Interlude: ...be our Partner in Crime

Days passed by quickly into weeks and months after Joshua's introduction to his new family. Unlike the samey, monotonous days he had experienced in the hospital, his visits to and from Patch became something he looked forward to.

From hunting and prototyping with Ruby, to bare-knuckle fighting and video games with Yang, he had grown as close to them as he had with his other companions in the Mojave. Whenever they had free time, they would make their way to Vale proper to annoy their uncle and hang out with Joshua. And whenever he wasn't training with Qrow or experimenting in his shed, he made his way to the island of Patch to drink with Tai and hang out with his cousins.

He felt, for the first time in his life, actually free. Unbound by his commitments to New Vegas, away from the influence of the likes of Mr. House and Caesar. No one had expectations for him, no one was there to control or manipulate him. He truly was completely, and utterly, free.

Absolutely free to make mistakes that would cause consequences only to him, which is what brought him to his most recent predicament.

"Why in the sam hill would dried wormwood even be illegal?!" Joshua murmured to himself, crouched behind a pile of wooden shipping boxes, kneeled low to the ground to avoid being seen. He peeked up from his cover, glancing around the quiet docks for any security guards, his eyes shooting wildly about the shipment yard. "It's a fuckin' house plant for Christ sake!" He hissed under his breath, barely containing the curse.

It was late at night, so late that the moon was well past its apex in the sky. Having been brewing Cass' specialty whiskey for several months now for consumption within his family, he, at some point, decided to try to branch out his assortment of homebrewed alcohol to drink. Vodka had been a simple distillation process, and while its quality was nowhere near as smooth as his whiskey, it was a point he could easily build off of. His attempts at brewing scotch and gin (made easy due to the tree he had growing in his backyard) were met with similar levels of success, and better versions were something he was researching with enthusiasm. Though that enthusiasm is what brought him to his current issue with his current project.

Originally, he had attempted to find a workaround for some of the specific ingredients he needed, seeing if some of the native Mojave plants would do as a replacement for the main components of his favored drink. But after his first disastrous attempt, which had almost ended with the shed in his backyard being set ablaze, and his subsequent charred corpse, he had been attempting to purchase wormwood in order to correctly distill absinthe for a little over two months. Attempts that were met with little to no success.

You see, due to bad publicity, and lobbying from special interest groups, the plant had been banned in Vale for well over fifty years, making the sale of its dried form, let alone live plants, accompanied with a hefty fine and a year of jail time. However, because of the lawless nature of the Mojave, and the sheer strength of its product, wormwood just so happened to be the main component of Joshua's spirit of choice.

Which brought him to the tipping point, where he was illegally buying a smuggled shipment of dried fucking leaves at the very docks he was hiding in, Vale's main port. To avoid being recognized, he went as far as to change out his normal mask with the helmet to his Remnant Power armor, the only remaining part to his full suit, which was still in four different pieces (apparently, they had to cut him out of it when it fused together from the heat). Replacing his Advanced Riot Armor was a simple thick leather coat, lined with Kevlar and ceramic plates, his own design. They were serviceable and completely functional, just made with non-top-of-the-line materials that he bought from a secondary market. He could only hope that he didn't get into some police-fueled shootout, his body really didn't need that. "Where the hell is that guy? If I stick 'round any longer I'm gonna get caught, and I am not going to jail for a bunch of fucking herbs!" Joshua hissed under his breath, feeling the burning strain in his knees from being crouched behind a bunch of boxes for the last hour.

While, sure, he could have just imported the drink directly from a kingdom where it was legal, such as Vacuo or Mistral (where basically everything was legal), much more easily and at a much cheaper price, he was dug in so deep, that at this point it was a matter of stubborn pride and stupidity rather than actually wanting an absinthe cocktail.

Nothing but the faint sound of water hitting against the concrete barriers of the docks answered his annoyed call after a few moments of internal monologue, however, making his mood sour further. "...fuck this, I'm gonna go looking for him, maybe I just showed up in the wrong spot…"

Luck 3 Uh… was that a black cat?

"Hey you!" A voice yelled out to him the moment he rose from his hiding spot, causing Joshua to turn on his heel to face them. Thankfully, just going off of what they were wearing, he could tell they weren't a guard or cop, so he wasn't going to get arrested for trespassing. But in that same token, they were armed and armored, which more or less narrowed down their business in the Vale Port at about one in the morning. "What the hell are you doing over there?" The one with blonde hair asked, his gruff voice becoming only more intimidating when matched with his eyepatch and facial scarring.

"I, Uh…" Joshua let out, glancing around quickly. His hand slowly reached behind him, where he kept his burner pistol. A serviceable forty-four magnum revolver. Reliable, powerful, but something he made with spare parts he had lying around at home, and ultimately, nowhere near the reliability of his signature weapons.

He didn't typically carry revolvers, the number of times he had stumbled and dropped his rounds attempting to reload them near the beginning of his journey through the Mojave leaving a sour taste in his mouth whenever he had the pleasure of using them. That didn't even cover how slow some of them could be to reload, having his fair share of guns that failed him in the middle of a firefight, taking one too many rounds into his back trying to fumble through a full reload. That problem fed directly back to his first one. Though with several pockets quite literally full of speed loaders, he was confident he wouldn't be having that issue this time.

"Get over here already!" The other of the pair, a brunette Faunus with raccoon ears, ordered, bringing Joshua out of his thoughts as he motioned for the man to move closer. "You're the new guy, right? We got told to look out for a guy wearing a funny-looking helmet. Now get over here before someone sees you!"

"New guy…?" Joshua repeated quietly in confusion, before suddenly perking up and running over. "New Guy! Yep, that's me, I'm the new guy!"

Speech 70 Just got hired. But the boss didn't even give me my assignment!

"Yeah, sure, sounds just like Junior..." the brunette grumbled as Joshua jogged over. "I'm Mickey Otto, just call me Otto. And don't worry, Junior isn't always like that, he's just been stressin' over… something." He said, introducing himself in a somewhat friendly way.

"Senf Gelb." The blonde of the pair curtly said, towering over Otto. "Just call me Sen, newbie." He turned around shortly after introducing himself, Otto following behind him. "In here," Sen said, motioning to the warehouse closest to him. "The boss said our employer is asking us to steal some supplies from some corrupt Atlas officer." He explained, sticking a key into a nondescript warehouse door. "Should be in and out, simple job as long as we keep our heads down and don't get Vale PD involved."

"What's his entourage lookin' like?" Joshua asked curiously, still contemplating whether or not he should book it.

"A dozen or so 130s, maybe half a dozen 200s. Other than that maybe a grunt or two. Nothing too special, but nothing to scoff at." Otto explained casually, one of his ears flicking downwards idly. "Normally Junior would've sent three vets like me an' Sen here, but he didn't want to put all his eggs in one basket in case we don't make it."

"Yeah, guess that makes sense." Joshua shrugged, rubbing where his chin would be on his helmet. "Sounds pretty light for a bunch of military cargo though, we sure that's all?"

Otto grimaced, sighing deeply as he scratched his head, passing through the door Sen opened while they were talking. "You're sharp, kid. You'll go far with a wit like that. But yeah, that's why Junior didn't bother sending three Vets, he smells something fishy with this, 'specially when we're working with-"

"The Roman Torchwick!" A suave, confident voice called out from the center of a near-empty warehouse, sitting at a chair scooted next to a desk where a… multicolored girl sat on. He examined her as she watched the three of them apathetically, and he could've sworn he just saw her eye colors switch. "I have no idea what you three were talking about, but if my name was involved, I hope it was only good things." The man, Roman, held himself with the utmost confidence, standing tall and firm, the perfect image of a man standing above all others.

Before Otto could cover for the three of them, Six was already speaking. "I'm new to the job, just having the boys explain who our infamous employer was." He answered smoothly, motioning to his two new compatriots. "With a track record like yours, I'm assuming we got big shoes to fill now that we're in the big leagues."

Speech 90 You're the biggest criminal mastermind in Vale after all, the Roman Torchwick.

Roman felt actually impressed with how calmly Six handled himself. Not an ounce of nervousness accompanying his two pounds of steel balls. A silver tongue like that went far in the criminal underworld, Roman knew that especially well. "Looks like Junior really does have an eye for men, what's your name kid?"

"Six. Courier Six." The Courier replied back, a confident grin audible through his mask.

"Courier Six? Now I might be forgetting something, but that doesn't sound like a color, right Neo?" Roman called out next to him, receiving a grin and a nod back from his partner.

"Well yeah, you're right, it ain't a color." Slowly, the Courier pulled off his helmet, holding it in front of most of his face. While the upper half of his head was obscured, the gruesome scar that cascaded down and across the right side of his face was viscerally visible. "Hard to remember much after getting brained though, so it'll have to do." He continued morosely, replacing his helmet back on his head.

"Oum above kid… that was pretty hardcore." Otto commented from behind him, his eyebrows raised into his hairline. Sen grunted in agreement soon after.

"Not even a flinch, impressive, very impressive. You're gonna go far in this business, kid, trust me." Roman said genuinely, grinning like a mad man as he rubbed his chin. "Now where was I… oh yes, the plan!" He let out a small chuckle before snapping his fingers, the woman next to him, Neo, if Six heard him right, pulling out a projector from behind the table, placing it on her lap before she turned it on.

The first thing they saw was a middle aged man, almost completely bald, and dressed in a standard issue Atlas officer's uniform. His face was twisted into a frown, almost sneering at the camera with contempt as it took his picture. "This is First Lieutenant Hibiscus Santara, with how long his career has been and his decorated past, he should be well on his way to becoming a full bird Colonel. But Hibiscus here got caught skimming pay from his soldier's pockets and landed himself a permanent desk job for all his hard work." Roman motioned again with his hand, Neo clicking the projector to move onto the next slide, a picture of hearing that got Hibiscus being demoted. "If it wasn't for the fact his parents were very wealthy people, he would've long since been court-martialed."

The Courier noted that even Roman seemed disgusted with what he was talking about. "You know, some folks just don't understand loyalty nowadays…" Roman commented with a shake of his head and a tsk of his tongue. "Needless to say, Santara is a bitter, greedy old man who has a lot of his military equipment suddenly disappear in other countries. Which is where we come in." Neo clicked the projector again, showing them a picture of guarded crates and technical equipment. Six kept to himself that he had seen that exact picture in a news article four months ago. "My employer would like to obtain some of these pieces, I don't know what for, but there's a forty thousand Lien cut for each of you, as well as my payment to Junior."

"You said there should only be mostly low end Atlesian Knights guarding the cargo right?" Otto asked with a critical glance, folding his arms over his chest. "Forty thousand is a lot to take care of some obsolete junk."

"You're right, it is a lot." Roman said with an edge of suspicion in his voice, though it was evident it wasn't pointed towards them. His voice was distant as a visible furrow in his brow appeared in his face, a look of slight apprehension in his expression. "...there's a new player in town, and I don't know what they're after. This doesn't make any sense to me..." he seemed to suddenly remember where he was, and that faraway look in his eye disappeared. He waved off the strange looks the trio sent towards his way, continuing on with paying little mind to his own episode. "Forget it, I've said too much. Bottom line, it's not my money going into your pockets, and expect things to get sour fast."

"Lovely. Wonderful welcome gift, huh, fellas?" The Courier joked lightly as he looked back at his now new partners. Otto seemed apprehensive about the job, but returned his quip with good humor. Sen on the other hand, was thumbing the hilt of his axe rifle, unsure if this really was worth it, both for himself and his partners, as well as for the interests of their boss.

"Whichever one of you can drive, get in the van outback, I'll be riding shotgun with you." Sen sighed deeply, beginning to make his way to the otherside of the warehouse without a word. "Rest of you can ride in the back with Neo. Just don't touch the explosives, that's for if all of this goes down the drain. And let me tell you, I am not looking to be scraped off the street by the fire department because one of you two got too grabby." And with that, their temporary boss followed Sen's example, disappearing to get the van ready.

"So just us three, huh?" The Courier asked, moving over to where Neo was. "You're Neo right? Pleasure working with you." He said genuinely, holding his hand out towards her.

She looked at him strangely for a few seconds, before laughing silently at his naivete. Despite that, she still took his hand and gave it a shake. Though, if he was reading her expression right, she thought he was more of an ant than her equal.

Otto seemed to be in a similar school of thought. "Great, now that we've all gotten chummy, let's get a move on." He'd have to talk to Six later about keeping his guard up. He knew he was new and all, but he honestly expected more after how he handled himself with Roman.

As Otto moved past him, and Neo moved to get off the table, The Courier unexpectedly spoke again. "By the way, you sure you're alright trading that?" Neo looked over at him, not understanding what he was getting at. "I know a scroll can be expensive and all, but-" he shook his jacket sleeve, several thousand in Lien cards falling into his hand. "-this don't seem like an even trade on your end."

Sneak 100 Ripe for the taking, my dear.

Otto felt his blood run cold as he realized what the Courier just did, even though some stupid part of himself wanted to laugh at Neo's expense. The shorter woman patted her side, where she kept her Lien, and for good measure, patted again, fully registering the now empty gap between her jacket and her clothes. Otto began to fear what she would do next, the entire room having become deafeningly silent as she contemplated what just happened.

