A/N: I just wanna give people a heads up. I can feel myself starting to slow down a bit when I'm writing this story. I'm not sure how visible it is, but I had a hard time writing the start of this chapter. It turned out okay I think though, especially since I really got a spark of passion when writing the second half but I have a feeling it'll be a good idea to take a break lest I die.

It's sort of on and off with my desire to write this and I'd rather not take any chances. I'ma finish this "Arc" (haha get it? Big funny, much wow) first and wrap up everything for the time skip, before I'ma just try to catch my bearings. I made the mistake of pushing myself with my last story, even when my desire to write it was down and I hade no idea where I wanted the story to go and so when I put it on a "One month hiatus" I ended up discontinuing it. To prevent that, because I really love this story and don't want to see another go down the drain, I think this is the best move.

Anyways, without further ado, I hope you enjoy.

Review response:

reven228:

That's a nice idea. I'll see if I can find a way to use it. Thank you.

Halo:

Really nice idea. I'll have to throw it around in my head but I like it. Thanks for the suggestion and I'll see if I can make it work.

Zekken182:

I plan to do that. I'm not 100% sure when or how just yet but I'll try to get them into a situation which warrants it, since I don't think Roman is at that stage of familiarity with Tsutomu and the others where he'd just straight up and ask them.

Allegingsky9788:

That's actually an idea I had in mind already but even so, thank you for the suggestion. About the semblance for Roman, I thought I knew what I wanted him to have but I threw the idea around in my head a little more and decided that I didn't like it as much as I thought I did. So at the moment, while I do want to give Torchwick a semblance eventually, I have no idea what it'll be. Ideas will be appreciated, even if many wonderful people have already given me some good ones. The more the merrier.

Chaosconetic:

To be completely honest, I really enjoy reading your ramblings. They make my day after posting a chapter and a lot of the stuff you say is insightful and helps paint a clearer picture in my head of where I want this story to go. I'll especially look forward to the review I assume you'll make for this chapter. :)

Baron Von Q-Tip:

I was throwing around an idea for a semblance like that and yeah, I know exactly what story you mean. "More Than You Can Chew" is a really nice change of pace and while I haven't finished it, I really enjoy it. Still laugh at the point where Qrow throws himself out of the car cause the kids are listening to shit music xD.

Then again, I'm a little hesitant to use a semblance so similar to that for the lack of originality. Even then, it's a good semblance so if I don't find another one I like, I might use it anyways.

Cooldude:

Tbh you're right about that but I didn't think it needed to be said. It's a minor difference anyways. Or at least I think so.

Cane Master Race:

Your review made my day. It feels really nice to post a chapter and see a review that THANKS ME for passion and the work I put in. You have no idea how long I was riding that dopamine wave. On the topic of Telekinesis tho, I'm pretty sure you were overthinking some stuff, like someone else in the reviews mentioned but still, you did make some good point's despite that and I'll absolutely have a look.

Also, at the moment, all of the "main" groups quirks aren't fully realized/developed just yet and I aim to make them stronger and develop more over time. You already saw that with Isao in the last chapter.

Wyran Coast:

Oh yeah. That's a nice juicy info mine. At the very least this'll help me when I scratch my brain trying to think of some sort of scenario.


Chapter Ten: Watch the Shadows


"So what are we looking for again exactly?"

"Loot."

Emiko only huffed at Takeo's short answer. She was used to it though. Takeo just didn't like to talk much. Or have his face seen really. She never really asked why. His mood would always drop whenever it was brought up and she'd rather not know than hurt her friend so she always let it go. Maybe he'd tell her one day and she'd wait patiently until then.

"Yeah I get that part! But what exactly are we looking for? Just money in general or something specific?"

Takeo hummed quietly for a minute, bringing up a hand to his chin. "Money. Information. Contacts. Things like that." He responded. Emiko let out a silent 'oh' as understanding took hold.

"I get the money but why does he need the other stuff again?" She asked. Takeo glared at her playfully, noticing the smirk on her face. She knew why Torchwick wanted the Baron's contacts. She just wanted Takeo to speak. Emiko stuck her tongue out at him because of his glare which he responded with by a light punch to the shoulder.

"Ow! Okay, I'm sorry!" Despite the pain, Emiko couldn't help but giggle.

While the other's were off doing their own thing, Emiko and Takeo were told to go and find out where The Baron kept his valuables. And that didn't just mean money. Someone as influential as a Kingpin, especially one that held a monopoly over the city always had contacts. How many and what kind? They were there to find out where they were located and then come and notify Torchwick while one of them stayed behind to make sure nothing happened to it in the meantime. Roman would then send Tsutomu to reinforce whoever it was that had stayed to guard the documents.

