Chapter Four: Planning and Recruitment


Roman kicked open the door to the warehouse he'd taken residence in. In hindsight, that wasn't a good idea because the door flew off it's hinges once again. He never properly repaired it after he damaged it the first time.

Nevertheless, despite a wince at the doors expense, and not before putting down everything he was carrying to place the door back in it's proper place, Roman made his way into the warehouse. He found a crate which he placed his things on, minus Melodic Cudgel which he placed on the side.

The things he was carrying, were maps, blueprints and papers, all of them perhaps not needed but wanted for his first job in Japan. Roman unrolled all the papers he had and looked through them. Giran had attempted to send the data over to his scroll but lacking service and although he gave Roman a burner scroll, which Giran called a phone, he didn't trust Roman enough to give it any other functions aside from direct untraceable calls. He'd have to settle for this for now.

As Roman looked over the papers, he began to wrack his brain. He had time to figure things out, at least two weeks according to Giran. It turned out once enough people turn down a job, people are finally happy once someone accepts. Regardless, Roman preferred to have money sooner rather than later but he'd use the available time anyways.

He checked over the apparent security. It was fairly light. Not the lightest he's ever had to deal with, some stores had no one aside from the store owner themselves, but still incredibly light. A few cameras, an alarm system and a handful of security guards, if Giran's info was to be trusted.

Torchwick would be able to to handle the guards easily and he was more than capable of disarming the security system of some no name art gallery. He had cut off the security system for a bunch of small time stores and the technology level of this place looked similar enough. So if he could effectively pilot an Atlesian Paladin with no prior training then he was confident he could adapt.

No, none of that would be a problem. Roman shuffled some papers and brought out a folder of what the client wanted. It was a small priceless marble statue of some sort of warrior although he couldn't tell what kind exactly. It did look fairly nice though, he could admit that. It held a long katana blade and some kind of armor that he couldn't place. The mask made the guy look like a demon. Good stuff.

The rest of the items at the gallery were either less expensive or less important but if he played it right, Roman could grab the other things here. Giran had told him he'd happily take anything he had off his hands. Apparently jobs like this came through often but were dropped due to no one to do them. The original client would take most of the other stuff, the statue was just the focus. Anything he didn't take, other people would. Lucky for him.

The problem though was actually leaving with all of the merchandise. He was just one guy and with his aura, he was definitely strong enough to lift everything out of there no problem, but there was just too much stuff to reliably escape with, let alone fight if those Huntsman or 'Heroes', whatever people called em responded.

He could, in theory load everything into a van and drive off but that wasn't a good idea in his state of ignorance. Back on Remnant, people drive differently depending on where you were. He'd never really been to Vacuo and if He'd been to Atlas, it was just one or twice for something he couldn't even remember but Vale and Mistral had differences.

Differences that if one was unaware of could lead to fatal accidents. Roman could survive a car crash no problem but his reputation would tank if he botched his first job in such a stupid way. Not to mention traffic could easily screw a guy over if one was unprepared. Better to not take that risk.

Roman hadn't seen any bullheads around either and the other aircraft he'd seen were far too big to be viable for some job like this. No, he'd need to do everything on foot and if he couldn't do everything himself, then he'd need some help. Roman set that aside for later however. He still had things to iron out.

The place wasn't too far from this warehouse, maybe 3 hours on foot. He had a map of the area surrounding the place and, with some initial difficulty, Roman managed to locate himself and further orientate himself on it.

The gallery was on a big street, not far from the beach. It wasn't far from a plaza like area, meaning there was a good chance the place would be barren after dark. That was what he needed. He'd already decided he'd do it quiet and smart this time around but if something went wrong, he'd like it if people wouldn't end up dead if he tried to make an escape.

Everything basically looked in place and Roman had the template of a vague plan in his head. He'd find some help, sneak into the place, incapacitate the guards without them dying preferably after cutting the security, grab the loot and then bring it back here hopefully without being detected. Once that was done, Giran told him to give him a call on the burner phone and he'd send some guys to pick it up. He'd be payed then and there and that would be it.