He felt himself almost deflate as a wide grin appeared on Neo's face, her multicolored eyes glancing up towards the Courier's shiny yellow lenses, silent laughter coming from her mute mouth. The 'You're pretty good' went unsaid from her, albeit unwillingly.

"I know I'm good." He answered back, a shit-eating grin in his voice, meeting her now color switching eyes. "Now how we trade back now before Otto over here shits his pants." Hopping off the table, she removed the Courier's scroll from her coat, daintily resting her umbrella over her shoulder. "Let's play again sometime, huh?"

The grin she had only widened as she quickly pulled out her scroll. He felt his own buzz as a text message was received on his end. As she walked away, he opened up the notification, the simple message of 'Don't get yourself killed then, hotshot ;)' appearing on its screen.

He howled with laughter as Otto dragged him to the van, silently cursing the fact that their newbie was too overqualified for his job.

Wandering the darkened alleys of the docks, a man in his very early twenties looked around from underneath his comically large army helmet, a badly scrawled Ace of Spades pinned to its side. A Great War era replica, obviously, and a badly made one at that. "Hello?" He called out, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice. "Junior sent me? Where are you guys?"

He received no answer in return, only the quiet echo of his own calls. He would go home empty-handed that night, and the next day he would be evicted out of his apartment for overdue rent.

A man can be so unlucky, that it rubs off on the people near him, after all.

The ride was silent, the only person talking being the Courier himself, and that was only because Neo began to bug him with leading questions. She found him interesting, not many people could or even would pick her pocket, and he did it knowing she would probably kill him if he showed fear.

How he acted was similar to how Roman did when the pair was younger, not long after he became her guardian. When it was just the two of them, and Roman didn't care about being the ultimate Criminal Mastermind. Back when it was just them against the world, pulling small time heists, picking pockets for fun, and earning a name for themselves in the underworld.

It saddened her that things changed, but a part of her hoped Roman could still turn around, still back down before the deck was stacked against him. With that Cinder character coming into the fold and beginning to eat away at the territory she and Roman meticulously took over... it was just a matter of time before Roman got cornered, and she was afraid of what he'd do when he had no options left. He was meticulous and careful to be sure

"Don't sweat it." A familiar, tinny voice said suddenly, interrupting her train of thought. Her multicolored eyes glanced at the Courier across from her, seeing his luminescent lenses gazing directly at her through the darkness of the van. Before she could express her confusion, he answered her question. "You look like you're thinkin' mighty hard about something, and with how stressed yer partner-in-crime is, I can guess it has to do with that 'new player' in town right?" Neo felt her body tense as she moved to lash out against the newbie. But once again, he continued before she could attack him. "Just trust him to do the right thing, and get ready to pull his ass from the fire if he doesn't. You're his partner, it's your job to make sure he doesn't get in over his head. Trust me… you don't wanna find out what happens if you don't. Just have faith."

Joshua, the original Joshua that is, was a kindred soul to the Courier, just as much as Ulysses was. Both were men that were swallowed by the wasteland, everything they were being consumed by its merciless maw, only for them to be spat back out as completely different people. Joshua Graham became The Burned Man, a specter of righteous fury that repents for his past sins by protecting others. Just as the sixth parcel courier hired by Mr. House became the Legendary Courier Six, no longer a man, but a walking force of nature that stole the futures of those who stole his past from him.

Whoever the sixth parcel courier that House hired to take his package to New Vegas died when Benny let his greed grow bigger than his morals. What replaced him was no longer a man, the Courier came to terms with that long ago. What replaced him really, truly was a raging force of change. A swirling typhoon of anger and righteous fury that washed across the Mojave, leaving behind him nothing but change. For the better at times, like with how he left behind in New Vegas after crushing the Legion, murdering Mr. House, and pushing out the NCR. Or for the worse, like how he left the Zion and the empty husk of the Sierra Madre.

They were both remnants, mere shadows of the men that not even lived on in the memory of others. That was why the Courier connected with Joshua so well. Why Six took on his name. Both of them knew the Burned Man no longer saw himself as Joshua Graham, just as Courier Six no longer saw himself as that sixth courier hired by the Mojave Express.

The Courier failed him in the Zion, allowing him to fall to his own anger, his own resentment, his own vengeance. At that moment the Six didn't realize what he was doing, what he was pushing Joshua to do. He too was angry then, angry that an entire caravan was murdered because he wasn't fast enough, strong enough. Angry so many were killed because he couldn't stem the tide. He didn't realize what Joshua was doing, what the Burned Man wanted, was the same thing the Courier traveled across the Mojave to do to Benny. What the Courier killed hundreds for just to get to the moment where he had Benny at his knees.

And while the Courier felt only remorse at having to take Benny's life, that was where the Burned Man differed from him. He knew that he only wanted more vengeance, he wanted Salt Upon Wounds to feel what he had felt when his family was murdered. The violence that ensued forever stained the sands of the Zion, and the Sorrows were forever corrupted because of what the Courier had chosen.

Even years later, and even into his third life, the Courier, the new Joshua, both sides of him regretted every choice he made in that canyon's depths. Regretted that he couldn't stop Joshua from letting himself fall to his own internal strife. The Courier knew he had the ability to talk him down from murdering the last of the White Legs, he knew that he could've saved the Burned Man from himself. But he failed, and that failure stung, just as it did that day, and just it would for the rest of his life, however long or short that might be.

Neo blinked silently towards the Courier, not expecting an answer that struck completely to the heart of her worries so easily. Sure, she knew that he had the chops to be a great criminal, the same Roman had, but she still saw him as a newbie.

As a grin made its way on her face, she resolved that notion as false. With a silent chuckle, she looked him in the eyes, not giving him a verbal response, but instead conveying how she felt with her glance.

'You're more of a pro at this than you let on to Junior, huh?' her expression was soft, telling him how appreciative she was with his advice.

The Courier let out a chuckle, an edge of sadness to it. "I'm a professional, sure. Not by choice though. But who really is, huh?" Neo's grin only widened.

Otto stared at the two stare each other down, feeling his heart beat inside his chest wildly. This kid was not good for his health, that was for sure. It was one thing to pick the pocket of one of the most powerful criminals in Vale, but to almost get murdered because you said something to piss her off? Only to talk yourself out of that? If it wasn't for the scary looking bomb in front in the middle of the van he probably would've lit a cigarette by now. Oum knows he needed it.

"Look alive ladies, we're almost at our destination." The sing song, yet still strained from stress, voice of Roman called from the front of the van, a hollow knock sounding out from him knocking on the wall behind him. With a deep breath, Otto pulled out a pair of tarnished bronze submachine guns, a single sharm blade running from the tip of the barrel, all the way around the bottom of his trigger guards shining dimly in the dark van from both of them. He was tense, but fully prepared for battle. Neo spun her umbrella with one hand, a smirk on her face as she sat completely ready for combat, not even an ounce of worry in her features.

The Courier adjusted the plates in his combat armor, making sure everything was in place to save his life in the event of his aura breaking. He took a deep breath, counting the stimpacks and chems through the lining of his jacket. "Let's party." He said in a low voice, more to himself if anything, and spun the cylinder of his revolver.

"Alright, blondie." Roman whispered in a low voice to Sen. "Drive us in just outside of their perimeter. There shouldn't be anyone watching us pull up…" with a nod, Sen slowed the van to a crawl, flicking off his headlights.

The place the good lieutenant picked for the deal to go down was an abandoned factory at the edge of the Valenish Industrial district. While in the morning, the Industrial district stood at the busiest epicenter of human traffic for the kingdom, second only to the Commercial district to the south, during the night it was a hive of criminal activity. An old playground for Roman and Neo, if he were allowed to reminisce in nostalgic memories for a few moments.

A little bit of money thrown here and there, and the area around them would become a dead zone for police patrols. A testament to the sheer corruption within the North-Eastern portion of the Vale Police Force. Perfect for under the table deals.

And perfect for those who wanted to crash said deals.

Roman knocked on the wall behind him, calling out to the occupants in the back of the van. "Neo, go with the stealthiest of those two grunts and scout the place out. We want to know what we're dealing with before we go in hot."

The Courier looked to Otto and nodded towards him, holstering his pistol in his jacket. "That'll be me then, we'll be back quick."

"You sure?" Otto asked with a slight edge of worry. "You can pick pockets and all, but will you be fine sneaking around Atlesian Knights? Those things got some pretty sharp eyes, outdated tincans or not."

"Please." The Courier replied with a small laugh, waving off Otto's concern. "Ain't my first time sneaking 'round a bunch of dumb robots, and I'm pretty sure the ones I dealt with are a hundred times more annoying than a bunch of Knights."

Otto let out a small chuckle in response, but the worry didn't leave. "Is that confidence or bravado, Six? Confidence is something we can use, but bravado gets good men killed." His voice was grim, an aged weariness present in them that betrayed his apparent age.

Ah, Six knew exactly what that meant. "You a veteran Otto? Sound like one." He could see a slight edge of surprise in the other man's features. "Probably the Faunus Rights Revolution, am I right?"

"Just be careful out there, Six. I've seen kids much younger than you die because they just couldn't pull their head out of their asses." Was all Otto said in response to the man, neither confirming nor denying his suspicions.

Six out a hand on Otto's shoulder as he opened the back door, Neo jumping out before him. "Don't worry 'bout me. The only guys that'll be dyin' tonight if shit hits the fan'll be men like the good lieutenant. I still got shit I need to do, and I ain't sacrificin' myself for fuckers like them." The Courier turned his back to Otto, stepping out of the van before the older man could respond. The door shut behind him, his expression beneath his mask changing from his usual laid back smirk to cold apathy.

He understood the sentiment Otto held, really he did. But death was a constant in the wasteland. He'd seen kids younger than him kill and be killed in a war that didn't even make any sense. And if he had to bring that taste of the Mojave to the corrupted cancer that was the greedy underbelly of the Atlesian Army, God would be his witness to his sins.

"No threats detected, moving to the next sector." A robotic voice droned, making its way to the next area of its patrol with a little stiffness in its joints. The area it left was still for a moment, nothing in its wake but pinecones and dirt. Suddenly, a dull flash of light shone, Neo landing onto the ground in a crouch. The ground trembled for a moment soon after, the Courier rose from his prone position in the dirt, his dark colored jacket and pants blending in easily with the damp earth. He moved his way forward, joining Neo behind some rusted piping.

Neo looked back at him, tapping her scroll with a smirk. He glanced down at the object, having silenced it. 'Nice going there, newbie. Really weren't lying about your skills.' She typed to him, giving him a wink.

He let out a small chuckle, his voice coming out less like a whisper and more like a faint gust of a breeze. "I'm many things, but a liar ain't one of 'em. Well, most of the time at least, only to folks I don't like too much." He let out another chuckle before slowly moving forward, his eyes darting across the empty lot.

It was empty other than the sight of the Knights weaving in and out of the trash heaps and forgotten debris that littered the grounds. "Tch, ain't nothing happening out here. I ain't seeing a single sign of the good Lieutenant or his friends." He went silent, thinking deeply about their options. "We're gonna need to push forward. We can either take these tin-cans out, or we can sneak right past 'em. Your call, ice-cream girl." He explained, the excited grin in his voice still audible.

The silent laughter that poured from her lips let him know it was an appreciated gesture. He glanced down to his scroll to see her answer. 'Let's just sneak past them, it's easier than getting rid of them, right? ;P'

He let out another chuckle before his body surged forward in a prowl. Neo watched with bated curiosity as he stalked forward almost in a blur, his hands held outwards at his sides, ready to attack. She grinned widely at the sight, before disappearing in a crack of glass, pushing forward near him.

His feet made no sound, even as they moved over broken glass or gravel. The Courier was like a ghost, an unseeable specter that weaved through piles of junk and ruined construction materials. If Neo wasn't staring right at him, even she felt she could've lost track of the man, his outrageous looking helmet notwithstanding.

He paused as they reached the edge of the lot, pushing aside rusted chainlink to open a path to the factory grounds proper. "I don't know where Roman thinks we're gonna find them, but I reckon it's somewhere through here." He offered, not glancing back as he heard the familiar footfalls of Neo falling behind him.

She glanced over his shoulders, bent down slightly so they were level with one another. She nodded with an impressed look on her face, patting his shoulder to show so. "TARGET LOCKED, PREPARING TO ENGAGE!" A voice droned from behind her, causing her to spin in her heels. Now that was a mistake, she intoned, a rookie one that might cost them the operation.

Just as the robot began to raise its rifle, the Courier suddenly spun on his heel, jumping towards it, almost faster than she could see. He threw a flurry of blows into its body, its metal limbs denting and cracking under the pressure of its aura infused punches, even if his aura control was only elementary at best. Even despite his victory, however, Neo could not for the life of her understand how the man could see holding his bulky wrist watch in a way that covered his entire face.

"Okay… okay we're good now." He said after the robot fell over in a twitching heap. "Now these old models don't got IFF beacons like the newer ones do, which is why Atlas trashed these pieces of scrap in the first place." He explained, kicking it with no hidden disdain for such a flawed design. "So we should be safe long's we, ya know, get rid of the fuckin' thing."

Quickly, he hefted the thing up, feeling over three hundred pounds of metal suddenly strain his body. Holy hell did he not expect all that weight in something so much smaller than he was. Even a Securitron weighed less proportionally for God's sake!

