Disclaimer: Brotherhoof12 does not own Spider-Man or RWBY.
Chapter 32: Tryouts and Testing, Part 2.
"I wonder what else they'll try and throw at us." Jaune asked his friend. Both teens were walking off of the field after finishing another successful day of tryouts. "Harry?"
"Uh?" Though finally paying attention, Harry remained quiet, thinking about what to say to Jaune's answer. "I'm not sure, really; maybe something involving Flash and his mouth breather friends doing their best to trounce us to the ground."
"Oh, man!" Jaune chuckled when he remembered something funny, "The look on Flash's face when he saw you outrunning his team or when I did a flip over his head when he and that other guy tried to tackle me on both sides!"
This was the third day of testing to see who could be eligible for the football team, and so far, both Jaune and Harry are the two most likely to join.
There are other students who showed potential and great promise, too. Yet compared to Harry and Jaune, it would be hard for the rest of the guys trying to compete to have their hopes of ever getting picked.
"Or how both of them couldn't stop from how fast they were running, causing both to crash face to face." Osborn Jr. never thought he would see day when their local bully would meet his match, and that it was Jaune, of all people, who was showing up Flash at football.
"I can't wait to tell Gwen tomorrow! She's going to love this!"
"She's working with that professor as an assistant, right?" The boy with the combed shade of red hair asked.
"I forgot who it was, but I'm sure she'll hear about it from the other kids. I mean, we made everyone total chumps today!"
Bobbing his head to show that he agreed with what Harry said; Jaune felt something build up inside of him that he thought he would never feel.
Vindication.
'Also confidence, can't forget about confidence.'
"I had my reservations about doing this, Harry." Said reservations were stopped when a girl with a red hood was telling him otherwise, "But now? I can honestly get into the whole sports craze."
"I'm glad to hear that," Jaune could hear some wavering in Harry's tone but decided to not call him out on it. "Guess my idea worked, you know, with me trying out for the team. And you! Wow, the way you moved around those guys was phenomenal. Don't even get me started on your little fan group! I remember that the Goth girl didn't say a word when Gwen and I were talking to her, but the short one's new!"
"Oh, come on, Harry!" He tried to fight down his blush when his friend mentioned Ruby and Blake. "Blake is Blake. She was mostly getting dragged along by Ruby. That short girl you saw? She's the leader of an all Huntress team."
Ruby and Blake seemed to make a habit now of showing up to Jaune's after school practice. So much so that it seemed to make an effect to the guys who never saw a huntress so cute before trying harder when playing.
Sadly, they ended up falling behind in performance whenever Jaune stepped out onto the field, causing Ruby and sometimes, Blake, to cheer when they see him play.
"Ruby just wanted to see what I was doing. After seeing me dominate today, I think she'll come back to see more!"
Though both girls did come along and visit, they sadly didn't stay for long, not wanting to push their luck testing their teacher's already trying patience. Though, Ruby did promise that she'd always come and watch him play after school. Blake promised as well, but it felt a bit odd since Jaune notice her eyes were always following him, even when he wasn't playing.
'Hope she isn't planning to pull me aside to ask me about Spider-Man. It always feels weird talking to me about "me" with her.'
"So, an all huntress team," Jaune's friend placed his thumb and finger over his chin. "They kind of look like an idol group to me. Hey, now that I think about it, I remember that a group of huntresses were fighting a giant robot on a highway. You think they go to Beacon too?"
"Uh, no, I can't really say for sure if they go to Beacon." The spider hero made a fast answer to divert the topic away from team RWBY's actions. "You're overthinking things. There's like, over a thousand Huntsmen going through Vale doing whatever mission they signed up for. What are the chances of ever meeting them?"
"Hmm, I do remember watching the news about people seeing girls wrecking the highway. It's kind of hard to know what's real and what's fake, you know how people tend to stretch the truth a bit too far."
"Yup, Ruby and Blake just have those faces." Jaune played it off as best as he could. "It's been what, more than two months and a half now? People's attention spans are starting to get shorter and shorter these days. They'll talk about it one day and the next they'll be talking about the newest thing, like Spider-Man!"
"Or maybe Sandman," The rich teen pointed out another high rising person of interest. "That's a person nobody is definitely going to forget. The man could literally turn himself into a sandstorm and a sand monster for crying out loud. That, Jaune, is a cool supervillain!"
'You wouldn't be saying that if you were the one Sandman was knocking around like a ragdoll.'
Jaune remembered the beatdown Sandman gave him after stopped him from robbing that bank. He was someone with so much versatility in his abilities that Jaune wasn't sure if he could have beaten him. He was lucky to have landed near a construction site with an abundant amount of cement to use.
"But let's get back on topic. With how well we're playing, I have no doubt we'll be picked to be part of the team." Jaune felt pride at his words. "Harry, you were right about trying football. This can definitely help us in the long run."
"You're totally welcome, Jaune." Again, Harry sounded like he was having a hard time speaking what he truly felt. "Jaune, can I ask yo-"
"Sorry, Harry," The teen hero had to stop his friend from speaking when his scroll vibrated in his pocket. Seeing the caller I.D., Jaune gave Harry an apologetic look. "I got to take this, you go on ahead. I'll see you tomorrow, see you later!"
Separating from his friend right when Harry was about to say something, Jaune Arc doubled back to the now empty football field.
With no signs of life other than himself, Jaune got back on his scroll.
"Hey, Whitley, sorry I had you wait, needed to get away from my friend. Anyway, what's the update?"
"Jaune moves to the left!" Jaune, now in his hero costume, mimicked the technique he saw at practice today.
"Jaune gets ready for the throw!" Setting his arm way back, he flung the ball high in the air so far that it was getting harder to spot in the night sky.
"The football is coming down!" Using his enhanced leg muscles to sprint to where the ball was going to land. Spider-Man reached the point where the ball was heading; he twisted his upper body, put both hands in front of his face, and caught the football with no worry of losing his grip thanks to his adhesive skin.
"It's good!" Doing a silly dance to celebrate his pretend win, Spider-Man tossed ball in the air and caught it before doing the process over again.
"Today is going by way better than I thought." The arachnid hybrid said as he kept tossing the ball up and down. "I don't suck at football, Flash looked like an idiot every time I played, Ruby was visiting and rooting for me, with Blake in tow too, and best of all, Whitley called!"
'And the best part of all this. Is that it's not really hurting anyone, I'm just playing football!'
Yes, today things were looking up for Jaune, his hopes getting higher when his friend from Atlas called.