Roman pulled a cigar from his chest pocket and lit it with his lighter. It was almost therapeutic to have a good smoke after planning something out. The question now though was who to find? He didn't necessarily need anyone able to properly fight, just heavy lifting was needed but there were very few who would follow a no name crook into a job.

It was something he'd need to figure out tomorrow. He looked into the sky and the whole moon shining in through one of the windows near the room. The sight always made him cringe internally, a constant reminder of his predicament, that he wasn't on Remnant anymore. Roman made his peace however, despite the pain being away from Neo brought.

He pulled out his scroll and looked through some pictures. Old memories made nostalgia flood his senses, a happy yet sad feeling made itself aware. He looked through them as he finished his cigar. With that done, Roman made his way into the break room he'd slept in for the past few days. He took of his hat and laid his head down on the surprisingly soft arm rest.

As he drifted off into a light, dreamless sleep, Roman had a feeling he already had some people who were perfect for the job. The hard part would be getting them to sign on. Then Romans breathing went even and his consciousness left him.


The next morning, after a quick breakfast, Roman found himself back in the slum area of town where he was the day before prior to when he met Giran. He had an idea as to where he could find the people he was looking for.

He hadn't been searching for too long when he heard the telltale sound of someone getting the shit kicked out of them in an alley. It was subtle and most people wouldn't be able to tell what it was, let alone care enough to investigate but being on the giving end of such beatings often, made Roman aware of the sound.

He made his way off the main street, closer and closer to the source of the noise. Roman walked with purpose while Melodic Cudgel thumped on the ground with his steps. He turned around a corner and to his luck, found exactly who he was looking for.

It was the same 5 thugs who had tried to mug him the day prior. All of them were there, despite their injuries. Roman could see that they were a little black and blue from the fight. Some of them were less injured than others but those with more severe injuries, like the bruiser thug and the younger sister of the girl who can use telekinesis had bandages wrapped around their head and wrist respectively.

Their leader, the big bastard, was in the center of a little perimeter they made. He was beating a man into a pulp. He didn't look exactly well dressed but he was better dressed than the ones who were currently turning him into paste. Roman assumed it was either a mugging or an intimidation tactic if they were owed money.

The ones who noticed him were the man with the armor and mask and the younger girls big sister. They turned to him quickly, eyes wide and muscles tense. They looked like they were about to shout out to the others but Roman lifted his hands to them, palms facing forward with Melodic Cudgel tucked under his arm pit.

After backing away a few steps, Roman pressed his back to the nearby wall, simply opting to wait and observe. They seemed to get the message and backed off but they were no less alert. Roman pulled out another cigar and began to puff it after lighting it. He was still within hearing range as the leader began to talk.

"We gave you two weeks! Two weeks after the first deadline! You said you'd have the money! So? Where is it?!" The yelling was followed by the sharp crack of a fist meeting a jaw, which was followed by an agonized whimper which was once more followed by snickering from the other two thugs who hadn't seen Roman yet.

"I- I- I just don't! B- business is s-slow… B-but I- I'm close t-to getting t- the r- right amount! Just a f- few more d- days!" Bald Bastard probably didn't like that answer because the presumed shop owner cried out again. Roman glanced over and saw a foot dug into the mans stomach.

Roman shook his head at the scene. He didn't care about what was happening but he was disappointed. He knew the tactic well and even used it himself. Not often but he did. If he ever found a business that wasn't worth robbing but he could still make a quick buck out of, 'protection' services which wasn't a bad idea. That didn't mean there wasn't a bad way to do them.

This was absolutely a poor way of doing things. Roman himself usually would actually make sure whichever store or business he'd collect payment from wouldn't get robbed by his own men as long as he was actually being paid. He also made sure not to charge so much that his client, willing or otherwise, wouldn't go out of business. It's comparable to killing a store owner after robbing him blind. There's no new revenue after the fact. Nothing more than a quick buck. It wasn't worth it. Not to mention your street reputation can tank if the wrong people find out

Then again, this wasn't his problem and so he wouldn't intervene. Roman would let them finish whatever they were doing, recruit them somehow, do the job he had accepted and then they'd go their own merry ways. Most likely nothing more and certainly nothing less.

