The Awakened One: Book 1 Remnant

by Nentai

Nova is the 18-year-old college student who is fated for greatness. An unknown past shrouded in confusion, a mental intellect far above those of his World locked behind monotony, and unbelievable power slumbering in his Soul, all factors that kept this man from becoming all the things that he was meant to become, but soon these factors will be null and void. Gamer OC x Rwby Harem!

12. The Reaper

(A/N)

Giltlawyer9000 and Jaoheah- Thank you both so much for letting me know that your enjoying the story so far! I greatly appreciate it!

I really don't have anything else to say right now sooooooo... I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 22: The Reaper

The newly formed trio began to walk the streets, at a leisurely pace, as The Grimm Reaper led them to their next target. The Reaper turned to his new partner with a question ailing his mind; "Hel, do you have any combat experience?"

The women in red turned to her partner, "I know only enough to defend myself, if necessary, but I am not the most confident if a fight were to break out and I'd have to deal with more than two opponents. Is that an issue?"

Name: Scarlet Vermillion

Age: 34

Race: Human

Titles: Owner of Diamonds to Dust, The Reapers Mistress, Hel herself

LVL: 17

HP: 1520/1520

AU: 1130/1130

Attributes:

STR; 66

END; 25

DEX; 45

VIT; 26

INT; 53

LUK; 90

*Highly Favored (Semblance)*- A passive Semblance that grants Scarlet the innate ability to complete any objective, task, or goal that she puts her mind to. It doesn't matter the circumstance, her opposition, or the impossibility of the task, everything will naturally fall into place for her to achieve greatness.

After completing his analysis of her abilities, The Reaper turned back towards the dimly lit street as they continued to walk, "no, I don't believe that will be an issue. However, if we ever get into a conflict remain close to me so I can defend you if necessary. Also, if you are doing dangerous work by yourself remember not to bite off more than you can chew. Even if I doubt there is anything you cannot achieve." He then allowed for his mask to rise from its half form to completely cover his face.

The scarlet garbed women took his words to heart, and she found her devotion towards him increasing, as he reaffirmed his confidence in her ability. "I understand. I promise I won't let you down!" In response to her declaration, Nova turned to her and nodded, as if to say, 'I know you wouldn't have anyway', and with that the demonic looking group of people, and pet, roamed towards a dimly lit Dust store that Scarlet instantly recognized.

"Dusty's Dust Done Dirt Cheap, The Dirtiest Discounts Around!" Scarlet read the ridiculously obnoxious looking sign as they approached the store. "I cannot believe Dusty still somehow manages to keep his store open with a name like this" she thought as she mentally shook her head.

"We're going inside," The Reaper turned to his mistress standing behind him, "give me your hand." Without question, Hel grabbed onto the Reaper's hand, and in that instant, they were teleported silently into the building. Hel was disoriented at first, but she quickly recovered and followed the Reapers lead to match his energy.

She noticed his lack of movement and his apparent imposing presence in the room even though they had just entered the store. Every movement he made was precise in an almost mechanical manner and he didn't speak at all, only standing in wait. The Grimm at his side didn't move even a millimeter from his side, and she perfectly matched each and every movement that he made with her own. If the Reaper took a single step forward, she did as well, the tilt of a head was matched perfectly, any arm or hand movement was mirrored with her tail. The Duo was in perfect sync, and the intimidating performance that they put on was mesmerizing to watch from her point of view.

After analyzing their actions, she quickly fell in line, waiting for Dusty to show himself and give them what they came for. She actively chose to take a passive role in this interaction, watching and learning how the Reaper dealt with these shakedown-like interactions. After a moment of waiting, a familiar face frighteningly walked from behind the counter and exposed himself to the group of heathens. He talked shakily stuttering and stumbling over his words as he explained various things about the Dust that the Reaper would be commandeering. Most of what he said was about the value of the Dust, focusing heavily on the lack of value that it had. He continued on explaining a ton of things that Scarlet had already known; for example, business hadn't been to kind to Dusty as of late. He hadn't been selling a lot of his products, and because of this he had been resulting to lowering the prices on his Dust, which in term lowered his profit margins making it even harder to make a living. And on top of that, the Dust supplier, the Schnee Dust Company, had introduced a premium on Dust to local retailers.

Scarlet couldn't help but feel pity for her competitor, but the Dust business isn't a kind one to get involved in. Between dealing with a shitty supplier that has a monopoly on the production of Dust increasing premiums on a whim, and the military value of the Dust product being valuable to criminals, the Dust industry is not something that the feint of heart can get involved in. A part of her wanted to comfort the older man, but she remained in character looking completely unfazed by his pitiful story. The Reaper looked at him the same way, his mask not allowing even a hint of emotion to seep through.

After Dusty finished his story, tears making its way into his eyes, the Reaper a single word that echoed throughout the room, "Value." He spoke in the same manner that he did for all the other store owners he had encountered in that night, and Dusty had the same reaction as all those that came before him. He sputtered out the retail value of $6,000 Lien, which made Scarlet mentally nod at the value. After all, she had predicted as much, his store was slowly going under, and this interaction confirmed as much.

After the small exchange, The Reaper pulled a black card from the inside of his body and expertly flung in across the room, letting it cut into the wall. The red demon walked slowly to the crate of Dust that the man had left on the front counter, and with one swift motion, he absorbed it into his body. He then turned around to face the exit and quietly spoke, "Pleasure" as he gently grabbed onto Hel's hand and Scylla's tail, and teleported them out of the room, and back into the streets.

Scarlet was in awe at how truly imposing he could be when he wanted to, she had the sudden realization that she really was the exception to his intimidation. However, she couldn't help but wonder how much money was on the Lien card that he had given Dusty. "Honey, how much exactly did you give that pitiful man for his Dust?" Her tone was crude and uncaring, but her true feelings got across easily to the Reaper.

"30,000" he said with no change in tone. The way he spoke was so nonchalant that for a moment even she believed that $30,000 Lien wasn't a lot of money. However, she quickly realized the conviction of the man she was working with, and the lengths that he would go to keep the business operating smoothly in Vale.

The rest of the stores in the area went mostly the same way, with the group teleporting in and soon teleporting out with the Reaper gaining various amounts of Dust each time. The payouts he was giving these businesses were incredibly high, so much so that she couldn't help but wonder how deep his pockets really went, but she allowed the thought to stay in her mind so she could focus on the task at hand. The more stores they went into, and the more experience she gained simply by being with the group, allowed her to become more comfortable with her role as Hel. And by the time they reached their final store for the night, she felt as though she had filled out her role as the Reaper's Mistress.

"This should be the last stop of the night" the Reaper said as they slipped through a large alley way that led to a brightly lit Dust shop. The store was the bottom half of a two-story building, and on top of its structure was a patio with a black guard rail separating it from the edge. The store front had two large glass windows that allowed clear vision into the neatly decorative interior.

As the group approached, Scarlet looked at the store with great interest, "From Dust Till Dawn, one of the first Dust shops to open in the commercial district of Vale. One might even say that the popularity of this store is what formed the Commercial District in the first place." She began analyzing the building and its surroundings as she normally did, "surprisingly enough, it still looks open on a night like this. It seems the Shopkeep is as profit minded as ever, but its odd for him to ignore a threat as serious as The Grimm Reapers. Scarlet kept the thought in the back of her mind as she moved closer to the man she had been following throughout the night.

She walked slowly up to his side, and gently intertwined her gloved fingers with his own, preparing to teleport into the store as they usually did. "It seems their still open" the Reaper said matter of factly, "we won't be teleporting in as we normally would. Keep your guard up, I think this interaction may not go as smoothly as the rest." Hel acknowledged her beloved's recommendation and remained on guard; however, she did not remove her hand from his own. Scylla's tail began swaying lightly side to side through the air, and her flashed her teeth slightly as they approached the building.

