Firestarters
Vale was an ancient city, having been inhabited for more than a millennia, and it had quickly grown crowded even in the earliest times. While its walls had steadily advanced farther and farther from the old harbor, eventually reaching the natural defensive positions where they now stood, citizens had also advanced in another direction: downwards.
They'd delved into the soil beneath the city, particularly in the rocky eastern sections near Beacon. Bunkers built during and after the Great War, subway systems to mitigate the need for cars, catacombs for the dead, sewers to hide waste, basements for those wealthy enough to afford them, and the gods knew what else had been steadily gained over centuries upon centuries of time. Walls were created and broken on an almost continuous basis, giving the city a literal, living, and seething underbelly.
Everyone had guessed that Roman had found a treasure somewhere down there, maybe the old King's personal bunker complex or something equally defensible, but no one had any idea where it was. Even the criminals of Vale rarely delved too deeply into the darkness below the city, and maps of anything but the official utilities and subways were almost impossible to locate.
Junior, being Junior, had managed to find a few from those few crazy souls who willingly tried to map it, and so had begun five weeks of disgusting, dangerous, and occasionally terrifying spelunking as they attempted to check off various possible locations. Thankfully they'd been able to narrow it down somewhat based on the kinds of things they knew Roman would need to survive; Ready access to the surface, close contact with grocery stores, preferably near a parking garage where escape vehicles could be kept, and several other factors that had narrowed it down to a small subsection in the northeastern part of the city.
Jaune was even fairly sure they'd found the right bunker based on a few scraps of evidence that Neo and the Malachite twins had found on their last trip out... right before the situation had changed.
"Something's wrong here." Jaune murmured quietly, staring down from the battered apartment building overlooking the massive teamsters' complex. "He couldn't have known we were close, could he? You had the twins fully concealed when they went down this morning to double-check things right?"
Neo let out a petite little breath beside him as she gave an exasperated nod. The pair were entirely clad in dark, military style clothing, with black bandannas drawn over their faces. Her semblance was aiding that a bit, paling their skin, tinging their hair green, and shifting his appearance just enough to make them look like siblings. Their usual go-to-work criminal get-up.
Her hands rose as she agreed that this was probably a trap, but she wasn't sure if they really had a choice or not. If he was trying to flee out of the city right now this was their only shot to stop him themselves. If he got out, she wasn't sure what they would do. Plus, they'd already spent two days getting everyone coordinated and setup for this attack.
If they didn't go through with it, they'd probably lose a lot of credibility with Junior's people, and that would make things very difficult moving forwards.
He grimaced but nodded in agreement. "Junior, this is probably a trap, but I think we have to chance it anyway."
There was a crackle in his ear as the city's new master king-pin made a low sound, "I ain't sending my men in to get killed, kid. If he's ready for us we'll have to go with the back-up plan. You got time for a recon?"
He shook his head even though Junior couldn't see it, "They're loading up two semi-trucks right now... looks like weapons and dust. I don't think we want to give them the chance to open those up."
"Hrn." The criminal agreed, "If this is a trap, they're making sure the bait is too hot to let go. I have manpower and cash, but the kind of weapons Roman threw around aren't things that I can get easily."
Jaune pursed his lips, "So you want the weapons, and I want to stop Roman from getting out of town. He's covering his bases pretty well."
"Yeah, he's an ass who knows us... the bastard. It must have been a leak on my end that tipped him off, always a problem when you're expanding fast." Junior exhaled heavily, "All right kid, what's the plan, besides set off the trap and see who gets blown up?"
Neo snorted beside him, making Jaune smile grimly. "We'll go with the back-up plan, but keep the twins out of it for now. The four of us will see how much of a mess this is going to be, and then we'll call for back-up as we need it. Let us know when you've got a perimeter setup... and make sure you've got a trouble-shooter watching the freeway."
"I know my business kid, give me ten minutes." The line clicked off, leaving him to let out a tired breath.
He blew out a slow breath, then continued to the people he knew were listening in, "Charcoal, Vest, you both in place?"
"Of course," The assassin replied at once, "We'll take the east side and flatten as many tires as we can, but this is a big damn depot for just the four of us."
Vest's far deeper voice joined in, "And Roman's people are largely gunmen. They'll open fire as soon as they see us."