Neo laughed at him for a moment, before waving her hands, similarly to how a magician would wave his hands at a top hat. Suddenly, the Knight just disappeared into thin air, like Houdini himself hit the thing with a magic wand. 'Course he could still feel the thing, but it looked like it physically wasn't there.

Dropping the invisi-Knight to the floor, the Courier stood back up to his full height, swiping his hands together. Didn't even make any sound when he dropped it too. "Welp, that takes care of that." He said with finality, moving with easy confidence back to the fence. Though, with the way Neo could notice his entire body was tensed like a coiled spring, it was fairly obvious he was now paying attention to all of their surroundings. Pushing the chainlink forward, he motioned for her to move. "Ladies first."

Thus, the pair took their first willing step into hell.

Pulling out the old walkie talkie that Roman had given them, the Courier spoke quietly into it, his eyes trained directly onto the back of Lieutenant Hibiscus' head. "The good Lieutenant is still waitin' on his buyer. He's got two guys with him, but other than that, most of the Knights are meanderin' about the main lot, I doubt they'll be much of a issue." There was nothing but faint static as a response, which was to be expected, seeing as if Roman said anything back it would probably get his ass caught.

The Courier was sat easily against a pile of metal refuse, in a comfortable position so he could watch the group with ease. Neo was nowhere to be seen, but he could tell she was probably nearby somewhere.

He grew silent again as he saw a few vans drive into the lot, the three Atlesians standing at attention as they parked. "Well this night just had to get better for me, huh?" The Courier said in a low growl, watching who left the vans, eyeing their familiar white and red Grimm masks. A small burst of static sounded from his walkie talkie once more as he held it to his mouth. "We got Fang here, a shit load of 'em too. Looks like they're the buyers." He cursed silently once more, gritting his teeth. "Why the fuck are the Fang dealing with Atlesians?" He glanced over at Neo who appeared next to him, who gave him a look that was just as confused as his own.

"Why mussst we deal with thisss human, Adam!" The Courier could faintly hear one of the Faunus hiss to his superior (as evident from this Adam's unique mask), his snake tongue slipping out of his mouth to accentuate every 's' sound he made.

"We do what is necessary, if we have to deal with some human scum, so be it." The bull Faunus firmly replied, his voice bordering on cruel rage. "They'll all end up in the same place by the time I'm done with them."

"Leader's name is 'Adam', looks to be an officer if I'm guessin' right. The insignia on his arm looks it. Probably just a lieutenant though, 'less he's hiding' more guards under that ridiculous outfit." Six spoke quietly into the walkie talkie. Listening closely he could hear the faint curse of Roman, and the low thump of him hitting something in anger. At least Six wasn't the only one annoyed by this situation.

"Just on time, Faunus." The lieutenant greeted, looking down his nose towards Adam, not bothering to hide his disdain. "We have the equipment for you and your kind," he continued, motioning to the truck next to him with a small flourish. "As long as you have the payment promised, of course."

Adam snarled at the condescending tone of the human, but made no move to capitalize on his anger. Like he said, he, unfortunately, had his orders. And his new employer was one he did not want to upset. With a sharp snap of his fingers, one of his subordinates quickly came up to him with a suitcase, handing it to him quickly. "Fifteen thousand Lien, as promised, human."

The Courier made his move as Adam kicked the suitcase towards the Lieutenant and his guards, silently shuffling towards the now open truck bed as quietly as possible. It would be too difficult to take the equipment now, Hibiscus and his goons were one thing, but fighting a full squad of White Fang with only two people was not something he'd risk. "I'm taking a look at the target, we probably gotta pick it up after the Fang take it." He explained quietly, receiving only a faint hum in return.

The Courier was thankful that Roman didn't seem to be a fool.

He entered the truck bed as the guards moved away from it, letting the White Fang finish their transaction. There was an array of various equipment, stacked up upon one another as neatly as one could in the bed of a sixteen wheeler. Server modems, monitors, computers, boxes of wires, hard drives. Dozens of different electronics were all jumbled together in the truck, all on to show their buyer they were working.

But why in the hell would they be being paid to steal a bunch of useless shit? He was under the impression that they were stealing military grade equipment. Weapons, machines, vehicles. Anything but administrative junk!

"Roman, why in the hell is all this shit just a bunch of office supplies?" He hissed into his radio, shuffling through some of the boxes to see if he missed something.

"What?!" He heard Roman hiss back in no small amounts of anger. "All this bullshit for a bunch of stuff we could've stole from a Staples? Are you joking?"

To make sure there wasn't anything hidden, Six began to rifle through some of the boxes, pulling out old computer parts. "Just a bunch of computers and shit, there ain't even anything new." The Courier replied coolly, putting down the box he had been rifling through, tossing aside the old motherboard he had been holding. Hunk of junk was probably over ten years old. "It's all second hand, old military admin shit, nothin' here worth more than the hundred twenty fuckin' grand we're bein' paid. Hell, I don't even think all this shit combined, with the fuckin' truck, is even worth half of that!"

"Well, forget it then. We'll just pick it up after the Fang drop it off. I doubt they'll have anyone watching it-" Roman stopped abruptly, the sound of sharp movements coming from the radio. "...shit… shit! All of the Knights just went into casing mode!"

He cupped the audio sensor of his helmet as a sharp shrill filled the empty lot, an alarm he was somewhat familiar with.

Looks like he ran out of time. If he had to guess it, one of the newer Atlesian Knights finally figured out there was a gap in their guard rotation. A shame it couldn't have happened literally five minutes later.

Immediately the area was abuzz with activity, the Fang immediately getting jumpy as they thought they were being betrayed, and the Atlesians looking confused as they tried to pick up the chatter of their simple AI Knights. "Please, calm down, it seems someone has decided to intrude in this meeting."

"Why should we believe you, human?!" Adam bit back with vitriol, his eyes darting around in a panic. "I wouldn't put it above your kind to do something so pathetic!"

"If they start shootin' we're gonna get in a real shitty situation real fast." The Courier said aloud, Neo appearing next to him with a dull flash of light. "Cops might've been paid off, but they won't be able to ignore a bunch of gunshots going off at four fuckin' am. We need a plan and fast. Shit hits the fan, we got twenty minutes tops."

Neo gave him a wry smile, that was all he needed to see to know it was up to him to figure their shit out. Looking over the office equipment, noting the way almost all of it was wired together, he turned to Neo, a hiss coming from his helmet as he let out a sharp sigh. "Roman, what's our plan?"

"They've seen us, forget the equipment!" He replied immediately, the rev of the van coming clearly from the speakers, followed by the faint pops of gunfire. as the sound echoed throughout the factory grounds, Six could hear the way the Fang began to get angrier. "I'll lead the Knights around, get out of there and meet us on the north road!"

The loud rumble of a distant explosion made him a bit more skeptical about his chances of getting out without having to pick a few rounds out of his ass. "Neo, start freaking out the guys out there, make it a real big distraction." He asked of the demure woman behind him, "I'm gonna see if there ain't something I can fix together to make sure we don't lose track of this truck."

Neo gave him a bright smile as she disappeared with another flash, a silent laugh playing on her lips. The Courier let out a small laugh of his own as the frightened screams of Atlesian and White Fang filled the air. "Now, let's get to work here…" he murmured to himself, turning his full attention back to the mess of electrical equipment which was supposed to be his payload.

"Admin equipment! All this for admin equipment!" Roman yelled at the top of his lungs as he held onto his hat, Sen jerking the steering wheel sharply to the right, avoiding the hail of gunfire that threatened to hit the truck. Otto fired out the back window of the van, his wild shots from his sub machine gun doing at least some damage to the Knights. Not enough, unfortunately. "We were supposed to leave this hunk of junk there! Not bring seventeen pounds of blast dust with us!"

Sen only replied with a grunt of anger, swerving their van to the left, skidding painfully around a bend. He glanced at his rear view mirror, a tinge of relief filling his body as the terrible AI of the old Atlesian Knights drove a few of them right into brick, denting their metal bodies like tin cans. He still didn't feel safe with the majority of them still shooting at him, though.

"LEFT! GO LEFT!" Roman suddenly yelled urgently, Sen wasting no time swerving left, directly through a construction zone. He glanced at his rear view mirror once more, trying to see what in the world got Roman of all people worked up.

He watched every Atlesian Knight that had been on their tail ripped to shreds from heavy automatic fire. "THIS IS THE VALE PD!" A rough voice yelled from the bullhead that swerved into view, its military-grade rotary canons whirring as it aimed at their van. "MAKE MY DAY!"

Sen almost slammed the accelerator through the floor of the van as they shot forward, narrowly missing out on the opportunity at becoming fireworks. "No, no, no!" Roman yelled, his aura flashing as he had his head slammed into the dashboard. The anger he felt drowned out any pain. His normal composure was completely shot as he laid eyes on the excessive firepower of what should be a civilian police force. "There's no possible way the cops got here in under two minutes!" He exclaimed, slamming his fists down, a fire lit in his eyes. "We've been set up! Someone ratted us out!"

Sen gripped the steering wheel tightly as he grit his teeth, bullets raining down above them as he drove the van under the half constructed silhouette of a building. The faint cry of Otto sounded out as he jumped on top of the bomb, catching a few stray rounds with his Aura to prevent them from being blown to kingdom come.

Junior was not going to be happy.

The Courier grabbed onto the desk next to him as he stood up, using it to steady himself as the ground itself rumbled with anger. "What the hell…" he murmured, his audio pickups in his helmet dampening the sounds of a massive explosion. Carefully, he removed his revolver from his shoulder holster, pulling back its hammer with trepidation. Peeking his head out the truck, his revolver held next to his face, pointing into the air, all he saw was hellfire.

The vehicles that the Fang and the Atlesians had arrived in were either blown onto their sides or blown apart. There was a bullhead floating in the air, its gun slowly spinning to a stop as men in armor rappelled from it. The bullhead was emblazoned proudly with the iconography of the Vale Police Department, but the men that landed were much too heavily armed and heavily protected to be the average civilian cops.

No, the Courier thought with a deepening frown, bringing his radio to his mouth. "Roman, we gotta whole squad of SWAT over here, armed for war." They've been set up, "we got a rat problem."

Roman's frantic voice shot back nearly immediately, the sound of gunfire warbling his voice. "It's hot over here too! Listen, do whatever you can to get you and Neo out of there! Forget the goods, this mission is fucking bust!"

"Roger that, stay safe." With a crack of his neck, he pocketed his radio, spinning the cylinder of his revolver with a widening grin. "Hey Neo, it's time to play."

The multi haired girl appeared at his side, breathing much deeper than before, but she still had that excited spring in her step. He could tell she was just as raring to go as he was. "We gotta push our way out of the lot as soon as possible." He began to explain, not bothering to turn to look at Neo. "After we get back on the street, we use them buildings to make sure those bullheads don't punch a few extra holes into us. We'll improvise from there."

Neo gave him a swift nod, twirling Hush in her hands with a silent chuckle.

This Courier Six just kept getting more and more interesting as time went by.

Adam was not having a good day. No, scratch that, Adam was having one of the worst days of his life. Going from dealing with humans of all people, to being caught in a hellish crossfire. If it wasn't for his worthless employer, he wouldn't even be in this mess!

The only thing that could make things worse is if the Red Death came to stomp them out.

"Lieutenant!" His second in command hissed towards him, reloading his rifle. His Aura was cracked, but still holding on, despite the damage. The Snake Faunus looked to be teetering on the edge of panic, but kept himself lucid to keep fighting. His normally quiet voice was hoarse as he tried to yell over the sounds of panicked battle. "We need to open up an essscape! If we can expossse the human'sss cover, we can run back towardsss the factory to get out of here!"

"Good idea." Adam responded simply, slowly drawing Wilt from its scabbard, not an ounce of worry in his expression, despite the way his heart hammered away in his chest. He didn't need to absorb too much dust to destroy the car the Atlesians were hiding by, and that woman can be damned if he was going to risk his life for a mere fifteen thousand Lien worth of equipment. He swiped his blade above his head, a flurry of bullets easily being caught on his sword's edge as he lowered it once more.

"My thanks for your hospitality, Atlesians." He sneered quietly, his sword glowing dimly as he slashed downwards in front of him. An arc of light flew into the cargo van the three Atlesians were hiding behind,easily bisecting a Knight that had been standing in its way. There was a faint glimmer of sparks, before suddenly, all the Blast Dust used to power the combustion engine ignited at once, blowing the three corrupt soldiers away in a fiery explosion.

Adam watched dispassionately as the Vale SWAT turned their fire away for a moment, a small group apprehending the three men violently, laughing as they kicked them back down as they tried to rise up. "That's our cue, I'll give you all cover," Adam began, sheathing Wilt, "Go on ahead before they-"

There was a sharp bang as his second-in-command's head suddenly jerked back, hitting the car they had been hiding behind with a dull thud, shards of light green flittering around onto the ground as his Aura shattered. His eyes were opened with shock, his last moments having been one of confusion as he spotted a man with an odd looking helmet step out of the truck they were supposed to be buying, a revolver held resolutely in their hand.

"Aw hell," Adam heard faintly as he turned to where his Sergeant had been looking. The man with the strange helmet adjusted his aim before Adam could react, depressing his trigger several times in quick succession. Four rounds slammed into the gas tank of the car, liquid Blast Dust beginning to leak onto the floor as Adam realized what was happening to him.

