"Silver Trailer"

(Music: Sick Individual by Halestorm Nightcore: /watch?v=ypwX6dVWsCM)

"I let them think what they want to think, the truth will remain all the same anyway."

Puddles on the pavement reflected the moon in all its glory as Acerbus Gale strode through Vale's narrow, empty streets wearing a gray sleeveless crop top and a skintight, black leather jacket along with black shorts and silver knee high combat boots. Her eyes bright and full of hope, she couldn't believe that she was actually here on her own, away from Meroch. A faint smile tugged on her lips at the realization that she had for once given him the slip. She never could do so before, but tonight was definitely different. Ace needed to accomplish this task all on her own. Hearing a clock strike twelve with her excellent hearing sense, she froze in her tracks.

"Aaaaah!"

Glass shattered, shards flew everywhere in a nearby alleyway. Ace readied herself for what was to come as she peeked around the corner. A faunus curled up on the ground, a fox. She seemingly came from the now broken window of an abandoned factory, three stories up. Barely holding herself together the fox faunus flashed her yellow eyes at two men dressed in black who were carrying scimitars, clearly very scared. One of them guffawed as he went close to the faunus, gagging her with a bandana like cloth as she choked on her own screams.

"Screaming will do you no good, cupcake. Nobody's around for miles." The man said with a huge grin.

"Who in the world do you think would help you? Law enforcement sucks around here." Both of the men then carried her inside.

"Well, well…" Ace felt a sharp object digging into her waist. She turned to react and was ready to pounce but the man was quicker, having already bound her by the wrists in the front. He proceeded to gag her mouth as she struggled against his hold, her yelps muffled by the cloth. She'd been careless sticking around there for too long and was now paying the price.

"I seem to have hit the jackpot today." the deep voiced man said confidently, his smile glistening as he stared into Ace's narrowed eyes, eyes that were filled with hate. Before she could say anything in her muffled voice the guy foisted her up on his shoulder and brought her into the nearest entrance of the building. Through Ace's peripheral, there wasn't much that she could see except glaringly bright lights that blurred out her vision.

The man stopped. A faint humming sound was coming from what looked like a metal box descending. It opened and he stepped foot inside. Noticing that she had stopped trying to escape, he set her down in a corner as the elevator door shut. Ace's eyes were closed, her breathing even. He stooped down and looked at her sleeping face, wondering what had knocked her out. As his puzzled face neared hers, she quickly touched his neck with her fingers and sent him screaming in agonizing pain, the poor thing writhing on the ground with his hands clutching his head. Ace laughed through her gag and undid her bonds.

"God, shut the hell up! You're ruining the peace I achieved," she finally said despite the dryness in her mouth.

He wouldn't stop screaming, so she decidedly tied the cloth around his mouth. She then bound the guy's feet together and hung him upside down in the elevator. His muffled yells were music. It was a cringe worthy sight to see for the next passengers.

Steadying herself as the elevator descended further below, she had Krov in both of her hands and was prepared to fight. Both swords gleamed bright silver. The elevator came to a screeching halt as the doors slid open, revealing the thing she'd been looking for all night. He was most definitely wrong earlier on. It was she who'd hit the jackpot.

"So this is it," she whispered to herself ignoring the sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach as she saw faunus, a lot of them. They gave new meaning to the term workforce, as all of them were being whipped even if they chose to pause from work for even a fraction of a second. She had found the Dakamian underground dust factory at last.

"Hey you!" a voice shouted.

"Crap." She muttered under her breath, her grips tightening on her swords. Men swarmed around her. Thugs armed with guns were on a balcony across the warehouse and she was their sole target. Below, the workers had scattered, all attempting escape. This was good. Ace leapt into the air with both blades in her hands. Landing her foot on a man's head, she used the momentum to land a kick on the assailant to her left. It felt like she was dancing as she dodged the bullets that came her way.

She ran towards the balcony getting ready to end these annoying buffoons. Ace spun her weapons around and flicked out the second blades that positioned themselves underneath the circular grip. Putting them together, they formed a giant shuriken. Ace threw Krov at the gun men. It sliced their aura as it knocked all of them down. Jumping into the air, Ace caught her weapon with her right hand.

"Who the hell does this chick think she is?" a man wielding a huge sword asked in an angry tone.

Hell broke loose as Ace separated the blades once again, taking a fighting stance. Spinning both weapons with her hands, the scimitars of the thugs met her steel. Metal clashed as Ace flipped into the air and slashed at the attackers' backs, each of them dropping on the floor with a single strike from her blade. Men kept charging into her as she dodged the swing of their swords and sent nullifying signals to their bodies with her fingers. Sliding both blades into one, she brought both swords down onto them. Their bodies now looked more like ragdolls more than anything else.

A thug was holding a gun to the head of the same girl faunus Ace had seen outside. The crowd of new attackers parted as a man in a dark brown suit stepped through. On his face was an amused expression, not caring for the mountain of bodies she just left behind.

