On the outskirts of the Kingdom of Vale stood an old, abandoned mansion with a large clock tower in its center. At the top of this clock tower, a man in a fine white jacket and black pants sat under the rim of the clock, lighting up a cigar and watching the rain pour down on the empty street. He let out a puff of smoke, adjusting his bowler hat slightly. "Hrm… she's got five more minutes…" the man said, twirling a cane in his hand, silver wolf's head shining through his fingers. The clock ticked loudly above above him, each passing minute feeling slower and slower until he spotted something in the mist below, a small splotch of soft pink. "There ya go, kid. Always know the way back here…" he said with a chuckle, throwing down the cigar and snuffing it out with his cane. He swept the snuffed cigar off the tower, heading back inside through the door and down the stairs.
The man stepped out through the door at the bottom of the stairs, heading to the foyer where a young woman with long, curled brown hair was setting her pink parasol on a nearby hook. She was clad in a pink jacket, brown pants and white high-heeled boots that she was taking off. "Welcome home, Chloe. Got the paper?" the man asked as the woman set aside her boots. She turned around and looked to the older gentleman with chocolate brown eyes that match her hair, barring the pink streaks in the front. She smiled and reached into her jacket, pulling out a stack of papers and them to the man before heading off toward the kitchen. The man took off his bowler, revealing short orange hair, and set it on a nearby hook, before looking over the stack of papers. All of them were identical posters with his likeness on them. "Wanted: Roman Torchwick." they all read, posting similar rewards of 2 million Lien. "Heh, two million? The royals must be getting desperate to get rid of me…" Torchwick said with a smirk as he walked, entering the kitchen and putting the wanted posters on the table.
Chloe pulled open the oven to look inside at what Roman had been cooking, seeing a chicken roasting an inviting golden color. Her mouth watered as the oven door shut behind her. "Still needs a bit of time to fully roast. Now, I sent you out for a bit of small work. You got the goods?" he asked, Chloe smiling and unhooking a small leather bag from her belt. The two headed into the living room, Chloe pouring out the contents of the bag. Lien coins poured out, followed by a bright red fire crystal. "Good work, kiddo." Torchwick said with a warm smile, ruffling Chloe's hair. "Keep an eye on the bird, would ya? I'm gonna get a fire going. Rain's coming down harder every minute." Roman said as Chloe got up and left for the kitchen. Torchwick grabbed the fire crystal as he made his way to the fireplace, grabbing a few dried logs. He wrapped the logs in the wanted posters, placing them into the fireplace and putting the fire crystal in the middle of them. He clicked on his lighter, but no flame appeared.
"Huh? The hell?" Torchwick said, shaking the lighter a bit before flicking it back on, but there was no flame still. "Come on… just give me a little spark!" he groused, struggling with his usually faithful lighter.
"Good evening, Roman…" said a voice from the doorway. Roman turned and chuckled a bit as he saw a woman with long black hair with a red streak and amber eyes, clad in a crimson suit dress and black heels, standing in the foyer. She was flanked by two others. To her right was a young woman with medium-brown skin, blonde hair with a green streak to match the red of her superior and eyes, dressed in an olive green shirt, brown pants and black heels. To the black-haired woman's left was a young man with jet black hair and blue eyes wearing gray and black two-tone zip jacket and black pants with matching black boots.
"Oh look, you brought the kids along… and it looks like one of them changed a bit. Got tired of the old man look, Mercury?" Roman teased, the young man rolling his eyes and leaning himself against the wall.
"Laugh it up, jackass. You won't be laughing when Cinder lights a fire under your-" Mercury said before being hit with a swift, strike to his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the floor.
"First rule of the House of Torchwick, kid: Don't call me a jackass... " he muttered to the fallen Mercury, grabbing a handful of his hair. "And if you even think about keeping that mouth running, I swear I'll rip each one of your damn teeth out with a pair of pliers, got it?" he said, shoving the teen away and turning the black-haired woman, the blonde girl helping her downed comrade to his feet. "So Cinder, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company tonight?" he asked, Cinder smirking and stepping further into the manor.
"I just wanted to talk to you about our plan going forth… and perhaps stay for a bit of dinner. It does smell quite heavenly in here, Roman." she said with a seductive note in her voice.
