by neoraichu

Chapter Eleven: Masquerade

Alfred noticed that the light was on in his Mistress' room well into the night. Finally, he knocked at her door, his curiosity not allowing him to sleep until he found out was she was up to.

"Enter," she said.

He opened the door to a strange sight. Marilyn was garbed in some kind of dark and mysterious costume with some kind of animal motif.

'A bat perchance?' he wondered.

"Mistress?" he asked as he cocked an eyebrow, "Is it not early for All Hallows Eve?"

"Oh, this costume is to serve another purpose," she mused, "but maybe it could get me some candy now that I think about it..."

"Whatever is it for then?"

"Now that I'm an instructor at Beacon Academy," she replied, "I need to disassociate myself from urban Grimm hunting at night... and hunting of other forms of urban vermin."

"This garish outfit is your idea of subtle?" he smirked.

"Of course not," she replied as she fanned out the cape, "This is to cause confusion among those who seek to unmask me."

"How so?"

"Well if people think I'm trying to make people think I'm a bat, then they'll think I'm another form of Faunus trying to conceal my nature rather than believe that I'm a human."

"I... uh... see."

"It's also utilitarian," she added, "The blades on the edges of these gloves are sharp, the knuckles are reinforced for punching, and the outfit is completely made of bullet resistant material as well as the hardened plates protecting my torso. The full hood also has some reinforcements. It's all imbued with some Semblance and Magic Resistance Dust. It's on the inside so the glow won't show."

He nodded. "And that bulky belt?" he asked.

"This utility belt contains a number of useful items I can access easily. Small bombs of various types, such as flash, smoke, sleep gas and contact high explosives to name a few. There's also bat-shaped shurikens and plenty of space for other... needs."

"But can't you just..."

"If people saw me summoning gear from thin air, they would eventually tie the costumed hunter to me."

"Ah, that's quite clever, Mistress," he replied, "But what if you need to speak?"

"There's a voice changer built in that deepens my voice as well as a gas mask/filter system. Let me show you," she said as she touched her throat. "I sound different, right?"

"Between the chest plate and the deep voice, I'd swear you were a young man... abusing steroids."

"That can work to my advantage. If they think I'm a man, they won't look for a young woman. Fortunately, father always said that because of the various forms of martial arts my tutors taught me, I fight like a man."

"And the bat symbol on your chest?" he inquired.

"That is merely a point that will draw thugs' attention so they'll shoot me in the most heavily armored point on my body."

"Any other... tricks?"

"I can use a small electrical current to stiffen the cape so I can use it to glide. There's also a gun-like device in this holster that shoots a grapple and has a Dust powered motor to real it back in."

"I imagine so, but what shall you call your... alter ego?"

"I... ah... shall think of a name later."

"Of course," he replied evenly.

"I almost forgot," she said as she turned the voice changer off, "The lenses in the mask are both night vision and flash/glare suppression crystals."

"When shall the crusade begin, Mistress?"

"Baring unforeseen events, tomorrow night," she said as she pulled the hood back, "You understand the need to keep this... a secret?"

"Mums the word, Mistress," he said as he slowly closed the door, "This should be... interesting."

...

The next night...

...

"Alright," said Roman Torchwick to his new set of thugs, "Try not to mess up a simple Dust heist, shall we?" This time there was twelve of them, each one with an armband showing a number from 1 to 12, of course.

"We have lookouts with radios in up and down the street," replied Thug #1, "They'll radio us if they see any Hunters or Huntresses before they get get into out grills."

"Good," he replied as they walked up to Dust Until Dawn again, "No one expects us to make another attempt on this shop so soon."

"No one but me, dirtbag," came a voice from above.

"What the?!.." cursed Roman as he looked to Thug #1, "I thought you had lookouts!"

"They're asleep on the job," replied the costumed figure as they jumped down to the street before the shop, "thanks to some sleep gas bombs."

"Look, it's early for All Hallows Eve and I didn't bring any candy with me," he grumbled.

"That's all right. I brought the treats tonight," they said as they dropped some flash bombs onto the pavement.

Everyone else cried and covered their eyes as they were blinded, though Roman managed to cover his eyes with his right forearm. By the time he could see again, half of the goons were down from being punched in the face in rapid succession.

"If the Hunters and Huntresses weren't bad enough, I have some costumed clown to deal with!" he swore as he converted his cane into it's Dust Gun mode.

"A clown makes you laugh, but I'm here to make you cry!"

"Then the joke is on you!" he growled as he fired, but the target tumbled to the side as Roman shot one of his own men (#6). He went flying backwards down the street.

"Thanks for the help!" said the masked crusader as another thug (#8) was punched hard in the stomach.

"HOLD STILL, YOU DAMNED JUMPING BEAN!"

"Sorry, Criminal, but I don't do requests!" as a boot to the head took down another (#10). The other three lost their nerve and began running.

"If I only didn't have to not associate with my real allies," he grumbled as he fired again. The shot was dodged, shooting another one of his fleeing men in the back.

"Real allies?! Who might that be?!"

Sirens began wailing in the distance. The police were on their way.

"I'm many things, but stool pigeon isn't one of them," he muttered as a line dropped next to him. The hover transport seemed to appear from thin air as the line began pulling Roman up to the open hatch.

A feline faunus was walking up the street apparently unaware of what was going on.

"Have fun chatting with the fuzz!" he called as he fired again at the bystander this time.

There was no choice but to spread out the cape and take the hit instead of the target, sprawling them in the street as Roman got away.

She rushed up as she pulled off her headphones, and said, "You saved me! Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine, miss," he replied as the cops cars pulled up, "but I have to go fight evil elsewhere."

A policeman with a bullhorn jumped out of the police car as he shouted, "Freeze in the name of the VPD!"

He pulled out the grappling gun, attaching the line to the highest building in sight before shooting off into the air as the line began winding back into the gun.

"Good luck, Caped Crusader!" she called after him.

"It's some kind of Dark Knight!" said a cop as he got out of the other car's door.

"It looks like some kind of frickin bat," muttered the first cop as he let down the bullhorn.