Prologue: A New Face, In A New Place
*PING*
"Oh you can not be serious!"
A gloved hand shot out, grabbing the scroll inserted into the control panel of the Atlesian Warship. On the scroll was a picture of a young girl in red and black, her hair matching her clothing as well as silver eyes glancing at the camera. A caption which read 'GUESS WHO' accompanied the image.
The scroll was shoved into its owner's pocket. The individual in question was a fairly dapper young man, in his early to mid twenties. He was dressed in a white coat with red lining and a black undershirt, accompanied by black gloves, boots and trousers. His look was accented with a gray scarf tied around his neck and a stylish black, red striped bowler hat.
His hair was cut short and styled over his right eye, leaving his left eye to shine a vibrant green. His skin wasn't pale but far from tanned. To top the whole look off, his walking cane, Melodic Cudgel, was clutched angrily in his left hand. This was Roman Torchwick.
After gathering his belongings, Torchwick stormed out of the ship's bridge to deal with this new nuisance. As the steel door opened, letting him onto the ships deck, the view which welcomed him was just as he expected it to be.
The shattered moon shining brightly in the night sky, Nevermore and Griffons flying above, below and around the Warship and Neo kicking Red's ass. All in all it was looking to be a nice evening.
As Ruby and Neo fought, the former twirling her scythe, the metal deck making ugly noises as steel scraped against steel when she missed while Neo nimbly dodged each and every strike.
After a few moments, giving Roman enough time to make his way to the battle, Ruby slammed her scythe into the deck before firing a shot from Crescent Rose. Roman hated that damn gardener's tool.
Neo's semblance kicked in and as the bullet impacted her, her image shattered like glass, giving Roman a good opportunity to lift Melodic Cudgel and line up a shot. Before Ruby could even process that Roman was now in front of her, a red flare screamed towards her.
She only had enough time to let out a startled yelp, before she went flying back from the volatile explosive. After a few seconds of airtime, Ruby caught herself on the deck once more by driving her scythe into the deck, the metal screeching and warping as her momentum slowed before she eventually stopped.
As Roman made his way over, Ruby looked to her side, witnessing the Grimm closing in on the ship like a pack of wolves. She looked back down and shut her eyes with her teeth grit, no doubt she was driving her brain to run 100 miles an hour.
Roman set Melodic Cudgel with a loud *THUNK* causing Ruby to look up. Green eyes met Silver and with a pleased smile, Roman began to speak as he placed both hands on the handle of his cane.
"Little Red, Little Red… You are just determined to be the hero of Vale, arent'cha?"
At his amused, toothy grin, she looked horrified and more than a little confused.
"What are you doing?! Without these ships, the Grimm will destroy everything!" It was true. While Roman would have preferred not to bring the end of the world to one of the four kingdoms, he would rather kill everyone else and survive rather than die himself and save others.
"That's the plan!" Before he hoped she would react, Roman pointed Melodic cudgel at her head and fired but his cane was pushed away just as he did so, causing him to stumble away.
As he stabilized himself and turned back to face her, Neo had rushed in and distracted her, gifting her with two heeled kicks to the face. Ruby stumbled and almost fell off the Warship but a passing Nevermore nearly crashed into her and she managed to right herself in time. She turned back to them, scythe in hand again.
"But why?! What do you get out of it?!"
"You're asking the wrong questions Red! It's not what I have to gain-" He leaned forward, his grin replaced by a neutral, yet tight frown. "It's that I can't afford to lose!" There were few things that were truly important to Roman, other than his own life. He valued Neo's above everything else, on par with his own. He wouldn't throw that away to save some other prick's skin.
Roman set into a crouch as he heard Neo's heeled foot step forward behind him. She vaulted over him just as Ruby charged and deflected her next attack. Neo rushed Ruby and kicked her in an attempt to disorient her. She succeeded despite Ruby blocking the hit.
While she was off-balance, Neo hooked Hush's handle around Ruby's scythe and flipped her over, wrenching her scythe free from her grip, sending it tumbling towards the ship's edge. Before Ruby could hit the ground, with a few twirls, Neo kicked her in the back. Hard.