'Mercury Black,' Jaune remembered what Whitley told him through the scroll, 'The Son of Marcus Black. The man was a notorious and skilled assassin, usually hired for jobs ranging from single hits to mass killings. Now, it looks like his son has followed in his father's footsteps. Don't ask me where his father, because I can give you two theories and neither of them end with the man still being alive. My personal opinion, the guy looks like a total douche.'
"Not the start I wanted, but it's still a start."
'As For the girl with the green hair,' Jaune recalled the information regarding the second person of interest. 'I've been finding several reports on Petty theft across the kingdoms and the only one that I can link to her was one in Mistral, about a year ago. Not much I can get, other than the fact that she was well acquainted with the law since her first mug shot, which was taken when she was 13. Personal note, she seems like the desperate type.'
"So, I got a professional assassin's son and a master thief that's the same age as me." Spider-Man summarized the two goons Cinder has. "As for Cinder…"
'Nothing,' Was what Whitley told him. 'I'm not one to brag, Jaune, but I'm literally one of the smartest people on Remnant. I have a computer that can give me a wide search across every single known data server in the four kingdoms, yet it can't find a single bit of evidence to show that this woman even exists. This Cinder is a complete mystery. She's practically a ghost.'
"Meh, two out of the three isn't so bad." He shrugged his shoulders.
'Even if I do get some small chatter about someone looking like her, she was probably using fake aliases, maybe even falsified records. The other two were easy since they both had a huge paper trail. I don't know why, but I feel like there's something bigger going on with these three. That's all I have, but I'll call again as soon as possible. Take care, and be careful, Jaune.'
Saying that last piece, the rest was just Jaune getting back home, telling his Aunt the news about joining Football, hugs and kisses being his Aunt's reply, and the rest is just him doing his natural hero route.
"Ok, time to drop the day dreaming." He said, placing the football back into his backpack which also held his emergency clothes and camera accessories. Spider-Man tossed the pack off the building, shot a web that caught the bag and attached it to the side of the wall.
Tip-toeing on the ledge, he made a nose dive halfway till he shot a webline to another tall sculpture that slowed his fall and glided his way through the streets.
"Harry did say he was using his natural talents. Technically, I do have spider DNA, ergo it's completely natural talent."
It wasn't cheating compared to those who take supplements or tamper with equipment. No, what Jaune has isn't the usual foul play, not in his mind anyway.
Shooting two lines at two towers, he pulled the string to make him go higher in the air and made another dive.
"Alley - oop!" Upon reflex, Spidey grabbed a hold of a flag pole that was sticking out the ode of a random business structure.
Making a couple of twirls he let go after the fifth cycle launching him straight down another street. Gaining more motion by swinging web from web, Spider-Man was making his usual rounds near banks and late-night store when his spider sense began to tingle.
"Hmm, Survey says," Guided by his danger detection, he found his answer to be a bank that was currently being robbed, "Bank robbery! Dang, I was really hoping for a convenience hold up. I could string up the baddies, while also buying a coffee and hotdog, not the same as a hotdog stand, though I can't complain when I'm hungry."
'Is it the White Fang? They can't already be hitting something this big so soon. Maybe A.I.M again? Nah, Whitley said they mostly go for technology, so I'm sure they're not hurting when it comes to their pockets. Leaving the culprit to be…'
"...Sandman?"
To the webslinger's shock, it was indeed Sandman who had walked out of the bank's entrance. The criminal was holding four heavy bags filled with Lien. Jaune then focused his eyes and saw that some jewelry was sticking out of Sandman's body, making him look like a poor representation of a crude ornament.
'He's free? How?! Last time I checked I turned him into a terrible looking statue.'
Not being the only one to arrive at the crime scene, most likely from the bank silent alarm being set off. Two cop cars near the area sped through the street, stopped right in front of the bank, and a pair of cops from each of the two cars greeted the thief with pistols aimed right at him.
'Oh, geez, please, don't do the usual cop routine with a guy like this.'
"Freeze! Drop the bags and put your hands up!" An officer screamed from the car to Flint Marko's left.
'Called it.'
Not even putting up a fight, the man that can turn into a sand monster dropped his bags of loot and complied with the authorities.
Feeling brave, the two cops walked away from their car and approached the robber, all while still having their guns aimed dead center at his chest.
"That is so not a good idea," Even before his spider sense went off, Spider-Man jumped from where he was watching; ready to stop the two officers from walking to their doom.
THWIP! THWIP!
Shooting two weblines on their backs, he tugged with enough power to pull both fully grown men off their feet and away from Sandman.
And Just in the nick of time, too, if both cops had taken one step too close toward Sandman, they would've been on the receiving end of two large, pointy spikes made of sand that emerged from underneath the solid concrete sidewalk.
"Called it... Again," Spider-Man said out loud as he put the cops back to their feet. 'He must've distracted them long enough for his sand particles to dig deep enough to set up that trap.'
"Open fire!" Thankful to see their brothers in blue had been saved, the remaining officers still next to their own car opened fire on Sandman.
The sudden barrage just set Sandman off even more, as each bullet kept passing right through him, with some hitting the jewelry imbedded within his body. Now recognized as a threat, Flint raised his right arm and formed a sand wall dense enough to absorb the ammo being fired at him.
Using his left arm, Flint morphed it to become four tendrils having each grab a bag. Guns obviously not slowing him down, the black suited hero turned to one of the officers he saved.
"Call for backup, but not to stop him, just to secure this street from any curious civilians." He requested. "I can stop him, but I can't save people if Sandman decides to take hostages. Please, you have to trust me."
Taking their chances helping a vigilante, rather than dealing with a near invincible creature, the cops called for backup to cordon off the street.
"Thank you, seriously, I appreciate it." He said gratefully before shooting a long webline.
"What are you going to do?" One of them asked.
"I don't see any cement nearby, so I'm going to have to improvise." Spider-Man answered. "Oh, also, please don't blame me for what I'm about to do. Okay, thank you, bye!"
Swinging above Flint, Spider-Man couldn't help but do his usual introduction. Swinging low enough to be within hearing range, Spider-Man called out to Flint who seemed to not even notice the man who put him behind bars was right next to him.
"Hey! Sandy, how's it going? Haven't seen you in a while, been up to no good lately?" Spider-Man taunted, trying to get a rise out of the criminal so he could stop running and fight him long enough for the police to arrive.
Completely ignoring Spider-Man's existence, Flint kept his pace as Spider-Man followed suit.
'This is new.' Usually, people would try to ignore his ramblings, only to give up in the end and acknowledge. But Flint was the first one to stick to his guns and just walk away from Spidey's trash talking. 'I guess this is what it feels like to ignore Flash when he trash talks about me. Oh my god! Does this mean... have I become the bully?!"
