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RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.
Chapter 17: The Acquirer
News sites all across Remnant ran the story. Forever Fall Forest was officially announced as a restricted space. No access to the forest. The only exemptions were given to the top-level huntsmen who stood a chance against the horde of Nyaraloths that had claim to the land. Each kingdom came through to help deal with the situation.
Atlesian drones and the military ensured that civilians steered clear, and that the Nyaraloths, hopefully stayed in the forest. Valean Huntsmen and Huntresses focused on trying to cull the Nyaraloth population in Forever Fall.
Vacuo and Mistral focused their efforts on the supply line. The major railway that runs through Forever Fall Forest is one of the primary supply lines to the kingdoms. Hundreds of thousands of tons of Dust, metal, fuels, other various goods, and more than a few passenger lines travel the rail every year.
With the Nyaraloths taking over the forest, and one of Remnant's major supply lines cut, Vacuo and Mistral sent ships and bullheads out to try to alleviate the problem.
Ruby reported what she had seen and showed her video to Ozpin once they returned to Beacon. Oz determined that she played no part in the problem other than being a passing observer. The fault lay with the Faunus in the cave. A Faunus no one knew.
Ruby had to serve detention with Glynda for the next week for running off despite orders to the contrary and Glynda was reprimanded for poor decision making, but other than that, nothing really came from the incident.
Everything fell into routine. You know, that's just kind of how it is.
Have you noticed that? Life is just a cycle. A repeating pattern that rarely changes. It will start with your once in a lifetime events, enter the day-to-day monotony, and maybe have some excitement. Then the cycle repeats. Though, it may not have the excitement. The thing is, that routine, that cycle, continues after death. Even for me, that is a cycle my day-to-day life follows.
And is that cycle that we got stuck in once more after the Forever Fall incident. Ruby and her team focused on classes, I focused on my investigation.
My investigation into Erebus Grimshaw, and Raven Branwen to a lesser extent, had hit a wall. A wall that I was just beating my head against. A wall that took me almost a month and a half to get through. A month and a half monotonous routine in both the living and the dead worlds.
How did I finally break through that wall?
A memory. I still beat myself up that I didn't put the pieces together sooner.
Earlier, I told you about how Ruby's father died. Taiyang Xiao Long was my clue. His soul I reaped, personally. So, it didn't click at first. But I remembered, his soul wasn't whole… and neither was his, now my, daughters…
DAMN IT! RUBY WAS A CLUE I SHOULD HAVE SEEN EVEN EARLIER!
Sorry, my own shortsightedness in that investigation still pisses me off. Even now I find things that would have helped sooner. But hindsight is twenty-twenty, or so they say.
Anyways, he was a clue that I had completely overlooked. So, I made my way into Paradise to speak with him. We had a rather pleasant conversation. First, he thanked me for saving and caring for his daughter, then he brought a few souls to me. The souls that he brought over were family of people who had died, but their souls hadn't come to Paradise. There were a good fifty or so souls that talked to me. The most I could promise was that I'd find them.
My first stop was Punishment. The majority of the 'missing' souls had wound up there. A few actually worked for me. With that all said and done, four were unaccounted. Speaking with a few of my Reapers informed me that these four missing souls were never collected.
I concluded that they were victims of Erebus Grimshaw. So, with the librarian's help, I found files on the four missing souls. Lo and behold, each file had the error that signified death by soul thief. Fortunately for me, there was a close living family to three of these souls. One of them was a father, another a wife, and the third a son. The fourth was the last of his line, and a real loner. No one alive would know him… probably.
"Hey Dad, Aunt War is here to see you." Keira interrupted my thoughts. "She's downstairs."
I followed my daughter downstairs. War smiled and beckoned me over.
"Hey, brother, how are you today?" War asked.
"I'm fine. You wanted to speak with me?" I responded.
"Indeed. I found something that you might find interesting. I think it pertains to the Grimshaw Case." War said.
"And that is?" I prodded her to continue.
"This." War produced a picture.
On the printed paper was an image of two women and, what appeared to be, a crow. One of the women knelt down, rather forcefully, before the other. The image blocked off the other two assailants, but I could see three hands on the kneeling woman. One on each of her shoulders and another on her outstretched hand. The other woman wore a red dress and had one arm stretched forward. On that arm was a white glove with distinctive Grimm-like red markings and a black webbing-like substance stretching from it to the face of the kneeling woman.