Bringing the cops and the gods knew who else in. "We'll be on a time limit, yeah, so we'll just have to be fast. Charcoal will get us all out as soon as we hear the sirens."
"Got it." She said, "What about your little followers?"
He pursed his lips, "They're staying at the cafe until we know we need them, or until the gunfire is so obvious they can't afford to stay in place. And before you ask, there's no way in hell I'm calling in Branwen unless we're desperate."
It wasn't that he didn't trust the bandit queen, he sort-of did, it was more that he'd come to realize that she lacked even Charcoal's level of restraint when it came to collateral damage or taking prisoners. So far as she was concerned any civilians idiotic enough to get caught up in the fighting deserved whatever happened to them, and prisoners were things to be taken only if there was some advantage to doing so.
As a result, she was currently in disguise at a nearby restaurant, enjoying a steak dinner and wine paid for in advance by Junior, in turn paid off by Jaune, and ideally she'd be staying there for the next hour or two before simply teleporting back to Mistral.
Ideally.
She hummed, and he could easily visualize the small woman shrugging. "Well, unless Roman brought in more help, the four of us should be sufficient."
"Let's hope." Jaune agreed, "Stay close to Vest just in case. If Callows is here, or that giant, be careful and call us right away."
"Yes mother." Charcoal drawled.
Neo seemed to titter silently, leaving him to glower at her before sighing. "We go on Junior's signal."
She clucked her tongue once, then signed off as well, leaving the pair of them to continue watching the events slowly occurring down below.
Roman's people had already hot wired two trucks, and shifted them around so that their trailers were next to an open utility access hatch. Men and women were hauling equipment up and out as quickly as they could, stacking things in the trucks while someone he was sure was Rufus paced the area, probably admonishing them to hurry up.
"He might already be gone." He muttered, "There's at least two trucks missing... dammit, what do we do if we didn't get here fast enough?"
Neo reached up and shook his shoulder once, shaking her head. This wasn't the time to get pessimistic and worry about crap like that. They had to focus.
Focusing was rather difficult for him, much as it had been for the past month. Some naive part of him had hoped that being able to open up and trust their friends would have made things easier... but it hadn't. In some ways it had just made things worse, and a lot harder to deal with on a day to day basis since they now also had to spend a lot of time and energy putting their own plans into motion.
It didn't help that, with all of the people involved and all of the plans in motion, there was a lot more to discuss and a lot more push-back in regards to what they could and should be doing. He still wanted to try and turn Cinder, Neo was utterly against it. He and Neo both still hoped to take Roman alive, Junior thought that idiotic. They and Junior were considering starting another round of heists to raise cash to pay for more help, Sable and team RAVN were less than understanding.
"Things were so much simpler when it was just the two of us." Jaune said softly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss the desert."
It was about time, Neo noted. She'd been missing it since five minutes after they'd left Vacuo.
"Yeah yeah..." He shook his head, "And yes, I know that you told me so when it came to making friends with everyone."
Neo pursed her lips, her momentary amusement fading as quickly as it had come. She had, but... she'd admit he'd also been right. It was good to have allies for once, even if it was making things more complicated. Speaking of the brats, he'd best them get them prepared.
"Right." A moment's work fished a disposable scroll out, and he dialed Ren's number, keeping things in audio mode. "Ren?"
"Jaune." The younger man replied, "We're enjoying a late cup of coffee and ice cream at a pleasant cafe."
"Good." He said, "We're about to move in, Roman's definitely got people trying to bail from the city. We're going to try and keep it quiet, but if you hear gunfire, you'll probably have to come running."
There was a pause, "I understand, was there anything else?"
Jaune sighed, "No, just remember what we warned you about in advance. If you see Callows or a giant bear of a man in the fight, fall back at once and call Beacon."
"Yes professor, we'll be back in school by curfew." The team leader replied before hanging up.
Neo shook her head once, for all that he was the most reluctant of the four, Ren was proving to be very good at the whole clandestine thing.
"Right?" Jaune agreed, checking the time before pocketing the scroll. "Almost at the deadline, let's get down."
She gave him a quick nod, the pair of them departing from the edge of the roof in favor of the ropes they'd already set up running down one side of the building. Their gloves kept them from burning their hands, or expending aura, as they simply slid down as rapidly as they could, coming to rest in a moderately clean alley.