"Yep, got it this time." The man commented, adjusting his aim one last time. "Well, my buddies from the Fang, what goes around comes around." Adam quickly raised Wilt and Blush in front of him as the sixth and final round from the Courier's revolver hit the flammable Blast Dust pooling at his feet, an explosion rocking his body as he flew backwards.

He slammed through brick wall after brick wall, his momentum being so much greater than the Atlesians due to the fact that it didn't disperse across his fleshy body, only across his Aura. His men scattered like rats as the Courier began to shoot at their cover, laughing like a mad man. As Adam landed painfully on his back, the ruined factory he crashed into beginning to crumble around him, his last thoughts were of unadulterated rage, before the blackness of unconsciousness took hold of him.

Meanwhile, the Vale SWAT hit the floor as fast as they could, having no Aura to protect them from the shrapnel now flying across the battlefield. Their armor was rated to stop even rifle rounds, but they really didn't want to test their effectiveness against thousands of pieces of red hot metal.

With their enemies distracted, Neo shot out of the truck, landing on the back of one of the SWAT as she skipped off him. The Courier followed behind her, reloading his revolver with a speed loader as the Bullhead turned towards them, its rotary gun beginning to spin. "Neo! We need some lights!" He yelled, sliding to a stop on his knees next to one of the recovering SWAT team members. He pressed his gun against the nape of the woman's neck, tsking his tongue in disapproval. "I wouldn't move if I was you…"

The woman slowly lowered herself back onto the ground, placing her hands behind her head in fear. The sight almost brought a smile to his face.

Neo nodded at his order, using her semblance to bathe the entire area in a bright white light. Every inch of what was once the battlefield was now glowing brighter than any military grade flashlight that was on the market.

Needless to say, it wasn't very fun to the people who didn't blink, and even then it still wasn't a blast for anyone that wasn't wearing a high tech helmet that could probably buy someone four years of university. "AHHHHHHHHHH!" Came a scream from the loud speaker of the Bullhead, it's gun firing wide, well off to the left where the White Fang had been retreating. The ship swayed dangerously close to the ground as the lights faded, its pilot's screams not ending for a moment.

The White Fang were decimated in an instant, all fifteen members being able to do nothing as 20mm Earth Dust rounds shredded through their Aura and armor like paper. They didn't even have enough time to scream before their lives were unfortunately extinguished.

The Courier made his move swiftly, pulling all three tear gas grenades that hung from the belt of his hostage, springing up to his feet in an instant and sprinting forward. Just about to run past Neo, who had been frantically rubbing her eyes in pain, he pressed his Pip-Boy against his eyes, the world slowing down around him.

As the pilot began to slowly regain control of his vessel, his eyes streaming with tears from how hard he had been rubbing them, three loud clangs suddenly reverberated behind him, one of his remaining passengers letting out a shrill yell as his heart sank into his stomach. "TEAR GAS!"

The Courier let out a hollering laugh as he hefted up Neo in his arms, sprinting off into the streets in front of him as the bullhead began to spin dangerously fast. The grounded SWAT team could only scramble away as fast as they could as their transport vehicle buried the front portion of itself nine feet into the ground, its engine sputtering out smoke as its pilot knocked himself unconscious against the window.

The remaining SWAT that had been in the bullhead crawled out of the smoking wreckage, their eyes streaming with tears as they dragged the pilot out with them so he wouldn't suffocate. The ones who had been on the ground stared dumbly at the scene around them, not knowing how the hell the battle turned from their favor to this so quickly. Many of them sported minor superficial wounds, but nothing hurt more than their bleeding pride as they sat in the arid dirt.

They stared up as a new Bullhead shined a light down towards them, illuminating the firefly wreckage of the blasted cars around them further. They grimaced as they saw their least favorite letters printed on the side of the aircraft. Emblazoned in bold was VBN, the shorthand for the only major news network in the kingdom, the Vale Broadcasting Network. And they were sure they were going to be their star attraction for the next week.

The handcuffed and injured Atlesians didn't seem to be any happier either.

"Take this left!" Roman barked as Sen swerved down another bend, narrowly missing a street lamp with his front bumper as they skid across the curb. The bigger blond man grit his teeth as he struggled to regain control of their van, glancing back through the rearview mirror just in time to see the Bullhead pull into view again. "Godsdammit… we need to make a move and fast, it's only a matter of time before they blow us into oblivion!"

Sen jumped the curb as he turned right, barely avoiding a hail of gunfire that peppered the ground full of bullet holes. The faint sound of Otto slamming against the walls of the back of the van reverberated in the vehicle, his cry of pain not following long after. "FOR THE LOVE OF OUM! PLEASE FIGURE SOMETHING OUT!" The Faunus yelled in agony, a few stray bullets and the turbulence of their ride having shattered his Aura nearly ten minutes ago.

"We're running out of time, Roman!" Senf yelled soon after, "Any longer and they'll be scraping us off the street when the van blows!"

Suddenly, all the pieces came together for Roman, the man slamming his palms down on the dashboard. "That's it! We need to blow the van!"

"GODS NO!" Otto yelled in fear, slamming his fists against the wall separating him from Roman and Sen.

"No, hear me out…" Roman felt a familiar triumphant smirk bloom on his face as the puzzle pieces came together in his head.

Checkmate.

He was a pilot for the Vale Police Force for over ten years, an aviation expert for the Valish Defence Force thirty years before then when they were still around. A specialist and expert in his craft, he knew the ins and outs of a bullhead like no other.

And now his knowledge was useful for nothing more than being a toy for corruption, merely a tool in a toolbox. Many of the men and women around him relished in the wealth they received for the jobs they did, were unflinching in their blatant disregard they held for the law, and by extension, the general public of Vale. They were content to gather their money at the expense of the people, at the behest of the Council.

Twenty years ago he would be killing people like that for the good of Vale, but after Mount Glenn, he wasn't sure anything made sense anymore.

"For fucks sake, Pete!" The irate gunner to his left yelled, slamming the control panel in front of him with anger as he once more missed their targets with the mounted gun. "Hold the goddamn bullhead steady, I can't hit these fuckers!" He exclaimed louder.

Yes, of course, it was Pete's fault this hack couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. It was definitely Pete's fault that he couldn't shoot the five foot wide van when it was less than thirty feet in front of him.

He would've said any of that out loud if he wasn't so apathetic to this entire operation already.

Pete slowed down his aircraft as he witnessed the van hit the curb once more turning a corner, this time however, seeing them coast against the sidewalk as they lost control of their car. The van spun wildly as Pete watched the driver struggle to regain control, ignoring the fact that his gunner still couldn't hit the damned thing despite the fact they were basically sitting ducks.

The van plowed through the garage door of one of the warehouses, flipping onto its side and skidding away into the darkness. "Lost visual of target." Pete said monotonously into his radio, his only direct line to headquarters. "Vehicle has crashed into a building and is immobilized. Permission to have a team pursue on foot?" He asked flatly.

A burst of static replied with equal emotion. "Affirm, have assault team Echo-6 push in and apprehend the targets. Lethal force is up to discretion." Translation, kill them if you want, was what Pete picked up.

There was no response from any other person in the bullhead other than vague sounds of excitement as they picked up their gear and rappelled down. Pete let out a tired sigh as he set the bullhead to hover, pulling out the peg in his ratty pilot's chair and leaning back as far as it could go.

The team pushed into the building slowly, loosely following protocol and sticking to a tight formation as they moved. Pete paid attention to them purely out of duty, but other than that he put in nearly no effort. After they disappeared from view, Pete let out a short yawn, listening to their radio chatter. "This is Echo-6 Actual, we have sight on target, moving in."

Pete sat up as he reached over for his bottle of Everyone Loves Grape, almost missing the three figures that stepped into the alleyway next to the warehouse and disappeared deeper into it. With a deep sigh, he pressed the button for his radio again, wishing he was home. "Be advised Echo-6, I have sights on-"

He felt his entire bullhead shake as the warehouse suddenly exploded with hellfire, the brick and mirror building suddenly having its top blown off in a plume of red fire and smoke. Pete struggled to stay airborne, even being forced to land completely as the debris began to rain down from above, throwing the entire aircraft off-kilter. "E-Echo-6, do you read me?" He stuttered out, his heart hammering in his chest as he could feel the heat even through the thick reinforced windshield of the bullhead.

"This is… Echo-6 2iC… requesting medical… immediately." Came a breathless reply as the second-in-command of the assault team gargled on his own blood.

Well, Pete thought morosely as he quickly relayed information to home base, at least his asshole of a useless gunner was dead.

Otto collapsed onto a folding chair in the empty warehouse by the docks, his breathing only coming out in short pants as sweat poured from his body. Haggardly, Sen sat down next to him, his entire body shaking as he silently tried to get himself together after the harrowing experience of being their getaway driver. Roman leaned on the table in front of them, acting like his usual cocky self, though even he couldn't hide the sweat that caked his brow.

They had been sitting in silence for a full hour, nervously awaiting to hear from their missing two members. Roman checked his watch for the five hundredth time, pursing his dry lips.

The door suddenly was kicked in their last two members finally making their appearance. "God… Almighty…" the Courier gasped, stumbling into the room, still carrying Neo, who was now forcing him to give her a piggyback ride. "Fifteen fuckin' miles woman, for the love of all that is holy, please get off me."

Roman felt all his worry wash away.

She gently hit his back as she silently laughed hard, finding his pain immensely amusing. Neo flicked his helmet, still snickering, as if telling him something. "How in the hell is it my fault you didn't close your eyes? It's your goddamn Semblance!" He exclaimed back to her, trudging painfully to a stop a few feet in front of Roman, who was now also laughing his ass off at the sight of the Courier as a glorified mule.

Sen and Otto were not amused, however.

Giving him his moment of reprieve, she hopped off of the man's back, letting him collapse in a heap of pain with a groan. She skipped towards Roman, a satisfied smile on her face as she pulled out her phone. 'He's good, very good.' She texted Roman, who let out an impressed hum. Neo wasn't the type to compliment others, nor was she the type to act chummy with anyone. This Courier Six must be real special if she was this friendly with him, he noted mentally.

"So what now?" Otto gasped, wiping sweat from his brow. "We fucked up getting the goods, what's your employer gonna say about that?" He asked breathlessly, though the worry was still obvious in his voice.

"Before that…" began the Courier as he slowly raised to his feet, dusting himself off idly. "We gotta figure out who sold us out."

The room grew visibly colder as each person locked eyes with Six, almost having forgotten that little detail after barely getting away from death. "It's obvious it ain't Neo or Roman, no point in going through this mess just to kill the three of us off."

"But it can't be me or Sen, fucking up this deal only screws up us and not Junior or Roman." Otto explained, wiping his brow again. "And I've known the guy for years, if he's anything, it's loyal."

That left only one person, much to the Courier's chagrin. "Aw hell…" he grumbled to himself as Sen raised his axe-rifle leveled with the man, aimed directly at his chest.

"Woah! Sen, hold on! There's no way Junior would've let a rat come with us!" Otto exclaimed, putting a hand on his partner's rifle, trying to push it down. Neo, no longer as amused as she was, unfurled Hush, twirling it in her hands as she stood in front of the Courier. Roman took no sides, not knowing who else to trust other than Neo.

Thankfully, someone else interrupted their standoff. Unfortunately, that person was their mystery employer. "Oh? My, looks like we're just in time for the party." Came a woman's seductive voice, confidence and traces of arrogance and macabre amusement dripping from her tone.

A black haired woman slowly strutted into the room, flanked at both her sides by a smirking silver haired man and a skittish green haired girl. She was the definition of elegance, her hair carefully braided to one side, her red and gold dress hugging her form in all the right places, her makeup perfectly balanced between a natural look and a look that brought out the best of her features. She made sure she was the center of attention, simply because that's how she deserved to be seen.

As her amber eyes met the Courier's gleaming yellow lenses, he felt a bolt of fear shoot down his spine. The aura she exuded reminded him of power, of someone who not only commanded it, but could control it like one would an army.

"Miss Cinder Fall, a pleasure to see you once more." Spoke Roman, his face not reflecting even an ounce of the politeness in his greeting.

"Charmed, Torchwick." She made a show of looking around the warehouse from where she stood, tsking her tongue in disappointment "I seem to recall hiring you to pick up some Atlesian goods, I don't see them." Her tone was ice cold, her chilling anger completely unhidden. She missed the way the Courier seemed to perk up, as if realizing something.

The Courier could see Roman stiffen slightly, and Otto and Sen completely freeze with fear, but he continued to stand unperturbed. Cinder took notice of that.

"Well… you see…" Roman began slowly, thinking over his words carefully, going over his options at lightning speed in his head.

"Someone tipped off the cops." Six responded simply, standing tall as he continued his unbroken stare with Cinder. He could feel his heart beat pounding away in his head, but he pushed forward, not letting even an ounce of fear leak into his voice. "As you can see, we were just discussin' who among us might've done it."

Cinder took a few steps towards him, Roman staring at him like he had grown fifteen heads. "Oh? And who might you be?" She stared up at him, her eyes narrowed nearly into slits, the corner of her lips tilted completely downwards into a frown.

"Six, Courier Six. I came alongside these guys over here." He stabbed a thumb back at Sen and Otto, the former of which was still aiming his gun shakily at his back, having frozen completely in instinctual fear.