With a pained yelp, Ruby tumbled into Roman's path. He smirked and knocked Melodic Cudgel against the deck, firing off a flare simultaneously which sent the cane soaring into Ruby's face, knocking her away while the cane flew back into Roman's hands.
He twirled his weapon and propped it along his shoulders behind him and took aim. A small toothy grin overcame him as he fired, hitting Ruby square in the chest which sent her flying in the same direction as her scythe and would have fallen off of the warship had she not reacted in time to grab the weapons handle, saving her from splattering against the ground.
He could hear the gasp of fear from the dangling child. He assumed she had looked down. With a sigh, Roman slowly walked over to the edge, Neo standing by him with Hush over her shoulder and a smirk on her face.
"I may be a gambling man, but even I know there are some bets you just don't take." He said with a shake of his head.
Neo walked forwards, with the press of a small button, the tip of a sword extended from inside Hush which she scraped against the ground, a small amount of sparks leapt up at the grinding of metal. When she reached Ruby, she placed the tip of the blade to her throat.
"Like it or not, the people that hired me are going to change the world!" Ruby kicked away a Nevermore which strayed too close but he ignored it.
"You can't stop them! I can't stop them! And you know the old saying: 'If you can't beat em-'"
He froze when he heard that soft gasp from the mute girl. He only had enough time to flick his eyes to Neo, let alone process what had happened when Hush opened up and sent Neo gliding off of the warship and into the Grimm infested skies, losing sight of the strawberry and chocolate haired girl within seconds.
"NEO!"
"I don't care what you say!" His eyes glanced over to Red who had pulled herself up. His outstretched arm slowly went limp, dangling to his side.
He didn't know what he was feeling. First shock hit him before he even knew what was happening. Hell, he probably didn't even recognize the shock because of said shock.
"We will stop them! And I will stop you!" Ruby's eyes held a determination he hadn't seen yet in the young girl but he didn't give two shit's about her right now. The only thing that was on his mind was that Neo might have gotten killed.
The shock was replaced almost as soon as it came with regret. Regret at taking this damn job that he couldn't refuse if he wanted to live, despite the money that would come with it.
The regret subsided just as fast and filled the void with guilt. Guilt because of him, because Neo followed him into this mess, he might have led her to her death.
But that guilt also left as soon as it came. Replaced with a much, much stronger emotion.
"BET ON THAT!" RAGE.
As those words left Ruby's mouth, his eyes locked onto her as she sprinted at him in a zig-zag pattern, rose petals trailing behind her being blown away into the night sky.
Roman levied his cane and fired but just as the flare left his cane's barrel, he flipped his cane before wrapping Melodic Cudgel's handle around the flare, spreading the projectile into a crescent like wave which crashed into Ruby's stomach, throwing her back.
'It's her fault! She couldn't just stay home could she?! She had to keep showing up! Just had to keep ruining my plans! It's because of her that Neo might be dead!'
Without a second thought, a scowl and snarl firmly locked on his face he rushed forward as Ruby caught herself from his previous attack. Right as she looked up, he slammed his cane into her chin, her head snapping up from the force and leaving her midsection wide open.
He stuck Melodic Cudgel's barrel into her abdomen and fired, the resulting explosion sending her skidding across the deck before slowly coming to a stop. She immediately began to stand up once again.
With barely restrained fury, he said. "You've got spirit Red! But this is the real world!" He brought his cane back and slammed it into her nose, sending her right back down to the deck.
"The real world is cold!" He slammed Melodic Cudgel into her side forcing her to curl up from the pain. The agonized whimper was music to his ears.
"The real world doesn't care about spirit!" He brought the cane down again, but before he struck her, her foot lashed out in a panic and hit him in the shin, forcing him to jump back into a kneeling position. He could barely feel the pain but why couldn't she just STAY DOWN!?
"You wanna be a hero?! Then play the part and DIE like every other Huntsman in history!" He slowly stood up as did Ruby and she must have seen the fury on his face if the fear on her pained face was anything to go by.
Before she could react, he slammed Melodic Cudgel into her shoulder, knocking her down once again as she let out a pained cry. She slowly began to stand up once again as he closed the distance but the beginnings of tears were clear as day in her eyes, from fear or pain, he didn't know, nor did he care.