The group soon entered into the brightly lit Dust store, and Hel began looking around for any immediate threat, but found none. However, she did notice something very off about the store's presence, the items remained completely stocked as usual. None of the Dust even remotely were relocated to give The Reaper easy access to them. This alone told her one thing, "this isn't going to end very peacefully."

The Reaper entered the shop and immediately recognized the layout, and especially recognized the old face he saw nervously standing behind the counter. The man was an elderly, balding, gray-haired man with bushy gray eyebrows and wrinkles all over his face. He wore a faded green shirt with a red apron over it, and his sleeves were rolled up to his biceps revealing his thin arms underneath. As the duo approached, a nervous smile made its way across his face, and he attempted to greet them as he would any other customer. "Wel-welcome!" His welcome wasn't very genuine as he was visibly shaking with angst, and with every passing second his nervousness only increased.

The Reaper walked slowly up to the counter, each step echoing loudly in the empty store, and when he reached the glass desk, he stared into the man's eyes. Under his piercing gaze, the Shopkeeper buckled, collapsing to the floor behind his station. The Reaper completely ignored his fall and kept up his piercing glare as he spoke, "You Broke My Rules." He spoke in an even tone that shook the old man to his core.

For a reason the Shopkeeper couldn't understand, the Reaper had already known what he had done. Sitting on the floor in a pool of his own sweat, all he could udder was a barely audible, "I'm sorry." And it was at this moment that 6 figures dressed in black suits slowly walked out from the back of the store. They all wore full suits with bright red ties and black hats to match. 3 of them walked out with red blades sheathed by their sides, walking with their hands on the hilts in a confident, smug manner. The other three stood back, having red and gray pistols pointed at the Reaper and his crew.

One of the mafiosos, the center most one, unsheathed his red blade and pointed it at the Reaper as he walked closer. "Woah there Grimm Reaper man, calm yourself down. You really thought that you could just walk into this city and claim whatever you want? Bull fucking shit!" He got closer with every word he spoke, now standing beside the collapsed old man with his men following closely behind. "The Xiong Family runs this town! We own this fucking city! And you think you can walk up into OUR city with a stupid ass fucking business card and a corny ass name like the Grimm Reaper, and just take what doesn't belong to you without consequences!? You must be out of your GODDAMN MIND!" He quickly raised his blade and moved it within centimeters of cutting his mask. "So, this is what is going to happen, we are going to fuck you up, and then we are gonna take your bitch ass in for some questioning. And then, we'll snatch that bitch of yours and make her spill every little detail she knows about you."

The Grimm Reaper remained completely unfazed by the man's threats, and he simply stared at the man in front of him. The air remained still for a moment, nothing could be heard, until The Reaper suddenly spoke, "No."

The Xiong Family man with his blade pointed at the masked man only managed to register the deep, demonic voices words before faster than he could see a deep red hand was on his blade. The hand gripped the blade for only a moment before, in one fluid motion, The Reaper closed his fist and completely shattered the blade under his great strength. The sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the room as everyone's eyes widened in shock at his awesomely terrifying feat of strength. After the blade had been shattered to pieces, with that same hand, The Grimm Reaper grabbed onto the Mafioso in front of him, and pulled him over the counter, forcing his face to his own. As their eyes met, face to mask, the Xiong man felt the fear of death envelope within him and in that same moment The Reaper spoke, "Die!" His quiet voice boomed through the room and as the word reached the ears of everyone present, true, all encompassing, life threatening, horror, trepidation, terror, FEAR rang its way through everyone's hearts. In that moment they had forgotten how to breath, sweat began pouring from every pore of their bodies, and their heart rate increased to the point where some of them stopped beating entirely. The fear the coursed through them forced the Xiong Family men to collapse onto the floor, gasping for air, fighting for their lives just from looking at The Reaper.

The man that the Reaper had pierced with his deadly glare instantly passed out, and the Reaper dropped him unceremoniously behind the counter, letting his body lay next to the Shopkeepers gasping form. As he finished his skill, he immediately noticed the women clutching hard to his arm. He quickly turned to her barely standing form and wrapped his arms around her waist to comfortably hold her up. He then allowed his mask to dissipate so his full face was showing, and he whispered to the fearful women. "Scarlet! Are you alright?"

The women barely managed to look up into the Reaper's eyes, and what she saw left her fearless. The sweat receded, her heart rate became steady, and the air was sickly sweet as she looked into the real face of the one, she called the Reaper. She quickly shook the rest of the adrenaline from here body and regained her senses as she steadied herself with the Reapers help. "I'm fine Honey, it was just hard to breath for a moment is all." Scarlet managed to pull herself together, and she watched as the Reaper's face magically rematerialized on his face.

"That's good" he said, concern unclearly present in his voice, "now, it would seem that some interesting individuals have some explaining to do." He said quietly, only loud enough for Hel to hear.

Hel let go of her Honey's hand and began slowly, calmly walking around the store, her loud heels clicking with every step. She made her way behind the counter where 5 henchmen found themselves attempting to catch their breaths as the gasped for air while laying on the cold floor. She ignored their presence for a moment and turned around, walking towards the unconscious man who had stared into the eyes of Death. Once she was standing over the body, she suddenly slammed her heeled foot into its stomach. The force from the kick instantly woke the man from his unconsciousness and he began screaming in pain. However, Hel was unrelenting, "HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!" She yelled as she repeatedly kicked the Mafioso. "YOU PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST THREATEN MY LOVE AND GET AWAY WITH IT! HUH!" The aggressive showing of affection was unrelenting, and it quickly got the attention of the other henchman in the store. They watched, terrified, as their boss was furiously stomped by the insane women while he repeatedly screamed in pain asking them for help.

"HAHHAAHAHAHA!" The demonic women began laughing manically as she stomped the man's chest in. "YOU WANT HELP NOW! IM GIVING YOU HELP WORM!" His cry's began to get quieter with every kick, "YOU" stomp, "ARE" kick, "NOTHING!" Those were her finally words as the leader of the Henchmen slipped back into unconsciousness, his cries for help no longer audible to the members present. "Done already? I guess trash will always remain trash." As quickly as the insanity came, it left, and Hel had returned to her usual self.

She then turned her attention from the bloodied, unconscious body of the leader of the henchmen to the five conscious ones slowly backing away from her. When she spotted them, they instantly stopped everything they were doing, and they were paralyzed in fear yet again. The wide smile of her mask had never been more terrifying as she started slowly walking towards the 5 henchmen. As she approached the first one, he quickly passed out the instant they made eye contact. Making her turn attention to the rest, "the next one of you that passes out will either not wake up at all or will be awoken to your tiny little pecker being torn off by my claws! Is that understood?" The remaining henchmen quickly nodded their heads, "good! Now we are going to ask you some questions and you're going to answer honestly, or I'll smash your face in."

"Damn, Scarlet is surprisingly good at this whole, yandere, evil, crazy lover thing. Actually, she might be a little too good." This was the immediate thought that crossed Nova's mind as he watched her stomp out the Mafia man. "Is it bad that I find this oddly attractive? Nah, anyways that's not important right now. This kinda changes things a little bit, and we may have to accelerate some of our plans. Especially since the Xiong Family is already at the shop and there is no Roman Torchwick in sight. This might actually work in my favor, but the only way to find out is to question these wanna be gangsters. Or I guess they are actually gangsters just really weak ones." Nova walked over to his yandere mistress and gave her a quick slap on the butt as a silent thank you for her efforts. In response, she wrapped her arms around him in an embrace as he began interrogating the Xiong Family henchman.

The interrogation of the henchmen went, moderately well. They, of course, told the truth and nothing but the truth, but as expected they didn't have all the information that Nova was looking for. However, they did tell him who did, which left him another decision to make. Call it quits for tonight or keep the night going with one last trip to another location. He watched as Hel continued interrogating the henchmen, squeezing them for every little bit of knowledge that they held in their 'tiny little brains' as she so eloquently put it. As she finished up her interrogation, she turned back to her honey and motioned for him to move to the front, out of hearing distance from the 4 remaining dumbasses. Scylla quickly began occupying the space that was left due to their absence, terrifying the offenders possibly more than Hel did.