"Oh? I don't remember a Courier Six being among Junior's men. I seem to remember their third member being named something completely different, a Jake something or other." She bit back, Otto and Sen staring at him in confused shock.

"Yep, I ain't one of this Junior guys men." He admitted with a shrug, Otto sputtering out gibberish in confusion. "Hell, I came down to the docks to buy a shipment of Wormwood, these fellas just dragged me along after they mistook me for someone else." He continued, "Seemed fun, so I stuck around." Neo began to laugh once more, nearly doubling over after hearing the Courier's maddening explanation.

"It seems you misunderstand the position you're in, Mr. Courier Six." Cinder's tone dripped almost visibly with venom as she took another step closer to him, her face beginning to twist into a sneer. "What's stopping me from just killing you here and now?"

Speech 90 'Cause if you kill me, you won't get what you were payin' for.

Cinder's anger faded for a moment, replaced with confusion as she stared at the flash drive being held in front of her face. "There was no way in hell that you would've paid over two hundred grand on a bunch of office supplies. So I checked the hard drives that were there."

Roman peered over the Courier's shoulder, his eyebrows now raised above into his hairline. Neo stepped away from the group as she continued to laugh, finding nothing but amusement as Six continued to work his way out of death. "Here's seven hundred gigs of data. Buncha blueprints, state secrets, and all that junk. Seems the good Lieutenant didn't realize what he was gonna sell those Fang, probably would've charged more than fifteen grand if he did. But I'm guessin' you knew what was probably on them drives all along."

Cinder stared at the memory stick for a few more seconds before she took it from his grasp, looking down at the small, gray stick in her gloved hands. Slowly, her face bloomed into an impressed smile, clapping her hands lightly as she backed away from him. "It seems I underestimated your usefulness after all, Courier Six." She said to him with a small laugh, tossing back the stick of data to Emerald, who flailed to catch it, having been quietly arguing with Mercury the whole time.

"It was simple once I checked what was on the drives." He shrugged, having had little trouble figuring out what the real deal was. "The real hard part was figuring out who called the cops."

"WHAT?!" Otto exclaimed, "How the hell did you figure that out?!" Cinder didn't find the need to put the Racoon Faunus in his place, her impressed smile merely widening as she listened to the Courier.

"You're the type who wants to make sure the folks working under you are up to snuff, am I right?" He asked directly, confident in his usual problem solving skills.

"Quite, no one likes useless underlings after all." She replied easily, crossing her arms as he awaited him to get to his point patiently.

"Only makes sense you would test Roman and Junior out by putting them through the grinder, then." He continued, knowing he was right by the way Cinder laughed merrily. Roman, Otto, and Sen were distinctly not laughing, nor were they even smiling. They were understably enraged at the idea that this whole night went to hell just so Cinder could see whether or not they would be useful. It took every ounce of Roman's self control not to make a scene. "Had a feeling that was prolly the case once you looked at me like you were gonna string me up and beat my head in."

"Oh, I was truly about to." She replied with a smirk, neither one of them showing any reaction over that fact. "But your talents would be severely wasted if I did that, think of it as my gift to you for amusing me so." Mercury glanced at Emerald with a worried look, not remembering the last time they heard their boss laugh. "But you are correct, it was in fact I who called the police. I was even the one who ordered the White Fang to buy the illegal goods from the Lieutenant. My test to all of you." She let out a dark chuckle as she spread her arms. "Roman and Neo, I was quite impressed with your performance, I will be inquiring in the future for further services alongside Mr. Courier Six here. Though, unfortunately, I was more than disappointed with Junior's men." She dismissively waved off Otto and Sen. "Let Junior know I have no further use of his services, though thanks to your friend here, I will still deliver payment."

Otto and Sen could only nod dumbly at the woman, the last of their nerves having long since burned away to ashes.

Cinder was impressed, and that was something that didn't happen often. An enigma of a man suddenly appeared before her and managed to convince her not to kill him. Not only that, he was sharp, the sharpest person in the room other than herself. A Career Criminal, she could tell. His silver tongue, his boundless confidence, it reminded her of the Mastermind Thief behind him, only more experienced, more nuanced and specialized. She let out another short laugh at the thought, once again frightening almost everyone in the room.

"I'll keep in touch." She said finally with a snap of her fingers, Mercury stiffly moving off to open the door for her. "I expect great things for you three, do not disappoint me."

She saw a grand opportunity for a new pawn, and she was not going to let that slip away.

Otto and Sen excused themselves soon after Cinder left, mumbling something along the lines of reporting what just happened to their boss. Roman and Neo paid them little mind, only Joshua being the one to give them a wave as they left.

Now it was just the three of them, sitting around the metal table that sat in the middle of the empty warehouse, silently staring at one another as they digested what just happened. Well, as Roman and Joshua digested what happened, Neo was more interested in what the two men were going to discuss.

"You know she's dangerous, right?" Joshua asked as he kicked his feet up on the desk, his yellow lenses meeting Roman's green eyes. "You side with her, she'll just get you killed."

"You think I don't know that, kid?" Roman bit back, frowning deeply. "I might owe you for saving our backsides tonight, but don't think this makes us buddy buddy." Neo gave him a smirk, to which Roman replied with a glare.

"No, 'course not." Joshua replied easily, "you'd be an idiot to trust me that easy when I gave you nothing in return." He shrugged. "But I do got somethin' of a business proposition for someone of your skill set."

That… was not what Roman was expecting, if he was to be honest. But he was tired and stressed out, so he gave him the benefit of the doubt. "...I'm listening."

"Ever thought of going legal?" Joshua asked curiously.

Roman let out a laugh immediately, the very idea of him of all people going legal being hilarious. "Look, kid, guys like us don't just go clean, that's not how that works."

Joshua let out a short chuckle, slowly taking his feet off the table and leaning in. "Never said nothin 'bout clean, Roman. Alls I said was going legal. Well, mostly legal." Roman quickly stopped laughing, noting the tone in Joshua's voice. "Roman, to anyone with even an inkling of the underbelly of this city knows who's the crème de la crème 'round these parts." He began, an ever present smirk audible in his voice. "You're top dog, best of the best. But even you can only go so far."

"What are you getting at, Courier?" Roman asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Women like Miss Fall got friends in high places, much higher places that you can even think of getting to alone. Neo here notwithstanding." He knew that much better than anyone. It was only due to dumb luck that he managed to come across Yes Man all those years ago. Without him, he doubted that he could ever manage to take over New Vegas so seamlessly. And as lucky as Roman might be, he doubted the Criminal Mastermind had a Deus Ex Machina just lying around, ready to be exploited.

Joshua didn't seem to realize the fact that he was that Deus Ex Machina, but the author doesn't want him to know that.

"Take a look at Jacques Schnee, he has his finger in every pie imaginable in Atlas. With a flick of his dainty little wrist he makes hundreds of men bow." Joshua leaned closer into the table, his smirk widening. "And you don't gotta be the biggest fish around, just take a look at Vale's responsible Council. Just with a little bit of legal authority they can do whatever the fuck they want. A little bit of corrupt cops there, a little bit of drug traffickin' there, the world's your oyster."

"Are you suggesting I become some businessman or something? That doesn't seem my sort of thing." Roman replied somewhat dismissively, though, both Neo and Joshua could tell he was still interested.

"You're probably right, but I ain't askin' you to become some business mogle, that would be my job." Roman gave him a strange look, to which Joshua merely tapped the side of his head. "I have a photographic memory, let's just saw I was able to take a peek at a whole lot of different blueprints for things that will make us millions."

Speech 100 Just trust me.

Roman actually did believe him, something about the way Joshua was holding himself just inspired that feeling in him. "All I need from you Roman, is your silver tongue. You're very good at what you do, but you're still stuck here playing chess-" Joshua spread his arms out dramatically with a short laugh. "-when the game you should be playing is three card Monty. All that mastermind planning and schemes you do as a Master Thief only get more conniving and complicated as you become a part of big business. Only now, not only can you outsmart the VPD and the Vale Council, you can make them bend the knee."

Intertwining his fingers in front of his face, Joshua pushed forward. "Now it isn't a matter of not getting caught by the cops, now it's a matter of how much you can hide from them. You don't even gotta let your contacts go to waste." Joshua continued with a small laugh, his lenses gleaming ominously in the moonlight. "Junior and whoever else you got in your pocket will be more than useful doing the dirty work for you. No need to get your boots dirty no more while you plan out your next big job. No, you can get people to do it for you, and if they fuck up, it doesn't bring down the house on your head."

"And I don't even need to leave out Neo, here." He motioned a hand to Neo, who was listening intently to the two. "Every man in big business needs a trusted enforcer, and I can tell you two have seen each other through thick 'n thin. Neo will be our brawns, you will be the heart, and I'll be the brain."

With that, Joshua caught Roman in his net, his whole adlibbed and spontaneous business proposition now coming to a neat close.

Barter 100 What do you say, partner?

Roman let a smile slowly grow on his face as for the second time that night, all the puzzle pieces came together in his head. He would get to play a whole new playing field for him to conquer, and he would be able to build up his defenses for when Cinder came back knocking.

And this man, this Courier Six, he knew he would bring him there, to the top.

With a glance to Neo, who seemed just as accepting of the idea as he was, he looked back down at the hand that was being offered to him, clasping it firmly.

With a shake, a triumvirate that would quake Vale to its core was born, and the hands of fate were forcibly wrenched open as a new story unfolded. "Let's burn the stage then, partner." Roman replied, a wide, excited smile on his face.

Omake #1:

"The Pete Can't be Beat!"

As Joshua sat in the living room of Qrow's house, with his socked feet kicked up onto the coffee table, he read one of Ruby's comics with great interest. He had forgone wearing any of his normal helmets like he usually would be doing, his entire family being more or less completely used to his gruesome scars to even bat an eye at him anymore.

Just a few hours ago he had gotten home with his adoptive father from a mission, another one specifically courtesy of Ozpin. Thankfully it was one of his specialties, a Search and Destroy mission, their target being the White Fang like usual.

And like usual, they swept them up in only an hour, dismantling the entire Fang presence in one village. Their casualties, zero. Fan casualties? Total.

He hated the White Fang.

But thankfully, none of that mattered at the moment as he relaxed further into the leather couch beneath him. All he had to worry about was picking up the next issue of the comic he was reading from next to him and how much effort he had to put into picking up his bottle of Sunset Sarsaparilla. It really was the life-

"JOSH, JOSH, JOSH, JOSH!" A loud and excited Ruby suddenly yelled, interrupting his thoughts as she jumped onto him, making him spit his soda all over the coffee table.

"Jesus Christ on a burning cross, Rubes! Where's the fire!" He groaned as the girl basically shook on top of him, her eyes wide with excited glee.

"Look! Look!" She exclaimed, holding a cereal box in front of his face, pointing at the box repeatedly.

"Isn't this one of them boxes of cereal you eat everyday? Butternut Barry or sumthin'?" He asked, barely even being able to see what he was pointing at due to how close she was holding the box to his face.

"It's Pumpkin Pete!" She corrected incredulously, her face almost twisted into a look of disgust. "Only the bestest cereal in ALL of Remnant!"

"Really? I like Raisin Bran better if you ask me." Joshua replied, leaning his head back so he could look at what she was holding better.

He received a smack in the head as Ruby hit him with the box. "That's old man cereal! You shouldn't be eating old man cereal like Uncle Qrow does!" A certain dusty old crow sneezed in his sleep as he drunkenly rolled onto his side, smacking his lips tiredly. "No! Wait! Forget that, look!" She pushed the box back in his face, forcing Joshua to gently push it away so he could actually read the thing.

"A… 'boxtop' event?" Joshua read curiously. "What/ a 'boxtop'?"

"Not important!" She exclaimed again, pointing at a picture on the back of the box, a pair of sweat shirts with the Pumpkin Pete logo on it, each blue and pink respectively. "If we send in a hundred box tops we can get two LIMITED EDITION PUMPKIN PETE SWEATSHIRTS!"

Joshua was thankful his Aura kept his hearing from being blown out. "So we send in a hundred of these… uh, 'boxtops' and we get two sweatshirts?"

Tossing the box away, Ruby shook her cousin, her eyes still sparkling. "Not just any sweatshirts, Josh! Limited Edition ultra soft ultra durable rare color run sweatshirts!" Joshua felt like he was missing some important context, but didn't have the heart to break Ruby's childlike wonder. "I need your help eating a hundred boxes of Pumpkin Pete!"

"A hundred boxes?!" He exclaimed. "Do you got any idea how much sugar is in these things, Rubes? That would be grossly irresponsible if I let you eat a hundred boxes, your father would kill me!" Ruby deflated visibly as Joshua chastised her, looking down at the ground in shame. "I'm in!"

Seeing his cousin smile was worth the dislocated vertebral disc he had to fix later from her spine crushing hug.

"Alright, soldier!" Joshua exclaimed as he tore open a box of Pumpkin Pete, Ruby twisting open a gallon of milk as he continued to talk. "For the next sixteen days, we will be eating a box of Pumpkin Pete each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!" As Joshua poured the cereal, Ruby poured the milk after him, pulling out two spoons as he ripped the boxtop off of the box. "I won't lie to you, soldier, this will be the hardest mission you have ever completed. Are you prepared for hell?!"

"Sir yes, sir!" Ruby exclaimed with a mock salute.