From there, they lurked near the street until they were sure no cars or pedestrians were nearby, then ghosted across to lurk on the other side of the short wall separating the teamsters' depot from the sidewalk. Reaching up to his ear, he touched the small device wrapped around it, adjusting the tiny lever on the side.
"We're in position." He murmured, "Raven, Ren, Melanie. Status?"
"This wine is terrible." Raven replied promptly, her voice disgusted. "And you people call us uncivilized... at least we know what a good drink means."
There was a quiet laugh before Melanie Malachite spoke up, "We're in a car waiting to run anyone down, and Militia is as impatient as ever."
Her sister snarled something furious sounding in the background, but it was largely covered up by Ren's quiet voice. "We're ready and waiting Professor."
"All right. Junior?" He breathed, "Any time now."
"Hold your damn horses." The man replied, "Wait one... right, my men are in position. Go for it."
"Charcoal, Vest, go!" He folded his hands together as Neo's foot came down onto them, heaving her up as she grasped onto the wall and hauled herself up and over. Taking a few quick steps back, he sprinted at the wall, catching the edge with his fingers and dragging his body up as well.
He came down behind what were probably fuel tanks, so the lack of an instant alarm wasn't all that surprising. Roman's people were obviously more interested in rapid flight than they were in properly keeping watch, and he and Neo were able to shift away from the probably explosive containers in favor of getting behind a parked truck, risking quick glances beneath and around it to get a better idea of the situation.
It hadn't changed much, save for the fact that Rufus' deep voice was now far more audible, "Hurry up and get the weapons loaded! We've got an hour before the guards change and we won't be able to get through the walls!"
Informative.
He half hoped that Rufus would go on and reveal a bit more, but the sound of someone dropping something heavy and screaming rather ruined that. "It's the assassin!"
A chorus of surprised shouts came as Charcoal let out a mocking laugh, and then some idiot opened fire with a freaking shotgun, making Jaune grind his teeth at the sound.
So much for stealth...
From the way Neo rolled her eyes, she entirely agreed, her body blurring as she shot around the front of the cab, Jaune hard on her heels.
There were about a dozen suited goons present, plus Rufus, all of them facing east where Charcoal was lashing out with her bladed whip, the weapon sending several people to the ground with panicked cries. In the background he could see Vest using the gun built into his axe on the semi's front tires, ensuring no one would be escaping and helping keep everyone facing the wrong way.
Jaune hit one of the well uniformed criminals from behind, the woman letting out a startled squawk as he rode her to the ground. Her pistol went flying as he grabbed her head, smacking it as gently off the concrete as he could, leaving her somewhere between stunned and unconscious.
Surging up to his feet as he saw Neo lay out a man with a kick, he centered his attention on Rufus as the man frantically bolted for the depot's central building, screaming into his scroll, "They're here!"
Trusting his companions to deal with everyone else, he promptly rushed after Roman's second, not about to let him get away or try to spring whatever part of the trap he was supposed to set off. He had an advantage over the smaller man in that his legs were much longer, letting him start to catch up fairly quickly, but Rufus had enough of a head start that he managed to get to a side door about three seconds ahead of him.
His boots skidded on the asphalt as he stopped his headlong rush, not about to race into a dark hallway by himself. "Shit!"
Part of him expected some kind of cliched line from inside, maybe a nice mocking laugh, instead he had enough time to see a bright orange light before the dust flare slammed into his chest. His aura flared as he flung himself to one side, coughing and rolling back up to his feet.
"Roman's... inside!" He gasped.
There was a muffled oath from somewhere just inside, and then the window nearest to him exploded outwards as a second shot came screaming out. He barely avoided taking it in the forehead, and only distantly heard it collide with something behind him as he ducked once again. That may have saved him from the dust rounds, but it didn't avoid the more standard gunfire that came thudding out in turn.
Swearing once again, he scrambled backwards, fighting the urge to draw his shield. Crocea Mors as a blade wasn't all that distinctive except up close, a sword tended to look like a sword, but the shield was another matter.
I knew I should have painted it!
Pain rattled up and down his right side as his aura drained, until an illusion covered parasol, appearing as a gleaming shield of green light, flared protectively over him as Neo caught up, bracing herself against him as Roman fired again. Her face set in a silent snarl, she pressed forwards, Jaune right beside her as they advanced on the building.