Now, if it weren't me viewing the picture, that is all that would've been seen. But there was an orb of orange-yellowish energy in the center of the webbing. An orange-yellowish energy that I instantly recognized as the energy of a soul.
"How long ago was this?" I asked.
"Eh, a few months? A year? Sometime between one and twelve months ago." War answered.
"And how did you get this picture?" I questioned.
"I took it." War answered.
"Why?" I questioned.
"It was an interesting scene. I would have interfered had Qrow not done so first." War answered.
"Ok, two things. How do you know Qrow Branwen and why were you there?" I interrogated.
"I've met with him… in disguise. And my reasoning for being there is my own." War retorted. "Does that help?"
"Yes. It gives me a couple leads." I replied.
"Cool." War said. "Now if you'll excuse me, there's an active war zone on Remnant right now and I want in on the action."
"Forever Fall?" I questioned, knowing the answer.
"Yep," War replied happily, turning to leave. "I'll see if Conquest or Famine want to go as well."
"Wait!" I called.
"Yeah?" War turned back.
"Take Keira as well. She could use the experience since I won't be training her today or tomorrow." I told her.
"Will do bro." War replied as she left.
"Don't call me bro!" I yelled after her.
After War left with my daughter in tow, I spoke with Ozark. Our conversation mainly boiled down to him helping me extract the image of the white and red glove from the picture War had given me. It ended with me sending him off to speak with the families of the three missing souls.
We departed at the same time. He went to wherever the first family he decided to speak with and me to Beacon academy. Well, first I had to stop by my office and grab a specific coin that I stored in my desk. It is a simultaneously valuable and worthless coin. The coin is about 11 grams and is just over one inch in diameter. It's made of brass, and has the faint signature of a soul on it. One side is stylized with two capital A's in a fancy script, one on top of the other. The forward leg of the top A intersects and extends to become the forward leg of the bottom A. The back side of the coin is printed with the year the coin was minted, a stylized picture of Remnant, and the words 'Not Legal Tender' across the bottom.
It would be very important for my goal. With the picture and coin in hand, I departed for Beacon. I guess fortune smiled on me when I arrived that day. No one saw me portal out of The Necropolis. It does slip my mind every so often. Fortunately, memory wiping mortals is pretty simple.
Anyways, with some direction, I found my daughter's dorm room. I knocked and a familiar looking blonde opened the door. Honestly, I was kind of struck back by how familiar Yang Xiao Long looked. I know I had recently spoken with her deceased father, but she looked more familiar than that. However, I put the thought out of my mind as I had more pressing issues to attend to.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"You can call me R. I'm here to speak with Ruby, my daughter." I answered.
Her eyes looked me up and down. More quizzically than anything else.
"Ruby, there's some guy claiming to be your dad and he wants to speak with you." Yang yelled into the room.
"Hey Dad." Ruby greeted as her half-sister moved deeper into the room.
"Ruby." I greeted while gesturing for her to follow me into the hall.
"Did you want something?" She asked.
"Obviously." I replied pulling out the image of the glove and coin. "There is a store in Vale that I want you to visit for me. It's called Archaic Acquisitions. Spelled A-r-c-h-a-e-a-i-c. Ask for James, have him find this and pay with this coin. Request an acquisition."
I gave her the picture and the coin.
"This isn't legal tender." Ruby said.
"It is for him." I replied. "The shop is somewhere near the docks."
"Why can't anyone else do it?" Ruby asked.
"War, Conquest, Famine and Keira are cleaning up the mess in Forever Fall. I have a meeting with… an old acquaintance, and your mother just doesn't like that establishment." I replied.
"Fair enough. We're heading into Vale tomorrow. I'll do it then." Ruby replied.
I nodded at her. We shared a hug before I left. I spent much of the rest of that day preparing for the meeting with an old acquaintance.
The next day, Ruby and her team found themselves in Vale proper.
"So, remind me again why we're here?" Blake asked, "we could be doing something more fun than this."
"With the Vytal festival coming up, exchange students will be arriving this weekend. The first ships should be here today and I felt it would be proper to welcome them to our school." Weiss responded.
"She wants to see the competition." Yang interpreted.
"And I have a shop that I need to find." Ruby said.
"What shop?" Weiss asked.
"That one." Ruby smiled, pointing at a building.
The sign overhead said Archaeaic Acquisitions. The windows showed nothing. The glass was tinted so that you couldn't see inside. Ruby led her team into the building.