"Then start digging!" With his order, the two began to devour their massive bowl of cereal, gulping down bite after bite without anything more than a cursory chew. Honestly, it wasn't nearly as bad as Joshua expected. It was a bit sweet for his liking, but the pumpkin taste was very enjoyable. If he wasn't eating a whole fucking box he probably would've been having a good time.

As the two inhaled their bowls, Qrow drunkenly stumbled into the room, the sound of animalistic slurping and chewing waking him up from his alcohol-induced stupor. "What the hell are you two doing in here? What is that sound?" He asked, rubbing his head.

"THAT IS THE SOUND OF HELL, MAGGOT!" Joshua answered with a muffled roar as he gulped down his cereal with fervor, chasing down a mouthful of dry pumpkin-flavored bunny-shaped charms with a gulp of milk. "SOLDIERS DO NOT RUN FROM HELL! WE GO IN FEET FIRST!"

"Hoorah!" Ruby replied with equal energy in her voice, chugging the entire gallon of milk down after the three-quarters of the box she just inhaled.

Qrow stared at the two maniacs with a bewildered expression, not being able to even comprehend what he was seeing, let alone understand what the hell they just said to him. In the end, he turned on his heel, shaking his head in exasperation, telling himself he was just having another drunken night terror. "Oum, I gotta drink less…" he murmured to himself, pushing his way back into his room, leaving the two to keep doing… whatever madness it was that they were doing.

Taiyang looked at his youngest daughter and nephew with worry in his eyes, watching them gulp down another box of children's cereal. The first few days he thought nothing of it, merely another weird thing that Ruby dragged Joshua into like she usually did. But after nearly two weeks of watching them go through six boxes of cereal and six gallons of milk daily, he was beginning to fear for them.

Especially when Joshua was gagged every mouthful. "Hey… Josh, I know you are helping Ruby with… whatever she needs help with. But you really should slow down, you don't look so hot." Tai mentioned with a wince, placing a hand on the man's shoulder frowning at how pale his nephew looked now.

Joshua was wishing he was never born.

The first day, the cereal was already beginning to wear down on him. The pumpkin flavoring and marshmallows were pleasant the first several mouthfuls, but after the first box he was already beginning to gag on it. The rest of the week began to give him stomach pains rivaling what he got from eating the strange canned and boxed goods he would desperately eat whenever he went raiding an old convenience store or gas station. The same ill churning deep in his gut that told him that whatever he was doing, he didn't have his body on board with his mind and soul.

Now, two weeks later, that feeling was gone. Now it was replaced with the feeling he got whenever he ate raw meat from irradiated animals or drank unfiltered, unpurified, completely irradiated water. That deep gut-twisting feeling he had deep within himself like his stomach itself recoiled in agony and horror the exact moment whatever he ate or drank touched his gut. It was almost immediately followed by the burning sensation of bile surging up his throat and threatening to pour out of his mouth, always followed twenty minutes later with the enjoying sensation of his small intestine clenching in pain as it tried to suck out what little nutrients even existed inside of him.

Alongside a mouthful of vomit, Joshua swallowed his cereal, gulping loudly as his vision swam. He felt terrible. His usually taught and lean muscles were now getting flabby from only eating basically pure sugar. The energy he normally had to exercise and train was now only replaced with an ever-present feeling of fatigue.

Thankfully Ruby, bless her heart, didn't realize the sheer pain she was putting him through.

"Do you need the bucket, Josh?" She asked him innocently, making her father's eyes widen in horror as she lifted up an absolutely putrid bucket from underneath the table.

"N-nah… I… I think I'm good for now, Rubes." He ground out slowly swallowing the vomit rising into his mouth once more. With that, any semblance of understanding Tai had on the situation was gone.

Maybe Qrow was right, maybe he did need to drink more.

It had been almost a week since they had finally eaten their last box of Pumpkin Pete, and Joshua was still recovering. His now somewhat flabby muscles worked overtime to lift what was once his daily workout, and even now he was just barely getting his energy back. He panted heavily as he dropped his three hundred pound dumbbells onto the loamy dirt under his rusty weight bench.

With a wince he sat up, using a dirty towel to wipe off the thick sheen of sweat that coated his entire body. He pitifully glanced next to him as his old robotic companion shot him a series of encouraging beeps and whirs, holding up the small fan that was hanging from under him towards Joshua.

He laughed quietly at ED-E, rubbing the top of the eyebot's shiny chrome casing. "Thanks, bud."

He was so winded he didn't notice the sound of his backyard door opening. "JOSH!" Exclaimed a familiar excited voice, crashing into him with a flurry of rose petals.

Both of them were sent tumbling into the soil, an exclamation of pain coming from Joshua. "Christ above!" He yelped, hitting his head on the ground as he landed on his back. His Aura shimmered a deep orange as it absorbed the blow. "Rubes? Got a reason why you're jumping me again?" He asked with mild amusement, rubbing the back of his head as Ruby shot to her feet, holding something light blue in her hands.

"It's here! It's here!" Sitting up, he noted that she wasn't wearing her normal outfit, now sporting the rose-pink sweatshirt she showed him on the cereal box several weeks ago. She pushed the light blue piece of clothing into his arms as she excitedly jumped in place like a child in a candy store.

He stood up staring at the hoodie with mild curiosity. "Huh, so it did… thought it'd be cooler than this." With a shrug, ignoring the incredulous look Ruby was giving him, he put on the sweatshirt, feeling the cool fabric hang comfortably off his body.

...holy shit, it was ultra-soft

Omake #2:

"Saturday Morning News"

(Takes place just hours after the events of this chapter. Author's note on this at the bottom)

With a deep sigh, Yang wiped the sweat off her brow as she plopped down on Qrow's living room couch, a bottle of water in her hand. Her and Ruby were staying over again, as their Father left on a mission once again. Qrow was more or less absent, which was unusual when they were around, but Joshua was taking it upon himself to take care of them in his stead.

All parties agreed he was the more responsible person in the house anyway.

Which was strange, seeing as Joshua wasn't in the house when she woke up, especially weird on a Saturday morning. She said goodnight to him before heading to bed the night before, so it wasn't that he just hadn't been in the house that day.

They preferred to go out into town on Saturday nights after Yang and Ruby are done with school for the week and have had time to relax. So it was weird for him to just suddenly disappear in the middle of the night without a word to either of them.

If she was to be honest, she was sort of worry.

That worry disappeared in an instant as the front door slammed open. "I'm home…" came a faint burst of static from her cousin's helmet, though she noted it sounded different than usual.

"Jeez, you sound exhausted." She commented idly as she turned to look at him. "You have fun without me, Graham Cracker?"

He was a mess, a complete mess. He dragged his feet as he came into the house, his shoulders slump with fatigue as he trudged forward, barely upright. He was wearing an outfit completely different than his usual one, even his normally red lensed helmet was replaced with a slightly comical one with yellow lenses.

His jacket was ruffled, filthy from the dirt and weeds that covered him. The thick smell of sweat filled the air as he moved past her, not even sparing her a glance. "No." Was the flat response Joshua gave her, no humor in his tone as he fell onto the couch limply, lazily kicking off his boots.

"Uh… are you alright?" She asked curiously, not knowing what to say to her cousin at all due to the state he was in.

"Uh-huh… peachy…" he replied sarcastically, his helmet face down into the couch cushions.

Well… if there was something actually wrong she doubted he would've lied to her about it, with how family-oriented the man was in the few months she knew him. So she gave him the benefit of the doubt, tossing a bottle of water next to his head and turning on the TV with the remote.

The familiar tune of the VBN's signature chime filled the room as Lisa Lavender appeared on her screen. "We have a breaking news update on our story from earlier tonight!" She exclaimed in a perfect reporter's voice as some concerning pictures appeared next to her.

"Earlier this morning there was a reported illegal arms deal between soon-to-be ex-Atlas Army Lieutenant Hibiscus Santana and the White Fang!" What? The White Fang and Atlas making deals with each other? Yang may have not been the most political girl, but even she knew how insane that sounded. "The illegal arms deal went sour after the VPD fired upon the terrorists with automatic weapons, injuring all Atlas soldiers almost immediately after the conflict started."

Yang leaned forward, now interested in what she was hearing. "Reports say that Adam Taurus, one of Atlas' Most Wanted, was among the White Fang who began to fire back at officers. It was then a mysterious fourth party joined the firefight, scattering the White Fang and forcing all VPD officers to take cover." Lisa Lavender put on a grim face she continued the story. "We have just received reports that the bullhead the VPD was using on the scene had a mounted automatic weapon on it, firing dust rounds larger than a dry erase marker. As the White Fang ran away, Vale Officers allegedly opened fire on the suspects that fled. While Adam Taurus was not counted among them, officially, there was no surviving White Fang."

As Yang stared at the screen with horror, the news cut to a crowd of people surrounding the City Council building, all angrily carrying signs showing their outrage at the sheer brutality the VPD commuted that night. "White Fang or not, they didn't deserve to be killed like that!" Yelled a human activist, waving his fist at the police officers who blocked them from entering the building.

"You monsters killed my brother! How could you live with yourself when you shot at people who were running away!" Cried a female snake Faunus with tears streaming down her face, a framed picture of the Faunus the Courier's shot specifically hugged to her chest.

"There have been protests all around the entire kingdom against the unnecessarily brutal actions of the VPD, and further investigation by our journalist have found many of the guilty officers are accepting payments directly from seated Council Members." Lisa continued as Yang put a hand to her mouth. "We will be updating you all on this story as more details are made clear."

"Oh Oum, that's terrible!" Yang gasped, a flicker of anger in her eyes. "All those people were running away and the cops shot at them?! They're not better than fucking Grimm!"

She turned to her cousin, whose head was now facing the screen. "Those corrupt bastards need to be put away for good!" She said to him, flames flickering about in her hair.

Joshua was just happy his mask had a mute button so Yang couldn't hear how hard he was laughing. He knew those Fang were anything but innocent, they were direct subordinates of one of the most brutal officers in the Fang after all. If he knew it was Adama Taurus he launched away, he would've made sure that he was put down personally.

But it wasn't like those cops were innocent or in the right, now was it? Joshua thought spitefully in his head, staring at the mugshots of the cops involved with hatred. They accepted the bribe money, the consequences of their actions are something they should've expected. But, at the end of the day, why should he care? Turning onto his back Joshua let out a content sigh as Yang began to angrily rant about what happened to those White Fang. It wasn't his problem, and if it helped pro-Faunus sentiment flourish in Vale, hell, he'd be out there protesting alongside everyone else. If anyone was sick of the racism, it was the man who was called a Ghoul for most of his life because of how his face looked.

Little did Joshua know the ball he set rolling that night for the White Fang, and the real danger of what he allowed to be born.

I won't lie, I struggled to write out this chapter. This had many different ways it could've gone, and I ended up changing it every chance I had. I had to rework the storyboard over and over again as I figured out some way to make this work out. I won't lie to you, I'm not exactly certain on the quality of this chapter, I can't help but feel it's not the best I could've done, but I couldn't punish you guys with waiting because I suck.

Probably didn't help that I wrote a collective 30,000 words for the next two chapters when I should've been writing this one, really wasn't the smartest idea on my part, I won't lie.

But moving on from my feelings of inadequacy, let's start discussing the chapter.

Again, there was a lot I was thinking about for this chapter that just didn't make the floor. I even cut out some things when I realized they couldn't feasibly work. Some parts still feel clunky because of that. Also, to note I started writing this Author's Note before I even proofread the more recent parts, but that's neither here nor there.

The beginning is probably the best quality part of this chapter, easing into the mood I wanted to set for the rest of this. Otto and Sen will be minor side characters for some things in the future, but I more or less pulled them out of my ass specifically for this chapter. That is to say, I shoved some things through a translator and quickly cobbled together two names.

The idea for this is these are the men that never came back after Roman borrowed them for this mission. Without Joshua, they would've been KIA after dying in a police shootout. But that's getting ahead of myself.

The sneaky bits were more or less just there to get Neo and Joshua to know each other, because I plan to have a fun dynamic between him, Neo and Roman in the future chapters. The conversation in the van was there also for that reason, and also to frame Roman's motive a bit better. Really hope I didn't fuck that part up too much.

The lead up to the action I still think was well done. It was just a slow build-up to give Neo a bit more insight into the mind of a Force of Nature, and to set the stage for the first step towards the first Volume. It was the points after that that are admittedly somewhat iffy.

I had planned what the cargo would be many months in advance to actually writing the scene, specifically tailoring the later encounter with Cinder with this in mind. But the lead up to it became… muddled.

It originally was going to be a fight between the Atlesian Knights and the crew, Sen and Otto were supposed to have a much bigger role, and there was supposed to be an assload to action. But the more time that went by, the harder it became to write out what I had in mind, mostly because I kept getting lost getting to that point.

When I ended up writing nearly fifteen thousand words of the next chapter before I had even written five thousand here, I knew it was a problem.

Now after the first proof read, I'm a bit more confident on the quality, but I can't shake the feeling as if I jipped you guys out of a better chapter, and for that I apologize.

But moving on, as there isn't much else to say about this, the last part with Roman, Neo and Joshua is something I had in the works for a very long time. This was the whole point of this chapter, the catalyst for the next few volumes. And maybe more, who knows, I'm still storyboarding.