They had to move fast, maintaining three illusions on top of fighting wasn't something Neo could manage forever, and the last thing they'd need was for police to arrive and spot something as distinctive as her weapon.
"Your brats are on the way!" Junior's voice reached his earpiece just as they made it to the building, Jaune risking a quick glance to see something like a firing line flashing away inside... but with the darkness it was hard to tell. "Cop dispatch is paid off to slow things up, but you don't have forever!"
Shit!
He exchanged a long look with Neo, then shouted, "Vest! Charcoal! We need you!"
It took the pair a precious minute or two to put down the last of the criminals outside, then race over to join them and observe the situation. They began their assault with actual flares, Charcoal hurling them inside to provide a bit of light while the rest of them ignored the doorway in favor of vaulting inside through the broken windows.
The flickering white lights from the flares showed another dozen or so members of Roman's crew, all armed with rifles or shotguns and taking cover behind crates that had clearly been hauled into place specifically to use as cover.
And one of the assholes who was very much not Roman was holding onto a copy of Melodic Cudgel, flinching back at the brightness of the flare in front of him.
Gods fucking-!
"Roman's on the move!" Melanie's high pitched voice snapped before he could state the obvious, "We're in pursuit, he's heading west in a pick-up truck!"
"Give me a location!" Charcoal shouted in reply, vaulting in behind them, waving for everyone to get close to her.
"He's already on the expressway!"
Meaning they weren't going to catch up to him anytime soon, at least not within the city limits. The freeway would take him right to the wall and the northwestern gates of the city, if what Rufus had said earlier was anything close to accurate, the guards of said gate had already been paid off to let him leave.
This whole thing wasn't a trap to kill them, it was a trap to keep them in place for Roman to bail.
Fuck!
Grabbing Neo's shoulder, he promptly reversed direction, going back out through the window they'd just leaped through, taking cover behind the battered wall as Vest barreled out as well, his deep voice irritated, "Coward, sacrificing his men to escape... What's our new plan?"
Jaune clenched his fist around his sword as he frantically tried to think of options. "Raven, we need you to follow that car. Can you?"
"Obviously." The bandit queen replied.
"Good, thanks. Charcoal, do you have a place outside of town, preferably on the western roads?"
The woman's eyes narrowed above her own black bandanna, but she nodded after a moment. "Nice clearing about twenty miles out of town, I've got a stash there."
He nodded, flinching as a round found some of the remaining glass. "Junior, I'm leaving the rest of this to you! Half of the targets are down, and we're going after Roman!"
"Got it." The kingpin replied, sounding slightly relieved if anything. "I'm calling the girls in."
"Do whatever you need." Jaune said, "Charcoal, get us there."
In response, she flicked her hand out, whip snapping up to shatter the nearest exterior light, leaving the four of them sitting in relative darkness... darkness that swirled up over them, carrying them away as gunfire futility tried to keep them pinned down.
Roman Torchwick was not having a very good day... or a good week, or a good month, or a good much of anything.
"Those were my best people." He growled as he slammed the truck's door shut, "How the hell am I supposed to do anything now!? That asshole Xiong will have them all at the bottom of the harbor by sun-up!"
The titan of a man he'd been stuck riding with let out an annoyed rumble. "They'd have lived if you'd departed the city when you were supposed to."
His fingers tightened around his cane, "I wouldn't have had to leave at all if it wasn't for that psychopath dragging me into the Breach! Or if he hadn't been so sloppy as to leave a trail for them to find my bunker!"
"You don't know that." The man said, his voice as emotionless as ever. "Your enemies are not idiots. They may have found you regardless of Tyrian's early departure."
Roman elected to ignore that point in favor of stewing on the one that the man hadn't tried to defend.
Sure, he'd poked and prodded the stupid bull into acting like the wild animal he was, but that hadn't exactly been difficult. The idiot may have gone off the rails with or without him trying to nudge him away from Cinder's carefully choreographed schemes... but he hadn't ever fucking intended on getting involved in that mess personally. What was the was the point of killing your only real rival for usefulness if you became useless afterwards?
And he had become useless except as a giant bloody distraction, and he knew what usually happened to distractions.