They'd grab all of the money later though so it was fine leaving it there for now. After all, if everything went well, which Emiko had no doubt about, this entire compound would be theirs. Soon enough, they came up to an intersection in the hallway.

Emiko turned to Takeo. "So… Do you know which way we need to go?" She asked. Takeo looked around for a bit, probably digging through his mind trying to remember the buildings plans before his eyes lit up. He turned towards the left and pointed, to which Emiko nodded.

"Alright! Let's go!" She said enthusiastically as she started marching down the hall with a spring in her step. Takeo only chuckled quietly before following after her.

"Hey! How much money do you think a guy like this has anyways? I mean we were really loaded after that art gallery robbery and that was really amazing to have so much money for the first time but that was only one place! I can't even imagine how much we're going to get after this!" Takeo only nodded absentmindedly at Emiko's chatter, his eyes scanning the hallway for any signs of trouble or their destination.

Even while his attention was focused elsewhere, he still listened to her rant and couldn't help agree. They had received an incredibly large payout from their job with Torchwick, at least larger than anything they had ever done with Tsutomu. That was the reason they were trying to find where ever The Baron kept his documents.

Assuming they could successfully get their hands on the contacts The Baron used, they could use those very same channels to wind up with even more money and influence, not to mention the assuredly massive amount of cash the Baron already had on hand.

The two of them continued to walk onward but something was bothering Takeo. While Emiko chattered on and on, he had noticed what she hadn't. They hadn't encountered anyone since they'd entered the building. Sure there had been plenty of men outside but you'd think The Baron would have some men guarding any sensitive information he had.

He placed a hand on Emiko's shoulder as he came to a stop. "Huh? What's up? Why'd we stop?" She asked, Takeo merely pointed to his right with his thumb.

Emiko turned her head with a confused look, before she saw what he was pointing to. "Oh." She said. They'd came to where they needed to be and she hadn't even realized it. Emiko turned to Takeo with a small blush on her face.

"You won't tell Hanako about this? Right?" Despite the mask, Takeo only smiled cheerfully, his eyes indicating all she needed to know as he made a zipping motion across his mask where his mouth was. That earned him a punch to the shoulder from the girl and a huff, as she walked past him. He chuckled softly and made to follow.

Takeo gripped the doors handle and pulled to the side, the door sliding open and allowing them entry inside. They stepped in and took a brief look around. While the room itself wasn't too big, it was absolutely filled with file cabinets and other containers. Emiko dashed forward with a giggle before he could stop her and she made for one of the containers.

She crouched down next to it and with the face of a child opening birthday presents, pried the container open to reveal absolutely nothing since she forgot about the possibility that they would most likely be locked. With a frankly abnormally large and adorable pout for a girl of her age, she turned towards Takeo with eyes that would make even the most evil of men crumble.

"Takeooo… Can you help me?" She asked. Thankfully, Takeo was able to resist the puppy eyes but then again, saw no reason not to at least check out the containers contents. Exasperation aside, he slowly made his way over and crouched down next to Emiko who hopped up on his shoulders so she could have a view without getting in his way.

Despite the extra weight on his back, Takeo brought up a hand and activated his quirk. His arm up to the elbow stretched and morphed into a blade as sharp and strong as steel. He wedged the blade in between the containers opening and with a bit of struggle, forced it open with a snap, the locking mechanism inside breaking under the force.

Emiko's eyes sparkled at what they saw and even Takeo couldn't help but feel a little excited. Inside was a small fortune of cash and this was one of many more containers. Perhaps this one was full while the other's weren't but even then the amount they'd be making was staggering.

"Find the documents. Have a job to do." Takeo said as he stood up, leaving Emiko dangling by his shoulders as she panicked from the new elevation when she realized that she could literally stretch her limbs, before doing exactly that, lowering herself safely to the ground. "Meanie…!" She pouted but ultimately did what Takeo said.

The two searched, or skimmed as put more accurately, through the file cabinets trying to find what they were looking for. Emiko hummed a tune from one of the songs on Present Mic's station as they searched though Takeo couldn't recognize which it was. After a few moments, Takeo found a document and took it out of the cabinet. It wasn't exactly about any business partner that The Baron might have had, instead, it was a listing about one of the businesses he had under his heel. Takeo looked at the titles for the rest of the documents, seeing they were all similar, he smiled. This was what they were looking for.