Back to the scene in front of him, Bald Bastard looked like he was thinking about it. Finally, he came to a decision and with a sneer, stepped away from the man.

"You get 72 hours starting now. If you don't have the money the next time we meet, you're dead. Get out of my sight." The store owner seemed grateful if not terrified regardless. He slowly picked himself up, clutching any injuries he had and stumbled his way past Roman. Roman spared him a polite nod even if the time wasn't ideal for it.

It was then when Roman finally spoke up. "He probably owes you a fortune if you're willing to beat him within an inch of his life." Now everyone knew he was there and they reacted pretty much in the same way as the first two did.

"How long were you even standing there?"

Roman looked at his non-existent wrist watch. "About… 5 minutes?"

Bald Bastard scowled and looked around at his underlings. "Why didn't anyone tell me he was there?!" He looked to Bruiser and Pig-Tail girl who looked just as surprised as him. It was when he looked to the other two when it got a little awkward.

Mask Man and Purple Girl looked thoroughly sheepish, the girl more so. "S- sorry boss it was just… You looked busy…?" The girl tried. Bald Bastard was not amused as his reaction was to place his hand on his face and groan. After a second, he turned his attention to Roman. He was as tense as a bear trap just waiting to go off.

"So you're here again. Why? Looking to finish what you started? Take back the money?"

That gave Roman actual pause. He looked at the other thugs and noted they wore similar fearful expressions. He chuckled internally at the prospect of someone fearing him for once but held his surprised and confused look on the outside.

"Uh… No? I gave you the money for giving me info. It's bad for business to cheat people." For some reason he wasn't surprised when they all simultaneously let out relieved breaths as their muscles slumped and relaxed. He expected them to do that or call bullshit.

"Then… What are you here for?" It was the Pig-Tail Girl who spoke this time.

"To business then? I can respect that. First off, call me Torchwick. If things go well today, you'll be working under me for a job." They all held confused looks and were maybe a little offended. He didn't blame them. It sucked when someone stronger than you came around, kicked the shit out of you and forced you to work with them. He knew that feeling well. The only difference between Cinder and himself would be that he would not force them.

It looked like they were curious enough to ask about whatever offer Roman had. "What do you mean working under you…?"

"It's probably not what you're thinking. I have a job I need to do and I need some manpower to help me with it. I'll pay you 50% of what we make assuming you accept. No strings attached and we'll go our separate ways once we're done."

The group looked between each other, seemingly contemplating the offer before Bruiser spoke up. "Why us? And how do we know you're not full of shit. You took us all on before yourself. What's stopping you doing it again?" It was a fair question for some small time street criminal. Those kinds of people often see betrayal as making a quick buck. What they don't know is that it ruins their reputation forever. No one would deal with them again.

"For the first question it's two reasons. The first is because you're the only people I've dealt with around here even with the 'misunderstanding'. You're the easiest to get to and the most likely to sign on. The second reason is even if you're small time criminals with much to learn, you're more than enough for what I need, assuming you listen to me." Roman took a puff of his cigar to let that sink in. They seemed to accept it for what it was.

"And the second question? Why us?" Pig-Tail girl spoke again. She probably trusted him the least. He didn't blame her. He did nearly 'kill' her sister and he did break her wrist. She seemed naive though. A few jobs together, assuming they'd stick together and she'd come around.

"That's simple. It's bad for business." He breathed smoke from his lungs into the air around them. Then his eyes caught her again. She had that stupid fucking confused look again. The other girl didn't but it still pissed him off.

"Really?! I-" He turned to Purple. "How old is she? She's like a sheltered kitten I swear. Does she even know what I'm talking about?" Pig-Tails went red and sputtered, all mistrust had vanished in place of wanting to pull her head back into her neck and hide from the world. He could swear steam blew from her ears but that was probably just his cigar smoke. Then he was surprised when she actually pulled her head into her neck like a damn turtle. He knew she could stretch but he didn't think she could do that. The sight was a little disturbing honestly.

"She just turned 15. Just… Explain it to her? We get what you mean by that but she doesn't…" Roman threw his hands in the air and sighed.