"Honey, they say they were sent by the Xiong Family on orders that their turf was being moved on by some person named The Grimm Reaper, but I figured you knew that already. The Shopkeeper said that the group barged into the shop earlier today and told him that he needed to keep the store open and let them stay here. None of them know who leaked the cards information, but they say that the man who does know is a very high-ranking member of the family and is not to be trifled with. "As Scarlet finished her explanation, Nova already knew exactly who they were referring to, and the henchman already told him the exact location of where he is.

"Alright, the choice is yours, we can either keep going tonight, or we can turn it in for tonight and fuck shit up tomorrow."

Scarlet didn't even take a moment to think about his proposition as she responded, "if we want to have the most impact we move tonight. I am with you 100% until this is through, I'll follow you until its over." Nova thought that she said that she wanted to tag along in an interesting way, but he took it as a simple yes anyway.

"Alright then, Hel let's move."

Even behind the mask he could see a bright smile illuminate her face as she heard what the Reaper had said. "Yes Honey!" The excited women then turned to the Grimm that was prowling back and forth between the Xiong henchman and spoke, "come on girl, we're leaving!" Scylla leaped up from the terrified henchman, jumped across the counter, and landed side by side with the demonic duo.

"Oh yeah before I forget," Nova quickly pulled a black card from his chest area and threw it across that store, perfectly gliding it onto the counter the Shopkeeper was standing at. He picked up the card and immediately realized its contents. As a thanks, he gave the group a small bow as they left his store. As the group walked further into the night, Nova had a sudden thought, "should we have just left the Xiong members in the store with the Shopkeeper? I think hell be fine, their already half dead anyway, and plus they're gonna have to report what happened to somebody soon enough." The Grimm Reaper led his partners through the streets using his mini map as his primary guide and the henchmen's information as a secondary support.

Using these two tools, Nova quickly led the group through the darkness of night to a sketchy looking area of Vale. The surrounding buildings were tall and clump together, and they looked as if they weren't exactly 'up too code' in multiple different ways. The streets were a vacant mess with trash rolling across the roads like tumbling weeds carried by the passing winds. The lights on the streets were broken down and very few of them functioned properly, with most blinking in and out as the time passed. However, there was a single building in the area that seemed incredibly high quality considering the surrounding architecture, and that building was a bombardment of rainbow flashing lights and rumbling bass drops.

The building was tall, even when comparing it to the surrounding buildings, at 4 floors in height. It had lots of windows, but they were covered up on the inside with black blinds that gave the building an eerie look. Despite that, a long red carpet with a black, roped guard rail was sprung out from the main entrance, down the sidewalk of the entire block. And on top of this red carpet was an insanely long line were people of all walks of life waited for a chance to enter the apparent club. There was also a wide, but still long, black carpet that led from the double glass doors of the main entrance, straight down its stairs, and midway into the street. It was very clearly a VIP entrance to the club and guarding this VIP entrance were 6 more buff Mafia members that stood in line on the edges of the black carpet's length.

The group, led by the Reaper, walked up to the long black carpet entrance to which they were suddenly stopped by the two bouncers guarding the entrance. "I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but you cant-" The bouncer was immediately cut off as he received an intense glare from the Reaper. Him and the rest of his colleagues were stricken by fear as soon as they saw the Reaper, and that allowed him, and his partners walk into the club relatively unbothered.

The inside of the club was mainly covered in black marble walls that gave the entire inside a trippy, ethereal look to it. The beginning halls of the building were narrower, allowing only a few rows of people to pass at the same time, but they soon entered into a massive hallway with a large square arch leading into the main attraction of Junior's. The square entrance opened up into a large dance floor with six massive pillars of flashing colors outlining the dance floor. Surrounding the dance floor were half walls that had stools and round tables that allowed people to sit and chat as the enjoyed the ambience of the club. Both the east and west walls of the room were long bars with tens of Bartenders tending to the thirsty customers. And on the far wall was a long staircase that led up to a large balcony that oversaw the entire room. The most obvious thing up on the balcony was the DJ stand, fit with a DJ wearing a large, red, panda bear head as he controlled the entire vibe of the room. However, behind him was a large seating area with booths made of a holographic looking red glass and black seats, but more important than that was what was behind all of that.

Behind the DJ and the VIP seating area was another, smaller, square arching doorway with a white glowing outlining, that presumably, led to the rest of the clubs' floors. And Nova guessed that if his target was anywhere than he would be somewhere upstairs. So naturally, he either had to get up there, or somehow get him to come to him. He didn't know exactly what was upstairs and he didn't know if the space was open enough for him to fight comfortably while protecting Scarlet, so he had to get him down here. The only issue with that was the room was filled to the brim with people, someone couldn't move more than two inches on the dance floor without bumping into to each other. So, he quickly created a plan, and began issuing commands to his partners. "Scylla, get the people out of here. Hel, I presume you know how to get our target to show his face correct?"

"Yes Honey! I'm on it!" The group quickly got into action, Scylla jumped onto the dance floor and began wreaking havoc on the people that saw her. Her rumbling growls mixed with seeing a Grimm that no one had ever seen before caused a stampede like no other, and the civilians quickly evacuated the premises. While avoiding the stampede, Hel walked up to one of the bouncers near the stairs that led up to the rest of the building.

In response to her sudden advances he, of course, warned her to not come any closer which didn't go well for the man. "Why so scared? Who knew that this club hired such Bitch made protective staff!" She said as she quickly dashed towards him and rammed her heeled foot into his crotch. All of his co-workers that saw the kick simultaneously cringed as the pain of being kicked in the balls passively made its way through their bodies. "Now," she spoke at the man rolling around on the ground holding his family jewels, "you are going to do something for me, and if you don't then I'm going to annihilate your puny ball sack, and then I'm going to go to someone else and do the same thing until there are none of you left. You understand Bitch!" The fearful man furiously nodded his head as he cradled his nutts in pain. "Good bitch. Now go get Junior and tell him not to keep my Honey WAITING!" She yelled as she kicked him yet again, prompting him to get up and run to get his boss.

Now satisfied by her actions she leisurely walked away, going towards the eastern bar where she saw Scylla sitting and waiting patiently for them to finish up. The reason Hel was able to easily attack one of the Bouncers so casually, was because immediately following her initial cheap shot, The Reaper went around the room brutally knocking out all the Mafia members and possible threats he could find, and it wasn't hard in the slightest to find them. All of them pulled out a weapon of some kind to attack or detain Hel after her devastating kick.

After he finished up disposing of the body's, aka tossing them into a corner of the room, he quickly used Devil's Step to teleport into the seat next to Hel at the bar. "That was fast" Hel said very matter of factly.

"You all work very efficiently, we got all the customers out of the room, and Junior on the way in less than 5 min."

"Don't discount your own work Honey, you eliminated 13 threats in that time as well. That is very impressive work as always!" Hel grabbed onto his hand that was on the bar top and intertwined her fingers with his as they waited patiently for Junior to appear.

Now that the room had been emptied completely, Scarlet thought it as good a time as any to address some of her concerns regarding the Reaper that she just recently started working with. "Now may not be the best time Reaper, but who exactly are you? I mean, you can seemingly do anything, teleport, absorb and pull things from your body, and terrorize people with a single look at will. But at the same time, you looked at me with concern when I was fearful, going as far as to show your own true face. Do you really trust me that much?" She let the words sit in the air for a moment, allowing herself to finish compiling the thoughts swarming through her head. "I am smart and gifted with great intellect, it is not something I brag about its just a simple fact that I've learned to live with. However, even with all this seemingly so great knowledge I can't seem to figure you out in the slightest bit. So, I ask again, who are you, Reaper?"

"Who am I?" Nova let the thought sit in his mind for a moment before he began speaking. He began by allowing his mask to disappear from his face, revealing, once again, his gorgeous form to Scarlet. "Well, I don't exactly know how to answer that question. However, I can start by telling you this, my name is Nova Pollux, nice to meet you Scarlet Vermillion."

