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I didn't find anything on myself or my sisters on Merlot's computers. I was guessing that that laboratory predated me and them. Besides, if the mustached man was right, I was doomed to never find anything on my sisters in Merlot's labs. I was only digging through his computers for myself, then. And I really just didn't have the energy for it and I transferred the notes to my scroll for later bookkeeping and examination.

Peach, Neo, and I descended back into Nibelheim and I took a train from there back to Atlas. I said my farewells to Peach and her teacher. I wasn't sure I'd ever see the pink eyed, blonde bruiser again, but you never really know. She'd done good work by me. I left her with a dust crystal to remember me by for that.

I had to find out who the mustached man was. I consulted Aurum but with only a vague description he didn't have much of any support for me. He was helpful, I suppose, as helpful as he could be given how lackluster my ability to give details on the man was. I mean I knew he had a dark blue suit trimmed in yellow but that was only so helpful. The green eyes and mustache were, I was guessing, more solid but only slightly.

Aurum then put me in contact with the group who had been in the know on the General's secret project. There was a bar down in Mantle where they met and I was told to go there. This group, this Avalanche, had details that I needed if I wanted to stay on top of things.

They called the bar Seventh Heaven.

The bar looked like a rickety enough place. It sort of reminded me of the Malachites' bar. Except the Malachites' bar was nicer. If such a thing could be believed.

I swept into the place with Neo beside me and I had a quick look around. There was a bar area with some seats and a few tables. There was also a pac-ping machine in one of the corners that didn't interest me much at all. The place was all brown wood and grey brick. It was covered in soot from the mines and the whole place could use a thorough cleaning. I was wary of even ordering anything from their bar.

A redheaded faunus cleaned a glass with a rag behind the counter. Her hair was done up in a ponytail and she had pretty brown eyes. She had Valean features with a bit of an oval face and a long fox tail which swished behind her as she worked.

She wore armor over a tight blue shirt that exposed her smooth flat stomach and her bellybutton. She had a red scarf over her forehead and loose brown pants around her hips leading down to silvery shin guards and boots. They looked heavy.

I could feel the distant hum of aura wafting off of her. She wasn't some simple barkeep. She must be a member of Avalanche. And Avalanche must be a hunter organization or at least attempting to be one.

Neo shuffled up beside me and looked up at me. "Well Neo, what will you have?"

She shrugged as though to say, 'surprise me.'

"Hey now! What can I do for the two of you?" The bartender asked, she sounded upbeat.

"I'm Cloud, this is Neo, we're looking for Avalanche and a drink, I suppose. Two house specials. Whatever that is, while we wait would be nice."

She nodded. "I'm Jasper. We're just waiting for a few more. So that'll be two Cosmo Canyons. Coming right up." She sounded enthusiastic.

She poured two red drinks for Neo and I. I sat at one of the tables and Neo pulled up a chair beside me. Jasper came by and dropped the drinks off for us. I thanked her and opened up a tab. I could afford plenty of drinks so I really wasn't worried about it.

The drink had a sweet, deep strawberry and raspberry flavor. It was bordering on too sugary for me but Neo seemed to like it because she slammed it and held up a finger for another one.

I ordered for her and Jasper came around again with another glass of the red liquid.

There came a jingle at the door and another faunus came in. She was armed with a crossbow staff and had two cute little sheep ears to either side of her head. She wore mostly green under a more tan-green overcoat. She had curly glowing white hair and bright sharp green eyes.

She took us and Jasper by the counter in for a moment before she paced further inside.

I leaned both elbows on the table and rested my chin on my hands. I waited around to see what would happen with the newcomer.

"I'm looking for Avalanche," she said to Jasper. Loud enough that I could hear it.

"You've found us. You must be Fiona with the Happy Huntresses."

Fiona nodded.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Jasper asked.

Fiona shook her head. "I'm just here to listen to what you have to say about the General's secret project. We know the general is moving supplies out to Amity instead of Mantle. We're just not sure why. You're supposed to know."

Two more gentlemen entered and I watched them while taking a drink from my cosmo canyon. The first was taller than the other. Maybe about as tall as I was and had a sidearm. It looked like a water pistol to me. He wore a green shirt and brown pants and had a red bandanna tied around his head. It didn't hide his wolf ears.

The last was the rounder sort and he had a pale shirt and he too had a red bandanna. He was built with wide shoulders, however, despite his round build. He had a machine gun around his back and a bandolier of rounds across his chest. I couldn't spot his faunus trait if he had one but that didn't make him human. Blake had managed to hide her trait from me for months so there was that.