"Alright fine… I-" He took a deep breath to calm himself before exhaling. The girls head returned to it's normal position in the mean time but she looked no less embarrassed. "If I betray you people after the job is done, my reputation will be dragged through the mud if word gets out. I don't want that. I'm a man of my word. If you accept and do your job well, you'll get what you're owed."

"Oh…"

"Yeah. Oh." He placed a hand on his face and pinched his nose. 'Probably didn't have the opportunity to go to a school or interact with people for long enough. Damn street rats.'

"Anyways… How does the offer sound?"

Bald Bastard looked to his underlings once more to get a feel for what they thought. When he saw their accepting expressions he turned back to Roman and gave him a nod. The two then approached with Roman offering his hand. His hand was accepted and the two shook on it.

"Glad to work with you. I'll give you the details back at the base. Let's move." With a bit of hesitation, the group followed Roman back to the warehouse. He himself had a satisfied grin on his face.


The group made it back to the warehouse as the sun reached it's peak in the sky. Roman opened the door as carefully as possible so it didn't fall off it's hinges. He was successful. The group followed Roman inside and they took a look around.

"This place is pretty… bare." Purple spoke up, cutting through the silence.

"You're not wrong. If I had the cash to spend I'd make the place at least more hospitable." Roman sighed and turned his head down. "But then I wouldn't have needed to take the job I told you about."

"Speaking of that job, you gonna give us the details or what?" Baldy spoke up this time.

"Yeah. Just follow me." Roman then began to lead them into a side room where he had the blueprints, photos and documents he'd need. As they walked, Roman made idle conversation.

"Just a question, what do I call you five? It's not really convenient to just refer to everyone as 'you'. Gets confusing real quick, especially on the job." They took Romans explanation in stride and Baldy opened his mouth to speak up when Pig-Tails beat him to it.

"My name is Emiko! Nice to meet you Mr. Torchwick." No one aside from Roman noticed how Baldies mouth snapped shut in frustration. The others followed in the now named Emiko's footsteps.

"Name's Hanako. You can call me Hana if you want I guess." That was Pig-Tails older sister, Purple who spoke up.

The stereotypical gangster Bruiser spoke up next. "Call me Isao I guess." Finally, it was the guy in the mask who spoke up. "Takeo." That was all he said.

Roman stopped and turned around only to find Baldy with an expression that screamed 'I'm surrounded by idiots'. He knew the look because it was one he had on nearly 24/7 when working with the White Fang. Whatever the case, Baldy took in a very deep breath and a resigned look crossed his face. He sighed before introducing himself as well.

"Just call me Tsutomu…"

"Roman. Roman Torchwick. Once again it's nice to be working with you, although I'm surprised you gave out your names like that." He said as he turned around. The look on Tsutomu's face said 'The people who work under me lack brain cells.'

It was Isao who spoke up. "We kind of figure we could without too much trouble. We're small time criminals so it wouldn't be worth much to go to the cops with our names. Besides what you said about betrayal and stuff makes sense so why not. You gave us your name anyways." Most of the group agreed with him, aside from Tsutomu who had a look of 'Fuck it, you kind of have a point.'

"Fair enough." Roman said and he meant it. With him specifically in this situation, he wouldn't bother doing anything with their names but was it still smart to just give people their names? No. No it wasn't. At least he thought it through somewhat.

The group then entered the room Roman was leading them to. It was small and under furnished aside from the bare essentials being a table and a notice board covered in photos and blueprints. It was Roman's improvised planning room.

"Now then. Let's actually get to business." They all surrounded Roman as he got their attention.

"The job is basically this. Client want's this specific art piece from this gallery." Roman tapped the photo that was on the table as he explained. "Our job is to get in, grab the statue and get out. Hopefully without being seen." He looked over the group to see their expressions.

"That's just the general info. The gallery is located on this street about 15 to 20 minutes drive away from here depending on traffic. Or a 3 hour walk depending on how things go. There's a plaza right next to it. It should be easy to get there and escape while the sun's down. There's a good chance the place will be empty and that suits our purpose."

Tsutomu spoke up next before Roman could continue. "I have a van we could use assuming you don't have anything." Roman looked up to him.

"That's convenient. Yeah that would be pretty nice actually." Tsutomu nodded and let Roman continue.