Scarlet grabbed and removed her eerie mask from her face to reveal her bright smile. "Nice to finally meet you Mr. Pollux." Scarlet couldn't help but chuckle at her formality, considering the events that had been transpiring that night.

"Oh please, just call me Nova, we're partners right Honey?" Scarlet's face turned, well, scarlet at the term of endearment he called her. However, even through her blush she remained calm and only slightly chuckled at his joke. "Also, the adorable animal that is sitting comfortably in the stool next to you is named Byakko. And she also doesn't naturally look like that." At the announcement of her true name, Byakko reverted back to her celestial white tiger form, allowing her adorable cub like form to show through.

"Mwrah Mwrah!"

"Wow! You're so adorable! It is very nice to officially meet you as well Byakko." Scarlet ran her hand across the cub's soft fur as they continued their conversation.

"Well Scarlet, I can't tell you everything right now, but I can tell you that there is a lot more to me than meets the eye." Nova said as he sat back leisurely in his chair.

Scarlet rolled her eyes and sarcastically spoke, "Ohh realllllyyyy, I couldn't tell."

"You know that's not what I meant. Whatever, just know that I really like you and I am sure that we will become even better partners in underworld crime together. And throughout that process, I am sure you will learn a lot more about me and I will about you as well."

Scarlet smiled and moved her from his own hand to his chin and pulled him closer giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll drink to that!" She quickly jumped behind the counter and began mixing drinks that she grabbed from the top shelf. "Anything in particular you would to drink Mr. Pollux?"

"Uh no, I'll just have whatever you're having, just make sure you put a mini umbrella in it. I have no clue what the drinks are like in Remnant!" Nova watched with interest as Scarlet expertly mixed together a cocktail using the various drinks and tools she had at her disposal.

She quickly poured the drinks into two glasses and gently placed an umbrella that she found on the counter in one of them and handed it to him. "I call it, the Scarlet Rouge. It's a special drink that Rouge and I make after successfully making it a full quarter without closing shop. The alcohol isn't the exact same, but it's the more expensive stuff so it'll more than likely taste a little richer. Drink up." After raising his glass in salute, and Scarlet doing the same, Nova took a small sip of the red drink.

"Wow! This shit is delicious!" It was very sweet and had a natural fruity taste that lingered on the tongue after the sip. Surprisingly, he could barely taste the alcohol, similar to a wine cooler, but much more emphasis on the flavor and less sugary.

"Glad you enjoyed it," Scarlet said as she hopped back over the counter and back into her stool. "I know that you want to savor the taste, but" she said as she chugged her drink like it was a shot, and put her mask back on, "I believe that our requested company is coming Honey."

Chapter 23: The Xiong Family

"I know," he responded, taking his Scarlet Rouge down with one gulp, "but seriously it took them way longer than expected to get the men ready. Who would've thought that they were naturally this disorganized?" Nova said as he reformed his full Oni mask.

"Don't worry Honey, once we take over this behavior will become unacceptable. And those who are not good enough will be punished greatly for their insolence!" Nova and Scarlet stood from their stools, with Nova turning to Scarlet as they spoke.

"Take over? Well, I guess we could manage at least a portion of that tonight." He said while thinking out loud. He then turned to the feline who was sitting comfortably on the stool behind them. "Scylla, remember no killing them no matter how easy it would be. If we kill them all now, then we'll have no disposable soldiers later. Understand?" In response, Byakko allowed her Grimm transformation to take over her body, and she hopped off the stool to stand side by side with the duo. "You hear that too Meta?"

[Loud and Clear! Meta will only allow enough damage to shatter your opponent's Aura and lightly damage their HP!]

"GRRWWRAHHHHHH" she howled in response, rumbling the floor of the club with her cry. The group listened as they heard the crashing of thousands of footsteps growing louder and louder as the crowd grew nearer.

The thundering of the marching grew louder and louder until a wave of black suits, red ties, and red glasses erupted from the small opening square opening on the balcony. The wave of suits and guns quickly split apart, with one wave going down the east steps and the other the west. The Xiong Family quickly flooded the room, starting with the dance floor and ending 10 feet in front of the trio who stood motionless, waiting for the person that they had requested. "You imbeciles! Get the Hell outta my Goddamn way!" A husky voice yelled as the ocean of Mafioso parted like the red sea to allow a trio of importance individuals through. "Great. Now I can finally see the dumbasses that requested THE Hei Xiong! The only people that call me Junior are those extremely close to me, or those that I respect. And I don't recognize any of you bums so you can't be either of those."

The man that appeared was massive, at seven feet tall, and he clearly towered over his various family members that made way for him. His face was incredibly chiseled and muscular, with definition to make him look permanently angry for no real reason. He had a thick, crispy lined, groomed beard and mustache that connected, outlining his mouth perfectly. Atop his head was a small, well-shaped, afro like hairstyle that fit his style well. He wore a similar outfit to his fellow Xiong members with a black suit vest and red tie; however, he didn't wear his suit jacket. The two girls that stood beside him were much shorter in stature and had a very pompous air about them. The duo were clearly identical twins, and they complimented that fact with the way that they dressed. They wore matching outfits with the main difference between the two being the colors of the dresses and the accessory they wore with them. The girl on the left wore a short black dress with a ribbon tied across her waist, and lacey thigh-high boots that have heeled bottoms. Her sister on the other hand wore a off white dress of the same type with a belt with a blue gem in the center of it tied across her waist. They were both gorgeous with long black hair and sharp enamoring eyes, but now those eyes were glaring at the group in front of them.

The giant and his twin accomplices began slowly walking towards the Reaper group, with the giant's height difference being made ever apparent, and once he finally reached the Reaper, he looked down on him, emphasizing their height differences. "Now, what would you, a tiny nobody, want with the great commander of the Xiong Family?" Hei Xiong took another small step forward, now looking straight down at the Reaper. "Don't worry, I'll let you answer the question before me and my men kill you, and your little posse, and burn your bodies to ash, scattering you to the wind where no one will hear from you ever again."

In response, the Reaper remained completely calm, he then spoke in his usual monotone, deadly voice. "I Don't Like The Way You're Looking Down On Me." In response to the masked man's statement, the giant busted out in hysterical laughter.

"You, ha, you don't like the way I am looking down on you? Boo hoo, this is how I look at those that are below me."

"Kneel!" The Xiong Family commander was only able to let out a single chuckle as his body became heavier than anything he had ever felt before. As soon as the words were spoken, the Giant became a toddler as he was brought down to his knees by an incredible force of gravity. The ground crumble under the immense pressure, causing a larger crater to form underneath where Hei Xiong was trembling. The surrounding henchmen and the twin's coward in fear of the Reapers might and began subconsciously backing away from his terrifying form.

The Reaper, now towering over the club owner, looked down at the trembling figure of the formerly great man and tilted his head slightly. "Now, JUNIOR, You Will Be Answering MY Questions After WE Finish Disposing Of Your Men. You Will Remain Here And Entertain My Beautiful Lady, Hel, While We Do So." The Reaper left no room for negotiation, as he took a step past the kneeling Junior.

With his piercing demonic eyes, he looked across the ocean of Xiong Family men that were cowering in fear at his form. "Try Your Best To Stay Alive, Xiong Family." The Grimm Reaper then reached into his chest to the astonishment of the crowd before him, and he slowly began pulling out, inch by inch, a long black handle that seemed infinite in length. However, the long handle soon gave way for a pitch-black curvaceous blade to be extracted from the Reapers infinite void of a chest. As he finished pulling the large weapon from his chest, the crowd's terror had peaked as he revealed his large, shadowy, void black scythe.