Then he heard Emiko stop humming. It felt a little off, so glanced over in her direction, only to see her facing him, her eyes wide, arm outstretched and her mouth on the verge of shouting out something. "TAKEO!" She shouted but he was already moving.

Takeo threw himself to the side and fell into a roll. Right as he did so, even though he couldn't see it, he heard something smash into the file cabinet he was standing by not even a second prior. He got to his feet and whirled around, his quick already activated with his arms raised in a block, only to see… Nothing.

"What? She's gone!" Emiko shouted. Takeo turned to her and took in her confused expression. He heard a footstep to his right and immediately realized his mistake.

A fist slammed into his chest and he was thrown back, although he managed to keep from tumbling onto the floor. He raised his head, only for a foot to slam into his mask. He fell to the floor and quickly rolled to the side to avoid the boot that fell onto the spot he'd just been laying on. He stood up as quickly as he could only to see nothing again.

"Emiko!" He shouted. "Go!" He pointed to the exit and she must have known what he wanted if the squawk of disbelief was anything to go by.

"W-what?! I can't leave you! Let me help!" She activated her quirk as her arms stretched but Takeo turned and snapped a glare at her which made her falter. "Get Roman! Go!" He just barely turned around, to notice the fist flying at him. He brought an arm up to block it but a follow up kick to his head sent him sprawling.

Realizing that she was distracting him, Emiko nodded to herself and sprinted out of the door. Whoever was attacking Takeo didn't move to stop them. "I'll get help as fast as I can!" She shouted, her voice and footsteps growing fainter as she moved away.

Takeo let him self relax as the sound of Emiko's footsteps grow too quiet to hear. He tensed again as soft laughter echoed throughout the room around him, seemingly coming from every direction at once.

"For a villain you're fairly noble… Sacrificing yourself for the girl… Oh it just makes my heart swoon!" The mocking tone caused Takeo to grit his teeth. He growled softly and craned his neck to scour the room, looking for any sign of his opponent.

"It's a shame your sacrifice will be in vain." The voice made him shiver, not only due to the tone of voice but also due to the fact that it came from right beside him.

Takeo swung an arm frantically but cursed as his attack was caught. In hindsight she was obviously expecting him to react that way. The woman fighting him tightened her grip around his arm and threw a fist into his face, before grasping his arm and tossing him over her shoulder. He hit the ground hard, the wind was knocked out of him and he struggled to recover.

The sound of footsteps echoed behind him and he slashed at the air, but noted the very faint gasp which left his opponent's lips. His bladed hand met nothing but air yet in that brief moment, he caught a glimpse at his attacker.

Her skin held a faint light green color and what wasn't covered by her clothing was spotted with yellow dots. The woman's amethyst eyes held a small amount of surprise in them as they gazed at his downed form. Her blonde hair was shaved on one side and swept to the side, falling over the other. She wore deep purple, nearly black leather jacket and a grey shirt underneath, the former of which went to just bellow her chest. Form fitting leggings covered her legs complimented by black knee high boots.

The woman realized her mistake immediately and soon vanished from his sight, before the thundering of foots steps closed in on him. He tried to react but a boot impacted the side of his head, sending him tumbling. He instinctively brought a bladed hand up and just managed to catch another foot heading for him. He counter attacked, slashing wildly and managed to just barely graze her due only to sheer luck.

The woman stumbled back and audibly growled as her form became visible once again. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy breaking you…!" She promised, that seductive and amused tone now accompanied by anger.

Gingerly, Takeo hauled himself to his feet and transformed both of his forearms, the flesh morph and stretching into blades of steel. He set into a stance as did the woman, before Takeo sprung forward, with blades ready to strike as the woman vanished once more.


Roman Torchwick was enjoying himself. There were many things he loved: thieving, power and Neo among other things, while he didn't have official Huntsman training, his experience and self taught skill was enough to get him through most fights. Emerald might have had a tricky semblance to fight but she was only a street rat. Mercury was an assassin, a skilled one at that but he lacked the experience he did. It might have been a hard pressed fight but Roman was confident that he'd come out on top.

The strongest Huntsmen level fighters he'd ever met were Neo and Cinder. Despite all of his skill and cunning, nine times out of ten, Neo would demolish him in a fight. His only saving grace was that he knew how she worked and could occasionally catch her off guard but then again, so did she. Cinder… She wasn't normal. There was something about Cinder that rubbed him the wrong way, something unnatural about her strength but he couldn't place it. All he knew was that if he were to go up against her without some kind of plan, he would not walk away.