The wall-crawler thought about it then shook his head, 'Nah!'
Speeding ahead of his enemy, the spider powered hero stopped in front of Sandman and began to make a large web wall to cut off his route.
"There," Spider-Man finished his work as the thick web net held strong. "This should stall him."
Then just to prove him wrong, Sandman morphed the lower-half of his body into extremely long sand-made stilts, walking over the wall of web with ease and continuing on to leave the crime scene.
"Dang it, I should have seen that coming. I forgot slapstick cartoon traps won't work on someone like him." Refusing to give up, Spider-Man went back to his default plan and began to trash talk some more. "You know, I like to think you're running away because you're afraid of me! Or else you would have already turned around to fight me by now!"
Finally stopping to acknowledge the pest, Sandman morphed himself to shift his front to his back, so he can now face Spider-Man.
"Oh, hey, now you're paying attention to me!" Spider-Man cheered only for his spider sense to warn him of imminent danger. "Oh, dang!"
Unleashing a dozen sand tendrils from his body, all of them shaped like spikes and many blunt objects, Sandman effortlessly controlled each limb individually as they relentlessly tried to kill their sole target.
Acting on body reflex, Spider-Man dodged and swerved from each strike that was aimed to kill.
"Spike!" The wall crawler called out what he dodged.
"Baseball bat!" He ducked when a sand-made baseball bat tried an overhead sweep attack.
"Buzzsaw?!" Arching his back, the circular blade didn't even nick his mask as Spidey perfectly timed his movement.
'I can't just keep moving away from these things. I need to start attacking, or else I could get overwhelmed.'
Weaving in between the tendrils, going so far as to even strike some of the attacks that were too close for his comfort, Spidey began his counterattack. Then, just as he was about to hit one shaped like a giant mallet, it suddenly sprouted out more tendrils.
'I'm too close to dodge them all!'
As he tried to attack some of the tendrils trying to grab him, the web head was soon captured once Sandman turned himself into a large sand wall which immediately collapsed onto him.
'Why didn't he do that from the start?' Spidey asked himself as he choked from the lack of air, struggling against the sheer weight of the sand hill slowly crushing him.
Morphing back into his human form, Flint Marko was pleased to find that he still retained all of the cash he had stolen and now had the satisfying bonus of Spider-Man trapped in his overly large left fist.
Shaking off some of the sand that clung to his mask, Spider-Man looked up to meet the stone cold glare of the Sandman, who now literally held the vigilante's life in the palm of his overly large hand.
"You caught me," Spidey sounded surprised. "First off, congrats, not a lot of people get to say that they caught the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man so easily. The next thing I want to say is please come quietly and wait for the cops to pick you up. Oh, yeah... you can also let me go, in that order or in reverse if you can!"
"Tch," Sandman clicked his tongue and gave Spider-Man a look of resentment. "Just leave me alone. I don't want to start breaking things just so you can take the hint that I don't want any trouble."
"I'm sorry," The hero tilted his head. "Did the part where you almost tried to impale two cops, not ten minutes ago, already escape your mind? Did stealing from another bank not cross your mind either? 'Cause I th- waaah!"
Raising his large sand fist above his head, Flint slammed Spider-Man head first into the solid road. He slammed the hero so hard into the ground that Spider-Man's legs were now the only visible part of his body, as the other half was now buried deeply into the ground.
"How in the hell do Roman, and that woman, take you seriously?" Flint asked, more to himself rather than the Spider who was currently impersonating an ostrich. Having already wasted enough time, Flint resumed his escape, leaving the planted hero all by himself.
"Mmpf...! Mmppfh...!" Using his legs as anchors, the spider themed vigilante unplugged himself out of the street. He then pulled his mask up to his nose and took deep breaths, trying to return as much oxygen as he can to his lungs.
"Okay, got to admit," Now feeling better, Spider-Man pulled his mask back down and got back on his feet. "This night is not going as awesome as I thought it would be."
'That last hit really stung,' He rubbed the top of his head. If he had been a normal person, there was a strong chance he'd be paste on the street, after taking a slap with such strong a force as displayed by Marko. The teen hero can see a Huntsman surviving that, but even then they'd probably get a severe concussion.
"Glad I'm just fighting him and not those freaks again." Suddenly, a thought popped into his head. "Now that I think about it, I don't see Emerald and Mercury tailing the guy. Does this mean he's going solo or that they're just busy with another job?"
'I should probably check out Beacon and start "Interviewing" Cinder and her team some more. Wait, no, I can't. I still have practice the rest of the week.'
"I'm beginning to see the downside of tryouts now." He sighed, the cold sensation of expectation meeting reality kicking in. "Welp, my nights ruined, so I guess it's time to wrap this up."
Swinging high into the air, Spidey shot another line to an apartment complex underneath him, pulled, and immediately placed himself on top of its roof. Scanning the roof, he found his much-needed tool for this job, which was a large water tank that had been bolted to the corner of the apartment's roof.
"Hope the super of this place isn't going to be mad about this!" Placing hands under the large tank, Spider-Man used his legs to do most of the lifting as he removed the large water tank from its hinges. "I'll bring it back after I'm done... or I'll just write an apology if I can't."
Careful so as to not lose any water, he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, hefting the tank on his back and quietly following Flint. The Sandman was still using the same street to try and get away from the cops.
'Lucky me, he hasn't noticed I'm tailing him. Otherwise, he would have turned into a sandstorm and turn this street into a beach.'
"Wait for it." Getting ahead of his target, Spider-Man stopped right where the street reached a four-way lane. "This should be good. Now, I just need enough time to stop him and a little bit more to keep him immobilized." He then readied his special dust-web web shooters, the same ones he used to capture sandman last time. "And pouring in three… two…"
Right as Sandman reached the stoplight, from out of nowhere, a stream of water began to pour in front of him.
THWIP! THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!
As the water was pouring down, the man made of sediment noticed that ice was beginning to form from the water, creating a crude yet solid wall of ice that blocked his escape route.
Forming a hammer with his fist to bust his way though, Flint stopped when he saw a large shadow envelop him and his surroundings. On reflex, he looked up and saw what was causing the shadow. It was a large opened water tank falling from the sky.
Unable to dodge in time, the watering tank completely trapped him, closing him off from everything. If it was just any regular trap, Flint Marko would have easily changed into his sand monster form and break it from the inside out. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't going to happen, as the remaining water within the tank was absorbed into his body, which was quickly becoming mud. It was now for the criminal to change his form into anything useful.
"I'll take this victory as a flawless end to this chase." Flipping from the top of the upside-down water container, the friendly neighborhood hero tapped his fist onto the steel material. "I measured the right amount of water in my head, so it shouldn't make you too soft, but also solid enough for you to still think straight."