"Ahhh… So you're one of those." He circled her, rubbing at his beard. His eyes narrowed at her. "You certainly don't look like the usual faunus activist." He declared.

"Huh. Seeing as you're running such a failure of a business, it's actually surprising you see 'usual faunus activists' at all, scum. " was Ace's clipped reply.

"The name's Graves sweetheart, not scum" He said, chuckling.

A laugh escaped Ace's mouth. "You'll need several after I'm done with you."

Just then the men attacked her again. Ace did her best to deflect the oncoming swings. Metal clanged as she exchanged blows with both attackers. She folded her blades out in order to parry more attacks. Holding out her fingers, she jabbed at the men with every chance that she had. The pain seared through their bodies again and again until they couldn't stand it. The assailants collapsed on the ground, screaming in pain.

A loud slow clap filled the silence. "Bravo, quite the talented fighter you are. Such a shame I'm going to have to end you." Graves held out a huge double barrel shotgun and sent a spray of bullets flew towards her. Ace dodged them with a backwards flip, landing on both feet. A second shower of bullets had her using her shuriken as a shield, spinning her weapon furiously as it deflected the bullets in a silver blur.

At this moment, Graves decided to change his tactics. He flipped the barrels of his shotgun up, revealing a sharp pickaxe on the other end. He took a small metal canister and threw it at Ace. Gray smoke came out and surrounded the two until Ace's vision was completely blocked. Graves laughed and put on a pair of infrared goggles.

Ace closed her eyes and concentrated. She inhaled before letting out a loud scream.

The deafening sound made Graves' cringe "Shouting ain't gonna save you, sweetheart."

He dashed towards her after spotting her heat signature. Ace kept her eyes closed and listened. The sound waves of her scream bounced off the floor and spread everywhere. Then… she identified a large man on her right. Graves swung the pick down. Ace rolled forward and slashed his back with Krov. Graves grunted and fired the shotgun. Ace could hear him clearly now. She strafed from left to right, avoiding the bullets. She expertly threw Krov at Graves, shattering his infrared goggles and sending him to the ground. The smoke started to clear as Ace opened her eyes. She had defeated her opponent without looking.

"How the hell…" Graves wailed in pain.

"Only cowards hide in the shadows." Ace raised her weapon. "The world would be a better place without people like you."

"Hold it!" Graves put his hands up. "Kill me and she gets it."

One Graves' thugs threw the fox girl onto the ground beside them.

A scary smile crept on Ace's lips "I don't need to kill you. That would be too kind." Raising her hand, she let the tips of her fingers touch his forehead. Before he knew what was happening, Graves could feel nothing but the pain that radiated from his head. It consumed him, looking like he was having a seizure. His body lay limp on the floor, heavily breathing.

"If you don't want to end up like your boss, I suggest you let the girl go, buddy." The thug stepped away from the fox faunus and ran. The girl looked at Ace with wondering eyes and ran to hug her.

"Thank you! Oh thank you! That was…the scariest moment of my life," the faunus despite being shaken said.

"You're alright now, I hope?" Ace inquired as she sheathed Krov.

"I am now, thanks to you. I'm Esta," she said with a hand held out for Ace to shake.

"I'm Ace." Police sirens were suddenly heard in the distance. "Take care of the other faunus workers… and don't say a thing about me!"

Esta giggled gaily. "Sure thing. See you around, Ace!"

Ace smiled and headed for the roof.

It was still dark when she climbed into her building through the window. She had hoped Meroch was still asleep when the lights suddenly turned on. Ace shielded her eyes from the brightness.

"And where have you been?" Meroch said in a cranky voice, his purple eyes staring her down.

"Would you believe me if I told you I was sightseeing?" Ace smiled her sweetest smile at him and put her hands at her back, trying to act as innocently as possible.

Meroch breathed a heavy sigh, he was now in front of her. "I have to take care of you, you know? I can't do that if I don't know where you are." The creases on his forehead now visible, his fists clenched in frustration.

Ace then noticed that he too was wearing his combat clothes. "Did you go somewhere as well?"

"That would be an understatement, I think I turned Vale upside down searching for you." Meroch's eyes were sad, as he stroked her hair.

Ace looked down. She had caused him a lot of trouble. "I'm sorry… I had you worried." She hugged his stomach, his chin atop her head.

Meroch closed his eyes and smiled. "What can I do? You're a stubborn one, you know that? But I know you can take care of yourself… I trust you. Just don't do anything like that again."

"Maybe, Mer. Maybe." Ace replied biting her lip.

"You'll be the death of me, Ace." Meroch was too kind to her. She wouldn't even want to know how she'd end up if it wasn't for him.

"I know, Mer. I know." She closed her eyes and listened to his heart. For now, all she wanted to do was sleep. She needed her rest. After all, the day after tomorrow was their first day at Beacon Academy.