In the end, that was why he ended up working for her. The money was good but that was a secondary reason. He valued his own life and Neo's more than anything else and while it stung his pride as a criminal, he threw it aside to save his skin. That didn't mean it wasn't frustrating. Her whole attitude, that smug smirk, that seductive facade she always held. He'd be lying if Roman said she'd done an unconvincing job but after a few weeks of working with her, he couldn't care less about the bullshit that came out of her mouth.

This was why Roman was swinging Melodic Cudgel around with a feral grin. The Baron's goons, at least the ones he was fighting at present were a complete joke. One swing here, another swing there, a punch to the face here and a sweep of the legs there… They just kept falling and Roman was enjoying every second of it. Some people might have been disappointed, preferring a strong opponent to test their limits. Torchwick though? He wanted to let out some steam and beating down countless idiots was the best way to do that.

He's been on Earth for around a month give or take and while he'd come to accept his situation, the mounting stress over everything, losing Neo, somehow winding up in Japan and having been forced to start from scratch, it had all been building up with no way to escape. Finally being able to smash some skulls was almost thera-fucking-peutic in his opinion.

Another thug charged at him and Roman's grin only widened. The thug threw a jab which Roman easily caught. Deciding to have some fun, Roman spun the thug around like a rag doll before smashing a fist into her face although he didn't let go of the thugs wrist. He brought her close and wrapped a hand around their waist before moving about as if he was swaying to an imaginary tune.

"Well hello there gorgeous… Now what is a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?" He heard Tsutomu yell and he turned only to witness another thug flying in their general direction at high speeds. He spun around, flicking the woman in his arms away from him, before aiming Melodic Cudgel and firing the cane's grappling hook towards the airborne thug.

The grapple hooked around the thugs leg and with a laugh, Roman pulled, slamming the body into the girl. The both of them tumbled to to the ground before falling unconscious as the hook was retracted back into the cane. He tipped his hat down with a smile. "Sorry but you just weren't my type…" He shook his head with mock disappointment and turned away.

Another thug with some sort of crab mutation charged at him and thrust a hand, which happened to be a claw, towards Romans neck, most likely hoping to behead the Mistralian thief. Roman only held his smug, cocky smile. Torchwick, instead of backing away like the thug expected, threw himself forward, Melodic Cudgel hammering down onto the man's skull. In his dazed state, the thug didn't notice Roman extending Melodic Cudgel and pointing the barrel into his chest.

While Melodic Cudgel normally used flares, with those flares varying in type such as standard, high-explosive and incendiary, it was quite a surprise for him to learn from Giran that the new chamber Melodic Cudgel used was also able to handle another type of ammunition all together. With a fairly sadistic grin, he pulled the trigger and a round of incendiary buckshot slammed into the thugs armored chest, cracking his crustaceous shell and throwing him back.

Roman turned as a few pistol shots were fired at him. He simply twirled his cane, blocking all the bullets effortlessly. A few more thugs rushed him as a pair shot at him from a distance but Torchwick didn't look the slightest bit worried.

Still twirling his cane, Roman avoided a right hook by one of the thugs, before throwing his left fist into their face. They stumbled and another came at him before kicking high, aiming for his head. Roman ducked and slammed Melodic Cudgel into the thug's side, before spinning on his heel and delivering a kick to the thugs head. His cane was already back in place, blocking more bullets.

Taking the opportunity, Roman aimed Melodic Cudgel in between the two thugs shooting at him and fired. A white flare screamed forth and hit the ground in between them, the impact throwing them off of their feet. Immediately after, he spun around and swung Melodic Cudgel simultaneously, the cane's handle smacking two thugs across their faces and throwing them off of their feet.

The last thug jabbed at him and Roman brought Melodic Cudgel into a block. The man's fist impacted the metal cane with a grimace. The thug threw several more punches, all of which Roman blocked without any effort whatsoever. After a few moment's of watching the man struggle to get through his guard, he caught the man's wrist with the cane's handle and flicked to the side, before thrusting into his exposed abdomen. He snapped his cane up, knocking the thugs jaw back, before spinning around and slamming Melodic Cudgel over the man's head, knocking the thug unconscious.

As the thug hit the floor, Roman noted that the sounds of fighting had stopped. He turned and took note of the area. All of the Barron's men were on the ground, most unconscious but a scant few looked to be fatally wounded. Roman sighed but was ultimately resigned to the fact. He'd told his men to kill if necessary and they hadn't seemed to hesitate with that fact.

