Chapter 7: Irony, Books, and World War Food.

Epizon walked through the streets of Vale with a scowl on his face. He was so damn tired of those twins. He was fine with providing extra support to Junior in exchange for a temporary place to stay with a great selection of alcohol, but couldn't Junior have told the twins to leave him alone? They seemed to think that because he knew their mother, he worked for her. Kids were always too proud of their parents. Always thought their parents could do anything. Sadly, they couldn't. In Lil' Miss Malachite's case, she had neither the firepower nor the guts to try to force Epizon into working for her. Instead, they did business with each other. He didn't do as much as he used to, but he had other things to do, and some things he would not do anymore. Also, the Spiders already owed him quite a bit for helping them out of their dumbass mistakes.

That had nothing to do with the present though. Right now, the only thing he wanted was to find a damn bookstore so he could hopefully find a copy of "Aura Transfer, Base Characteristics, and Semblance Basics", a book written a while back by some Atlesian doctor named Pietro something or another and his research team. Epizon was actually surprised he hadn't heard of it before given how much better the information in it was compared to the shit he had had before, but that was the modern world for you. As soon as something comes out, older things get tossed aside.

So here he was, walking down a street asking for directions to some place called Tukson's Book Trade. It said it was home to every book under the sun, so hopefully they had it in stock. And besides, Junior said that this guy might know when and where to go for the best shot at nabbing Torchwick, so it was pretty much killing 2 Nevermore with one slash from Mend. Apparently White Fang grunts were dumb enough that they'd spill anything at a bar. That just so happened to include the three grunts that had talked about one bookstore owner named Tukson, who they said would be eliminated or something for betrayal, and to keep information from getting out. Ironic that they spilled the information about this Tukson guy just from getting drunk.

He had just stopped off of the sidewalk on Slate St. onto 27th St. when he saw the shop. It was a pretty good looking place for the exterior, with a shining sign above it, a wooden sign hanging out so that the average pedestrian could see it, and 2 large windows, also with the store's name on them. All of them had the base, and then golden letters. This Tukson guy was a bit over the top, but that was his business. Epizon was just a customer.

As he walked in he saw that the place looked pretty good. Lots of bookshelves, lots of lighting, and very few places to hide. Horrible place for an ambush, if you disregarded the back door. That didn't matter to him though. He just wanted a book. He walked up to the counter and rang the bell on the counter, waiting for who would guess would be Tukson, or his representative, to walk out and assist him. He saw a black haired man who looked to be in his mid 20s walk out with a huge stack of books that he placed on the counter before turning to Epizon with a smile.

"Hello! Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, how may I help you?" he said.

"Well, first off, this isn't really important for now, but you're Tukson, right?" Epizon replied.

"Yes." the black haired book owner replied with a nod.

"Well, I heard that you were one of the bookstores around here with the widest selection, though I wouldn't quite say every book under the sun, you do seem to have quite a lot. So I came here searching for a book, it's called "Aura Transfer, Base Characteristics, and Semblance Basics". It's by some Atlesian doctor named Pietro or something like that. Do you have it?"

Tukson paused before smiling "I believe we do have a copy or two in the back. It's an old book, so they haven't sold in years, but I figured I should keep them anyways, just in case. Are you trying to be a Huntsman? I've always admired them. They are a representation of unity against humankind's and Faunuskind's common, true enemy, the Grimm." Tukson said with a smile.

Epizon snorted. "Yeah, no. I'm not a Huntsman, I'm a goddamn mercenary, A good one, but I'm not in it to help people or show unity or whatever. And besides, Hunters are failures at that whole thing too. They show humanity's acceptance of reality, and the need to sacrifice others in order to survive. Not that I blame them. Sacrifice, cowardice, they're universal factors in Remnant. But I digress. So back onto the actual topic, mind getting that book real quick while I look around for some extra books to read?"

Tukson frowned before shrugging and tossing a "Sure kid, just remember, Hunters are just human, you shouldn't expect them to be able to do everything." over his shoulder as he walked into the backroom once again.

Epizon walked over to one of the bordering bookshelves before slowly gravitating to the farthest corner away from the entrance to the shop, where there was a small sign with the words "Myths, Legends, and Tales of Lost Ages". He looked up and down before focusing on a thick brown book with golden lettering on the spine. He pulled it out and looked at the cover, where the words "Ages Past, Built of Faded Silver" before snorting. He placed it back before walking away, looking through the sections until he ended up at the "Fantasy" section, where he continued his browsing, picking some boos off the shelves before stopping once he had 2 stacks of 10 books piled up at his feet, when he heard a ring.

He turned and a smirk grew on his face as he saw the familiar faces of Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. Of course, that quickly turned into a contemplative frown as he thought on how they could have possibly missed him. Not his problem though. What was his problem was the fact that combining the idea that Tukson was supposed to be silenced, and these two were associated with the White Fang, he needed to keep them from offing his source of information. At that moment, Tukson walked out with a thick book with a green cover in hand.