Next chapter will be another Interlude expanding on what these three will be doing. It might seem a bit unbelievable, but do keep in mind this is the Courier Six, someone who single handedly forced each of the three main families to bend the knee, kept the NCR out of New Vegas, and completely dismantled Caesar's Legion to the point where they're ineffective even as bandits. If there's anything he's capable of, it's creating a hyper lucrative business using his world's technology in a short amount of time.

And speaking of next chapter, it's going to be a little… different. I had so many different ideas of things I wanted to do before Volume 1, that don't exactly fit the bill, in my opinion, of going into Volume 0, that it would've made me make another four or five interludes just to get those ideas out there. And while technically I could just push my ideas for Volume 1 into Volume 2, I think it's easier if I do something else.

Which is something I call a Long-make, an Omake that is stupidly long, like, decent sized short story long. Best part is, it's all canon. I'm more or less combining the content of several chapters into one big one.

...which might take awhile to finish.

Thankfully, I have one fully finished, and another two half finished. There'll be many character introductions in the next chapter, ones that will set the stage for later character introductions in Volume 1, so I hope you folks enjoy.

The Omakes are some things I had rattling in my head while I made this chapter. The first one is just a light hearted story of Joshua destroying his body to help Ruby out to do something that was in actuality completely stupid. A little cute story I had fun writing.

The second one was, uh, something that was made by total accident. I originally wanted to make a sort of funny side story with Yang and Joshua watching what he did the night before, but what actually came out was accidental political commentary.

So disclaimer, any themes that may seem similar or even the same as those that are happening in our current day are completely coincidental. I understand it might look like I'm making a political statement and using this story as my political mouthpiece. But I want to make it abundantly clear I will not be involving real life politics in this story. The end result of this Omake was an idea that came to me when I was looking at the average competence of the Vale cops in the actual show.

There was very little to be found.

This scene was to show the changing political atmosphere of Vale. While racism against Faunus was somewhat ambiguous in Vale in the show proper, I wanted to make a clear stance on how the general populace feels towards them here. While many people were normally bound by the Bystander effect and were unwilling to help their fellow man when they were being discriminated against, the publicized actions shown by the corrupt Council in this chapter are meant to begin to grow the seeds of discord that the Council had already sewed themselves years prior with amount Glenn.

This is also meant to show a unity between Human and Faunus when people who did not deserve it were murdered brutally by evidently corrupt cops. Remember that this isn't the image of the White Fang post Volume 3 RWBY. This is before they really began their operations in Vale, and, at least in this story, they had little to know presence there.

Now we have a different path they can choose. With the death of many of their own as martyrs, they now have the power of the people on their side. What they do with it only time can tell.

Oh, and one other thing. There's been a distinct lack of ED-E for the bulk of some of these chapters. Unfortunately, it's just been hard to fit him in when the Courier is doing so much sneaking about. He would usually just leave him with Ruby and Yang so they could keep him company when he wasn't home. He'll be around as a permanent member of Joshua's team in Beacon though, so don't you all worry.

Now, with that mess of an author's note out of the way, let's move on to the Review Corner:

Guest 1:

"Man, I just finished the latest chapter and wanna say thank you for making this story. I like how you add a speech option to show how high the number required is to pass and show how far he has gotten during his time in the waste. In a way I would like to see a dialogue debacle like Dean Dominos explosive persuasion. The dialogue feels fresh with getting through what it goes on, that I can imagine what the scene would look like to me. If I had to vote who he would be paired, I strangely want either Cinder to have the idea to set the world on fire a bad idea, Neo for silent buddy, and Raven to be a powerhouse. Well I hope you're having a good day and May you're story prosper"

Well, I hope you got a little bit of that Dean Domino dialogue iched this chapter, I wanted most of it to be tense all around. While I do love some laid back shooting the shit chatting, the heavy high stakes conversations are still something I live for. Out of everything, the dialogue specifically is actually the one thing I edit the most whenever I proofread, solely because I truly do want to keep my characters or the characterizations of RWBY characters consistent, alongside their development.

Either way, I'm glad people are actually biting on the more uncommon ship partners. Depending what the majority of people vote for, I have a lot planned. And no matter how it goes, I plan to have the Courier touch the lives of as many characters as possible, whether for the better or the worse.

Madma:

"So this story has really gotten me invested its really well written with a likable Courier.

It was cute seeing the two gun nuts geeking out and the omakes are in general a really nice addition.

I like how Six was with Ozpin the scene felt tense and seeing Six going back oh shit better get ready for

a shoot out felt like any real wastelander would react. Six is a charming guy and is really good at hiding a lot of pain, I mean you have to be when you've head your organs scooped out or having a bomb collar slapped around your neck within a ghost town.

I personally think you should figure a romance without our input as it would in my opinion ruin the suspense for a lack of a better word I just think that it should be more natural, now with that being said the fact you made cute ship names with entertaining descriptions makes it pretty exited for all of them. If I had to choose 'it behind sunglasses and masks seems like an interesting combo and something I would be for, mostly cause its kind of uncommon. Tho the Velvet and Courier is a close second since I'm a sucker for Velvet and I like when an author fleshes her out. There's actually a fic called Remnants of a Courier which slightly tease's with Six and Neo ship and just like that I've fallen for the idea of those two.

Anyway with whatever happens I just can't wait for the next one.

PS The other two chapters were really fun and action pact and they were a blast to read thru, good luck with everything."

Proper and consistent characterization is something I struggled with a lot when I first started writing. It took me several years of experience before I got to the point I am now, and even then I am by no means an expert at it yet (hopefully I get there in the future though!). And I'm once again I was able to get that heart pounding tenseness across. New Vegas often has scenes that just make me stare at the dialogue options to try to get the best possible outcome of a very shitty situation.

And while I'm glad you trust me to make a decision on the ships, I do not trust myself to be unbiased when it comes to the girls I think are the best. Knowing me, I would 100% put my "best girls" in with the Courier instead of who I think would fit best with him. So instead, I'm opening those votes to you folks. Trust me, I am very biased an indecisive, this is not something you wanna leave up to me.

Other than that, I'm happy the general consensus is a positive reaction with the ship names. To be perfectly honest, I spent many a hours contemplating the best song references to put for each girl, and even I have my favorite of the summaries.

Djpj7652:

"Damn, really didn't expect a 15k chapter. Still, I enjoyed it. And the shipping chart is really expansive in this fic, nice planning bruv. Even have their own names and stuff, that's cool; though I have to say I don't see three of these pairings working out. The first being Pyrrha, not cause of Arkos but because she fucking dies. The second one is Coco; cause she's canonically a lesbian(Only ever stated in a novel, forgot which one tho, sorry). And I don't see it Six getting it on with Cinder, cause she's just a straight-up Psychopath. Other than that looking forward to some more."

Trust me man, if anyone doesn't expect a chapter to be long, it's me. I only really do the storyboarding ahead of time, the rough drafts alone end up being massive chunks of texts. I really should do some prewriting ahead of time, but my OCD won't let me unfortunately. And I mean that literally, I will be completely unable to write if I don't go through a certain process. OCD is honestly shit.

And in regards to the general canon, a lot of events that may or may not have happened in the actual show will be altered and changed considerably. Without spoilers, I can say that Pyrrha's fate will not exactly be the same as in the canon. I want to make Cinder a bit more believable as a character, as honestly, her backstory in the actual show should've had a lot more nuance and depth. And for a main villain, I am not satisfied at all with it. I'm going to go for a more flexible approach to her, a la Stress Relief or Monster's Marriage for her characterization, with my own twist of course.

As for Coco, I honestly did not know she was lesbian, and well, seeing as I already put her out there as a possible ship, to keep it fair for everyone else, and with no offense to my brothers and sisters in the LGBT+ community, for the sake of argument I am going to make her bisexual. Sorry if that upsets anyone, but I HAVE SPOKEN!

RedRat8:

"Interesting story, like how you choose to make this Courier a fun loving crazy guy instead of a sort semi-serious stoic depressing kind of guy, which is more common for crossovers with few exceptions. Makes it for a nice change of pace in all honesty and helps make your Courier stand out. Makes him more interesting when he does stuff because it serves his needs and the likes, also believe that when Six gets to Beacon, Jaune should not be there all things considering in what he's lacking compared to what Six has over him. Also my vote goes for either Schnee Sisters, since I can see Six going out of his way to annoy them because seeing their reaction would amuse him a lot, or for Pyrrha as well, since I can see Six acting as the first actual challenge to her and make excited so she can beat him and Six would happily encourage that"

Yeah, I've said it before but I'll keep on saying it just in case it hasn't gotten through to some other writers out there. The Depressed Bad Boy archetype is overdone and almost always horribly done. While there are some that I admit I do like, as they have some good nuance, I find them way too boring to do. And especially since I'm trying to write a mentally unstable Courier with a Martyr Complex, I really hope I'm getting the correct level of depth with his character.

And as for Jaune, as it is only two chapters away, I will mention now he will not be a main character. As much as I love him, for the character dynamics I am going for with the main cast, I really cannot fit him. His whole arc (no pun intended) is something that would take focus away from the real meat of the story, so I'm sorry to any Jaune fans.

But he will be around, as what and what his role will be is my secret for the next several chapters (or more).

And you really did get the dynamics down that I wanted for Six, the Schnees, and Pyrrha. While there will be some interesting twists, that's the gist of what I want. You get a gold star Red!

wwgaming:

"i"d say the pacing is spot on, just slow enough to get things done but fast enough that we can move into the other. now for pairings, a Raven/Courier would be a funny one to be perfectly honest. Well, if you still have the drive for another. then good luck. Happy Hunting, Stalker."

That's a pace I hope I can continue to emulate. While I love slow burn stories, I want to keep things as interesting as possible as my update schedules are perfect. And do trust me when I say I do have the drive for another person to hop on the U.S.S Courier. I have quite a bit of practice with that.

Netritias:

"Looking forward to the next chapter. I hope you go for Weiss when you finally get around to the shipping the poor girl doesn't get enough love imo, I could see him understanding why she is the way she is in the beginning and helping her grow and move past it thanks to his experience all the while unintentionally growing closer to her and them suddenly realising what their relationship has grown into. Thats just my 2cents on the matter I'll be along for the ride either way."

I won't lie to you, I love Weiss. Her character and motivations was well done in the show, and she really does the short end of the stick much too often (still waiting for her time to shine in a fight ROOSTER TEETH). While I cannot guarantee that she will be apart of a ship, I will tell you that she will have her time to shine throughout this series, as I will ensure all characters I choose for the main cast will. I annoyed me immensely that Rooster Teeth introduced so many characters in the earlier seasons and never used them again. But I will give them my own seal of approval for bringing back Glynda in Volume 8, I was pogging for weeks after that. I hope that you stick around to the end!

SubjectCrimsonStorm:

"Yes a new chap-and I'm done reading it already, damn it!

Joking aside, I was kind of surprised when Six chosen actual name, in the name of the legendary fucking burned man. Also, heartwarming family stuff, I love heartwarming family stuff

On to a response of your author's notes.

Take as much time as you need, I'll take quality over quantity any day. I'm not going to be voting on the ship pole because I like it to be a mystery, though I do like Old World Blues. And finally it's so hard to find believable character progression in fanfiction, most of it's just Mary Sue, or instantaneous character progression of bullshittery

Anyway I'm done rambling, stay safe dude"

The Courier picking a name was something spent months thinking about as I planned out the story way before I wrote the first chapter. In the end, I decided that I wanted to make a clear parallel of who the Courier wants to be (Joshua) and who he had to become (Courier Six). This is actually something will be focusing on for a while. I want his progression to be a slow change that gradually becomes more and more obvious.

You know, like normal humans do, not like how some writers think they do.

But I'm glad others see characterization as important as I do.

Guest 3:

"for some reason i cant stop imagining the courier's voice in this fic like the one of arthur morgan, neat"

It's exactly that, just a bit higher pitched now that he's about a decade younger. Our good Joshua is back at the end of puberty unfortunately, my prayers are with him.

Lone Mailman:

"What in tarnation?!

A courier fic with a believable, dare I say, human Courier 6? Do mine eyes deceive me?

All jokes aside, I'm enjoying how you're writing your Courier. He actually feels human. Also points for not making him an edgy asshole that don't need no friends like... literally every other Fallout crossover on this site. Bonus points for having him not literally alienate everyone for no good reason as peoole are won't to do with these types of stories.

Anyways, keep up the good writing!

- LW"

Thank you for your compliments, oftentimes when I'm writing this I'm not exactly sure if I'm staying 100% consistent. That's not even going over how often I have to revise dialogue to make sure Joshua and others are using a consistent vocabulary or keeping a consistent tone of speaking. I still fuck up sometimes and use way too big of words for characters like Ruby or Yang.

And as I said before, I'm with you brother. I'm way too tired of that archetype of Courier or Lone Wanderer. I understand having a character not want to be close to others for, I don't know, fear of losing them. I went through something like that in real life. But god man, there comes a point when they push people away even when it benefits them NOT to.

Like, Joshua would do that to certain people like Adam Taurus or… Adam Taurus, but to do that to everyone is absurd.

peterg1254:

"A possible neo ship woooo, and f to all the cool guns"

Neo is a very interesting character to write due to the fact I can't give her traditional dialogue, so I'm glad I have a decent amount of people like her. She's also one of my favorite character as well, but that's neither here nor there.