"Anyways, there's this alleyway easily accessible along the way. We could park the van there and make our way to the gallery from there. While we'll need to cut across the plaza after the job is done with the vehicle, we should be able to stick to the buildings before we rob the place."

"Tsutomu, I'm asking you to be the getaway driver. You're a big guy and we don't need power for this. We need subtlety. Besides I'm not sure I trust anyone else here to drive." The group grumbled a bit, aside from Emiko who was too young to drive and so understood, while Tsutomu gave him a snort.

"That's fair. Alright, I can work with that."

"Perfect. Next is the matter of security. There are only a handful of cameras and guards due to the small size of the place. I know enough about this kind of stuff to where I can disable them but when that happens, someone needs to take out the guards." He looked up towards Takeo and Isao.

"I want you two to prioritize that. Your… Quirks, yeah your quirks are more combat oriented. If things go south, so long as the alarm isn't tripped before we're ready and the goods aren't damaged, you can let loose. Besides, I want those two-" He pointed towards Emiko and Hanako "- To start grabbing merchandise. We're prioritizing the statue the client want's but if we do this right, we'll be able to get away with robbing the place barren." A mischievous smirk overcame Roman. "Including the safe at the back filled with the galleries earnings." Everyone smiled eagerly at that information.

"I don't know how often they empty it so I don't know how much will be in it. But even then it's a risk I want to take. I'll be able to handle it myself though. Once we grab everything we need or if we get unlucky and a response shows up before we're done, we'll bail with what we have. Regardless if we need to high tail it or not, I don't want us to come straight here. Lose the cops first and even if we're not being chased, drive around for a while before we get here." Roman ended his explanation with that. He looked up, his eyes glancing over everyone as he let the info sink in.

"We have time to go over the finer details. You're all still injured from our little tussle yesterday so we won't be doing this just yet. Anyways does everything sit well with all of you?" Usually Roman wouldn't really ask for permission like this but in this situation, he had to. He was an unknown and he needed the trust of the people he was going to work with. He wasn't a kingpin at the head of all the crime in Vale. Right now, he was just a small time up and coming criminal. He needed to act like it for now.

Tsutomu spoke up. "We haven't done anything like this before so we'll have to trust you. I don't have any complaints though…" Tsutomu had a grin on his face with that word and so did Roman if he thought about it.

Tsutomu spoke up to the rest of his group. "Alright then guys. We're all in agreement with doing this?!"

"YEAH!" They all cheered and even Roman couldn't help but get excited. This would be his first job here and it looked like it was going to go well.

"Alright. Once we have everything in place, we'll go through with this. You're welcome to stay here until the job or you can go back to wherever you guys are staying right now." Tsutomu turned back to Roman.

"We'll take you up on that. You can use this number to call me if you need to." Tsutomu slid a paper over while the rest of the group filtered out, most likely to make themselves at home. Roman looked at the paper and brought out his scroll and saved the number even if he couldn't call it just yet.

He was brought out of his thoughts with an appreciative whistle. "That's quite the phone you got there. Where did you get it?"

"A friend of mine. That's all." Roman thought for a moment before looking at Tsutomu. It was risky but these guys gave Roman the vibe that they were too enraptured by thought of money to be entirely untrustworthy. Worst came to worst, Roman could kill all of them anyways. So he took a risk.

"You wouldn't happen to know where I can get this... 'phone' activated would you?" The smile on Tsutomu's face eased Roman's worries.

"Sure can. I know a guy."


Roman and Tsutomu walked out of a building after getting Roman's scroll set up. As a favor for a friend, Roman's scroll was also installed with a software that made it untraceable. It was a risk for sure but Tsutomu had said the guy was trustworthy.

It was pretty incredible how his scroll could be paired up to something that wasn't the CCT Network but Roman would not be complaining. Now he just had a superior form of communication compared to everyone else. Scrolls were better than phones he quickly found out.

It took a little bit of time due to the technological difference but technology is technology. You can make it do what you want assuming you know what you're doing. He was also glad that the guy didn't ask too many questions. That was how Roman liked it. You do what you're paid to do and that's that. Cinder was an exception to that rule. Seriously, screw her.