"Hey kid, you- Oh. You're not the kid." Tukson said sheepishly.

Emerald blinked. "What kid? This place is empty?"

Epizon sighed before grabbing his books and stacking them on the counter in front of Tukson. "That really hurts my feelings Breath-mint. I thought we had something special!"

Emerald's eyes widened comically as Mercury started busting his gut laughing behind her. "Why are you here?!"

Epizon cocked an eyebrow. "Uh, that's kind of obvious, isn't it?"

Emerald growled. "We won't let you get to Cinder!"

Epizon shifted his gaze to Mercury, who shrugged, before turning back to Emerald. "Look, I don't really care about Hot Stuff. The only reason I bothered messing with you and the White Fang at all was to get to Torchwick. Also, this is a bookstore. Why the fuck would I wait around here just to beat information out of you two when I didn't know you two would be here? Plus, I like to keep the torturing saved up until at least the third date. This is just our second."

Emerald gaped before starting to fume as Mercury started clutching his chest as if in pain, wheezing. "I would never date you!"

Epizon smirked. "Who said I was talking to you? Me and Merc over there have way more in common. Prosthetics, a great sense of humor, charm, skill… You get the idea. And besides, it was a figure of speech. No need to do something drastic. Now, I'd like you two to get your asses out of here. If you're still here in 5 seconds, even invisible, I will decide to count this as the third date too , and promptly start getting the information I need in a much easier way for me, and a more painful way for you."

Emerald glared at him and reached for one of her weapons before Mercury stopped her. "Emerald, we need to get out of here. We can tell Cinder what we know and that this happened, we don't get yelled at because you tried to do someone else's job when she said not to, and we don't get thrown around again without even getting a good hit on the guy."

Emerald turned her glare onto Mercury before slumping and dropping her hand away from her gun. 'Let's go Mercury." Mercury grabbed a comic book off a shelf as he walked out, waving at pzion before he and Emerald disappeared out the door.

Epizon waited until he saw them walk past one of the windows before turning to Tukson. "So I assume that's the boom I asked for?"

Tukson blinked before narrowing his eyes at Epizon. "Yes. I'll go ahead and ring up the total for all the books, and then you can be on your way."

"Now, that's not very nice. I mean, I probably just saved your life! You could at least give me a bag and thank me. Hin of the time I could have spent at a bar!"

Tyukson stopped for a second to look at Epizon before grabbing a bag and firmly placing it on the counter. "Thanks, but I don't want to be involved with the White Fang. And I highly doubt you would go to a bar. I don't smell more than the tiniest hints of alcohol on you."

"That's rude. I'm sure an ex-member like yourself couldn't care much about another Faunus knowing about your involvement in the White Fang! It might ruin your reputation, but I'm not interested in that. Also, I would very much rather be at a bar, thank you very much." Epizon replied as he dug out his flask, opened it, and downed it, before putting it away.

Tukson tensed up as he placed the last book inside the bag. "I don't know how you know about that, but you don't look like a damn Faunus, and I don't want to be involved with the White Fang anymore. Now, you owe me 200 Lien. Also, this is a bookstore, so no food or drink is allowed."

Epizon shrugged. "Sure. But first I've got some questions for you. Also, you don't look like a Faunus either, and yet you are, so don't judge a book by it's cover. Anyways, I've heard that you know quite a bit about the White Fang, so would you mind telling me the most likely time and place to go to get Torchwick?"

Tukson scowled. "And why should I put my life in more danger by doing that? I don't have the cash to change my identity or something."

Epizon smiled. "Well, for one, I can get Torchwick, and after that I might decide to get rid of the White Fang, which is the group after you, since they've been very annoying for me lately. Also, I can pay you well for the information."

Tukson frowned before walking over to the doors and locking them, changing the windows so they were darker and less transparent before walking back. "The best place for you to check would be Warehouse number 73 in the industrial district. It's where we have most of our rallies in Vale. The best time would be this Friday. I heard that they were revealing an ally, and some new tools we've acquired. Might be outdated information, but if it's not, then it's probably Torchwick. If you're a Faunus it'll be easy to get in, if not, best of luck. Either way, that's all I know."

Epizon smiled. "Thank you for the help. Here's the payment for the information and the books." he said as he placed a handful of Liennies on the counter, grabbed his bad, and walked out the doors.

Tukson quickly counted out the money and realized that in one day, he had earned 110K Lien. This was definitely enough to start a new life in Vacuo.

