Jaune Arc
The class was silent as Jaune knelt down and pulled the exhausted Cardin off the ground. He walked out to the locker room, the larger boy leaning on his soon as the door closed, Jaune could hear the furious muttering of the class at both his spectacular steam bomb as well as his unusual behavior at carrying Cardin out of the room.
Jaune ignored them all. He knew that Cardin was strong and had large aura reserves, playing to his strengths as a 'tank' archetype. No one Jaune knew currently battled that way and Jaune was determined to get someone like that on his side. He lay Cardin down on a bench as Cardin stared at him in shock. Jaune went into the showers to cleanse himself of the sweat accumulated during the fight. He took his time, giving Cardin plenty of time to think over the fight.
After the refreshing shower and a fresh change of clothes, Jaune walked back to the bench where Cardin was not sitting, breathing normal.
"Why did you bring me here? You won the fight, I had the time to recover and walk myself here. Was it not enough to humiliate me during the fight that you also had to carry me out like an invalid?" Cardin's voice rose in volume throughout.
Jaune just looked at him steadily, waiting for Cardin to calm down before speaking. "Cardin, think about what you said before the fight. You had no idea who I was, how I got injured, what I could do. Yet you still did your level best to antagonize me from the moment we faced each other. Why?"
Cardin struggled to form an answer, put off by the directness of Jaune's question. He decided to sneer instead. "Because you looked like a punk ass bi-"
Jaune's fist smacked into him, throwing his unprepared body back two feet, head smacking into another bench. Jaune stood over him, face impassive though anger shined in his eyes.
"Cardin, you just don't get it do you? I'm not asking you to think about it, I'm not requesting it, I'm ordering you to. Know that I am better than you in every way. In. Every. Single. Way."
Cardin's expression was beyond shock. No one had ever talked to him this way before. He was one of the tallest and strongest at school, no one ever dared to cross him before.
"Cardin, I've seen you around school bullying many of the students for homework or just to be mean. A certain second year Faunus comes to mind. Do you understand that your actions have consequences?" Jaune crouched to stare Cardin down.
"Because of scum like you, the White Fang is what it is today. Humans like you are what drives the White Fang to harm and kill. Humans like you were responsible for the race wars." Jaune spat out, anger in every word. Cardin trembled, staring at Jaune wide-eyed.
"Why do you care so much about them? They're animals, nothing more." Even Cardin could hear the doubt in his own voice.
"Listen to yourself. I'm not even going to try to argue that, you know deep down that Faunus are our equals. You just bully them because they're easy targets. Don't even try to deny it."
Cardin didn't try.
"Know this Cardin. Right now, you're a pathetic excuse for a human being, let alone a hunter. I want you to think on your actions and try to improve."
Jaune turned and strode towards the door. As he reached for the handle, Cardin spoke up, voice breaking slightly.
"Why…why are you doing this? All you've seen from me is me being cruel to others, why are you trying telling me all this?"
Jaune turned his head slightly towards Cardin. "I know you have the ability to be a good hunter inside of you. I don't want to see that potential be wasted. Do what you signed up to do and protect others. Start by being less cruel and intolerant."
He stepped out, leaving the boy to rethink his life in peace.
…
Everyone in the class had gone to their respective rooms by the time Jaune left the locker room. The only person left was Pyrrha, who was standing near the classroom door, waiting for him.
"Jaune, Professor Goodwitch wants to see you." Pyrrha sounded worried for him though Jaune couldn't fathom the reason why.
"Alright, thanks for telling me. You should go rest now, you fought well today." Jaune smiled and waved Pyrrha away, despite her protests. She gave in, walking back to their room.
Jaune stepped in and walked to Glynda's desk.
"Ms. Goodwitch? You wished to see me?"
Goodwitch looked up. "Yes Jaune, I did. Please, take a seat."
Jaune did so.
"Now, I want to talk to you about your fight against Mr. Winchester. Specifically, about your use of Dust during the fight. You used a Scorch crystal on your own sword, then a Water crystal right afterwards, creating an explosion of steam, yes?"