'Screw this brat. I'll kill her and then I'll find Neo and get the hell out of here! I've done my part. There's no way she's dead. Neo has to be alive!'
"As for me? I'll do what I do best!" He stood over her, relishing the look on her face as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Lie." He gripped his cane
"Steal!" He slammed his foot into her stomach, forcing her to stay down.
"CHEAT!" He shoved the barrel of Melodic Cudgel into her face.
"AND SURVI-" Then searing white hot pain erupted across his body as his aura shattered. The last thing he saw was Red's horrified face as the jaws of a Griffon closed around him.
Then his vision went dark, followed by his consciousness.
"Uugh…" Roman awoke, slowly as his eyes blinked his grogginess away. His vision was blurry and his eyes strained to concentrate, making it almost painful to keep his eyes open.
He snapped them shut with a pained grunt, followed by a rough cough as his body shifted, trying to stabilize himself in preparation to stand or if failing that, sit up.
After a minute of laying on whatever surface passed as a floor, he put pressure on his arm, helping him sit up. His arm screamed in protest but he managed to get his torso upright. He set himself against a nearby wall, letting it support him in the stead of his arm which promptly went limp.
He coughed a few times and breathed heavily, finally opening his eyes. His vision was still blurry with several spots of darkness dancing across his vision but the pain from earlier was gone. He blinked a few more times and slowly, his vision cleared enough for him to take in his surroundings.
Roman felt like he had been crushed by an industrial press and his appearance seemed to fortify his belief. While his clothes were mostly intact, they were wrinkled, crumpled and pressed against his body like they had just come out of a washing machine.
His hands were brought up so he could take a look at them. His gloved were made of more reinforced materials but like his clothes, were incredibly disheveled, not to mention both his clothes and himself were absolutely filthy, stained with dust, grime and a bit of ash.
He coughed a few times into his fist and breathed out a sigh of relief as no blood fell on his gloves. While he was exhausted, filthy and very much in pain, he would be fine after his aura managed to recover.
His eyes glided across his surroundings and he noticed he was in a back alley of some kind. The space he occupied was mostly empty minus a few boxes, a dumpster a few feet away from him, a small amount of trash scattered across the area and Melodic Cudgel which was laid against the floor a little over arms length away from him.
But then, that was when it all came back to him.
He remembered getting arrested, then Neo coming to free him and the ensuing chaos. He remembered the both of them fighting Red. Neo getting blown off of the warship… Him nearly killing Red… Himself-
'What the hell happened? Where am I? Shit… How the Hell am I still kicking? And is Neo…?'
He raised a hand to his head and chuckled quietly but hysterically, the few lone tears of grief going ignored. He had no idea how he was alive but when the realization hit him, it hit him like a stack of bricks. Then he abruptly stopped when he felt tangled and messy hair on his head instead of his signature bowler hat.
Roman glanced around and scowled when he couldn't find it. He soon calmed himself down as he would need to replace all of his clothes eventually but first thing was first, he had to find out where exactly he was. Then, he would find Neo like he said he would.
He brushed his gloved hand over his face, wiping the tracks of moisture before he reached over and with a lot of effort due to his exhaustion and pain, managed to grasp Melodic Cudgel. He looked it over and smiled as his cane was without a scratch. Then, Roman planted it firmly against the ground, using his other free hand to lean against the wall and haul himself to his feet.
He went slowly at first, putting his weight on his left leg at a leisurely pace. When he found no pain or unexpected difficulty, he shifted over to his other leg but as the weight was placed on his leg, he grimaced and let out a pained cry as he stumbled and fell but Roman managed to stay upright.
After a few deep breaths Roman shifted the weight from his right leg, to Melodic Cudgel. He laughed bitterly at the fact. While his leg might not have even been broken and should heal within a relatively short amount of time due to his aura, it was the first time he would actually need his cane to walk.
Now that he was upright he leaned himself against the wall, keeping the pressure off of his injured leg. After a moment, he began to take stock of what he had. His hands dug into his pockets and he found a few items.
First was his scroll. It was in it's collapsed form so thankfully it wasn't really damaged. He set it on the side for now and went through his other items.
