"The faunus- the wolf one- never went into the dance."
"And?"
"And I don't know where he is. AKA, that could be a problem."
"I'm not afraid of one little huntsman, Goldie."
"Nah, but how about a few hundred?"
"Then find him."
"Ha. Good luck with that. This place is huge, and he's not in their room. Do you see him in there?"
"In the midst of all of these brats? I don't think so. Find him."
Vegas sighed as the line went dead, staring down at the darkened campus. "The things I do…" He muttered, before stepping off the building.
Rainier huffed as he spun gracefully, feet and hands lashing out to strike the targets- little, glowing blue holograms spinning gently around him. Sweat poured down his face as he pushed himself to go faster, silver leg shifting and moving almost nonstop as he continued the exercise, cannon shots filling the room.
In a few short moments, all of the targets were gone, and he fell to one knee, catching his breath, pulling his shirt off and throwing it to the side. A blue square came up in front of him, reading: 'ROUND NUMBER: 28. BEST RECORD: 36 sec. LAST RECORD: 37 sec. WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO AGAIN?'
After a moment, he pressed 'YES'.
He rose to his feet, and dozens of small circles began swirling around him again. He wasted no time before leaping into the air, cannon firing.
Shinai sighed as he stared out at Beacon from the ballroom's balcony, enjoying the cool air and the blissful quiet.
"Oh. I'm sorry."
He turned at the voice; Pyrrha was standing in the doorway, dressed in a glimmering red, sleeveless dress, looking abashed.
"It's fine." Shinai said, turning back to the night sky.
"Enjoying the dance?" She asked politely.
He grunted noncommittally, before turning back to her. The warrior looked… alone.
"Are you alright?" He finally asked, quietly.
She jumped with a start at the question, green eyes locked onto the samurai. "I- I, no, no, no, I'm fine."
His purple eyes boring into her told her he didn't believe it. She sighed and opened her mouth to say something.
"Pyrrha?"
Both warriors turned to the staircase leading up to the balcony as Jaune stepped out, looking concerned.
The huntress sighed sadly. "Hello, Jaune."
The blonde walked towards them. "You okay? I haven't seen you tonight."
Pyrrha sent a quick look to Shinai. "Arrived late, I'm afraid."
"Well, you look really nice."
She turned on a dime to him, green eyes opening wide, hand shooting to her mouth. After a moment, she schooled her face back into nonchalance, hand dropping. "Thank you."
Jaune's eyes, however, shot to Shinai and he winced. "You're, uh… not going to beat me up for that, are you?"
The samurai stared in confusion for a moment, before making a noise of understanding. "I think you're safe for tonight."
He chuckled nervously, sticking his hands into his pockets as he turned back to Pyrrha. "Shinai Kyani, huh? Heh heh, quite a, uh, catch."
The huntress' eyes widened again as she turned to the aforementioned swordsman, who had turned back to Beacon, stepping out of the conversation. "Oh. We're not here together."
"Oh! So, where's the guy then?"
"There is no guy."
The balcony went quiet as Jaune choked on his spit. "What?!"
Pyrrha's head dropped. "Nobody asked me."
"But that's…" Jaune gestured vaguely at her. "You're Pyrrha Nikos! How could nobody ask you?!"
Pyrrha sighed, leaning against the railing, giving Shinai a brief glance. The samurai caught it, and turned to leave, giving the other huntsman a solitary nod as he passed. "I've been blessed with incredible talents and opportunities. I'm constantly surrounded by love and praise, but when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people that put you there in the first place. Everyone assumes I'm too good for them. That I'm on a level they simply can't attain. It's become impossible to form any sort of meaningful relationship with people. That's what I like about you. When we met- you didn't even know my name. You treated me just like anyone else. And thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. I guess, you're the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who saw me for me." She trailed off sadly, and gave him one last, long look before turning to leave after the samurai.
"How ya doin', sis?" Yang asked Daria as she walked up to her. "Ah, jeez."
The aforementioned brunette was leaning against the wall, half-drank cup of punch in her hand, face cast in shadow.
"What happened?" The blonde huntress asked, leaning against the wall next to her.
Daria sighed before responding in little more than a mutter, "Rainier never showed."
Yang stared at her for a few moments before slowly beginning to tremble, eyes turning red. "Ooh, I'm going to-"
"Stop. Please. I don't care."