For a moment time fell to a stop as the ocean of goons watched the man who put down their boss with a single word slowly began walking towards them. He stepped past the paralyzed twins, and now stood directly in front of the crowd of black suits and red ties. Seeing as none of them felt the need to move, the Reaper decided to give them some incentive. He reeled back the shadowy scythe, holding it at a downward angle at his hip, and thought of a skill, "Mass Culling!" As he thought the words into existence, he simultaneously swung the weapon in a horizontal slash that cleaved through the crowd of Mafiosos. The damage of the skill went further beyond the Scythe itself as a black shockwave erupted from the blade as it sliced through the Aura of the crowd.

The effect of his attack was instant and all those who met his blade were immediately sent soaring through the air, crashing hard into whatever they contacted, and leaving them unconscious from the intense impact. After his slash the air fell still for a moment, but then the remaining members of the Xiong army wizened up and pulled their guns, knives, swords, and Axes from their holsters. From looking in their eyes he could tell they were still fearful, but they decided that they weren't going down without a fight. As the Reaper saw this, he moved his Scythe, so it was leaning on his shoulder, and he stood in a lax position looking into the crowd of henchmen. "Finally Ready To Fight Back. Scylla," as her name was called, the Grimm cub leaped into position beside the Reaper, "You Know What To Do."

As the words left his mouth, Scylla leaped in action, forming a massive claw that she used to slash the first Xiong member she came in to contact with. Immediately after the initial attack, the horde of henchmen began bombarding the Grimm with bullets, slashes, and punches in an attempt to put the cub down. Scylla expertly dodged each and every attack that was thrown her way, and she quickly began whittling down the numbers of the enemy army.

Seeing as Scylla was doing her job perfectly, the Reaper moved back to the twins standing in fear next to the man who was being crushed under immense pressure. As he approached them, they turned to him and quickly readied their weapons, and put on a fierce glare. They were clearly both prepared for a fight, with the women dressed in red having long bladed claws that emerged from her arms as she crouched low into a brawler's stance. Her icy white twin on the other hand extended her kegs from one another, allowing her right foot to take lead, showing off the long blades that connected to the back of her heels.

In response to their defensive stances, the Reaper stopped and looked at the duo, "If You Want A Place In Our Organization, Get Up And Fight. Show Me What You Are Worth." The twins stopped to look at each other for a moment before silently coming to a quick decision. In that moment, the women in red quickly slashed at the Reaper with an overhead swing, but her attack was blocked by the snath of the Scythe. She used the force of her swing to flip herself up into the air and come down with a much more powerful swing, but that attack was blocked as well. After his quick parry, he used his strength to shove the red women high into the air, then shifting his feet to block the rapid kicks from the icy sister who followed after her sisters' swings.

While standing in place he quickly blocked the incoming bladed kicks from the bladed heels, but with the red sister falling from the air with her claws point at him, he was in a bad position. However, a sudden idea came to his mind, and he quickly deflected another of the women's kicks with more strength, pushing her slightly off him. In that moment, the heeled women turned into his deflection, and came back with another kick that looked sure to hit, but then the Reaper absorbed part of his scythe into his hand, shortening the length of the weapon and allowing him to easily parry her incoming counter upwards. After his sudden upward parry, he seized the opportunity to land a strong slash against the girl's chest, sending her soaring across the club and into a group of Mafia members, softening her fall.

Following his slash, he quickly dashed left, just barely dodging the incoming dive from the claws of the red women. As she was recovering from her attack, he took on big step in, and punted her back into the air. As she was rising, the Reaper leaded into the sky and extended his Scythe again to its full length, allowing him to raise the weapon over his head and use the crescent shape of the blade to hook the flying red women into its cradle. The moment she entered the cradle of the Scythes blade, he used his strength to slice his weapon, Grimm, downward, subsequently throwing the women in red with his Scythe. She fell from the sky like a meteorite and crashed hard into a group of Mafioso who were desperately trying to survive their own onslaught.

As the Reaper landed back down on the ground he watched as the women managed to slowly get back up. A small smile made its way across his face, "good, now I can try something new." As the girls finished steadying themselves, the girl in white began ordering the goons around her to shoot at the reaper. However, they were slow to start which gave him the opportunity to attack," alright let's see how this works out." Seeing the mob picking up their weapons in preparation to gun him down, Nova suddenly threw his scythe at the recovering mob.

Grimm, the scythe, spun wildly through the air speeding at the last conscious members of the Xiong Family. As soon as the twins recognized the attack, they quickly leaped out of its trajectory, but the men in the black suits weren't as lucky. The blade slammed into a large group of then, the knockback of the move sending them flying through the air, crashing into the far side bar. As the weapon struck the Reaper's enemies, Grimm's momentum shifted upwards, sending the blade up towards the ceiling. At that same moment, Nova stretched out his hand and used his skill, "Gravity Control!"

The Scythe was suddenly overcome by a strong unseen force, and it began zooming back towards the one who originally threw the blade. The Scythe quickly sped back to its owner, and the Reaper easily caught the weapon in his right hand. He then expertly spun the Scythe in his hand before quickly dashing in on the women in red who was unprepared for his sudden attack. He moved far too fast for her to react, with him almost teleporting on top of her with his Scythe raised for the kill. The Reaper then quickly sliced into her abdomen, shattering the rest of her Aura, and leaving her out of commission. The other twin quickly came to assist her sibling, flying in with a barrage of kicks, but it was to no avail. The Reaper easily dodged her reckless kicks and punished her with a quick swipe of his blade.

Looking around the club, he saw the aftermath of his and Byakko's short bout with the Mafia. Hundreds of bodies littered the floor, most of them were unconscious, but the few that weren't moaned and groaned in pain after their beatdown. Nova turned his head to the bar where he saw Hel expertly torturing Junior with her words, breaking him down before the Reaper had a chance to converse with him. Nova smiled under his mask at her great work as he walked up to the now destroyed bar with Byakko by his side.

He smoothly sat on the same red stool that he sat in before and turned to Junior's terrified face. The Gravity Control had long since worn off, but he was still kneeling on the ground trembling heavily with tears in his eyes. "Junior" the voice of the demonic figure that spoke made his blood run cold. "I Expected More From The Men That Were Supposed To Kill Me." The Reaper said calmly. "Now Junior, I Am Going To Ask You Some Questions And You Are Going To Answer Them, But I'd Rather Not Do It Here."

Hel quickly caught on to what he was saying and immediately followed up after her Honey's statement, "Oi Junior, lead me and my Honey to our new office. Now!" As Hel raised her voice, shivers crawled down Junior's spine.

He quickly shot up, and bowed to the group, "yes please. Allow me to show you the way." Junior didn't even look up at the two from his bow, he just quickly turned on his heels, and began leading the crew to their new office.

As they passed through, and stepped over, the bodies that littered the ground, Nova noticed two that remained standing. "You Two, Come With Us. You Have Proven Yourselves To Be Valuable." The two that he was talking about were of course the twins that he had just beaten in battle not too long ago. In response to the Reapers demand, the twins quickly looked at each other for confirmation and decided to follow.

The group led by Junior made their way up the first flight of stairs, then the next, and then the next leading them to the top floor where only two large double doors were located. The floors leading up to the top floor were all exclusive, VIP floors filled with booths, private rooms, pole dancing stages, exclusive bars with expensive drinks, and the left-over guests and employees that didn't run away while they had the chance. With one look from the Reaper, they quickly turned their heads and trembled in fear. This made for an easy path up the stairways and on too the top floor where the office was located. Most of the floors were designed very similarly to the rest of the club, except the glowing lights that bordered each black marble tile of the walls and floors were now red instead of white, emphasizing the areas exclusivity. The stairs were made from the same black marble, allowing each of the group's steps to be followed by a click that echoed through the silent air.

The top floor had soft, black, velvety carped that muffled the footsteps of the party. The floor was mostly barren with only large black and white Dust crystals in glass casings decorating the four corners of the area. The marble tiles that decorated the walls were white in color instead of black, with the ceiling remaining the same black coloring. The lights that outlined the tiles of the walls and ceiling were red as per usual with the upper floors of the building. The main attraction of the floor were the two massive, black double doors that stood in the center of the floor. Each door was perfectly symmetrical in design with black marble being used as its base and large red handles towards its center. All across the black marble doors were specs of white, similar to a splash of paint on a artist's canvas.