"That's not how you spell archaic." Weiss muttered.
Inside was far more interesting. The walls were lined with weapons of all kinds. Shotguns, pistols, swords, polearms, etc. Ruby looked like she had entered paradise. Along each wall were benches, presumably for waiting. Some tables with assorted magazines were in front of the benches. A receptionist desk sat at the back of the room. An interesting rather catchy tune played throughout the store. Most interesting were the display cases.
Four pedestals, each topped with a clear case, stood in the middle of the room. One case had a pulsating diamond-like crystal in it. Another had a carved human skull and a strange pistol in it. The pistol had the symbol for infinity carved into the barrel, but the barrel itself was a solid tube. The third case contained the eyeball of some unknown creature. The fourth, and arguably, the weirdest, only held a plain black top hat, a black bowtie, and a black cane.
"What have you led us into, Ruby?" Yang asked.
"Apparently, Archaeaic Acquisitions." Ruby replied.
Blake took a seat. Weiss and Yang inspected the display cases. Ruby approached the desk. The only thing on the desk was an old clipboard and a small bell. Ruby heard Weiss gasp. Turning around, she saw Weiss inspecting the crystal.
"What is it, Weiss?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know, but it feels like a Dust crystal." Weiss answered. "Not one I've ever seen though."
Ruby turned back to the desk and rang the bell. The small ding rang longer and louder than it really should have. The other girls looked over to Ruby. The bell's tone died out and nothing seemed to happen. Ruby was about to turn when a portal opened overhead and a strange man fell out and landed in the chair behind the desk.
The chair spun slightly and the girls were able to get a good look at him. It took a moment but Ruby realized that he was the Faunus from the Nyaraloth cave.
The man was dressed in a black overcoat, camouflage green combat boots, black cargo pants, and a dark blue polo. Attached to his left thigh was a shotgun of some sort, a high caliber rifle was strapped to his back, and a pistol was holstered on his right hip. The only other thing of note that he was wearing was a gold chain that ended in one of his pockets.
More interestingly was the man himself. He had a long thin, most likely prehensile tail, and two-ish horns. That's the easiest way Ruby described it. His left horn curved up from his head rather naturally. The right horn was broken off about a quarter of an inch above his hair.
"Hello there and welcome to Archaeaic Acquisitions, for the right price, I'll get you anything. My name is James. How can I help?" The man greeted.
"You were the one who angered the Nyaraloths." Ruby accused.
"You know about that?" James questioned.
"I saw it. Don't know what happened to the emerald you took, but I do know about the Nyaraloths." Ruby answered.
"And what are you going to do about it?" James questioned, pulling out his pistol.
"Nothing." Ruby admitted.
"Wait, he's the reason for Forever Fall being restricted?" Weiss queried.
"Yes." Ruby confirmed.
"Yeah, it was a happy accident." James spoke.
"A HAPPY accident?" Weiss asked in disbelief. "You've cut one of Remnant's major supply lines, how is that happy?"
"I never said it was happy for everyone. It is for me though." James answered with a sinister smile. "With the supply line cut, there are more people who need an acquirer."
"Ruby, if you know this, why don't you do anything?" Blake asked.
"Well, Catnip, she does nothing because she doesn't have hard proof it was me." James interjected. "Besides, even if you did, I doubt anything would be done about it."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yang asked as Blake stiffened slightly.
"Simple, I'm James Archaea Widget, proprietor and acquirer of Archaeaic Acquisitions. The ruling elite wouldn't want me behind bars." James answered.
Blake gulped.
"Now, what are you girls here for?" James questioned. "Because, obviously you didn't come here to accuse me of crimes I may or may not have committed."
"We're here to request an acquisition." Ruby replied.
"Really, Short stack?" James asked incredulously. "You got the money to pay for one? Cause you look like you don't. If anyone did, I'd say it would have to be Checkbook here."
Ruby turned to see him pointing at Weiss.
"Hey." Weiss said.
"I was told to give you this." Ruby handed the man the coin.
"How did you get this?" He asked, pulling the coin over to him.
He squeezed the coin in his hand. A small gray light emanated from between his fingers.
"I gave this to the fourth horseman years ago. How did you get it?" He asked, leaning closer to Ruby.
He stared deeply into her eyes. He smiled as he saw what he was looking for.