All of his men seemed more or less fine, with a few nursing some superficial injuries. The worst of it seemed to be a broken arm give or take which didn't surprise Roman. Most of the enemy thugs had focused on himself and Tsutomu. Speaking of Tsutomu, Roman turned to the behemoth of a man, only to see him in the center of a small circle of a dozen or so men.

"Doing okay there big guy?" Torchwick asked the man. He turned and gave a half-hearted thumbs up, seemingly more focused on getting his breathing under control which Roman understood. Even without aura, the man was a beast.

"How's everyone else? If you feel like you're about to faint or, better yet, collapse and die, do so now and not in the middle of a fight." It looked like one or two of his men took his sarcastic remark a little too seriously. As the others chuckled at his admittedly decent joke, two of his men promptly fell backwards and onto the floor.

Roman promptly pinched the bridge of his nose. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me…" Two more of his men went over to the down pair to make sure they were okay. He wasn't sure if he was revealed or disappointed that they weren't both dead.

"TORCHWICK!" He was brought out of his thoughts by the shrill and panicked voice of Emiko. He snapped his gaze over a little quicker than usually, only to see the young girl sprinting at him with misty eyes.

"Emiko?!" Tsutomu answered before he could. The larger man ran up to him as Emiko began to talk.

"It's Takeo! We found what we were looking for but one of The Barron's men attacked him! He told me to run and get help but I'm not sure how long he'll last!" Torchwick cursed and turned away. He paced a bit with a contemplative look on his face before he snapped his gaze to Tsutomu.

"Go reinforce him! Hanako and Isao should be done right about now so I'll be able to handle everything on my end. Just get a move on! GO!" Tsutomu didn't hesitate and started sprinting in the direction Emiko came from, just hoping that he would make it in time.


With a cry, Takeo swung his arms, hoping to carve apart the woman attacking him but he only met air. He heard a foot hit the ground to his right and he leaped into the air, twisted and brought down his bladed hand before kicking a foot out for good measure. Once again, he missed. There was a tap on his shoulder and Takeo spun on his heels, his blades whistling as they cut through the air. Once again, hit blades met no resistance, void of their intended target.

"So close yet so far away…" And there was that voice, that constant mockery that kept him on his toes. It hurt to admit it but it was getting to him. Every jab, every failure to hit his opponent, every mocking laugh, it was slowly chipping away at him.

He whirled around, a kick aimed high hoping to knock the lights out of the woman mocking him but just like the other attempts, he missed. Suddenly, he felt weightless as he was thrown into the air, his feet being swept out from under him. He hit the floor but recovered quickly, rolling to somewhat absorb the impact before springing up to his feet.

"Am I over here?" The voice came from his left and Takeo promptly swung his blade in the general direction but he stumbled when a fist impacted his stomach and forced him back.

"Or perhaps over here?" He whirled and slashed downwards but was only met with a foot kicking up into his face after he had once again missed his target. The woman laughed hysterically, her voice seemingly coming from every direction as it echoed off of the walls.

"Poor boy… You can't even touch me…" A foot crashed into his head, causing him to stumble before another kick hit the other side of his head. His feet were then swept out from under him and he hit the ground. The woman giggled as she approached.

"You're so far out of my league… You can't even realize it, despite how obvious it is." Out of nowhere, Takeo snapped his arm out and managed to catch the woman off guard, his blade pierced her leg and she jumped back with a pained cry.

He jumped to his feet and rushed the woman, who had become visible once more. Despite her injury, she was still able to avoid most of his attacks but the pressure he was outputting didn't allow her to vanish and escape. With a snarl he lunged with a downward slash but while his blade missed, the abruptness of the attack caught her off guard and he managed to tackle her.

The two of them crashed into a file cabinet, with Takeo being protected from the impact due to his position on top of her. He plunged a blade down, aiming to skewer her but she craned her neck to the side and his blade missed, impaling the floor beside her. He tried to pry his blade free but wasn't able to.

The woman caught on to his plight right as Takeo slammed down his other hand, this time with a slash to avoid stabbing into the floor. She managed to roll to the side, the only damage from the attack being a small lock of hair getting cut but she was otherwise unharmed. He threw his hand to the side, attempting to nick her but she jumped back in time. To his dismay, she smirked smugly before she once again vanished into the surroundings.

