Roman was pissed. He had done his best to be a threat to Vale, spreading fear within the heart of every citizen. However, not a single Hunter had attacked him.

Not. A. Single. One.

He was reduced to being thwarted by little girls. First had been that little red back in summer, and now a former White Fang member and a monkey, which got helped by red and some laser-shooting redhead.

How'd she even do that ?

Rahhh, it was all so frustrating. How was he supposed to get himself caught ? He just wanted out, but getting arrested by little girls would be the most humiliating of all. And there was no way he could possibly convince his boss that it hadn't been on purpose.

And now there was the issue of this White Fang grunt that wanted out. Roman didn't see the problem, but apparently this Cinder chick wasn't keen on deserters. She wanted him dead at all costs.

Roman wasn't interested in getting rid of the man in Vale though. He was already the most wanted man in Vale, and going any further might just give him a ticket straight to the 'kill on sight' list. And if he caused any more fear it might just as well cause all Huntsmen to get stuck dealing with the grimm for the foreseeable future, leaving no one to arrest him, which just wouldn't do.

He really wouldn't be able to survive this on his own, would he ?

Neo and the caravan got back to Vacuo without any more issues. Her job was only to get rid of the aura-user defending the drugs, not to stop the drugs from being smuggled in. That part would be left to the police.

Moreover, Neo simply didn't care enough to do more than what was asked of her. That last fight had taken a toll on her, and she was still mourning her loss.

Her aluminum powder ! She had been looking forward to making fireworks and see what happened if she infused Dust inside them, but now she was missing a major component ! She could still use gunpowder, which was more easily available, but then her fireworks won't resist well to water. Plus it was less efficient.

Still, it's not like she could have avoided using it up. That worm grim had been far too strong for her to handle through normal means, and her illusions were basically useless against monsters that could sense emotions. Maybe if Lemon and her had worked together they could have held out until the storm settled, but that hadn't been an option.

At least she was back to Vacuo, had finished her mission successfully, and could now rest after having made a short report to Rumpole. The teacher had been happy with her report, and had told her she was now good to work on her own.

Her training was finally over. Starting next week, she would be gathering information by herself, and deciding who would be the next targets. She was now officially a Hunter's Huntress. Someone specialized in killing criminals that used aura. Well, as officially as a secret job can be.

It was time to call Roman. Not only to tell him about how happy she was right now, but also to catch up on her birthday, which had passed as she was traveling through the desert.

The two of them hadn't talked in a while.

Roman looked intently at the screen in front of him, as if hoping that by staring hard enough, the call request would be canceled.

He really wanted to see Neo, to speak with her, but he had a feeling that, if he did, he'd end up asking her to come to Vale to help him. He didn't want to rope her into this mess.

But how would Neo feel if he just never answered... And he needed to get rid of that White Fang guy too, which conveniently was set to move to Vacuo. Neo could do that job...

That's settled ! Roman was going to answer that call, but only to tell Neo a happy birthday and ask her to kill the deserter trying to flee to Vacuo. Nothing else.

"Hey Neo !" said Roman as he answered the call, "Happy birthday, even if it's late. How are you doing ?"

Neo was beaming on the other side of the screen, and she started bombarding him with messages. On how she had a new super secret job that she couldn't even tell him about. On how happy she was in Vacuo. On how he could probably come over and start a new life.

"I'd love to." answered Roman with a sigh, "But I'm afraid I can't leave my current job that easily."

Damn. He had done it. Now Neo was asking what was wrong.

"Nothing, nothing." he said, trying to calm her down, before changing the subject "Say, I've got a little side job for you, think you could be interested ?"

Neo shrugged, prompting him to continue.

"Some White Fang grunt wants out, and is trying to run to Vacuo. Think you can get rid of him for me when he arrives ? It would help me avoid some of the heat here." explained Roman.

Neo nodded, but asked why he had to take care of White Fang deserters.

"My boss just wants us to work together." quickly answered Roman, realizing his mistake.

Neo wasn't buying it. She knew that Roman hated the White Fang far more than faunus, and he was already considering faunus as the lowest of the low. There was no way he'd willingly work with them, just as there was no way they would willingly work with a human, especially one like Roman.

"Fine, you got me." admitted Roman, "I can't get out. My boss has both me and the White Fang on a leach. And you can guess what happens to anyone that wants out."

Neo nodded, then stayed still thinking for a while, before saying she was coming to help him.

"No." answered Roman, "It's too dangerous, I can't have you come over here. You're safer in Vacuo, as stupid as that may sound."

Neo let out a chuckle, before turning serious again and pointing at her last message.

"You need to stay in Vacuo to deal with the White Fang grunt that'll come by ?" offered Roman, trying to keep Neo outside of Vale.

Neo frowned at that, but reluctantly agreed. However, she left one last message before dropping the subject.

She was coming to Vale as soon as that White Fang grunt was dead.

When she left the CCT relay, Neo was met with one of the many disguises she knew Rumpole to have. The simple idea that she had been tracked so quickly and easily ran a chill down her spine, even if she now knew at least half a dozen different ways of achieving that result.

"I think you have something to tell me don't you ?" asked Rumpole.

Neo thought about it for a moment. Sure, Rumpole was stronger than she was, even if she wasn't sure how much exactly, but Neo believed she would be able to run if she had to, thanks to her illusions.

However, Rumpole hadn't tried to restrain her, even though she already knew what she had talked about with Roman. That meant she might not be trying to stop her.