He was just broken out of his cell before the fight with Red so he was basically broke until he could find one of his stashes or some prick to rob. He didn't even consider going after Cinder for payment. She probably thought Roman was dead by now and even then it wasn't unlikely she wouldn't just kill him now that his job was done.
Roman had around a few dozen vials of dust, not including the half empty one in Melodic Cudgel. Other than that he only had the clothes on his back.
He looked up at the sky. The sun was up and the skies were clear of Nevermore and Griffons. That made him pause though. As unlikely as the fact was, it was still true but it didn't add up. The skies of Vale should have been crawling with Grimm but there wasn't even a speck of darkness.
'Did someone find me and rescue me? If they did, why did they dump me here in an alley? If it was looters they would have taken my things but I have everything aside from my hat… The Hell is going on here…?'
Roman shook his head and placed his things back into their place before with a grimace and a deep breath, gripped Melodic Cudgel and began to limp towards the supposed entryway of the alley.
He was slow but not exceedingly slow, only just under the average walking speed. As he limped he concentrated on his aura. It felt a little stronger than it did when he awoke but it would be recovering for a few hours at most.
Roman turned a corner and that was when he heard it. The sounds of the city. Cars, people, music from shops and pedestrians and the like. That only confirmed his suspicions. He was no longer in Vale. 'So someone did save me? But then where the hell am I?'
Finally, the street came into view and with a quiet groan he left the alley, trying to keep his limp and his presence subtle while he was in public. He hasn't been active outside of Vale for a long time but who knows if he would be recognized.
He stopped to observe his surroundings. First the buildings caught his attention. Roman's first thought was that he was in Mistral but with a bit of hesitation, dismissed that thought. The architecture, while similar, was different from Mistral. It looked like a mix of "modern" Mistrali and Valean architecture with the Mistral side heavily influencing the design.
Next, the people caught his attention. As they passed by on the street Roman observed them as a few gave him odd looks, mostly due to how dirty he looked.
Some, were normal and what you would expect to see. He even saw a faunus or two but that's where the normal ended and the bizarre began. Some weren't too bad however.
One person simply looked like a more animal like faunus where instead of just a single animal feature, his whole head, and perhaps even his body, looked like a panda. Roman looked away before someone caught him starring and found his gaze on even crazier people.
Some had extra limbs, a few had some insane body mutations that turned their skin another color. One had a goddamn bush for a head, another was a cactus and one man looked like he was a living statue.
'The Hell…?'
That was Romans only response to what he was seeing. A few minutes of what he realized must have been him looking like an idiot, Roman shut his gaping mouth before he could catch flies and made to look around. He spied a nearby map and walked over to it.
The map was in both old and modern Mistralian, the former of which was in symbols he couldn't read but due to being born in the kingdom of Mistral, he could passably read modern Mistralian. He looked the map up and down but couldn't recognize the layout of the city he was in.
With a frustrated sigh, Roman looked to the corner of the map and he froze as his eyes widened. He reread the words again and again, at first confusion hit him before he looked back to the people he saw, then the architecture. Finally, he looked back to the map and read it one last time to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He summed up his thoughts accurately.
.
.
.
"Shit..."
"Map of Musutafu."
A/N: Well... That was a thing.
Anyways I want to thank everyone who's reading this authors note. Thank you for clicking on my fic. While it isn't my very first fanfic, it is my first RWBY x MHA crossover and my first on this site. Not to mention I'm still new to writing. Hopefully you enjoyed but if you didn't, let me know how I can improve something. Roman Torchwick has to be my favorite RWBY character, along with Neopolitan. The absence of Torchwick fics and the thought that RWBY and MHA are kinda similar in premise (I mean: A group of kids go to school to learn how to fight evil creatures and bad guys. While there are differences, you can't deny the similarities, at least for the first few volumes.) and I wanted to do something with that.
There's another fanfiction similar to this where I got the idea from called: 'Another Path' by: ViolaMagistrate ( u/13194392/ViolaMagistrate) so go check that one out. Also Viola, if you're reading this, my guy, your fic is pretty cool. I'd love to read more of it.