He returned his focus back to the blade still trapped into the floor and pulled with all his might but to no avail, the blade felt like it had been welded to the floor. He tried to deactivate his quirk but he felt his hand twist and burn with pain as the narrow space crushed his hand. He reactivated his quirk, his forearm re-morphing into a blade before to much damage could be done.

"How eager you were…" The woman spoke, before a foot crashed into his side, Takeo grit his teeth from the pain but couldn't stop a yell when she stomped on his back, forcing him against the ground. "It's almost cute really…" She smirked and giggled.

Takeo threw his free arm back but the woman caught it and pulled. The cracking of his bones filled his ears and pain erupted as his arm was dislocated. The woman let go, the limb painfully falling to the floor, limp. That pain increased three fold when she slammed a foot into his right forearm. The blade snapped and it felt like his arm had been severed.

The woman then kicked him in the side once more and he felt something crack, before he was in the air. For a few seconds all he felt was blinding pain from several points in his body, before he crashed into a file cabinet, tipping it over and allowing it's contents to spill out onto the floor. He groaned with pain as he somehow tried to push him self up but every movement he made only lent him searing white hot pain.

In the end he managed to roll himself onto his back only to grimace as the woman seemingly materialized in front of him as if from nowhere but he knew she was there all along. He didn't know what her quirk was, only that she could use it to vanish from sight. He glanced at the papers spilled on the floor around him and with a bit of hesitation, brought his right arm upon them before scraping his broken blade along the ground.

"What are you…? Wait! STOP!" The woman rushed forward and managed to slam her foot over his arm but it was too late. Sparks flew up from the ground where Takeo scrapped his blade and by sheer, utter luck, one of them found their way onto the papers, igniting them. What was in the beginning just a small ember, soon turned into a blaze as the fire quickly spread.

She stepped away from him and started stomping on the papers, hoping to stop the fire before it could spread but it was no use. Using the distraction for what it was, he shoved himself to his feet before slamming his dislocated arm into the wall next to him. Unbearable pain flared but with grit teeth, he managed to weather it just long enough to pop his arm back into place.

With that, he rushed forward and slashed the woman across her back while she was preoccupied. She shrieked and stumbled back with wide eyes, before her skin changed color. Takeo's eyes widened when he figured it out. That was her quirk. She was never vanishing into thin air or going invisible, she was blending in with the dark room. Thanks to the fire, there was just enough illumination for him to see her regardless of what she did.

She seemed to realize this and her air of confidence evaporated, her eyes widening even further. Internally, Takeo smirked and with a roar, lunged forward. The woman backpedaled as he attacked her and while she managed to avoid his attacks by a hair's breath, she didn't take any opening to regain her lost footing, only continuing to fall back and back.

Takeo slashed at her with his left hand but she just barely managed to dodge it, her back hitting the wall as she did so. She panicked and he pounced, driving his left arm forward once more. She froze up and just managed to raise her right hand. His bladed hand pierced her flesh and a blood curdling scream escaped her throat.

"You said you'd enjoy breaking me…" Takeo spoke in a low tone, his eyes piercing straight through hers. "But I'm the one who broke you…!" With that, he raised his right arm, which was still morphed into a snapped blade and promptly pierced her throat.

Her eyes widened as a few choking gasps replaced what was frantic breathing a moment before. Her eyes looked down at the sword in her throat with fear. She brought her only available hand up and clawed at the sword in a vain attempt to save herself, to no avail. Slowly, her choking breaths grew faint, her frantic clawing slowing, before her arm slumped. Takeo watched as the light left her eyes, her whole body going limp as she died. The only thing keeping her from falling was him.

Despite the pain and his exhaustion, Takeo breathed evenly. A moment later, he sliced his sword through her hand, freeing his blade and flickering warm blood over the ground. Then he withdrew his right hand from the woman's throat and some blood sprayed onto his clothes as her slowly cooling body hit the floor with a thump.

Takeo tensed as the only sounds being his breathing and the slowly dying fire behind him were joined by the faint rushing of heavy foot falls. He turned and got into a stance, only for the door to burst open, revealing the large and familiar form of Tsutomu.

"Takeo!" He shouted as he entered the room, only to freeze at the carnage.

His eyes gazed over the state of the room. Several file cabinets were knocked over and many of the papers that were held within were spilled over the floor with a good portion of them on fire. They'd have to hope that the ones that were destroyed weren't too important. Then his eyes wandered to Takeo and he grimaced. While his mask was still intact, it was barely hanging on. Even the slightest touch looked like it might have shattered the mask. His clothes were ruffled and singed.