Outside, Epizon smirked as he gulped down the last of his flask and put it away. He had a time, a place, and all the motivation in the world. He was going to get Torchwick, and there wasn't a damn thing an assassin, illusionist, or group of naive teens could do to stop him. First though, he had to get a refill. After all, he had 3 days of waiting until the meeting, so he might as well spend them well. And drinking as always a good way to pass time. Especially when people challenged him to drinking contests. He could probably be counted as cheating, but meh. Free money and satisfaction was free money and satisfaction.

Teams RWBY and JNPR had just finished up a food fight, which would probably count as more of a food war to the average civilian, but was still plenty of fun. Team JNPR were rainbow colored, Yang had fallen through the roof, and Professor Goodwitch looked like she was going to snap somebody's neck. Probably because it was her job to fix everything and not a janitor's. What caught Ruby's attention though, was Professor Ozpin to the side. A thought was jumping around in her head, and she couldn't remember what it was. Then she remembered. "Hey Blake?"

Blake turned towards her. "Yes Ruby?"

"You remember the mercenary guy from the docks, right?"

Blake quirked an eyebrow. "Epizon, right? The one who we angered by blowing up the place he was probably living in?"

"Yeah! That guy! Do you think we should tell Professor Ozpin about him? I mean, he may have seen the reports, and Epizon may just be a mercenary and not a Huntsman, but don't you think we should try to get Professor Ozpin to help him? I mean, maybe if we got Professor Ozpin to make Epizon a student or something, he would let me-I mean us, see his weapons. Don't you think that'd be really cool!"

Blake shook her head. "I don't think so. He seemed like just your average selfish mercenary to me. Just skilled, with a backstory he doesn't seem to care about, and a weird Aura. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that Professor Ozpin would go out of his way to help."

Ruby frowned before becoming and turning to Weiss. "Weiss! You agree with me, right!?"

Weiss shrugged. "Blake seems to be on the right track here. He didn't even show that much skill, so I'd say it's just good equipment."

Ruby's smile grew wider. "But Weiss, think about it! If he was at Beacon, he might show you his weapons! Including that sword you were talking about! Didn't you say that by taking properties of that, you might be able to improve other Dust technology?"

Weiss' eyes widened, and Ruby knew she had her. "You may be right Ruby. I think Professor Ozpin would be interested in his equipment too."

"What about you Yang?" Ruby said as she turned to Yang.

Yang grinned. "Sure. I want to meet this guy anyways since both you and Weiss are interested in him!"

Ruby's and Weiss' faces grew red as Ruby sputtered. "It's not like that Yang!"

"Sure, sure. But yeah, go ahead and tell Professor Ozpin if you feel like it. I wasn't involved with the docks, so all I know is what you've told me." Yang said as she shrugged.

Ruby nodded before turning and walking towards Ozpin, determination fueling her steps… well, the first three. After that, it was just hope that she was doing the right thing. "Uh… Professor Ozpin?"

Professor Ozpin turned away from Professor Goodwitch. "Yes Ms. Rose?"

"So, my uncle told me that you're the one responsible for keeping us out of trouble for the docks incident, right?"

Professor Ozpin nodded. "Indeed. I… delegated the paperwork to your Uncle, but it was my authority used to keep you and your friends out of getting in too much trouble during your first semester here at Beacon. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm not sure if the reports covered this, but there was a mercenary there. He didn't really do anything, but he was upset at us for fighting the White Fang, since they managed to blow his warehouse up."

"Oh? I believe you are talking about Mr. Akónito?"

Ruby perked up. "Yeah! That's the guy! So, I know he's not a Huntsman, but he has really good weapons, and knows how to use Dust well from what Weiss said, and he might be a really good fighter since he took down Sun in like 2 seconds flat, and he needs help because there's something wrong with his Aura, so do you think you could bring him to Beacon as a student or something? I mean, he seems kind of mean and selfish and he stole my swear jar, but he still deserves help!" she rushed out.

Ozpin blinked twice. "Pardon? Would you mind repeating that a bit slower Ms. Rose? I'm not as young as I used to be, after all, and you are a remarkably fast speaker." he chuckled.

Ruby blushed before repeating herself, slower. "Epizon isn't a Huntsman, but he's got really good weapons and knows how to use Dust really well from what Weiss said, and seems pretty skilled. And me and Weiss"- Weiss screeched from the background "Weiss and I!"-". Weiss and I thought that he would do well here, especially since he has something wrong with his Aura that I thought he might be able to get fixed or something here. So do you think you could try to get him here? I think it'd be worth it for you, and-"

Ozpin chuckled as he interrupted her. "That is all you need to say Ms. Rose. As for Mr. Akónito, I think you will be pleased to know that he should be stopping by to meet with me sometime between now and the start of the Vytal Festival. Though I would like to know more about this Aura problem you were talking about. I have been wanting to meet him since I heard about some skills he might possess, so this might give me a better idea of his capabilities. Anything else you know about him, like his goals and personality would also be welcome, of course."