'No death, no injury, and not even a large amount of damage to private property. Man, this night was way better than I thought it would be. I really shouldn't trust my imagination.'
"Oh, wait," Spider-Man rubbed the back of his neck in realization. "I wonder if they'll use an industrial vacuum, because I hope I can take this thing back to where I found it. Sure, everyone living there will be pissed to know they won't be having water for a while... super sorry."
'Oh my god, I forgot to take pictures of this! J.J would probably pay a bit more to see Sandman free and running from the cops, but I don't want to take any chances.'
"Speaking of chances," The sound of police sirens could be heard not too far from where he was standing. "I'm betting they're gonna take a chance at ordering me to surrender, so I think I'll just hit the old web-swinging trail and go home."
'Guess I should write that apology letter while I'm at it too.'
Some of the police officers that had arrived were told by the two cops Spider-Man saved what had happened. They reported that Flint Marko, alias Sandman, was seen exiting a bank with large bags of stolen lien in his hands.
What happened next was that they tried to arrest him, only to be saved by Vale's one and only vigilante/celebrity hero, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Following that, Spider-Man asked to have more reinforcements steer traffic and pedestrians away from the street Flint had been using. He didn't want any civilians to get hurt if things escalated.
It took more than ten minutes for the police to place several barricades so as to prevent people from entering that specific street. The officer in charge was none other than Captain Stacy, who had been coordinating the manhunt for Marko. The manhunt was called off once it was found that the local hero had finally subdued the super powered criminal.
"I came here expecting to see some mayhem like that highway incident," The captain of Vale's police force muttered as he watched his boys in blue figure out how to remove the huge container. "Instead, I was left blocking off roads and directing traffic for a 'fight' that ended just as we finished setting up."
The captain was angry that he had wasted time and valuable manpower, but it was for the best that it ended so soon.
"The higher ups might rip me a new one, but I can't really disagree with how well things ended."
"Two cops, somewhat bruised rather than dead, property damage that's honestly miniscule compared to that robot fiasco, and Sandman escaping only to be caught again is nothing short of a miracle."
'Maybe I should go home and get some sleep, Gwen always did say my job was going to give me premature grey hairs. Yeah, right, compared to her dealing with those hellions she calls kids, I'd rather deal with nutjobs in costumes then dealing with children that apparently start a mutiny every other Friday.'
His thoughts regarding Gwen's summer councilor job ended when he heard the sound of metal grinding against cement.
"What the hell are you doing!?" He shouted at several cops, half of whom have wrapped chains around Marko's make-shift prison, while the rest had fastened the other end to the fenders of three squad cars.
"Didn't I tell you to get on the horn and call for a crane!? Why are you doing this?" Capt. Stacy demanded of his fellow officers.
"The Crane won't be here for another hour, sir." One of the cops answered. "Thought we could try and get this thing loose before they arrive."
"Welp, guess I'll call Gwen to let her know she's going to eat dinner alone, again." Feeling like now was the right time to smoke, the Captain stepped away from the scene of the crime to take a small break. "Just make sure you don't spill him all over the streets!"
The captain blinked, realizing what he had just said. 'I know I need a vacation when I start saying stuff like that as though it's completely normal.'
"Yes, sir!" They all said in unison and got back to work.
"Okay, Jensen, just be careful when you put it in reverse!" A young, uniformed officer named Charles Palomo ordered in what he thought was a calm voice.
"Don't yell at me!" Replied a female officer named Katie Jensen as she revved the engine and put the gear in reverse.
"I'm not yelling at you, just trying to tell you to be careful when you go in reverse!" Palomo shouted, only time it was on purpose.
"You're both yelling!" Screamed a third policeman named John E. Andersmith, who was trying to play peacemaker between his friends.
But as the three officers bicker amongst one another, they failed to notice what was happening right underneath their feet. Small cracks began to form in the pavement, only to grow larger under the weight of the large reinforced steel tank. As the cracks grew, a minute amount of wet sand began to spill into the cement crevice.
"Guys, let's hurry up, I have a donut to eat that's still on my desk." A head popped out from the side window. "Seriously, it's glazed, I've been saving it for a week, and I don't want anyone else grabbing it."
"Shut up, Bitters!" Andersmith, Jensen, and Palomo shouted in unison.
The small wet sand was starting to dry after being exposed to the open air, giving Flint Marko a much clearer head to focus on what happens next. Not having enough sand particulates to manipulate, he couldn't go full frontal and take on so many cops.
Using as much mental power as he can muster, Marko found that his only option, which was also the safest, was to escape though the sewer system. Luck seemed to favor him tonight, for a sewer drain was just close enough for him to sneak away to, completely unnoticed by the bickering officers.
'Need…. To… escape…..' Willing his scattered mind back together, Flint slowly inched his way to freedom. 'Can't… waste… another second...'
Making it to the grate, he allowed his mass to thin out and fall between the steel bars, falling through to the sewer system, and landing on a pathway used by sanitation workers. Now free to summon the rest of his body, Sandman commanded the rest to follow, only for a new issue to be found. To his shock, the rest of his sedimentary body was still trapped in its new prison.
'Can't… take it all….' Gaining as much sand that he could control, Flint Marko had no other choice but to cut his losses and leave the rest of his sedimentary mass to the cops. 'This… is enough… need... more… sand to… get stronger.'
Slinking into the shadow of the sewers below, the Sandman once again escaped the authorities. What the cops on the street had thought was a defeated criminal they have safely contained was nothing but a decoy. Leaving half of the force behind to take care of the clean-up and traffic control, the remainder escorted 'Sandman' back to the prison on Ryker's Island, where they'll make sure to double the number of guards to protect his cell.
In the end, what they were guarding will have been all for naught. For while the attention the police was focused on recapturing Sandman, their single-minded focus on this task gave a certain group of people the perfect opportunity to help another criminal escape.
A new, more powerful threat was soon to emerge.
"Jaune," Aunt May sat across from her tenant, who was playing with his eggs. "Is something on your mind?"
"Huh?" Now paying attention to what she was saying, Jaune sat up straight and stopped messing around with his food. "Sorry, Aunt May, I was just thinking about what'll happen with school is all."
"Oh, you mean how you're trying to join the football team, right?" She remembered when he told her of his first practice, how he was practically bouncing as he told her how much fun he had. To see him act so excited about a sport made her proud, but she was still worried. "Is it too stressful?"