"Come on, you do. Do you-"
"What? Oh, no. It's just, that… he's my best friend. I figured he'd be the last person to flake out on me."
Yang continued to stare at her crestfallen friend- before extending her arm. "Come on."
Daria stared at the offered limb for a few moments, blinking owlishly, a dark blush slowly crossing her cheeks. "Uh-
"We're going to go dance."
"Oh... yeah... um..."
"And drink loooots of punch and talk about how much Rainier sucks. How's that sound?"
Daria continued to stare at Yang before a smile slowly claimed her face, taking the blonde's arm. "That… sounds like fun."
"Oh! Jaune put a dress on, it's going to be so funny! And have you seen Lance and Oracle? They're the absolute frickin' cutest."
"Hey, Cin. I got the wolf." Vegas said, leaning back from his vantage point overlooking the campus.
"Where? What's he doing?" Cinder called back.
"Outer edges of the campus. Looks like he's just now heading to the dance. And... like he's been training his ass off. That is interesting."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"Because there might just be something in it. Because these kids have been making a huge deal of this dance for a while now. Didn't expect him of all of them to ditch to train. Vacuoans are fascinating."
"…Perhaps. Keep an eye out, the dance is secured. I'm heading out."
"Of course. Don't have too much fun."
Rainier sighed, wiping the still pouring sweat from his face with a sigh, adjusting his dress shirt; gold in color, the top few buttons undone, a slim fitting white vest and slacks over it. He swallowed hard, pale eyes dark with exhaustion. "Here's to hope." He muttered as he neared the ballroom, trying his Scroll again, calling Daria- to no avail, the line immediately going dead. He shook his head, a touch of regret filling his face, continuing his solemn, exhausted march-
Bang bang bang.
The faunus screeched to a halt, claws of his silver leg scratching against the concrete and sending sparks into the air, turning on his heel at the ever familiar sounds of gunfire. He looked back and forth between the ballroom and Beacon Tower, mind shifting back and forth between them.
He groaned, taking off at a dead sprint towards the CCT tower, his vest dropped to the ground.
Ruby stumbled into the tower's communication room, heels wiggling beneath her as she held Crescent Rose- her scythe- close to her. "Hello?" She asked, looking around curiously. "Is anyone there? Hello?"
It only took a moment before a masked woman rose out from behind one of the consoles, sashaying towards her silently.
"Excuse me?" Ruby asked, frowning as she prepped for battle. "You know, it's not a masquerade party, so why don't you take off that-"
She was cut off as the woman moved swiftly, pulling out a silver canister brandished with the sign for ice Dust, and then activated it, a cavalcade of ice soaring towards the ill-prepared huntress.
Then there was a blur of movement and silver, Rainier appearing out of nowhere, spinning and twisting in the air, his claws smashing into the ice shards. He landed on the ground, sliding, claws ripping into the steel, as the woman pulled out a black bow, producing an arrow out of nowhere, and nocking it, glowing orange Dust markings tracing across her black clothes.
"What is going on in here?!"
All three of the combatants turned towards the elevator: standing in it, large pistol drawn, was General James Ironwood. The Atlesian was tall and fair-skinned, short-cut, combed back black hair holding streaks of grey. He was dressed simply in a white suit, blue vest, and red tie.
Rainier and Ruby let out dual sighs of relief, before turning back to the woman-
And she was gone.
Cinder stepped into the ballroom, dressed in a lavish black dress, two Atlesian guards following a few moments after her into the crowded room, confused. She reached forwards, and tapped on Emerald's shoulder. "Mind if I cut in?"
The green dress-clad girl nodded, gesturing to her dancing partner: Mercury. "Of course."
Cinder stepped forwards and began dancing with the assassin.
"And how's your night been going?" He asked, curiously.
"Mm… a little more… exciting than expected."
"Should we be worried?"
"Hardly. They'll be scratching their heads long after we finished what we came here for."
"So, what now?"
"Enjoy the rest of your night. After all, it is a party. That goes for you too, Goldie. Enjoy. Tomorrow… it's back to work."
Rainier and Ruby stared at each other as Ironwood cautiously approached. In near unison, they turned to the console the woman had been hiding at, the toll of Beacon's bell ringing in the distance: sitting in the middle of the screen, was a black Queen chess piece.
And then the clock chimed midnight.