Jaune nodded.
Glynda then pointedly looked at his sword. "May I see it?"
Jaune pulled it out, setting it on the desk between the two.
He knew that heating the entire body of his would have been a dumb move, as it would've destroyed the strength of the metal and the magnets that made up the railgun inside the blade. He had inlaid his sword with metal strips on the surface that would absorb most of the heat from the dust and expel it into the air rather than into the surrounding metals.
The end result was the same as heating the entire sword, but the heat was concentrated in a smaller volume, which made it more efficient. Jaune was quite proud of it.
"Interesting design, you designed and made this yourself yes?" Glynda was examining the dust crystals inlaid at strategic locations along the blade with an impressed look.
Jaune nodded proudly. He had spent a lot of effort on all his weapons and having someone like Glynda appreciate it felt good.
"You must know a lot about Dust to be able to use it so effectively. Did you gather all that experience just through experimentation?"
"Yeah, the past two months really helped me understand many things about Dust though there are a lot of things I haven't learned about yet."
"I see. Does this weapon have any alternate forms? It seems to be the trend these days among you kids."
"It does actually, here let me demonstrate." Jaune took the sword and activated the railgun mode. The hilt folded down, becoming a grip. The blade slightly widened, creating a hole in the tip that extended all the way down. Jaune pulled out a small metal ball and shook it. It extended into a small spike that Jaune put into the hole.
Aiming at a target on the far wall of the classroom, Jaune activated the Shock crystal inside the hilt. A slight blue glow emanated from the tip as the weapon charged. After a couple seconds, Jaune held the charge and grabbed onto the blade to steady his aim.
He let go of the charge and the spike embedded itself into the target, making a clean hole and penetrating half its length into the wall before stopping.
Jaune looked back at Glynda who looked shocked at the speed and power of the handheld railgun.
"How did you manage to miniaturize a railgun and still retain the power? Atlas has been trying for years, but they haven't gotten the technology smaller than a bus!" Glynda looked uncharacteristically flustered.
"Ms. Goodwitch, I did tell you it was a personal hobby to defy expectations, didn't I?"
If this is her reaction to my railgun, wait until she gets a load of my clones' weapons and the clones themselves. I think her brain would just shut down.
Goodwitch just stared at him. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before finally deciding on what to say.
"You did. Alright, continue the good work, if you need any more materials or anything, I'll ask to increase the funding allotted to you."
Jaune nodded. "Is that all, Ms. Goodwitch?"
Goodwitch nodded, and Jaune left the room.
…
The days passed in this manner, Jaune joining his team for combat lessons every week, while staying in his lab when they had classes. That wasn't to say he wasn't strengthening their friendships. He sparred with Pyrrha almost every day after classes, talked with Ren about philosophy (he talked a surprising amount once he had something to say), and entertained Nora whenever she was bored.
His fighting skills were quickly improving, something noticed by Pyrrha within a week. She commented on it, and Jaune explained he was just quick at learning.
He had continued to work on Beacon's security systems at a more dedicated pace, knowing it would require much more effort to prevent the terrible future the Voice had told him about in his vision after initiation.
He had continued to develop a business relationship with Torchwick and had even developed a camaraderie with the man. Neo didn't talk at all, but he could tell she found him interesting.
As the end of two months of school approached, Jaune had grown lax in his paranoia. He had stopped going out to keep an eye on Vale and had stopped upgrading his weapons, focusing mainly on Beacon's defenses.
There was a field trip for his combat class scheduled to go to the forest of Forever Fall, the reason a secret, and Jaune was excited to head back out of Beacon in his own body.
…
Jaune was regretting ever having leaving Beacon in his own body.
Glynda had revealed the reason for the field trip and Jaune had almost cursed out loud. They were going to be collecting sap from tress for some Professor Peach. Why the hell did they need the combat class to collect the sap? It wasn't going to fight back or anything, it was sap!