"No, no," Jaune truthfully said, having just recently endure a situation far more stressful than football. "Harry's trying out too, and he was the first one to consider the idea. Both of us are good at it, but I feel like if I do join, it'll just add to the ever-growing list of responsibilities in my life. Not to mention that I never really knew how fun it was playing a sport. I was mostly just there to help Harry look better compared to me. Now, I don't know if I should keep doing it."
As he spoke that part of the story, his mind grappled with the other half.
'Though what I'm saying is true. What's mostly on my mind is that I don't want to overwork myself to death. Plus, Ruby and Blake are watching me play and if I do decide to fail, miserably at that, I won't get picked. There's a small part of me that doesn't want to see Ruby upset that I didn't get picked. I would feel even more disappointed in myself if I let her down. I know being Spider-Man takes precedence, but with how financially secure I am, I should be able to at least not worry about some of my troubles, right?'
May was silent after listening to his explanation behind his feelings. Her answer to Jaune's dilemma was to get up from her seat, walk over behind him and to wrap her arms around in a hug. She had often done the same for Ben, when he had problems he couldn't solve.
"Jaune," She said with care. "Ever since we met you have always thought of others before yourself. You have a big heart and that's what made Ben and I so happy to have had you in our lives. I'd like to think that if we ever had a son, Ben and I would've been proud if he grew up to be just like you."
"Aunt May." Jaune felt comfortable being embraced by her. It reminded him of his own mother. 'I wonder how she and the rest of my family are doing? Darn it, don't ruin the moment, Jaune. Just enjoy this embrace.'
"It's okay to be selfish sometimes." She started to talk some more. "You're set up for a good college, have wonderful friends, and now you're doing so well at sports too. Jaune, I think you're just afraid to admit what you truly want to do with all these many good things in your life."
"Really?" He asked.
"I think you know what you have to do, Jaune. You're afraid that whatever decisions you make could affect everyone. Everything we do in life, no matter how big or small, are decided by choices. Even when it hurts like heck, you need to see your choices through."
"But Harry... I feel like if there is a chance he won't get picked because of me… he was more invested in football then me and I don't..."
"He's your best friend, Jaune. He can never blame you for a decision someone else made. " She reassured him.
"Yeah, I think I understand a little bit better now." He felt a little bit better after hearing May's speech.
He thought about her words, 'Aunt May's right. Before I met Whitley and everyone else, I always had a hard time juggling everything in my life, from School to work and even Spider-Man, just so I can maintain what little I had left of a stable life. That was then and now I have so many good things coming my way.'
"Thank you so much, Aunt May." Removing himself from her embrace, Jaune stood up and returned her kind gesture by hugging her.
"Any time dear," As she hugged him, Aunt May looked over to the kitchen clock and immediately pushed Jaune out of the embrace. "You need to go soon! The bus will be arriving in five minutes!"
"What..." Jaune froze than looked at the time. "We've only been talking for a few minutes!"
"Emotional breakthroughs always feel the longest, Jaune." Aunt May explained before she resumed eating her breakfast.
Gulping down the last of his breakfast, Jaune gave his surrogate Aunt a quick peck on the cheek, grabbed his school bag, and dashed to the bus stop, ready to start another day at school.
"Set! Hike!" Shouting for the match to begin, the captain of the football team, Flash Thompson, looked for the right time to throw the ball to one of his teammates.
In the corner of his left eye, Flash could see one of his teammates, another senior wearing a jersey with the number 45 printed upon it, who was half way to the visitor's goal. Feeling now was the right moment, Flash took a step back, reared his throwing hand back, and whipped his arm forward, performing a flawless throw right to his target.
Raising his arms in the air to catch it, player 45 caught the ball, turned his body around, and pushed his legs to the end zone. It was sure to be an impressive touchdown.
"Gaah! Oof!'
45 took only three steps before Jaune came out of nowhere and rushed him, tackling him to the ground. The downed player let out a disappointed wheeze as he dropped the ball.
"That's game!" The Coach shouted before blowing his whistle, ending the practice. the coach looked down on his clip board and then started to bark orders. "Good tackle, Jaune! That's the stuff I like to see!"
Removing his helmet, Jaune gave the man a lopsided grin. "Thanks, Coach." Extending his arm down to his fellow senior, Jaune pulled him back on his feet and tapped his shoulder. "Good game."
"I should say that to you." Player 45 complimented, not holding any grudge for being tackled to the ground. "Nice take down, Jaune, didn't know you had it in you."
"Thanks." Jaune tapped his helmet with that of his fellow senior's. Jaune walked back to the bench to rest before he was called out to play again.
"Jaune, you did awesome!" He heard Ruby praise from the stands. The young wall-crawler turned in his seat and waved at her.
"Thanks, Ruby!" Jaune's eyes roamed to Ruby's right to look at the second person who came to visit him at practice, "And, uh, hello to you too, Blake!"
"Jaune," The bow wearing Huntress-in-training greeted, politely nodding at the blonde high school student.
After waving at them in greeting, Jaune rose from where he was sitting and walked over to them. After climbing a few steps, the young football player found himself standing next to the girls.
"Wow, Jaune. The way you stopped that guy so quickly was amazing!" For some reason, Jaune swore that he saw stars sparkling around Ruby's grinning face. Maybe that tackle hurt him more than it did the other guy.
"Thanks, I'm just trying to get back into the groove of things," Jaune scratched his left cheek. "I was kind of fumbling from the beginning, but after a few plays I think I'm getting the hang of it."
It was a lie; Jaune knew this, since all he'd been doing since try-outs began was to try and make himself out to look like a bad player. He knew that people would start to get suspicious if he just suddenly got worse out of nowhere. That is, until he had his talk with Aunt May.
It was then that he came up with a plan. The plan involved him still doing his best when playing, while also sometimes losing some of the matches.
Sometimes he'll catch the ball, sometimes not at all. Other times, he's outrun some of the stronger players, but would let himself get outpaced by the ones who were more used to sprinting. He'd throw the ball decently a couple of times and other times he'd delay his throws long enough to let someone tackle him.
All in all, Jaune's performance thus far hasn't raised any suspicions. For all intents and purposes, it could be said that Jaune Arc was nothing more than an average athlete compared to his fellow seniors.
He knew that his plan was a bit of a stretch and that it sounded flimsy, but Jaune was certain that none of the other players or the coach were going to call him out on it. His plan may have some merit to it, in his opinion.
"Now, if you really want to see an amazing performance, look who's playing next." Jaune smiled as he pointed his thumb behind him, which drew the girl's attention back toward the field.
Jaune didn't need to look to know that his best friend was absolutely dominating on the football field. It seemed that while Jaune was lagging behind in skill, Harry's own skill was improving. The Oscorp heir's standing among their peers was quickly rising, as he effortlessly scored touchdown after touchdown.