"Meet Avalanche," Jasper introduced with a bit of flair, waving a hand.

The taller fellow said, "I'm Bisque. And this is Wenge." He gestured to the man by his side.

"We need your help to hold the SDC accountable for its crimes," Jasper went on. "Avalanche is a sort of network for disparaged workers. Like the old White Fang in Mantle. We've been getting reports from workers about the General's project."

"You want us to help you fight the SDC," Fiona sounded incredulous. Her face twisted into shock.

"In exchange for our information, yes," Bisque shot back. "We've been getting all kinds of reports from our union about the project so we know what we're talking about with it."

"The Happy Huntresses aren't above trading blows with the law but this seems like a bit much. What would we even be doing?"

"Blowing up a dust mine." Jasper put a hand on one hip. "Both the Happy Huntresses and… you two, Cloud and Neapolitan." She pointed at Neo and I. "Came highly recommended. From different people, of course."

I could see it. Aurum had all the reason to recommend me considering how quickly I'd solved his problems. Unfortunately I wasn't behind blowing up a mine very much.

"If you want to resort to terrorism why not join the White Fang?" I asked. That was the sort of business the White Fang was into.

"Lots of reasons," Jasper shrugged. "The White Fang are about murder now. The mine we're targeting will be mostly abandoned. At least with the embargo going on."

"And this is the only way you'll talk about the General's secret project?" I asked. "A symbolic attack?"

"We also have Lien we can offer you," Bisque cut in.

Fiona snorted and I shook my head. "I don't need Lien," I muttered.

"The Happy Huntresses aren't about money. It's not why we do what we do," Fiona agreed with me a little.

"But you're about fighting the giants. The SDC. The Atlas Military," Wenge seemed to protest. His voice had a slight whine to it. "We could really use all the help we can get."

"The Happy Huntresses will find another way to learn about the General's plans," Fiona decided. She turned to leave. "I can only hope you are smart enough to say the same." She nodded at me.

"I probably can't let this opportunity pass me by. Thanks," I told her.

"You'll engage in this terrorism?" Her jaw dropped open.

"Sweetheart, I've murdered people in cold, cold blood. This is nothing. They're not even planning on killing anyone." I laughed. I pulled out my pipe and packed some greens into it. "Easy money," I said.

She glowered at me with a look that could have frozen vodka and turned her chin up. "You're laughing about it? People could die and you're just laughing." She swore at me.

I laughed even harder. "I'm a monster, babe. There are all kinds of people like me. You should get used to it. I thought you were a huntress."

"I graduated from Atlas Academy. Of course I'm a huntress." She pulled her staff on me. I stood up and activated my semblance. I ripped the weapon out of her hand and she stumbled towards me. I grabbed her and tossed her into the table behind me and Neo elegantly moved out of the way. She stumbled to her feet and I tossed her weapon to myself.

"There are things they don't teach you at school, kido. I can give you a lesson in it if you want."

She was just a kid. She had no idea what things were really like. She didn't know about monsters like Tyrian or Raven or me. I was a monster of power and ungodly strength, too. She didn't know the heights that some hunters could reach. She thought she was on the level. I could feel from my sixth sense that just wasn't the case. I could pull her apart.

The vitriol on her face was enough to shatter that frozen vodka from before. She tore her way back to her feet. The blatant disgust made me want to laugh some more. I tossed her her weapon back. She pointed her crossbow at me. It was loaded. I could cut the bolt easily. I was fast enough. Unless it moved near light speed like a laser or a magnetic accelerated round.

"I should stop you. The right thing to do would be to shut you down right here and now. Aggravating the SDC is the wrong move, almost always."

"Careful, little Miss. You're not a match for me and I've left quite the trail of bodies behind." Blue flames licked at my flesh. White wisps crawled at the ceiling of the bar, and the members of Avalanche held their collective breaths. The wood beams over my head shed my power like rainwater and it collapsed back into the room. "What's one more for someone like me?" I asked. "Come on. What's one more?"

She spun her weapon about and replaced it on her back. She exhaled hard. She gave me one last stiff look. I could feel the room slightly disrupted by her aura. Her anger was a lashing flame. She wanted to stop me but was thinking better of it.

We'd sized each other up and I knew that she knew that I could destroy her. It was common knowledge now. Her sixth sense must have screamed out at her in warning.

"This isn't over." She pointed at the floor for emphasis with each word.