"Well, Reaperling. It would seem that the Fourth Horseman favors you." He spoke. "What is it he requests. Fair warning, it still has to follow all the rules of acquisitions."
"The rules of acquisitions?" Yang asked.
"Yes indeedy, Goldilocks. The rules of acquisitions." He affirmed as he pulled out a rather thick packet of paper. "All laid out right here."
"That's a lot of rules…" Yang whimpered.
Weiss, who was skimming through the papers, spoke up. "Actually, this is the full contract. The rules of what constitutes an acquisition are rather slim."
"Acquisitions are simply non-sentient tangible objects." James said. "The rest of the contract is more about payment and the consequences of not paying."
"What's included in there, Weiss?" Ruby asked.
"Half payment up front, you pick up the acquisition when he gets it, or ten percent of the full agreed upon price is added to your remaining outstanding balance. After a full one hundred percent is added, you have till the end of the month or the acquisition is forfeit to the Acquirer." Weiss read as she worked her way through the contract.
"Is that really what it says?" Blake questioned.
"It's more complicated, but I assume she's translating the legalese." Widget replied.
"So, the coin?" Ruby asked, turning back to said coin on the desk.
"Ah, yes. You're in luck. This coin is basically a one time free acquisition voucher. Full payment up front, I don't get the acquisition, you get the coin back." James explained. "However, all other rules must still be followed. Understand?"
"Maybe." Ruby answered. "Weiss?"
"The fine print checks out. Question, can you get information?" Weiss asked.
"I can… don't usually though. Information isn't usually a tangible object. If you want information on a USB or something, that's more my alley. Otherwise, I'd suggest an information broker." He explained. "Why? You interested?"
"Just curious." Weiss responded. "You didn't really say in your contract."
"Sure, I did. A tangible non-sentient object. Information by itself isn't exactly tangible, Checkbook." James responded. "Now, Reaperling, what is it the fourth horseman wants me to acquire?"
"This… glove." Ruby said, putting the picture on the desk.
James smiled as he picked up the photo.
"Well, you're in luck. I think I've actually seen this glove before." James said after a minute. "Sign the dotted line and I'll be on my merry way. Guaranteed acquisition in one week."
The acquirer held out a pen.
"Ok." Ruby said, taking the pen.
She took the contract from Weiss and skimmed through it. When she was satisfied that nothing would damn her, she signed the contract. James nodded and took both the pen and contract.
"Would it be better if I contact you or the fourth horseman?" He asked.
Ruby hesitated. "The fourth horseman."
"As you wish." James replied, taking the contract.
"Before you go," Blake spoke up.
James turned. "Yes?"
"What kind of Faunus are you?" She asked.
"That's a rather rude question, don't you think?" James retorted. "But to answer it, I'm a goat."
"Goats don't have long tails… do they?" Yang whispered, mostly to herself.
"No, they don't. This is a result of genetic experimentation from an old friend of mine." James answered, "Now, goodbye."
He stood up, and pointed at the wall behind him. He moved his hand in a circle and a portal opened up on the wall. He stepped through and the portal closed behind him.
"We should go." Blake said, rather shaken from the ordeal.
Blake all but forced them out of the building. She breathed a sigh of relief when they were a good distance away from Archaeaic Acquisitions.
"What's wrong, Blake?" Ruby asked.
"How do you know that guy?" Blake interrogated.
"My dad wanted him to find something. I don't personally know him, I'm still a bit confused on who he is. Why?" Ruby asked.
"I… I know some people who've worked with him before." Blake answered. "He's one of the most prolific thieves in the black market. When he says he'll get you anything, he means it. He has a reputation in the underworld for a reason. No one dares to cross. I've been told that if he declares you his enemy, then the black market declares you as the enemy."
"He doesn't run a gang or anything, does he?" Yang asked.
"Not that I know of." Blake said. "Admittedly though, I don't know much. But whatever your dad wanted him to acquire, he'll get it."
"That'll make Dad happy." Ruby muttered.
"Perhaps it would be best if we returned to scouting out the competition." Weiss said.
"SHE ADMITS IT!" Yang shouted in triumph.
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Data Log DoD-017
If you're curious, the music that plays in Archaeaic Acquisitions is Marble Forest from The Binding of Isaac: Antibirth.
Thank you to all who read this, your feedback and views are much appreciated. Feel free to leave ideas and recommendations for the future.
Goodbye viewer; Fare thee well.
End Log S.T.K.