Ruby grinned excitedly. "Of course! I don't know much about his Aura problem, since it was Penny who noticed it, but she said something about it being less stable than a dying Huntsman's Aura, which is the thing I'm worried about."

Ozpin hummed for a moment as he looked at the ground before looking back up at Ruby. "What were his thoughts on this Aura problem of his?"

Ruby frowned. "He uh… didn't say much other than that he didn't need or want help, and that we should stop digging or he'd blow our heads off…"

Ozpin's eyes widened before he smelled a little. "Well then Ms. Rose, that would seem to give the appearance that it is either not a threat or a threat that helps him, and that it's a sore subject. I would leave it alone next time you see him, but I thank you for this information. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Well, he's selfish, rude, and doesn't seem to care about things he should, and he said he's after Roman Torchwick."

Ozpin frowned in thought. "Did he, perhaps, tell you why he is after Roman Torchwick? And what do you mean by, he doesn't seem to care about things he should?"

Ruby frowned. "Well, from what he said, he's after Roman Torchwick because he thinks that he might be connected to the murder of his family. As for not caring, all he said when I apologized for Blake being rude, which was what got him to say that, was that it didn't matter because things like that happen all the time."

Ozpin's eyes widened before he frowned. "You are sure that he said Roman Torchwick might be connected to the deaths of his family?"

"Yes. Well, he called it a butchering, but it was what he meant."

"Thank you for this information Ms. Rose. I will keep note of this for when I meet Mr. Akónito, but for now, the best course of action would be for you and the rest of your team, along with Team JNPR, to take showers. Glynda would not appreciate you smelling and covered in food." He glanced to the side before chuckling. "Also, remind the blue haired student next to… Mr. Wukong, I believe, to get a shower too. I believe he got caught in the crossfire. "

Ruby turned to look and waved happily at Sun before turning towards the student Professor Ozpin had pointed out and wincing. He was covered in what looked to be grape soda. "Sorry!"

Sun looked at his friend. "See Neptune! She even apologized for getting you caught in the crossfire! They're the best! We even got to meet this mercenary guy a while back! He didn't really like us, but still!"

Neptune turned to Sun with a deadpan. "Really? I would have never guessed there was any reason for ANYONE to not like you and your new friends."

"I know, right! We only blew up his warehouse and alcohol, that's it!"

Neptune shook his head. "You do know that alcohol can be expensive, right? Especially if it was an entire warehouse!"

Sun snorted. "Oh come on, how much could it have been?"

Neptune stared at him. "If it was only the cheapest stuff, a warehouse of the stuff, not even counting the warehouse itself, it could be in the ten thousands. If there was any of the more expensive stuff, it could be in the hundred thousands, or, more likely, somewhere just over a million Lien."

Sun paled. "Oh fuck. How are we not dead?"

Neptune snorted. "Probably because that guy is nicer than you think. Or he didn't want to deal with the hassle and just decided to go get drunk off his as. Either or."

Sun snorted as a tentative smile grew on his face. "Yeah, I'm gonna lean towards the latter since the last thing he said was that he was going to a club."

Neptune shrugged before walking away. "Either way, I like that guy better than these friends of yours. Also, I'm going to be getting my floats and snorkeling gear so I can take a quick shower. I will see you later."

AN: Two reviews

Alduin(Guest) : Yeah, Ruby's still naive since this is still V2 time period, but Epizon is a bit of a wake-up call. Yang missed her shot once more, and as for getting the information, that's something you'll have to see when it happens. Just uh… take Yang being Yang into account before you expect it to be a smart strategy. As for Mercury, yeah, if he left Salem he would probably either work alone, por work with other morally gray people, which in this story, just happens to include Epizon in that list. As for the Faunus thing, you'll just have to see how that turns out. His broken Aura is not because he's dying, but that is a good guess given the clues I've put in so far. Glad you liked the last chapter, hope you like this chapter, and I love how you pronounced Jacques' name.

selfishgecko : Yeah. Though I do have to say, things will get a bit different than you might think because of key sections of this story. The reason why it'll be interesting is because of (PLOT REASONS) that have been implied ever since I put a summary on this story. I'm actually surprised that Alduin hasn't called me out on it…

Anyways, this is a bit rougher, and uploaded later, than I wanted it to be, but uh… life happened. Same business as usual, this chapter was the Best Day Ever for Tukson, because he got paid a lot, and he got to keep his life, so double happiness. Emerald and Mercury got their cameo, Epizon got a hint that will show up at a rather obvious point in time, and Ruby tattled On Epizon. Also, Neptune doesn't much appreciate the unfortunate series of events that have occurred to him. Same deal as usual, root beer is better than Pepsi, and I am prepared for the death that awaits me after saying that. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will have returned with another chapter next Thursday. Hopefully.