It was why he hadn't done much to fight back as his criminal empire collapsed, except to grab those few trustworthy people and flee to the safety of his home. Why he'd stayed there despite the kids' and Cinder's constant harping for him to come out and side with them. He'd spent those five weeks stewing on his choices and counting down the days until the Festival kicked off.
If they could have just stayed hidden that long... things probably would have gone to hell and everyone would have forgotten all about him.
Or at least, forgotten enough that they all could slink out of Vale and make a run for it.
Instead he'd only made it halfway before Callows had fucking found him, killed the sentries he'd had lurking in the sewers, and told him in no uncertain terms that he was on their side permanently. Roman had briefly considered making a fight of it anyway, he'd been leaning towards siding with the kids since they were more likely to let him live in the long-run, even if he thought them far less likely to win the ongoing little war, only for Cinder's brats and this hulking giant to show up as well.
He'd swallowed his pride and folded his cards at that, accepting the inevitable. That had seemed even smarter when Callows had expanded on just who the fuck his 'goddess' was, and just how much power she had. He wasn't entirely sure he bought the whole 'Queen of the Grimm' thing, but he hadn't gotten to where he was in life by taking chances either.
Running from Cinder would have been hard, but doable.
Running from someone who could control all Grimm, everywhere?
Yeah, sorry kiddos, but fuck that.
Of course he'd still dragged his feet out of some vain hope he'd figure a way out of his situation, or at least way to make himself properly invaluable, and that had ended up biting him in the ass when the kids, Junior, and every other freelancer they could scrounge up had made a move the same night he'd finally been forced to admit it was time to go.
So now he was stuck working for people he thought unlikely to let him live in the long term, and doing so without any backup. Fucking terrific.
Roman fished a cigar out of a pocket, lighting it, trusting the tobacco to soothe his nerves. He had to remember that he'd been in shitty situations before, he just had to keep surviving until the opportune moment. "All right Rainart... we're at your meeting place. What now?"
"Are you sure we were not followed?" Rainart responded, "You informed me that the small one's illusions were more versatile than we were lead to believe."
He scoffed. "Yeah, but even she can't hide an entire damned car. Especially not on these crap dirt roads, and Junior's network doesn't reach outside the city. We're fine."
"Then we wait." Came the flat reply, the man already turning to the worn looking bar that they'd stopped at. It was right on the edge of the farmlands that surrounded Vale proper, settled in at the base of the mountains. "Callows and the White Fang will be here shortly. We will depart with them."
He puffed a few times before shaking his head, "The same incompetent White Fang being hunted by Atlas? Whose own boss had declared them heretics or some shit?"
"They are fanatics." Rainart replied, his tones somehow conveying agreement that he wasn't thrilled to work with them either. "But they have their uses."
Roman grunted, following the man inside. The interior proved to be as worn down as the exterior, and the only person present was a battered old matron of a faunus. One of her rabbit ears had been cut off viciously halfway up, and it twitched with her glare as she looked over them.
"Lock the damned door behind ya." She growled, "Bar's supposed to be closed but there's always some damn idiots who'd try anyway."
He returned her glare in kind, and it was only the logic of her words that got him to kick the door shut before locking it. "Lovely place you found us Rainart, just tremendous customer service."
The man gave him an irritated look as he leaned against a wooden column, crossing his arms and evidently dismissing them both from reality.
Ass.
"Watch the attitude, human." The bartender snarled. "I know you were there when Taurus died, that you failed to keep our leader safe. Consider yourself lucky I'm tolerating your smarmy ass at all."
Roman scoffed before taking a long drag of his cigar, "I'm sorry, I don't remember a notch-eared bitchy old whore being present when your glorious leader was getting cut up by a midget of a huntress."
Fingernails skidded across the unpolished wood of the bar, and she actually spat in his direction before stalking into the back room.
"Well, that was easier than I thought." He muttered, stalking over to the bar and checking behind it.
"You would get farther in life by being polite." Rainart rumbled from behind him.
"And I'd fucking live longer if I stopped smoking." Roman replied, picking out a bottle and turning around, "But life's more fun this way."
The man shook his head once, not bothering to open his eyes while Roman settled into a chair and got to work on his new drink. The brandy was shockingly high quality considering the place he'd found it in, and far too good to be sipped straight from the bottle... but he wasn't about to risk a glass, so he made do.