And how wrong Jaune had been. Apparently he was allergic to the sap and he lay in the shade of a tree feeling as if his face was trying to peel itself off and run away. His nose was filled with liquid and was stuffed up at the same time, a curious sensation. His hands were covered in red itchy bumps and his breathing felt shallow.
An epipen! My kingdom for an epipen!
Jaune couldn't do anything but wait it out. Thankfully the reaction wasn't too severe and would go away sooner or later. Pyrrha had filled his jar for him after the reaction had started and his team and team RWBY were not sitting near him, chatting about the trip.
Jaune groaned at his stupidity for thinking life was becoming easier. It was as if life decided to throw him a sucker punch as soon as he had thought that he would be cruising smoothly. Haha nope, allergies!
After some time, the swelling and pain died down and Jaune sat up, his aura speeding up the recovery. Great help you were, aura. Ever heard of prevention is better than a cure?
He moved to join the two teams sitting in a circle when Russel Thrush of CRDL ran into the clearing, panting, face expressing extreme fear. He passed by Yang who grabbed him and hauled him bodily to the ground.
"What happened? Why are you running?" Yang questioned the terrified boy.
"Ursi…huge...Cardin's alone…going to get help" Russel managed to pant out.
"Ruby, go get Goodwitch as fast as you can. Blake and Ren, scout up ahead, try to stop Cardin from being mauled. Yang, Weiss, Pyrrha, Nora, Russel, you all come with me." Jaune's tone was firm and no one argued, seeing the sense in his command.
Ruby sped off in a cloud of rose petals and Blake and Ren melted into the forest, traversing the tricky terrain easily.
The other six ran as fast as they could, eventually reaching a clearing with a hill in it. On the top Cardin was surrounded by four Ursi, with no sign of the rest of his team.
He was blocking the massive blows of the Ursi. It was a testament to his strength that he managed to not be thrown into the trees with each hit.
An ursa by itself was nothing to be trifled with. It looked like a bear, but even the smallest Ursa was larger than the average bear. The ursi surrounding Cardin all looked to be Alphas and were twice the size of the average ursa.
They reached the top of the hill as Cardin fended off two of the ursi at once. Jaune could see the fatigue in his eyes as he collapsed onto one knee, the entire weight of a paw resting on his mace.
Blake and Ren were holding off the other two, distracting them and scoring them with small wounds.
Jaune knew that he had to act soon.
"Weiss, I want literal fire on the ursi. Yang, distract the one of the right, punch it into oblivion. Pyrrha, you and Nora take the one of the left. I want it dead, pronto. Russel, wait here."
Everyone nodded and went to work. Jaune ran towards Cardin, the ursa distracted by the sudden appearance of a large inferno on its head.
Jaune slid in next to Cardin and grabbed the boy, heaving him up. He activated his Gravity Dust to lighten the load a little as half carried, half dragged him away from the fighting. After taking him a safe distance away, Jaune set a Barrier crystal next to him and activated it. It wouldn't stop any determined Grimm but the draw on his aura would alert him to any attack.
"Russel, make sure he's ok, call Beacon for medical exhaustion. Tell them there is a severe case of aura exhaustion, and possible muscle strain."
He looked back up at the top of the hill. Pyrrha was darting back and forth near the ursa's legs, slashing its feet and keeping it slightly off balance at all times. Nora shot two grenades from her weapon before transforming it into a hammer and smashing the ursa's head.
It fell on its back dazed and Pyrrha stabbed it through the heart and slashed its throat for good measure.
Jaune then turned his attention to Yang who seemed to have activated her semblance and was taunting the ursa.
"C'mon big guy. Too scared? Don't worry, I'll make sure I don't hit too hard, too soft, but juuuuust right. Whatcha say?" With that, Yang launched herself at the creature, fists forming a blur as she rained shotgun fire on the ursa's face. She then sent an uppercut at its head, followed by a sharp hook into its throat.