That idea brought a hopeful smile to Neo's face, and Rumpole gave a short grin as well, now that she knew Neo wasn't going to try to run out on her.

"You're fine to go, supposing you're planning on stopping whoever is using both Roman and the White Fang to threaten Vale." said the teacher, "I have no idea why Ozpin isn't taking the threat more seriously."

Neo grinned and hugged the smaller woman.

"However." added Rumpole, "There is one condition. You'll leave the White Fang deserter to me. I have some questions to ask them."

Neo nodded eagerly. She didn't care at all what would become of the one she was supposed to kill. Leaving him to be interrogated by Rumpole would get rid of him just as much as killing him would.

"Then you may go to Vale whenever you want." finished Rumpole, "But remember. Knowledge is power. Make sure to hide as much about yourself as you can."

Neo beamed, ran off, and grabbed all of her stuff before taking the first flight towards Vale.

She had a dum-dum to save.

Roman was pacing back and forth in his main warehouse.

Turned out the two kids following Cinder like little lost puppies had taken care of that White Fang grunt in his own library.

Talk about being discreet. How the two of them managed to not get noticed by anyone was beyond him.

Cinder had chewed him out for leaving the faunus alive for so long, but it's not like he could explain that he had someone in Vacuo ready to eliminate him. Especially when he still hoped Neo would never come to Vale.

He was so lost in thought that he barely noticed a small White Fang grunt sneaking up to him.

"Who are you ?" he asked, "I don't remember seeing you around here."

The grunt jumped him, and before he could react, he saw the illusion disappear and Neo take its place.

"What are you doing here ?" asked Roman in surprise.

Neo ignored his question and simply rubbed her head against his chest. She hadn't seen him in almost four years. Well, she had seen him multiple times through her scroll, but not in person. Roman wanted to be mad, but eventually he let go, patting Neo's head. He was glad to have her back as well.

"Neo." said Roman, "Did you kill that Tukson guy like I asked you to ?"

Neo nodded proudly, which made Roman cross his arms and ponder.

"How did you manage to do that." he asked, "considering he died while he was still in Vale ?"

Neo looked up, surprised, before poking her cheek and sticking her tongue out.

"I can never get mad at you." said Roman, giving up, "How'd you manage to find me in the first place ? It's been barely a week and I hadn't told you where I was hiding."

Neo grinned proudly, but didn't answer. Instead, she sat down on a crate and pulled an ice-cream out of seemingly nowhere.

"I was going to ask the same question." said a sultry voice approaching them, "Who are you and how did you get here ?"

The voice, which Roman had originally loved to here, was now making him shiver.

"She's Neo, a kid I've been working with." he explained quickly to his boss, "She was out of town due to... issues... with the authorities, but came back to help us with this plan of yours."

"She did ?" asked Cinder, "But then, why is this the first time I'm hearing of it ?"

"We weren't sure if she could get in Vale safely, so I didn't want to get your hopes up." answered Roman.

All the while, Neo was watching the two go back and forth, Roman desperately trying to get the woman off her back. So this was the person she had to kill to get Roman out of this situation. It was interesting, and it seemed that she wasn't alone either. Behind her was a green-haired girl and a gray-haired boy, both probably a bit older than she was.

"And why, pray tell, would I get my hopes up about one of your underlings ?" asked Cinder.

"She's more a partner than an underling." corrected Roman, "And her semblance is illusions. I figured it'd be useful to you."

Neo barely stopped herself from pouting. Sure, she had many more tricks up her sleeves than simply illusions, but that didn't mean he could just go ahead and say it.

"Illusions ?" said Cinder, "Not that it matters. I have everything I need for my plans. You can send your little friend off. She won't add anything more to our group."

Neo rolled her eyes, stood up, and calmly walked up to the woman. There, she pointed the tip of Hush at her throat.

"What do you want ?" asked Cinder, "You think your little umbrella here will scare me ?"

Neo grinned. She was here to kill her, so she might as well get it done quickly. Seeing how it was her power that held everything together, then there would likely be very little fighting once the woman was dead.

She let Hush's blade poke out of it's tip, grazing the woman's aura.

"It seems you need to be taught a lesson." said Cinder as she frowned for the first time since they had met.

Neo tilted her head to the side and grinned as the woman drew out her blades.

The fight was on.

To be continued on June 5th

Name : Neo Politan

Age : 16

Level : 16 (01%)

Class : Illusionist [You add both your Intelligence and Dexterity modifiers to your AC and to Dexterity or Intelligence based attacks as long as you can still cast illusions]

Path : Me, myself and I [You live for yourself first and foremost, no matter what pain you might cause others]

Title : The Gamer

HP : 10/10

AP : UNUSABLE

STR : 11

CON : 10

DEX : 18

INT : 21

WIS : 12

CHA : 16

Semblance : The Gamer

Status effects :

Gamer's body [Your body follows game-like mechanics. You can restore 1/4th of your total HP (rounded down) by resting 15 minutes. You can only die if your HP reach 0 and you fail your last breath]

Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]

Fighting for your life [Your aura behaved in the only way that would let you survive, and will continue to do so until you overcome your trauma. You cannot use aura, but you can will any item you wield for it to reflect 100% of any attack that hits it]

Words that shouldn't be said [Your last words almost caused you to lose your life. You cannot talk until you overcome your trauma]

Defenses :

AC : 26(30)

For : 19

Ref : 25

Will : 23