Torchwick nodded and turned his head toward the kitchen. "Chloe! We're gonna need three more plates set up! We have company!" he called, hearing the clatter of plates and forks being pulled out. Within minutes, Roman, Cinder and her acolytes were sat around a large mahogany table with full plates, Chloe walking around the table with a bottle of red wine. "Don't pour any wine for the kids, Chloe. We might have some milk for them in the fridge." Torchwick said with a smirk and a wink, Chloe winking back and heading for the kitchen. Mercury quickly grabbed the wine bottle from Chloe as she walked by, pouring himself a glass before passing it to Emerald, who sat on the other side of Cinder.
"We're not here to be talked down to, especially not by some two-bit crook like you, Roman." Emerald said as she poured her drink, Cinder turning and glaring at her.
"I think that's enough from you, Emerald…" she threatened, Emerald going quiet within seconds before Cinder turned her eyes back to Roman.
"You can take that smirk off your face, Roman. If I recall, you had promised me that you would bring me Ironwood's apprentice. Do you intend to keep that promise or do you simply hope to fail me again?" Cinder asked, Roman's smirk faltering slightly.
"I would've had her if it weren't for that red-hooded brat from Beacon." Torchwick said, Mercury letting out a scoff.
"Wow, would you listen to this. Master thief Roman Torchwick couldn't handle a child. Maybe you're not all that's- AHHH!" Mercury said before suddenly jumping out of his seat as his slice of chicken quickly caught fire. The black-haired teen turned with fearful eyes at the cold glare of his boss. Cinder turned her gaze back to the white-suited thief.
"I will say I envy you, Roman. Your subordinate doesn't talk back." she said, giving a quick glance to Chloe, who was seated next to Torchwick and happily eating her dinner. "But we're not here to make small talk. Let's get down to business. We have the numbers necessary for this plan thanks to your Red Lantern Family, the Black Fang allegiance and the generous offers of Mr. Julian." Cinder said, spinning her finger around the rim of her wine glass.
"Sounds like things are all in order. If you don't mind, it might be good for us all to pull back a bit and wait for things to go quiet around here. Things are getting hairy in Vale and we'll need time to put whatever you're planning action." Torchwick said Cinder taking another sip of wine.
"There has been quite a bit of excitement recently, and not just in Vale, but agents in Atlas have noticed that General Ironwood's been tightening the bolt a bit more after the Red Lantern Pier incident. So perhaps a delay in the plan is in order" she said, nodding her head in agreement. .
"Okay, so what do you want me to do in the meantime?" Torchwick asked as he finished his dinner, downing the rest of his wine glass. Chloe sprung up to collect his dishes, Cinder taking another sip of wine.
"For now, I have nothing for you to do, Roman. In spite of your failure in procuring Ironwood's apprentice, you've done quite enough in brokering the deal with Arthur, forging the alliance with the Black Fang and the supplies you and your Red Lantern Family have stolen have been valuable for our plans in the future." she said with a smile.
"So, mind telling me what exactly this plan is? The money's good and all, and I'm glad that we have similar visions for the Kingdom, but how do you go about taking down the system if your own allies are left in the dark?" Torchwick asked, a low chuckle coming from Cinder in response.
"In due time, Roman, but we cannot risk you getting captured while everyone's on the hunt for you. And as good as you are at evading capture, the stakes are too high to go revealing everything to you at once and have them extract it out of you in jail. Have a little faith in me, Roman. You'll know exactly what will happen soon enough…" Cinder said before finishing her wine, Chloe taking her dishes and busing them into the kitchen.
Cinder stood up from her seat, heading for the door. "Emerald, Mercury. I think it's time we leave Mr. Torchwick. He knows his orders and you have your own. Come." Cinder said, Mercury and Emerald rising to their feet, Chloe returning to take away their dishes before slinking away again. The trio headed into the foyer, Emerald opening the door for Cinder. "Oh, and Roman?" Cinder said, drawing Torchwick's attention to her once more. "We'll be in touch very soon." she said with a smile, launching a blast of fire from her hand and into the hearth, lighting the kindling within on fire. Cinder stepped out into the misty night, Torchwick sighing in relief at not getting hit with a fireball and heading for the living room.
"This isn't even the opening act of my little show…"