Junior walked up to the door and stood beside it, bowing with his arm outstretched towards the large doors. "You can enter your office whenever you wish Reaper," Junior clearly meant to say his line in a very polite and official manner, but it came off as snarky and sarcastic. So, Hel naturally kicked him insanely hard in the shin, and watched as he crumbled to the ground.

"Is that how you address your Boss! It seems that the dog needs to learn proper manners!" She yelled as she kicked him repeatedly. Instead of stopping her, Nova simply walked up to the large, black and white double doors that led into the office and opened them.

As he entered, he couldn't help but stare in awe at the design of the place. The velvety carpeted floors were pure white with intricate designs of black guns and blades, each outlined perfectly with a deep scarlet that made the objects pop. The walls and ceiling of the room were pure black without blemish, excluding the western wall which was a large window that overlooked the area. Leading towards the back of the room were multiple comfortable pure white armchairs, or sofas, that were lined up on both sides, perfectly mirroring one another. In the far back of the room was an incredibly large glass desk with a black frame holding it up, and behind the desk was a blood red chair, fit for a king.

He walked into the grand office at a leisurely pace, the twins and Hel soon following him, and took a good look around at the place. He walked over to the large window and noticed the great view of the dirty city it provided. Underneath his mask, he scrunched his face in disgust which, somehow, was not unnoticed by Hel. After relieving himself from the awful view, he moved behind the large desk and sat down comfortably in the red chair. Hel and Scylla followed behind him, with Hel standing professionally next to him and Scylla jumping comfortably into his lap.

"Not Very Decorative, But It Will Do For Now." The Reaper then motioned for the Xiong Family members to sit in the chairs closest to him. "Sit. Get Comfortable. We May Be Here For A While." The twins and Junior nervously sat down in the seats that they were already so familiar with, but this time they felt very different. As they sat, they looked to the masked man and women, awaiting the orders they expected to receive. "Now, I Believe It Is Time For Introductions. Allow Me To Start, I Am The Grimm Reaper. This Is My Beautiful Women Hel, And This Is My Adorable Partner Scylla."

As he stopped his introduction, the first to respond from the trio was the twin in white, "So like, I'm sure you've heard of me before, but I'll gladly refresh your memory. I am The Melanie Malachite, I would say it's a pleasure, but I'm not very fond of telling lies."

Junior physically flinched as she responded in such a harsh tone, but her sister remained as stoic as ever. Hel began maniacally chuckling at the girl's response, "Oh we got a pompous little cunt here. How about I tear that high and mighty look off your ugly ass face you fucking Bitch! You better watch your goddamn mouth when talking to My Man!" Hel was about to take make a move for Melanie, but she was stopped by the Reaper with a single move from his arm.

"There Is No Need Hel. This Is Simply How She Chooses To Express Herself, No Disciplinary Action Is Necessary. Now, Please Continue."

The shock on their faces was evident, but they continued as they were told. The next person to go was the lady in red, "I'm Miltia Malachite, younger twin sister of Mel." Her introduction was short and sweet, providing all the information in a quick and concise manner. Nova noted that she seemed to be a no bullshit kind of person and continued to Junior.

"Uhh- my name is Hei Xiong, but you can call me Junior. Nice to meet you all."

They mostly ignored Junior's introduction, and soon after he responded they began the real meeting, or interrogation rather. "Now, I Am Going To Ask You Some Questions Junior, And You Will Provide Me With Full Explanations In Response. If Not You Know What Will Happen To You."

Junior gulped slightly as he prepared himself for his interrogation, "Firstly, Are You The De facto Leader Of The Xiong Family Crime Syndicate?"

The very first question out of the gate seemed to sting Junior as he physically recoiled from the question. "No, I am not. I am mostly in charge of the delegation of manpower throughout the city, but I was only given this job because my partner isn't very good at human resource management. He'd get everyone killed on some stupid excursion whenever the fuck he wanted to."

"Is This 'Partner' Of Yours Roman Torchwick?"

Junior's eyes widened a bit in surprise, "uhm yes that's him. He makes most of the moves, I just give him the number of men that's necessary for any job and provide him with any info he might need to do another job. He handles collections, robberies, hits, and a number of other profitable schemes."

"I knew taking over wouldn't be this easy. Where Is He?"

"I don't really know. He went completely ghost sometime around last week, but this isn't exactly unusual for him. If I had to guess, he is out of Vale, probably in Mistral handling some personal business. At least, that's what he says every time he goes there."

"Fuck! This could be bad, but maybe it isn't as loss as I think it is. Next, Are You Working With, Or Have Heard Of A Woman Named Cinder Fall?"

"Cinder Fall?" The man took a moment to think about the name before answering. "I can't say that I haven't, but I am definitely not involved with her in anyway. The name does sound oddly familiar though."

"That's Not Good Enough Junior!" Nova's temper rose slightly, and his irritation showed greatly in his voice.

"I apologize Sir! I will look deeply into the name for you! Please forgive me for not knowing!"

Nova took a moment to calm himself down a bit, "Its Fine. More Importantly, Is It Possible That You Heard That Name From Torchwick Or Any Of His Close Men?"

"I can't say for certain, but it is likely that it happened that way. If I don't personally investigate matters and instead receive it from Roman, most of the time the information I get is vague and half accurate."

"Shit this is really not good. Junior, Is There Any Possible Reason Why Roman Would Want To Betray You Or The Family?"

"There shouldn't be. Sure, we may but heads on occasion, but that's usual with most business partnerships, especial with organizations of this caliber."

"What Do You Argue About Most Often?"

"Uhhh, if I had to pick one topic then I would say it's about how he needs to refer to me about henchman usage. He used to be very vocal about hating asking me for men, but he eventually started appreciating the value I added with supplying the men."

"Fuck!" He let the word slipped from his tongue as he erupted in anger. "This fucks up so much shit! This all but confirms that Torchwick is more than likely already in talks with Cinder! He's power hungry, so he naturally wants to grow as a leader, and he clearly can't do that if he's not in control of his men. Even if he has the power, money, and connections of this organization in his back pocket, that doesn't mean shit if he doesn't have the means to act on it. He needs strength. On the other hand, Cinder has all the strength she needs in the palm of her hand, all she really needs is someone with the right connections to get her in! It's a match made in heaven, and I'm gonna lose out on it! I need to hurry up and find and kill that bastard!"

As he finished up his quick thoughts, he turned back to Junior, "Excuse My Outburst. My Last Question To You For Now Is, Have The White Fang Moved Into The City At All?"

"The White Fang? Hell no. They wouldn't dare come within a square mile of this city, and if the furry little fuckers even so much as stepped into my city they would be eradicated like the pests that they are!" Before he could even blink, the blade of a Scythe found its way around his neck leaving him gasping for air.

The Reaper had pulled his Scythe from his chest and teleported to the terrified man faster than anyone's eyes in the room could register. He then used his demonic eyes to pierce into the soul of the man in front of him, his Aura terrifying the twins standing behind him as well. "YOU MUST HAVE LOST YOUR GODDAMN MIND TALKING ABOUT THE FUANUS LIKE THAT! RACISM, PREJUDICE, AND DISCRIMINATION OF ANY KIND WILL NOT BE TOLERATED IN THE SLIGHTEST BIT! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!" The horrified man rapidly shook his head up and down in agreement. It was all he could do, as breath couldn't find its way into his lungs. "I Don't Think You Do Understand, So I Will Make You Understand!" The Grimm Reaper removed his blade from Junior's neck and instead brutally slashed it across his shoulder, completely severing his arm from his body in an instant.