Making a side glance, Jaune smirked as he watched his friend getting along with some of the other players. It was a feeling more satisfying than his own personal success, doing what he does best, which was helping his friend. It was for the best, in Jaune's opinion. He looked back to his other two friends.
"Harry's getting better with each practice." He said with pride. "His confidence has really grown too."
"Don't sell yourself short, Jaune. You've gone really far too!" Ruby told him in support.
"You do seem to have a more carefree attitude every time you play." Blake added in her own thoughts to the conversation. "It looked like you were enjoying yourself out there."
'I was, wasn't I?' The thought did cross his mind. Maybe it was because it felt somewhat liberating to use his natural talents for something other than vigilantism. Or it was his just insecurities still getting the better of him.
"To be honest, yeah, guess I never really thought about doing things like this when I was a kid. I always enjoyed watching my family training and to be honest, what they did made sports look lame by comparison. Looking back now, I can honestly say that sports aren't half-bad."
'Was I missing out on stuff like this back in Ansel? I guess when you see your family train with awesome weapons and super cool abilities; you tend to lose interest in regular things like sports.'
Suddenly, the sound of a whistle being blown was heard, reminding Jaune that practice was still in progress. He then heard the coach shout, "Arc, get back on the field now!"
"Huh, that match was actually pretty quick." Ruby said in surprise. To her, their conversation seemed much longer than it was.
"I'm not surprised, Harry's just so in the zone when he's playing. It'd be a total shock if Coach didn't put him on the team."
"But what about you, Jaune," This time, it was Blake who seemed the most forward and not Ruby. "You think you won't get picked?"
"Oh, I'm sure I will." Jaune shrugged his shoulders. "Or I won't, Harry seems to be improving faster than the other guys, but I wouldn't want to dismiss some of the other students trying out too."
"Hmm, I see your point." Blake crossed her arms. "But still, won't you be disappointed if you don't join? I'm sure someone like you still has some more skills to show off."
"Honestly, I think it is just good genetics. My natural skills had to come from somewhere, right?"
"I think you're as skilled as some other people I know." Blake's hidden cat ears twitched.
"Um," Ruby didn't know where this conversation was heading, so she thought it a good time to switch topics. "I think you should get ready, Jaune. Your coach might call your name out again."
"Oh, right!" Jaune thanked Ruby for reminding him and left the two girls by themselves again at the bleachers. As he left the stands, he called out to the girls. "We'll talk later!"
Walking to the field, Jaune saw Harry heading to the benches in the same direction as him.
"Nice moves, Harry!" Jaune complimented as raised his helmet to his friend.
"Thanks, Jaune." The young Osborn smacked his helmet against Jaune's in place of a fist bump. "You're doing pretty well yourself."
"Thanks, dude." Jaune put on his helmet. "We'll talk more after this, yeah?"
"You know it! Just make sure you do your best!
"I intend to." Jaune slapped his hands against the sides of his helmet and jogged to middle of the field to get started on practice.
"That one went a lot faster than the others." Ruby said as both girls walked alongside Jaune and Harry out of the football field.
Practice was now over. As it was before with the other try-outs, the group of students trying to join the team was now considerably smaller. Jaune and Harry were among the lucky few to have passed another try-out, increasing their chances of becoming proud members of the Midtown High Tigers.
"Less people mean less time being used." Harry told her. "I'm just happy that tomorrow is the last practice before coach tells us who made the cut."
"Just means giving us enough time for us to see Gwen and tell her the news." Jaune suggested. He remembered that she was working with a professor that owned a lab near the school. Telling her the good news now while they still had daylight to spare sounded like a good idea.
"Unfortunately, we can't join you guys for that." Jaune and Harry stopped in their tracks and turned to look at the black-haired huntress.
"Is it because of how much time you have left outside Beacon?" Jaune asked.
"Do they have curfew?" Harry asked his friend, not understanding his statement.
"Y-yeah," Jaune said, trying to cover up his mistake. "Weekdays they have a set amount of time to be outside of their academy before they need to go back. Right, Blake?"
"Yeah, Jaune's right." Blake didn't even lose her composure as she played along with Jaune's lie.
"Blake's right, but it's not just that." Ruby chimed in, so that Blake could take a step back. "We kind of got tied up in a dance committee."
"You mean like prom?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
"What's a prom?" The young weapons enthusiast asked, tilting her head in confusion. Jaune and Harry just stared at the girl in surprise. Blake just shook her head at her leader's surprising lack of common knowledge.
"Please tell me you didn't just say that." Harry looked back to Jaune in shock. "She can't be serious, right?"
"Ruby," It was Jaune's turn to explain things. "Prom is like a big school dance that school's like mine hold every year or so, usually at the end of the school year. It's mostly for the seniors, who vote for two students to be crowned prom 'king' and 'queen.' Don't they have any at your schools?"
Now, it was Blake's turn to explain things. "Our school trains and teaches us important survival and combat skills, from the basics all the way up to the more advanced levels. Huntsmen schools can't just drop all of that just throw students some unnecessary par-"
"Oh! Then yes, my last school had one of those too!" The silver eyed girl answered.
"Eh- well, I, uhm... Okay, there are a few exceptions." Blake gave up and sighed. She didn't really have anything else to say on the matter, choosing to stay silent now.
"Yeah, except Signal didn't have something like that 'prom' thing. Our village didn't really have that in the civilian schools either. My dad said there were never enough students to have one. It was usually just a big party where the adults kept an eye on us while we just awkwardly talked to each another."
"You guys didn't dance or anything?" Harry asked, genuinely interested to hear the rest of Ruby's story.
"No, some of us just talked with our friends or some just stayed on opposite sides while the music kept playing." Ruby explained as though it weren't anything special.
"Huh, I guess whether you're a regular person or an aspiring hunter, awkward teenaged phases are just a universal constant." Jaune had long suspected that, having seen many of his sisters go through similar experience. But to hear it from Ruby made him feel a little more comfortable. "Well, it's nice to see you guys cheer us on. I don't want you guys to be late for that dance committee, so I guess we can split ways here. Next time, why don't you tell me what themes you're planning? Anyway, you two have a nice day!"
"See you tomorrow, Jaune!" Ruby promised with an excited smile.
Ruby then turned on her heel to leave. Blake simply gave the two young men a polite nod and then joined her leader. As they walked away, Ruby looked back and shouted.
"I have no doubt in my mind you'll get drafted. You don't need to fool yourself, Jaune." She then looked at the young Osborn, "Oh and best of luck to you too, Harry! You're a shoe-in for sure!"