"So." He asked, rubbing out the end of his cigar into an ashtray. "Besides meeting this glorious goddess of all things unholy, what do you exactly expect me to do without my people?"
Rainart was silent for long enough that he wondered if the bastard was going to answer at all, but after nearly a minute he answered, "Thieves of your caliber are few and far between, even fewer still who are currently available. You will be given tasks to complete. You will be paid, you will be allowed to live."
As he was in favor of both of those things, he nodded. "And what exactly am I going to be stealing?"
"You'll find out." Rainart replied, closing his eyes once more as the bartender started up a sink in the kitchens.
Ass.
His knowledge of Cinder's little game only ran up until the shit that had gone down last month. Oh he knew there was something involving the Festival as a back-up plan, and that it was probably going to be a bloody and spectacular mess, but the bitch had been cagey about the details even before she'd realized she competition.
He knew the game at this point... they'd give him his missions one at a time, and preferably on as short of notice as they thought they could get away with to minimize the chances he could defect and fuck things up. Still, missions took time, and the longer he had to figure out a new plan the better. Especially since he still had information on the kids that he wasn't about to give up anytime soon. Not out of any sense of obligation, but simply because so long as he held onto it, they had a reason not to kill...
His thought process trailed off as he realized that the bartender hadn't returned, and that the sink was still going.
"Well shit.." Roman muttered, taking a quick swig of brandy. "Rainart, we've got guests."
The man cracked an eye open, frowned, then glanced at the door to the kitchen and nodded slightly. "I see. Whoever is in the back room, you might as well come out."
That was a waste of time and Roman knew it, rising to his feet and taking up his weapon. "How long till your crazy buddy shows up?"
"Not long." Rainart replied, "We can defend ourselves here for more than long enough."
He snorted, glancing at the door, at more importantly, at the darkness behind them. "I doubt it, there aren't any civilians in here."
"Yes, that's good."
"No," He corrected testily, "It's not, because that means we don't have any hostages to keep them from setting the building on fire."
As if summoned by his words, there was a harsh cracking sound from somewhere on the building's second floor, quickly followed by a second in the kitchen, and then yet another outside. Roman flinched back as black smoke promptly began to billow out of the kitchen's door and into the bar proper, and the distinct lack of a fire alarm told him that the kids had been here quite a while.
"Annoying." His new sort-of-probably boss grumbled, turning away from the front door and walking over to large window. He seemed to regard it for a moment, then nodded. "Go to the opposite side. We'll be leaving through that window."
Roman nodded in understanding, moving as quickly as he could in that direction, using the various supporting columns for cover and staying low. While he did that, the other man seized a chair with a single massive hand, turned slightly, then heaved it out through the window before turning to sprint towards in his direction.
For his part, Roman waited a second to hear someone shout in surprise outside, then brought his cane up and blew out his own window before leaping through it.
His feet came down in the gravel parking lot, the building's exterior lights and the building fire providing plenty of light to see from as he snapped his head around, looking for targets. He found one in a black-clad Jaune Arc, the younger man standing next to the truck they'd driven over, its tires obviously slashed courtesy of the kid's sword.
Melodic Cudgel snapped up, a dust flare screaming out to collide with his shield as the kid shook off his shock. Steel gleamed as the blade came up parallel to the ground, gravel crunching as he promptly charged. "Left side!"
"Dammit!" Roman cursed as he kept his own legs moving, firing off a second shot at the ground between them. Stones and dust exploded into a make-shift smoke-screen, letting him reverse direction and head towards the rear of the building just as Rainart exploded out through the broken window.
Sure enough the kid had continued moving farther to the left, expecting Roman to be making for the trees, and he let out a few swear words of his own as he realized he now had opponents on two sides. Roman knew the kid pretty damn well, and he could guess what he'd do; charge right at him as the weaker of the pair and hope to put him down quick.
...he'd have been wrong, because the kid took one look at the giant, actually snarled, and then blitzed right at him.
Roman snapped off the shot he'd been lining up, but since he'd been expecting the kid to move a totally different direction he missed by most of a mile. For his part Rainart let out a grunt of effort as he got his arms up to block an incoming slash, his aura flickering around his limbs as the pair promptly began to exchange vicious attacks with next to no technique.
Which was so fucking out of character for the kid that he needed a moment to gape.