"Hey Tsutomu." Tsutomu turned his head to Roman as the two of them walked back towards his warehouse. "Mind if I ask you some things?"

"Sure. So long it's not anything too personal I'll answer anything you have." Roman turned contemplative for a quick second before turning back to Tsutomu.

"Before I ask you anything else, I'm just curious. Why are you trusting me so easily?" Roman guessed he knew the answer but it was still weird to him. You usually wouldn't find someone to trust you just like that.

"I'm a little surprised as well. I personally didn't think it was a good idea but once the rest of em do something you gotta go along. It feels like running a daycare even if only one of em are under 18." The amused grumble made Roman aware that there was no real bark behind the words.

"It's probably the things you said. Most people like us don't make an impression like you did. What I mean is you kicked our asses the other day after we threatened you and even then you toss us a wad of cash for the info. People just don't do that. Not here."

"You saying I earned some brownie points or something?"

"Basically. When you came back this morning we were all tense. We thought maybe you gave us the money so we would let our guard down so you could finish us off but no. You didn't do that. You offer us a job and you made a sound argument. So we signed on. That answer your question?"

"Yeah. Yeah it does." Roman placed a gloved hand to his chin and thought for a moment. "What are the other criminals here like then?" Tsutomu looked a little confused for a moment.

"Criminals? You mean villains right?" That made Roman pause for a bit before he mentally shrugged.

"Is there a difference exactly?" Tsutomu snorted before shaking his head but he explained regardless.

"Criminals and villains are basically the same but there is a difference. Criminals don't have quirks. Villains do. The proper definition of a villain is something along the lines of a person who uses their quirk to break the law. You can't fill the definition without a quirk." Tsutomu looked back to Roman with a curious gleam in his eye.

"By the way what is your quirk if you don't mind me asking? You did kick our asses pretty hard so I'm a little curious."

"I don't have one."

To Roman, semblances and quirks were the same thing. Roman didn't have a semblance so he assumed he didn't have a quirk. He didn't see it as a big deal if he had a quirk or semblance or not. He could get the job done and has got the job done for years without one already. He didn't need one then and he doesn't need one now.

Tsutomu's eyes widened a bit but he didn't stop walking. He stayed silent for a little while, leaving the air a little awkward. After a bit Tsutomu finally spoke.

"Personally, I don't really care. You've kicked our asses once and you haven't gone back on your word so far like many others do. But a word of advice. Keep that piece of info about you quiet."

"Mind telling me why?" Roman decided to pull out another cigar while they walked.

"Those without quirks are seen as… Well they're discriminated against. I'm sure you know that Heroes are everything. Everyone respects them and when someone comes along who in societies eyes can't become a Hero? They're viewed as weak, like they have a disability. Quirkless criminals are seen as a joke in the underworld since normal cops can handle them easily."

That made Roman cringe on the inside. The comparison he made was like a human and a faunus. While Roman wasn't truly racist against the faunus back on Remnant, the White Fang were a fucking joke and he made it a hobby to make fun of them whenever he could. Some might have said his actions were racist and he could accept that but damn irony was a bitch.

"Then what's you're quirk? I've seen what the others can do but if you can do something then it isn't obvious."

"I have a strength enhancer. It isn't anything special but it is noticeable… Though not enough for some people." Roman caught the hint and winced slightly.

"Yikes. Well not like I care. With the amount of idiots I've worked with in the past, If you can do your job then I don't give a flying fuck what your quirk is." Roman took a puff of his cigar. "But thanks for the advice."

Tsutomu gave Roman a small smile.

.

.

.

"No problem... Boss."


A/N: There goes the next chapter. I'm sorry if this one is a little bit boring compared to the last one but I felt it was necessary. It's looking pretty good for Roman now though. He has a job, he has a plan and he has a small group of people willing to help him. Anyways I'd like to thank all of you for reading my fic up to this point. If you all liked or disliked something in this chapter of if you have any suggestions, questions or problems, please let me know. I don't care what it is but as long as it's feedback, I want to hear it!

With that said I'll see all of you when the next chapter is ready. Have a nice day everyone!