After watching the two student huntresses leave them behind, Jaune and Harry continued on their to Gwen's work. Once they reached the place, both teens couldn't help but stare in awe at the building. The building itself was somewhat large, looking big enough to have its own telescope. Its pristine white walls and flawlessly wiped windows showed that great care was put into its upkeep. Jaune couldn't explain why, but he could feel that the place just oozed of scientific progress and innovation. It was no wonder why Gwen enjoyed working here.
"This place is pretty nice." Harry complimented the semi-large science building. "I wonder what it looks like inside."
"We're about to find out." Jaune opened the front door and motioned Harry to go inside first. "Come on, let's go see Gwen."
"Wow! She wasn't fooling when she said this guy's a scientist." Upon entering the lab, Jaune was honestly impressed seeing all the doubtlessly expensive and irreplaceable equipment scattered about the main laboratory.
Moving his sights across the room, Jaune could only hear the hum of machines doing their work. What made this seem out of place though was that no one was here manning the equipment.
"Gwen!" Harry shouted her name, shattering the silence in the lab, "Gwen!? Where is she?"
"I'm right here!" Looking to their right, Harry and Jaune saw Gwen walking out of an office. "Can you guys get any louder?"
"That was actually Harry." Jaune told her.
"I was in the middle of talking to the Professor and you inter-"
"Gwen?" The three friends looked back to see a middle-aged man wearing a white lab coat exit from what Jaune assumed was his office. "Are these the friends you told me about?"
"Dr. Connors!" Stepping to the side, so that her boss can get a good look at her friends, Gwen started to formally introduce them. "Yup, the blonde there is Jaune and the other guy's Harry. They're my friends from school. Guys, this is Doctor Curt Connors, the best boss I've ever had."
The doctor chuckled at Gwen's praise.
"It's nice to meet you, sir." Jaune said with respect, raising his right hand to shake the doctor's.
Dr. Connors looked at the offered hand for a few seconds, but then raised his left hand for the shake. "And you as well, Jaune."
As the doctor shook Jaune's right hand with his left, the young man wondered why the man hadn't used his right hand. He looked at the man's right arm and found the answer to his question. Rather than a hand, the blonde saw an empty sleeve hanging loosely to the man's side.
The man only had one arm and Jaune had just assumed he would shake with his right hand.
'OH FU-' Jaune immediately released his grip on the man's hand.
"I am sooooo sorry!" Standing at attention, Jaune held his hands up and apologized. "I didn't mean it! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you! I'm sorry. That lab coat was really misleading! I'm Sorry-"
"Whoa, Whoa, Easy there, son, no need to get so worked up." Raising his only arm to Jaune's shoulder, Connors placed a reassuring hand on the young teen's shoulder to calm him down. "It's quite aright, young man. Trust me when I say this, but you're not the first person to make that mistake."
"Uh, sir," The only adult in the lab looked to see Gwen's second friend, Harry who looked conflicted for some reason. "What, uh, about your situation… was it from a Grimm attack or…"
"Harry," Gwen punched the Osborn's shoulder for his disrespect. "I mean, seriously?"
"It's alright, Gwen." The Doctor reassured his assistant. He then looked to Harry, "It wasn't from the Grimm." Not feeling offended in the slightest by the question, the doctor went on to explain how he lost his arm. "I used to be in the Valean military as a combat medic. I lost this arm when I was caught in a large explosion. I survived, as you can see, but they couldn't save my arm and had to amputate."
Hearing his story, the two boys kept silent as an awkward silence filled the room.
"Curt, who are these boys?" Another voice called out from the doctor's office. An auburn haired woman, who also wore a lab coat, stepped out. She then walked over and stood next to the one-armed scientist.
"These boys," The doctor raised his left arm, "are Gwen's friends from school. Boys, this beauty before you is my wife, partner, and the mother of our son, Martha. She also works here and we've been happily married for over a decade."
Martha kissed her husband on the cheek. Curt smiled and gave her a quick peck on her own cheek. Jaune couldn't help but smile at the sight. From what he can see, the Connors had a very happy and healthy marriage. He hoped that one day he could have what they had. All he need to was find the right girl first.
"It's nice to meet you boys." Martha told them. "What brings you boys here?"
The Teenaged boys told the married couple and Gwen the reason for their presence, having wanted to tell their friend that they are still trying out for football and that tomorrow is the day when the coach decides who will be part of the team.
"So, I guess your plan to get popular is actually working out, Harry." Gwen Stacy patted the rich teen's shoulder. "Now, all you need to do with your newfound popularity is to try and get a girl to go out with you to homecoming."
"Actually," Harry's widened as an idea popped into his head. "Dude, do you think your friends could be our dates?"
The blonde didn't answer right away, his mind going over what Harry had asked him. It was not three seconds later did Jaune finally give an answer.
"Nope," He slowly shook his head side to side to emphasize how wrong that questions was.
'I can already imagine what it would be like for Blake if she even decided to do such a thing. I feel like Ruby would do fine, she would just stay around her friends, but the rest of their team? I imagine that the entire night would consist of guys getting their asses handed to them if they tried anything on them. If not the girls from Beacon, then the girls from Midtown would probably be pissed at their dates.'
"I can't just ask them to tag along. They're part of some committee to set up their own dance at Beacon too. I'm even sure that their School's policy is that you need to be a student to even go to their dance."
'I'm just making this up as I go, but I just don't feel like getting even more attention if I walk alongside Blake or a handful of Huntresses who look like super models in dresses beside me.'
"Knew that was a long shot," Harry snapped his fingers, "Okay, I guess we'll just have to wing it once we cross that bridge."
"I hope you two dorks getting a date would be easier then joining the football team. Best of luck to you guys!"
"Thanks, Gwen," Osborn Jr. waved his hand and started to walk to the exit. "Jaune and I just wanted to tell you about it."
"Yeah, we just wanted to let you know about our progress. We'll leave now, so we won't interrupt your work. Thank you for your time, Mr. and Mrs. Connors. We're even more thankful for you hiring Gwen." Saying his goodbyes, Jaune waved his hand and followed behind Harry as they left the same way they entered.
"It was nice meeting you boys!" Mrs. Connors said, raising her voice so that she can be heard.
"Stop by whenever you feel like!" Mr. Connors offered, raising his voice did the same as his wife by making his tone a little bit louder.
"Yeah, come by and- wait a minute." Realization dawned on Gwen as she realized what Jaune had just said seconds ago. "What do you mean you're thankful I got hired?!"