Arc was simply tanking hits that Roman knew he was good enough to avoid, and his attacks were far more wild than skilled. It seemed to have taken the big man off guard as well, since he managed to push Rainart back a couple of paces before he settled in to the strange fight and began taking advantage of the kid's berserker attitude.
Getting his own shit together, he shook himself and started moving away from the increasingly burning building, trying to line up a shot with the kid's back. The slight sound of gravel being disturbed was the only warning he had, but it was enough for him to throw himself forwards right before a bladed dust whip came cracking through the space his head had just occupied.
He rolled away from a follow-up lash that sent small stones flying everywhere, scrambling to his feet to find three more people showing up. Neo, plus the kid's own giant of a man... Vest, that had been his name, both surged over to help Jaune, while Charcoal lazily condensed her weapon into a wickedly barbed sword and sauntered in his direction.
"Charrie." Roman summoned up a smug grin, twirling his cane as he shifted position, putting space between them and the other brawl. "We really have to fight dearie?"
"No, we don't." The Vacuan woman called through her bandanna, her voice amused. "If you give up I'll kill you nice and fast. Least I can do."
He snorted as he settled into a ready stance, "Here I thought we had something special."
"You weren't nearly that good of a lay." She replied, her right arm lashing out in time with the last word.
His arms flexed as he absorbed the attack, making a charge of his own as she fell back, trying to use her long range weapon to its full advantage. He pushed aside two more slashes of the whip, but a trailing end of the third cost him some aura as it got his left shoulder.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, aura or not her jagged blades fucking hurt like hell, he brought his cane down hard at her skull, forcing her to leap aside and retract her whip back into its sword form. That was a fight he'd take any day, and he promptly began to push her back.
Charcoal was a vicious fighter but she also a bitty little thing, not much taller than Neo, and he knew that an up close brawl was not her idea of a good time. He heard her growl as he caught her in the gut, but then it was his turn to curse when body abruptly melted into black ink before he could pull the trigger and seriously nail her.
Jerking his head around, his cane came up as steel flashed from near the tree line, Charcoal working a much faster tempo with her snapping whip-cracks. Rather than charge once again, Roman blocked as best he could, firing off flares that he guided with his semblance, forcing her to waste time directly blocking them.
Their fight quickly fell into a stalemate, but he was entirely conscious of the fact that his strategy was using up his limited ammunition. A glance at the confused mess nearer to the burning structure showed Rainart somehow keep all three of the others off of him, showing some surprising agility to go with his ridiculous strength.
But even as he watched Charcoal shouted something, and the kids abruptly broke away, leaving Vest to hold the bigger man in place while they turned for him.
Crap...
Roman ceased fire at once to save his remaining flares, licking his lips as Charcoal prowled along the edge of the trees, Jaune and Neo keeping a good bit of distance between them as the three began to converge on him from several different angles.
"Do I get a chance to argue my case?" He tried, warily flicking his eyes between the three.
"You would have." Arc replied, "If it had been Cinder here instead of that maniac. Sorry Roman."
His fingers tightened around the grip of his weapon, then he smirked as he noticed something in the distance. The kids noticed his shift in attitude at once, then seemed to finch as a bird started making a racket nearby.
Neo snapped her parasol up between them, covering herself as she looked around, and he knew she spotted the incoming cars because she let out a piercing two-tone whistle. Vest wasted no time in breaking away from Rainart, Roman's ally making no real effort to pursue as all three fell back towards the trees.
Sorry kids... He thought as he watched them all drew in around Charcoal, the night seeming to become absolute in the area they were standing in. I like ya both, but not as much as I like being alive.
The last traces of them vanished just as Callows and a truck full of hardcore White Fang members came skidding into the parking lot.
Author's Notes
And here we go, starting off with the 'end' of the hunt for Roman and our thief's new career as Hazel's partner. I know the chapter isn't quite a beastly as a lot of the prior ones, going to try and pace myself a little bit better in this volume so expect chapters to be between 5 and 6k up until the finale (where I may lengthen things a bit).
A few allusions here and there to other events, some of which will be covered in more detail, others which.. well, won't be due to pacing and time constraints. The next chapter will focus on the new 'normal', or what passes for such at Beacon in the run-up to the Festival.
Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
Thanks, Kat