Blood immediately sprayed out from the wound, completely drenching the all-white chair in deep crimson as the man screamed in agony. Tears rapidly fell from his eyes and his screams echoed throughout the entire building as he wriggled in pain at his lost appendage. Somehow, in the mist of his agony, he was able to concentrate his Aura enough to stop the wound from bleeding, but the damage had already been done. "Junior, Get The Fuck Out Of My Sight! Take Your Limp Ass Arm And Get Your Bitch Ass The Fuck Outa Here! The Next Time I Hear Even A Single Peep Of A Racist Remark Escape From Your Pasty Ass Lips I Will Behead You On The Spot! Your Lucky You Gave Me Decent Info Or Else Your Life Would Have Been Forfeit."

Amidst his pain, he still managed to respond, "yes sir, I understand!" He clearly didn't mean what he said but being able to keep up appearances in a scenario like this showed his grit, and even in his anger Nova respected it slightly. Junior picked up his now severed arm and slowly limped out of the room, bowing as he exited.

As the doors shut once more, the stench of blood began filling the silent air, and the twins unconsciously began huddling together in fear. Nova pushed his Scythe back into his chest and walked back behind his new desk, and as he plopped down, he began looking at the scene he caused. One of the pure white chairs was now stained red starting from the back rest all the way down the right arm, and even parts of the seat cushion. Specks of blood had shotten out far past the chair and now stained the previous perfect carpet.

"I guess I got a little angry at Junior, but he deserved it. This should serve well as a bases for the new ethics of the organization, so in a way I gotta thank Junior for his outburst. Either way, that's not the most important thing we got from the exchange. The White Fang aren't moving in the city at all, which is an incredibly good thing. If they are not involved yet then they are probably still innocent, but I can't know for sure until later. It's still possible that Cinder is meeting up with Adam somewhere right now, and if that's the case then things will get a lot more complicated down the line." As his thoughts continued to rampage, he started to delve deeper into his current situation. "Adam Taurus. In the first couple Volumes of Rwby, he was simply a revolutionary who 'took things to far' and would never work with a human according to Blake. But then he kinda just turned into a revenge driven Ex-boyfriend of sorts which didn't even make much sense considering Blake said that he was just a mentor. I wonder what he is actually like in this version of Remnant. Most of those that I have met so far have been pretty true to their RoosterTeeth counter parts, but there is no way to tell."

Nova didn't notice it, but as he reclused into his mind his eyes were naturally drawn to the drenched, blood red seat. This staring prompted Hel to speak up about it, and she gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Honey, we'll get it cleaned up for you. You have nothing to worry about!"

After thinking about what she said for a moment, he decided against the idea, "No, leave it. You Can Have The Carpet Cleaned, But The Blood On The Chair Stays. Let It Be A Message To Everyone In This Organization."

Hel quickly followed up with, "'This is what we stand for' or something along those lines. I like it Hon!"

The Reaper then turned to the two frightened girls and let out a large, audible sigh. He then reached for the top of his chair to stretch, while simultaneously letting his mask dissipate to half length. "Well, now that the dumbass racist is gone, how about you two tell me the truth about this whole operation." At his sudden change in tone, the twins couldn't help but be surprised. They had just gone through the most traumatizing moment of their lives as they watched Junior get his arm cut off by this man, but now that same man spoke to them in such a soft manner in comparison to how he spoke before.

His softer tone compelled the both of them to speak, and the familiarity in which he spoke made them unnaturally comfortable in his presence. They tried their best to ignore that fact as they began responding to his question, starting with the elder of the two, Melanie. "So, like, what do you mean, uhhh Sir?"

"Drop the Sir, the formality is not needed, Reaper is fine, but honestly you can call me whatever you want. Don't worry girls, I'm not gonna cut your arms off for something as stupid as that. However, racism just so happens to not be stupid and I don't take it lightly. If either of you are harboring ill will against the Faunus, speak now and we can talk about it rather than have a repeat of what happened to Junior." Hel took notice to how Nova treated these women very differently than the former two-armed Xiong commander, and she chose to adjust how she treated them as well.

However, she couldn't help but wonder why Nova would treat these two with much more cool and casualty than the others. He treated them like how he treated her the first time they met, and that fact, for some reason, made her blood boil. "Why is he treating them like this? Does he just treat all the women he fancies like this? Is that the only reason he brought me along in the first place?" Her mind continued to rage on with negative thoughts, but she quickly realized that she was going to far. "Wait, no, he would never do something so simple. And besides, he's not treating them with nearly the same respect he had for me. He doesn't do things for no reason, there must be something that I am missing." With that final thought, she conceded to simply watch the exchange between Nova and the twins, hoping that her latest assumption was correct.

On the other side of the desk, the twins looked at each other nervously, wondering how to answer the question in a way that wouldn't get them yelled at. However, through their eye talks they quickly came to the conclusion that being honest would be the best for the both of them. The women in the red dress, Miltia, chose to speak up first. "I don't hate the Faunus or anything like that. But I never gave any thought to their treatment until I got older, but by then I realized that it's a dog-eat-dog world and only the strong survive. So, I figured that the Faunus were just not strong enough, and thus were treated bad."

"Thank you for your honesty" the Reaper said as softly as he could, reassuring them that he was not going to suddenly chop off their limbs for being truthful.

After his thanks, Melanie took a moment before she responded. "Uh so like, I have never actually been very like nice to any Faunus. But like at the same time, I'm not like very nice to normal people either. But like I know that I like treated them very badly and have like used very super bad words to describe them." She chose to stop there, sitting on her hands with extreme nervousness. She rocked back in forth waiting for an inevitable outburst and maybe even a weapon on her throat, but neither of those ever came.

"Melanie, thank you for being truthful. Both of you clearly have prejudice against the Faunus but acknowledging the fact that you're in the wrong is the first step to becoming right. I'm sure that you will both, in time, loose these horrid tendencies and become even better people because of it." Relief instantly washed over the twins, even more so for Melanie, as they let out long breathes that they didn't even realize they were holding in. "Now back to the original topic of discussion, what is really going on here? Are you both just bodyguards of Junior or is something else happening?"

At his question, the girls couldn't help but giggle a little bit, with Melanie almost bursting out in full on laughter. "Bodyguards? Like seriously, hell no! If anything, we were more like his babysitters than anything else."

"Yeah, we were technically supposed to keep him from dying, but Mother told us that we needed to keep watch. She said that he's a 'dumbass that can't do anything right. Perfect for a puppet king'. We just kept tabs on him, and informed Mother on anything he was doing."

Scarlets eyes widened at the revelation, silently applauding Nova's great intuition and relishing in the special treatment she received from him. Next to her, Nova smiled under his mask, "So, I take that this 'Mother' figure is the leader of the Spider, Lil' Miss Malachite?"

"Yes/Yeah!" They responded in union, which turned his attention to his internal thoughts.

"This can be a good thing, but its possible that this could go worse than expected. If Lil' Miss was expecting to take over Vale's crime scene from the inside using Junior as her puppet king, then when I take over, she may want to do me the same way. However, I can probably find some leverage in this. Hmm, what could I do," he continued to review the information in his mind for a moment, before a light bulb suddenly grew bright in his brain," I got it!"

The Reaper turned his attention back to the twins, "do you both have any liking or loyalty towards Roman?"

Their expressions turned sour in response to his question, with Miltia responding to his question. "Fuck Roman!"

That was the exact reaction he was hoping for, "perfect! I'd imagine Lil' Miss shares the same sentiment."

The women in white chose to respond, "yeah like, Mother probably hates Roman more than we do. She always talks about him fucking up her goals and stuff. She like told me and Mil that if we ever had a chance to off him do it, no questions asked."

"Yes! This is perfect! Can I ask for a favor from the both of you?" They both proceeded to look at the man questioningly.

Miltia turned back to her sister in confusion, but her sister gave her the same look in return telling her that she was just as lost as she was. Melanie then decided to answer for the two of them, "like sure, but as long as it's not something too crazy." The girls were confused as to why the Reaper in front of them was asking them nicely to do anything in the first place. He could've easily demanded and threatened them into doing anything that he wanted them to do, but instead he asked. Something about him asking and not demanding made them feel very good, respected, and important. So, they both waited with bated breath at the request the Reaper would ask of them.