Tsutomu's eyes widened when they landed on Takeo's arm and the snapped half of it. He rushed forward and got there just in time to prevent Takeo from falling over. He caught him and gently lowered the man to his knees.

"God damn… You really made a mess of all of this huh?" He spoke. His answer was an incredibly weak punch to the shoulder, causing Tsutomu to chuckle. It wasn't much but his presence seemed to reassure the masked man.

Then his eyes wandered to the body behind Takeo and he grimaced. Blood was basically everywhere and her expression was permanently frozen into one of frantic terror. 'Well… I guess it was a good thing that Emiko wasn't here to see this…'

"I know Emiko told us already but you did find what we needed right?" Takeo only gave a thumbs up before pointing at the scattered papers and still standing file cabinets both. The fire had basically died down by now, only embers and ashes remaining. While a good chunk of the scattered papers had been destroyed, there was still a large amount untouched by the fire, not to mention the scattered papers were only a small amount of all of the document's in the room.

"You did good Takeo… You did good." He felt the man slump against him. Tsutomu slightly pulled up his mask and quickly held up a hand in front of his mouth. While quiet, the man's breathing was even and calm. Tsutomu smiled softly as he carried Takeo away from the corpse and the burned papers, before setting him down by the wall and letting him rest.

"You did good…"


"Calm down kid. He'll be fine." Roman spoke to Emiko, who was still fretting over her friend. It had been a few minutes since Tsutomu ran off and while he wasn't meant to come back, the EMP on the roof didn't allow communication for them either, meaning there wasn't really a way to check up on them. It was a risk but it hadn't yet proven to be a mistake.

Now then, once again, just like with Akira, Roman found himself in the very unfamiliar situation of reassuring someone who wasn't Neo. It was just a smidgen easier than it was last time but he still felt out of his element and incredibly uncomfortable. He lit a cigar and took in a drag to calm himself down. Luckily, Hanako was there to save him.

"Cheer up sis." She said, wrapping her arms around the younger girl from behind. The younger girl leaned into her sister, her warmth comforting her. "You know how capable he is. Besides with Tsutomu there, whoever he was fighting with won't stand a chance. You know that right?" Emiko sniffled and nodded once. She wasn't exactly crying but damn well if she wasn't close.

Isao and Hanako had finished up their job and had just come back with the men they had with them. A few of them were unconscious and the two of them had many small and superficial injuries, especially small cuts, splinters and bruises but they were still alright. Torchwick was just taking stock of the men he had and trying to calm Emiko down. Once that would be done, they'd head on to knock the man himself off of his high chair. He'd need to trust Tsutomu and Takeo to fend for themselves and despite not knowing the both of them for too long, he was confident in their ability.

"Alright! All of you listen up!" He said and all of his men turned to him, including Emiko who had calmed down enough to continue. "I'm going to be frank with you, when we started this job I wasn't expecting too many of you to get out of this. It's been a welcome surprise that you're all as competent as you've proven." A few of his men grumbled but in the end were satisfied that they'd proved themselves. Roman waited a few seconds for them to calm down before continuing.

"We're almost done and we're making good time. The Baron most likely knows that something is up but he most likely doesn't know what. The more we wait, the more likely that advantage is going to up and disappear so we're going to get a move on." He looked around and noted while many of them were tired, it wasn't so bad to the point they were hesitant to get a move on. Internally he snickered at himself. He'd never run with a formal crew this big and he felt like an Atlas Sergeant, barking motivation and orders at his goons. Oh the irony… But he supposed they deserved it. They weren't completely useless, unlike some animals.

"We're ready when you are boss!" Isao spoke up, resting his bat over his shoulder.

"Hell yeah! Let's kick this guy off his high horse and take it for ourselves!" Hanako also chirped in with encouragement. It was a little over the top but he noted it was on purpose as it seemed to cheer Emiko up further, if the small grin on her face was anything to go by.

Torchwick took a long drag of his cigar, before exhaling the smoke. He turned down the hallway in the direction of The Baron's office, tapped Melodic Cudgel against the ground and grinned as the rest of his men stood up behind him, preparing to start moving.

"Soon, I'll be on top again..." Roman muttered to himself as he started moving, the rest of his men doing the same.

.

.

.

"And I'll make sure everyone follows my lead… Or gets out of my way."


A/N: OwO. Is that the furry one? Or was that UwU? Uhh... Shit, okay umm just ignore that.