"This is nothing." I returned, sheathing my sword. "Not even my top fifty."

She marched out of the door of the bar. She slammed it shut behind her hard enough to rattle the windows of the small, dingy bar.

"Cloud…" Jasper murmured. "You'll help us?"

"I need the details. I also need a guarantee of my information. Then I'll help you with your bombing."

"It's the abandoned Tilvari mine. It's to the north of here. Used to be mined by SDC when it was more profitable to be mining. They'll want to go back to doing it there once the embargo is lifted," Bisque said. "We'll be hitting it at night when no one is around."

"We want to shut that down. Make it harder for old man Schnee," Jasper continued for him. "People die in his mines all the time and nothing happens. Nothing changes. People are dying in the mines right now. We want to cause him all the problems we can."

"I don't care about your reasons. Tell me about the job."

They all shared a look.

"You don't really mean that, do you Cloud?" Wenge asked. He seemed nervous, a little on edge about it.

"Of course I do. It's a job to me. And nothing else. I'll get you all in and out safe and sound. Then you can tell me about the General's project and we can move on with our lives." I claimed. "You don't want to be my friends. It's not a good place to be."

I didn't have the time for this. They needed to know where I stood. I wasn't their friend. I was their employee. That's how this was going to work. I didn't have time for it. They didn't need to be wrapped up in me, either. I was a mess and I didn't need to drag people who were more or less innocent into my fuck up of a life.

They were subcontracting me because I was dangerous and I knew what I was doing. I knew my way around explosives and I knew how to deal with dust, at least in a loose sense. I was exactly what they needed. As a contractor. Not as a companion for life. I already fucked up enough friendships. Just look at where I stood with team RWBY. The things I'd done to my own other friends rampaged through my thoughts.

A low hiss of 'kill her, and the boy' echoed through my mind. I would never forget it. The lamp had been right. Mother was more than just a memory. She haunted me.

I remembered what I'd done to the last of team JNPR. These people didn't know what they'd be getting into if they wanted to be my friends. And Neo and I weren't exactly friends. We worked well together, our goals aligned, our powers were useful in combination, but that was it. At least I thought so. I'd certainly miss her if she was gone, though. Maybe she was working her way into my heart.

The sadistic bitch. Unbelievably cruel of her, that was.

I relaxed and let my power go. My semblance faded into nothing. I missed the power as soon as it was gone. The steady beat of energy made me feel whole. Without it I felt a gaping lack. I wanted to keep that flow going. I wanted it all the time. And the charge felt completely empty now. I felt completely at a loss.

They all looked at one another again. Jasper nodded to Bisque and that seemed to do it for them.

"We have wheels to make our get-away on. And we want to drop the mine, not cause a massive explosion. Not in the middle of town. The point is to just cause a collapse in. It's a pit mine, you see." Bisque said.

"You'll need to be careful. Any application of dust could cause a chain reaction and blow up the entire mine. Take part of the city with it." I warned. I crossed one arm and put a hand on my chin as I considered it.

"The explosives we have in mind are small. Just big enough to bring down some of the support beams and cause a collapse." Jasper informed me.

Neo held up a hand.

"Another drink for my friend here?" I asked. Her glass was empty and she waved it at me loosley, tapping me in the side with it, gripping the glass from above.

Jasper nodded. She moved around behind the counter and shook up another glass of the crimson liquid. Neo liked that house special, I guess. She had a sweet tooth and a half which explained it.

"Then what's your extraction plan?" I asked once Jasper got Neo squared away again.

"We have a truck, we were going to drive away in the chaos," Wenge said. "Do you think that will be enough?"

"With my help, sure. I've got quite the illusionist with me. You don't want to be caught up by Atlas Security. And the last thing we want to be snatched up in is a firefight."

"We can take them," Jasper said. She had enthusiasm for it, that was for sure. I imagined that Blake was once like that. But instead for the White Fang and not Avalanche.

Jasper was young. Maybe a year or so younger than my biological age, not my chronological age. She was much older than me going by that marker. She had a fire to her I couldn't help but admire. I even found it a few shades shy of attractive.

"You don't have the experience for it. You'll lose." I disagreed. "Better leave any fighting to Neo and I, if you can help it. Only fight if you're cornered and need to. Any of you ever kill somebody?"

They looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Yeah, leave it to me and Neo." I sighed. These kids had no idea what they were in for. If they weren't careful, they'd die. "And I'll set the charges. Better leave that to me too." I chewed on my pipe.

Amateurs.

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-WG