Ok, let me drop some news for you guys. First off, this is the last part for the football arc. Jaune knows he can't just instantly suck, so he is just toning it down to be around average with the other players. Jaune has his life in track for now, so pushing him with some life lesson seems like a jerk move to do. So, that's why I want him to have him to at least have fun doing something he never did when he was a kid. We never really get much depth about the characters from RWBY, so I can assume that Jaune never knew what it's like to win at sports.
I'm sure all of you got tired with how Peter gets caught up with stuff like this and always declines something that could be helpful to him. But for Jaune, he will still try his best, but not go full serious this time. I know I put too many similarities to the two, but some will be tweaked, like how Jaune is performing in football. He's still a teen, which is why he's getting the chance to act like one with the help of playing sports. You guys already know how chaotic he has it, so in the next chapter he will finally makes some choices that can finally lessen his work load!
The second news is that the next chapter will be the dance arc, YAY, so get ready for more teen drama and a new development to the story. Jaune will need to find a date, team RWBY will have to find dates too, but the thing about the situation is that both can't go to each other's schools due to how both being completely different! Not to mention how team RWBY is kind of grounded, but don't worry, this is part of what I have in mind later.
Sandman is free, but he can't escape his old habits, but he was just a distraction for the next villain Jaune will face after the Beacon dance arc is over. Cinder has not gotten word about this yet, but with how the fake Sandman is in jail, Cinder will just drop it and get back to her own plans for Beacon.
For my third news, I might take the next month a bit slow, since I will be on vacation exploring a bit of Japan for myself. Got to see the world and all that jazz, you know?
Anyway, makes sire to fav, follow, and also check out my Beta's work after this chapter. Thank you very much for reading and I hope you guys will enjoy the next chapter!
[Omake] Roman's Big Break
Life was hard. It was a well-known fact to anyone. Even those who have more money than others have some minor setbacks that would be labeled as 'terrible'. Like not buying your 12-year-old a sports car, getting a 4-star meal from a 5-star restaurant, or some other luxury BS people with lien to burn complain about.
For Roman Torchwick, one of the constant hardships in his life would have to be goody-goody Hunters. Specifically, the type of hunters whom somehow, even without holding licenses and being below legal hunter's age, find a way of throwing wrenches into his plans. But he could have handled that.
But then, there came another hardship in his already stressful life. One in the form of some freak wearing what used to be a silly red jumpsuit with a torn blue hoodie. But now, it seemed that the little spider has turned into a gimp with how much black he was wearing now. Roman assumed it to be leather that Spider-Man was wearing.
He doesn't know why, but it felt like the people he's fighting now are getting younger and weirder these days.
The renowned thief was lounging in his office, inside one of the many safe houses he accumulated from time spent working under the previous boss who made this criminal organization.
Yes, if he was glad for one thing, it was for the fact that he stayed loyal enough, or just lucky, to find an opportunity to fill in the gap that his boss left when he disappeared.
But that was a story for another time. Right now, the only thing on Roman's mind was figuring out his plans for the future.
"We need a vacation. Don't you agree, Neo?" Roman leaned on the armrest to look at his silent companion, who had taken to indulging herself with a tub of ice cream. With her short, childlike stature and how she practically preened with every spoonful of ice cream, Roman would have thought her little display adorable.
Well, it would've been adorable if it weren't for the fact that her boots had a very high amount of dried blood specks upon them.
"Maybe Kuchinashi or Mistral," He thought of those two kingdoms and then tossed that idea away. "Nah, what am I thinking? Mistral is Fang territory now and not to sound racist, but I don't really expect all of them to be kind to humans. Kuchinashi is a definite no. I'm a thief, but going to Kuchinashi is like stepping into a kitchen with too many cooks. Everyone will be swindling everyone, and I don't want that kind of hassle when it comes to stepping in on someone else's turf."
The murderous mute stopped eating, blinked at Roman five times, and then went straight back to eating.
"Atlas..." Roman thought about that idea. "So many suckers who think they're the smartest in the room, it does sound tempting to try and pull a fast one over them." Then he rejected the idea. "Then again, I hear they've got their very own 'Superhero' protecting them now."
He looked to Neo, hoping she had any more suggestion. The girl just shrugged her tiny shoulders, showing that she's out of ideas.
Roman sank further down into his cushioned office chair. The master criminal swiveled his head to his left, looking through the interior office window to see what his warehouse had in storage. To his silent anger, he found that it was practically empty, with very few crates and barrels that were nearly empty themselves.
He then heard a knock at the door.
"Enter." He said just as the doorknob began to turn.
The door slowly opened just a crack, only for it to close again.
"Hey, I said enter!" Roman shouted in rage. He didn't have time for whatever stupidity his men were subjecting him to. It upset him that he can't just kill stupid henchmen, considering he didn't have that many men left. He had to work with who he had, even if they were scraped from the bottom of the barrel.
Roman tried to scream again, only to stop when he heard the air vent begin to rattle.
Looking up to the ceiling, he saw a wave of sand particles fall from the opened grate, landing in a steadily-rising mound in the center of his office.
Raising his newly formed cane in a defensive stance, Roman watched as the pile of sand rose up and started to take the form of a fully-grown man, one who had made quite the name for himself in the past month.
"Roman," the fully formed Flint Marko calmly greeted, staring down his former employer.
"Flint," Roman didn't lower his cane at the sight of his former lackey. "How'd you find this place?"
"I've been here before, Roman. You just never noticed, since I was a nameless nobody when I worked for you."
Roman just rolled his eyes. 'It's not my fault I can't keep track of every sorry two-bit rent-a-thug who works for me. I mostly leave all that Info to Junior and his gruesome twosome.'
"I need your help," The Sandman said.
"Oh?" Roman's interest was piqued. "I thought you didn't really want anything to deal with my discussion we had before. What changed your mind? Not liking your new boss?"
"I'm a freelancer now." He said truthfully. "And I'm here to see if you still have an open employment spot for me."
"Really," The ginger-haired thief shook his head at Neo, who kept her parasol aimed right behind Flint's head. "I thought you tried to take a chance with Cinder and her killer kids. You seemed to get along well with those murderous munchkins."
"I'd rather deal with the devil I know rather than the one I don't." Sandman admitted truthfully. His desperation was evident to the two killers in the room. "So, are you hiring?"
Roman Torchwick sat back in his chair and pulled out a cigar from his desk drawer. He lit it with his cane and smiled in joy. It's been a while since he'd caught a break like this.
"Well, Sandman, you're in luck. You're not just hired, but you've also gotten yourself a promotion."
The thief reached down into the drawer and pulled something out. He then chucked the unknown object right into the Sandman's hands. To the man's surprise, it was a wad of lien.
"Get yourself something nice. I've got big plans for you... And the first step of my plan is making sure you know my taste in fashion."