Anyways I want to thank all of you for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed. Despite the difficulty I had with getting this chapter off of the floor, once I was able to do that I really liked what I did with the chapter, especially Takeo's battle. There were a few different ways I could have done it but in the end, I feel like this one represents Takeo the best (And is just really badass.)

Now, one of you asked for a little summary about Roman's crew and some basic info about them such as quirks and looks. With nothing better to do, I don't have a reason not to plop one down. I won't describe their clothes since they were changed recently and I described them in "Chapter Eight: The Roman Candle" so just look there if you want clothes descriptions.

Tsutomu:

So the best way to describe Tsutomu appearance-wise is kind of like a mix of Banesaw (The White Fang Lieutenant that fought Weiss on the train in "No Brakes") and Hazel Rainart. He's about Roman's height, a little under at about 6.2 (1.88 meters) and he's buff. Really buff. Sadly, he has Saitama syndrome in the fact that he is bald, aside from a faint stubble he occasionally grows on his chin. He has a few scars on his face, nothing really big, just stuff like nicks from a blade.

His eyes are green and his skin tone is white, think of The Kingpin from Marvel just minus all the fat. He has a strength quirk right now but it's not "fully realized" yet so it's not all as it seems but that's all you need to know for now. His age is a little over 33, making him older than Roman in this fic and potentially older than canon Roman.

Takeo:

Takeo has shoulder length messy blond hair and amber eyes. He wears a mask over his face though so anything other than that? I'll leave to the imagination. The guy is the second shortest of the group at 5.8 (1.76 meters) and his quirk, or what it looks like his quirk is for now, is that his forearms can morph into blades of steel. That won't be all he can do in the future but that's it for right now. His age is in his early twenties, around 23.

Hanako and Emiko:

These two are literally Yang and Ruby now that I think about it except Hanako, while a protective big sister, isn't as angry or protective as Yang and while Emiko is a child, she is much more serious and mature than Ruby. At least when she needs to be.

Both of them are kind of carbon copies of the other, one is just older and the other is younger. Their hair are both the same shade of Purple Indigo but the styles differ. Hanako's is like a mix of Weiss Schnee's, Ilia Amitola and Pyrrha Nikos hairs. She keeps it in a high center ponytail but it's really neat.

Emiko throws her hair back and forth between two styles. Style number one is her old style, the one she had before her makeover. It's two twin pigtails that flow down to just below her chest. It's really similar to Neo's disguise during the Vytal festival. Style number two is that her hair is put into a neat braid that starts at the base of her neck and goes over her shoulder.

Their eyes match their hair btw. Emiko is 5.5 (1.67) while Hanko is 5.10 (1.82) If you're looking for body figures, Emiko is similar to Ruby in Volume 1 and Hanako is like Blake from the later Volumes since she's 19 while Emiko is 15.

Hanako's quirk has a heavy resemblance to Glynda Goodwitch's Telekinesis, even sharing the purple glow that covers objects being affected although Hanako's is much MUCH weaker. She's only be able to lift a few people/objects at most without too much strain. Ain't no goddamn way she's rearranging an entire cafeteria after a food nuke. Emiko's quirk is the ability to stretch and retract her limbs so she can also close in on herself like a turtle like Tatami Nakagame from Ketsubutsu Academy. Once again, both quirks are not fully realized just yet. These are just their "Basic forms" (God I feel like a Dragon Ball Super nerd using that wording)

Isao:

Have any of you played Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas? If you have, then you're familiar with the Tunnel Snakes and The Kings I hope. That's who I based his character looks around. His hairstyle has a pompadour resemblance, literally like the Tunnel Snake hairstyle from the games. It's jet black while his eyes are a dark blue. His age is 20.

His quirk is the ability to send attacks, objects, anything coming at him back at his opponent. He doesn't absorb the energy and uses it later like Adam or Yang does, he literally doesn't get damaged at all in the process and sends back the exact same attack with the exact same amount of power.

Originally, he was only able to redirect kinetic energy back at an opponent through direct or indirect (His baseball bat) contact but in the last chapter, he materialized a sort of field that reversed the momentum of anything that touched it. That's one example of a step up to the quirks I'm planning.

(Done)

Alright I hoped that helped you guys out for those that wanted a place to click back to. If I get asked, I will update this to also have their current "villain" outfits but not before. Aside from that, once again, I do hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. If anyone has anything to say: positive feedback, negative feedback (Still haven't gotten that btw and I'm tripping balls), questions or suggestions, feel free to let me know. I want to hear anything, anyone has to say.

With all of that said, I'll see everyone when the next chapter is ready.