And I'm pouring out another bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue for all the awesome guns that won't be making their appearance in this story. God Bless.

Boerhae:

"though it's a bit of a reach, I think A World on Fire sounds super interesting and doable. the little blurb you provided is an awesome set up... literally the girl who wants to see the world burn meets the guy who's seen what a burned world entails. maybe he puts her on a different path?

other than that, I could kinda see Wonderland, though i think it's an even larger stretch. winter is a bit like boone in terms of military loyalty.

the most obvious choice to me, of the ones you listed, is Golden Sunset. drinking? check. jokey vibe? check. quick to anger? check. big on weapons? check. that would be easiest probably.

lastly, what about emerald? a girl who's got nothing but the clothes on her back meets a guy who knows all about being in a big world all alone with nothing to latch on to. voting for cinder, really loved the blurb you wrote. a girl who wants to see the world burn meets a boy who already has... maybe he puts her on a new path? great idea in my opinion

yang is the easy choice, she and six are very similar people

velvet would be good only because you set it up well with six being saved by her and cared for by her mom

lastly, how about emerald? girl with nothing but the clothes on her back meets a guy who had nothing when he woke up in goodsprings... not even a memory.

second attempt at posting a review because this website is not working on mobile; sorry if duplicate"

If a World on Fire wins the votes it will honestly drastically change Volume 3 onward. Like seriously, I have an entire story board laid out specifically for if Cinder wins a spot. This winning will also influence Volume 2 and possibly even Volume 1. It would shake everything and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm a sucker for the rarer ships, so I would be happy literally either way. Happy voting ladies and gentlemen!

Wonderland would be very interesting as well, as Joshua can be quite the soldier if he actually wants to. He also knows what makes soldiers ticks, which makes the future interactions between him, Winter, other specialists and Ironwood things I am very excited for.

Yang and Joshua are very compatible characters too. This was entirely unintentional, but something I welcome wholeheartedly. It'll bring a little spice as the story continues on.

And finally, this point you make honestly earns you Lord Crab's ULTIMATE GOLD STAR! But seriously, you make a very, very good point. I didn't even think of Emerald when making my list and I have been kicking myself ever since I read your review. She is a perfect candidate for a ship spot, and one that I will honor in your name my friend.

Emerald/Courier:

Emerald Eyes

Not everyone gets to have something they can hold on to. Emerald was left alone to fend for herself after her family was cruelly taken from her. And the Courier was given only a few sets of armor and a few guns to fight the entire Mojave with after Benny literally ripped his old life away from him. Can these two rejects of society find that one last thing they need to become whole again together? Or will they have whatever they had ripped away from them, just like before? (Courtesy of Boerhae)

Selfishgecko:

"It would've been nice if you could have listed what the perks meant but besides that good story"

"It might be better for you to either stick with courier or Joshua instead of going back and forth and for pairings I'd say just one partner and anyone but Ruby since I always feel that it doesn't fit with her character. Even though most of the villans I feel like wouldn't work for Joshua because you've set him up as wanting to help people. I also feel it'd be best to continue volume 0 instead of jumping to volume 1 and adding things in."

As much as I would've liked to do that just to make things easier to understand for all of you, I kid you not, even copying and pasting everything straight from the wiki, that would probably take me over an hour to do. And as much as I love you guys as my audience, I do not have that time to spare for madness like that.

And me switching between Joshua and Courier is completely on purpose, solely to demonstrate the different mindset the Courier puts himself in whenever he's either 'persona'. Like I said prior, Joshua is the person he truly wants to be, and Courier Six is the person he was forced to become for the sake of others.

And hopefully by the time I finish the second interlude, fingers crossed, we'll have nothing else in the way for me to start Volume 1 and start the Beacon saga. As much as I would like to build up the world more, I can't just continue with only half the cast present. There needs to be plot at some point. But thank you for your comments!

IbradIeys:

"Really like hoe you're the Courier. Makes the story both a lot of fun and interesting besides. And I vote for Coco with Courier. Never seen that and the bit of writing you did with her makes her get along pretty well with him"

I'm glad you like how I'm characterizing the Courier. I want to make sure to keep him as fresh and enjoyable as possible. Coco and Courier would be a very interesting ship to write. Even their interactions outside of any romantic context are things I'm very excited to write.

Adriaus Nighthunter:

"Go for winter it will be more funny reading them arguing about someting"

Oh trust me my good friend, there will be arguing in store for the elder Schnee Sister and Joshua. And trust me when I say it will be grand.

thewolfgod99:

"yeah, the future will always be better in the fallout universe, cause the rads will go down eventually as time passes"

Amen to that, brother. Another round of Rad-Away for the whole bar!

Guest 4 (I think):

"You deserve more praise. You puts so much work into 3 chapters alone that I can't help but be enthralled, ignoring the phenomenal work you do with dialogue and character interaction. Your writing style is engaging, the combat hits the "Goldilocks zone" of suspension of belief, and even your environmental descriptions flow naturally. I can't think of any better ways to articulate your writing that wouldn't just devolve into me fanboying, so I'll leave it at that."

Honestly, this review made me blush. Sincerely, thank you for these warm words, it makes me really giddy when I see someone as passionate about my writing as I am. I hope that I don't let you down as the story progresses forward.

And please, any more praises and my fat head will swell even bigger. No one wants that my friend.

Guest 5:

"Why the fuck do people lower the age of mcs it's so stupid I'm gonna be honest it makes me fucking hate you for doing that."

While it does seem quite cliche to lower his age, unfortunately, it is the only way for the type of story I plan to write to work.

You see, I want to be able to develop Joshua further as the story goes on. All his interactions with his family, the new friends he'll make along the way, the mistakes he inevitably does as he tries to do the right thing. All of these I want to mold Joshua into something that seems more human.

If I were to keep his age the same, he wouldn't be Joshua. He would still be Courier Six. As he is, he wouldn't have any reason to truly dig deep inside of himself and change. He would continue to be just that same Force of Nature who would blow through Remnant aimlessly bouncing from quest to quest. As interesting as that is for a game, narratively it is unfortunately quite dry. There's no character progression, no emotional strife or conflict, just a killer from the wasteland destroying and rebuilding whatever gets in his way.

I'm sorry that you feel what I did with his age as something of a slight against you, but do understand that this is the only way, other than having the Courier be fourteen when New Vegas began, for there to be any engaging story. But thank you for giving me your opinion rather than keeping it to yourself. I hope this helps anyone else who had similar concerns but didn't want to voice them.

Arrogantt:

"I like this quite a bit so far. Given the focus on melee combat in RWBY I always saw their ranged capabilities as more of a utility tool than outright damage, although this will raise questions of if Six can keep up this sort of firepower with his guns.

Annabelle is an interesting choice, I would've personally brought Red Glare if I could choose. ALSID is a bit overused, and if you're making Six a nuclear cowboy with the accent and riot gear I'm surprised you didn't give him the Sequoia or another revolver. I'm not criticizing, just surprised at the choices.

Ha, Raven would be an interesting pairing; it has my full support. Given his mental age and baggage I'd feel an older lady would suit him, even if he is de-aged now. Admittedly I'm just looking for something different, given how many of the stories pair the protagonist up with one of RWBY."

While there will be quite a lot of melee action in this fic, I truly want to bring out the wonders of guns to all RWBY fans who might not enjoy them as much as I do. Honestly, with how powerful some of the rounds are in RWBY, and with the vast assortment of Dust, there really should be a MASSIVE focus on ranged combat. It makes the idea of constantly running up to that monster that's five times larger than you and hitting it with your tiny club kinda stupid if you think about it. As cool as it might be.

I wanted to bring Annabelle instead of Red Glare solely because I wanted the massive destructive capabilities missiles should theoretically be capable of if used correctly. And also because I love that gun, and it deserves more love in my opinion.

I do agree that ALSID is overused, but for the parallels I'm making between the Burned Man and Courier Six I think it's poetic enough to excuse.

And on the topic of revolvers. While I love revolvers with all my heart, and I love shooting them, and hell, love just looking at them. They are not the best self defense weapon. While you might look cool with a double action revolver in your hand, I would feel vastly safer with a semi automatic pistol. Less recoil, easier on the wrists, reloading it simple, less chance of fumbling rounds. The benefits vastly outweigh the cons between the two if you're a Wastelander like the Courier. Practicality and survivability over looking fucking awesome.

I might also be a bit biased because of all the shit revolvers you find at the beginning of New Vegas that do shit damage and take fifteen years to reload, but that's neither here nor there.

I'm excited no matter who ends up with the Courier, so I eagerly await the point when I can finally put up the poll.

Yusuf Qays:

"excellent capther but pleas dont do insest"

It's really only by sheer legal technicality that it's incest. A step cousin you've only known for a year isn't really at the top of my list for moral wrongs honestly. To be honest, if he does end up with Ruby, Yang, or Raven, at that point they probably wouldn't see themselves as cousins/aunt and nephew any more. That would be weird. But with how fucked Raven is in the head, I wouldn't be surprised. (Disclaimer, this is NOT going to happen)

nivekbackwards:

"god i was fuckin terrified that this was another story left un-updated since 2015 but i checked the last update and breathed a sigh of relief. anyways, interesting story so far. better than others I've read. the omakes are a nice addition too. my only gripe is that ALSID is a bit overused and feels a bit out of character for a more 'cowboy based' courier."

Unfortunately, you guys are stuck with me for the foreseeable future, but I'll be sure to make the ride fun for everyone! As I said to Arrogantt, I like the poetic reasons for ALSID, and unfortunately, it's just more practical to have a magazine fed semi automatic pistol over a double action revolver.

Guest 6:

"MOARE!"

Sailing the ship as fast as she goes, captain! We're full speed ahead!

Q2:

"oof, I low-key forgot this existed. Glad I remembered and happy you did a third chapter though! Response to your response here: I feel you on having some angst in it, makes sense with the whole coming from a man eating gecko kind of world, also think your right having him go to the school makes more sense story wise.

One question I have though is since he's not a product of the brother gods and made up of materials from a different world entirely, would aura even apply to him or more curiously would grim even react to him directly? Oh and looking forward to see his reaction over the fact that a certain girl decides to dress like a legionnaire. Keep up the Good work, and Happy Trails!"

Nobody comes out of the Wasteland completely the same, it's a place that'll eat you up and spit you with one wrong step.

For the sake of argument, I'm having the Courier mostly be the same as humans in regards to Aura and Grimm. How else he differs will be revealed as the story continues forward.

And I have some things ready for Joshua and Pyrrha, don't you worry.

And finally, k9davis120:

"This is such an interesting story that I can't help but keep read it over and over again multiple times a month, And I am eagerly wait for the next update."

I'm trying to pump these guys out as fast as possible for you guys, so please hold on and thank you all for your patience!

Strife1234, Saint Smut, Asasyn13, Guest 2, Adam Hazard, Egus235, Ressurection99, ODSTFRymann, Crazzytony, CykaBlyatintensifies, bokiking007, MessyMark, Monster King, anon44575173:

Thank you everyone above for your kind words and compliments. I'll make sure to make down any votes you guys have ahead of time before the poll gets released, but until then please hold back on voting on the reviews. It'll make keeping track of everything easier.

Well with review corner done, next chapter is gonna be up in a few months probably. It's a very large chapter that I'm not even halfway done with. I also want to make sure the chapter after that and maybe even the chapter after that has some progress on it before I post it.

Unfortunately, with school and my part time job to pay for school, I can only distribute a certain amount of time towards writing. Times like this, long breaks in the winter and summer, give me a shitload of extra times as I don't have to focus on school work. But the spring and fall progress slows considerably as I focus not only on school work, but also working 30 hours a week to try to fight off my loans before I graduate. As well as pay for any other needs I cover that I don't want to bother wonderful parents with.

Which is why, with a very hard decision, I've decided to start a P(a)trèon. I don't like begging for money, especially to you guys, who owe me nothing. But I really do want to keep those of you who are as passionate as me about my stories constantly fed with updates and content. Any little bit helps put me further on my goal of slowly shedding off my Supermarket hours little by little until I can finally be freed of the shackles that is the Ahold Corporation.

I have many tiers already set up for you all, with some limited tiers for those of you who want any commission work done. These are done on a case by case basis, and are limited so I don't fry myself like a toaster in a bathtub. I want you all to be aware that I retain the right to refuse you if I do not feel that I can reliably give you what you want or I feel uncomfortable with what you request (which is honestly incredibly unlikely unless you're a real fucking freak).

The lower tiers will allow you to be able to vote on side polls I hold for content, see updates chapters as they are being written, see behind the scene content or even content I have never released before, and any amount given will give you access to weekly updates I will be posting every Monday or Tuesday evening.

I want to be clear that you are not obligated to give me anything, I do not want to guilt you into giving money that you cannot spare. Trust me, it's been done to me in the past because I'm a sucker. But if you have a dollar or two laying around that you can throw every month to me, I would be forever grateful to you.

Either way, thank you all for your continued patience and support. In times like these it is honestly a refreshing breath of fresh air away from the monotony that is slowly loosening COVID restrictions.

With Gratitude-

Lord Crab

My P(a)trèon:

w W (w.)p(a)trèōn.cøm[/](CrabTales)

My apologies that this looks like actual chicken scratch, but filters must be circumvented. Just take out all the extra parenthesis and brackets and make the letters normal and it'll take you straight to my you know what.