"It's not anything insane, I would just like the both of you to report something to Lil' Miss for me." The girls look at each other questioningly, but they continued listening to his explanation. "I would like you to alert her that I am in charge of Juniors operation now, and I can get rid of her Roman Torchwick problem. Can you do that for me?"

A smile made its way across the girls faces at his request, "Oh my god, of course we can!"

"Yeah, that's super easy! I don't even know why you would think we couldn't."

Nova was surprised at the enthusiasm the girls responded with, but he remained calm, "I simply didn't want to overstep my bounds. You two are completely free women, free to do whatever you wish, so there is no reason why you would listen to a request of mine. Especially since you have no loyalty to me or my colleagues."

"No loyalty/ No Reason?" For some reason, the twins couldn't help but get offended by his statement. The thought that they wouldn't listen to such a simple request since they had no loyalty, or because they had no reason, was asinine to them. The rejected the very idea of not going through with such a simple request, not only that, but also a request that came directly from him. Melanie chose to speak up, "Like, why would we have no reason, you beat our butts downstairs!"

"Yeah! And plus, you commandeered over the henchman and Junior. If anything, that makes you more than qualified to receive at least a bit of respect and loyalty from us!"

"Like not even a little bit, like a lot a bit! Like, you beat our former 'Boss' and he clearly listens to you, so why wouldn't we?"

"Exactly, if anything that makes you our new Boss!" The girls continued to feed off each other's arguments, hyping each other up as they went. They eventually concluded, with Miltia's closing statement, that the Reaper, Nova, was deserving of being their new boss.

"Are you sure? You could probably just leave Vale all together and go back to Mistral with your mother and the rest of the Spiders if you just lied about what happened here."

"Like no Boss, we could do a lot more if we just like chilled with you here."

"Actually, yeah Boss Mel has a point. And plus, going home doesn't really sound that fun anyway."

"If you insist, I am definitely not going to complain. Having two powerful women like you on my side will make everything go a lot smoother." Having been accepted into his group, Mil and Mel's faces lit up in smiles.

"It's a pleasure working with you Boss/ It's a pleasure working with you Boss!" The twins yelled simultaneously while mock saluting the Reaper.

Nova couldn't help but be joyful about the current development, with exception of Roman's possible involvement with Cinder, everything seemed to be going smoothly. Now he just needed to get his hands on the Bastard, squeeze every ounce of information from him, and then kill him. There are a ton of things he doesn't know about this world, but with every passing day he learned more and more, and his excellent mind and infallible strength kept him moving forward. "Thank you both for your loyalties. I would love to sit here and talk for the remainder of the day, but there are other things that I must attend to. So, let us wrap things up for the night shall we." Turning to his partners beside him, he asked a question, "can either of you go grab Junior for me."

Before either of them could move, the twins were on their feet, "we got it Boss!"

"Like it's totally whatever, don't worry about it!"

The twins rushed out of the room, exiting into the rest of the club looking for Junior. Leaving Hel, Scylla, and the Reaper to their own devices for the moment. Scarlet took the opportunity to have a little chat with her partner as she tapped lightly on his shoulder to get his attention. As his red eyes moved to face her, she bowed slightly as she began speaking. "I apologize for not believing in your ability Nova. I promise that such an event will never happen again."

Nova's mouth was left in a gape as he had absolutely no idea what she was referring to at all. He immediately thought that it was based on some internal struggle that she was having with herself, but he found no reason for her to apologize if she had already resolved the issue by herself. So he chose a passive response to her apology, "if you had already resolved the issue internally with yourself, then there is no reason for you to apologize to me. If anything, you should apologize to yourself, and grow from the experience." He kept his words intentionally vague, but it seems that the desired affect had been reached. Scarlet bowed deeper to him and expressed her gratitude towards his words. He found that he didn't mind whatever interpretation she had of his words, simply because it clearly led to her having a deeper respect for him, which of course made him happy.

After that quick exchange, the two began discussing some of the smaller details of what they planned on doing going forward. Nova alerted Scarlet that he had other matters to attend to dealing with his life as Nova Pollux, which she completely understood. Scarlet said that she would remain at the club and try to get some things in order before she headed back to her normal life. Nova showed a bit of concern for her, as it was already beginning to become daylight and they had been out exerting energy all night. However, she told him that she was fine, saying that she was used to the overtime and lack of sleep that came with running her business. They then established the place that they would meet if they ever needed to talk in complete privacy, the Diamond to Dust shop, and trade contact information on the scrolls. And only a little while after the exchange, the duo heard a loud knock on the door.

"You May Enter" The Reaper said as his mask rose once again to full. The left door then slowly opened, revealing two pretty, smiling faces and another much more serious one.

"Boss, we got him!" Miltia, the girl in red, said as they escorted the tall, one-armed man into the room. The girls excited skipped back to the seats that they were previously sitting in, with the now patched up Junior walking up to his former seat and standing idly beside it.

"I Needed You All Here To Inform You Of My Leaving. However, Hel Will Remain Here For The Time Being. You Are To Treat Her With The Same, If Not More, Respect That You Have For Me. Do I Make Myself Clear?"

"Like Crystal/ Crystal!"

"Yes Boss!"

"Good. Now, My Last Order Of Business Is For All Of You, But Especially You Junior." As the man heard his name being called, he took a small step forward and bowed his head slightly.

"Yes! What do you need from me Boss?"

"I Have A Feeling That A Powerful Women With Fiery Blonde Hair Will Enter This Establishment Asking Questions About The Whereabouts Of A Certain Somebody. When That Happens, You Will Immediately Contact Me And Bring Her To This Room. Understand?"

"Yessir!"

"Now, I'm Off. I'll Be Seeing You All Another Time."

"Bye Bye/ See ya!" After acknowledging the twin's goodbyes with a quick dip of his head, him and his pet vanished from the room, leaving only a trail of red in his wake. The twins watched the feat in awe, surprised at the many things that their Boss could do. Hel on the other hand remained unfazed by her man's action, and instead focused on the group in front of her.

"You came correct Junior. Good job learning from your previous experience." She spoke as she approached the man.

Junior kept his head bowed as he responded, "thank you for the compliment, Mistress!"

Hel stopped in her tracks for a moment, "Mistress huh? I like the ring of that Junior. You really do improve at a rapid pace but let us not idle around for much longer. We have work to do!" Hel then walked past the bowing man and approached the door leading out of the office. "Girls, if you would remain with me that would be ever so great." She said as she pointed over the shoulder to the twins. "Junior, assemble the weakling's downstairs. I want them formed in ranks for when I address them properly for the first time."

"Yes Mistress!"

"Like sure/ Of course!" They replied as they quickly formed in line behind the women in red. Junior opened the door allowing them to exit, and quickly ran past them to assemble the Xiong Family as he was told. The three women walked with Hel at their center, slowly, leisurely heading down the steps that led to their newly awoken underlings.

Across the city, a man in red holding a black animal sped across rooftops and through the streets as he made his way back to the ones, he called home. He soon made it up the massive hill that led up to Beacon and teleported, unseen, passed the large gates of the academy. As soon as he entered its premises, he deactivated his appearance, revealing his casual clothing, and Adonis like face as he zoomed across the campus. He unceremoniously ran into the Building of Hope and expertly traversed the building, soon finding and teleporting into his room where he saw two beautiful Faunus girls sleeping soundly, holding on tight to his Aura made body. He expertly swapped places with it, feeling the Aura reacclimate to his form, and surrounding himself in the bliss of the warm bodies of Nix and Neyah. Byakko soon joined them in the embrace, leaping onto and curling into his chest.

"What a long ass night, but at least we finally got started. It'll probably start to get more hectic now than it was before, but I guess I can't say I didn't ask for it" he thought as he rested from the night of Reaper activity. "But let's leave all those thoughts on the backburner for now and focus on the rest of my day." This was the thought that he allowed to sit in his mind as he relaxed into the embrace of the Faunus women. Slowly falling into a restful state of mind that brought him recovery and comfort.

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