A wet gurgling could be heard as the ursa realized it no longer had a way to breath. Yang put it out of its misery by punching its face in.
Grimacing at the violent way Yang had dispatched the ursa, he ran to help Blake and Ren with their ursi. As he ran, he loaded another spike into his sword and started charging.
Jaune could see Ren getting slower, running out of stamina. When the monster's back was turned, Jaune used his aura to boost himself into the air and brought his sword above his head. Boosting the sword down with his aura, he plunged the metal into its back.
The ursa reared and roared its pain to the sky, paws and body flailing to try and get the pest who had stabbed it off its back. Jaune felt the telltale click of the weapon being fully charged and pulled the sword left, turning the ursi with him, almost like controlling a horse.
He waited until his mount has facing Blake's ursa. Waiting until Blake was out of the way, Jaune released the charge. His mount's chest exploded outwards, black fluid spraying out. The spike continued to fly straight, eventually slamming into the other ursa's side. It didn't fully penetrate through, but it was enough to knock the creature off balance.
Before it could hit the ground, a cloud of rose petals appeared around the head and the body was dissolving before it hit the ground. Ruby dropped to the ground, Crescent Rose in her hand, looking at everyone.
Glynda ran up to them, looking at the dissolving bodies of the dead Grimm. Before she could say anything, Jaune spoke up. "Professor, Cardin Winchester is hurt but stable. There is no sign of his teammates. Russel says they ran when attacked. He has called Beacon for medical extraction already."
Glynda looked at him, surprise and pride in her eyes. "Well done Jaune. You have handled this situation marvelously. To all of you, excellent fighting. You eight shall be riding with Russel and Cardin in the medical airship. Head to the hospital to make sure you all are okay and report straight to the headmaster's office."
The meeting with Ozpin had passed smoothly, with the two teams giving their account of the fight. Ozpin had congratulated them on their effort, and sent them off, but held Jaune back.
Pyrrha had a concerned look on her face as she left the room. Jaune gave her a reassuring smile and turned back to Ozpin.
"Jaune, I wish to talk to you about some of your inventions. I have heard you have been making some of your own little gadgets and upgrades in parallel with the blueprints you have been giving me. Is that right?" Ozpin's voice was measured and calm as usual.
Jaune couldn't for the life of him tell what Ozpin was thinking at that moment. Was he mad at Jaune for doing that? Was he happy that Jaune was doing it? He decided to tell the truth and play it safe.
"Yes sir, I have. I have upgraded my sword massively, as well as created many small gadgets and explosives that I have in my pouches." Jaune gestured at the new belt of pouches he had gotten after the last set had been ripped apart during initiation.
"Hmm yes, I am aware of the contents of your pouches and your sword. But you seem to be using quite a lot of resources in your experimentation and don't have a lot to show for the sheer amount you are using."
Alarm bells began to go off in Jaune's head.
Did Ozpin know about his clones? If Ozpin found out and didn't like it, Jaune would have no say in anything Ozpin did. He couldn't even fight him. How did he find out about the clones specifically? Can I even trust him with any of this?
Jaune again decided to play it safe.
"Sir, I have actually been making a whole armory of all sorts of weapons and machines. I intended to reveal them to you by the end of the semester. A weapons show of sorts. We could either sell to Atlas or use it to supply Hunter schools."
Ozpin looked at him keenly. Jaune kept an honest a face as possible, hoping that Ozpin would accept this explanation without any further questioning.
"I wanted it to be a surprise, but I guess I can't hide anything from you." Jaune laughed innocently while declaring that he had nothing more hidden.
C'mon Ozpin say something; it's getting annoying now.
"I see. That would indeed have been a wonderful surprise. How about I pretend you never told me about this? You can still have your showcase, and I'll even allow you to use Beacon grounds for the purpose. That's the least I can do for spoiling your surprise."
Jaune couldn't believe it had worked. He had gotten Ozpin off his back without revealing anything!
Of course, he had put the responsibility of hosting an entire weapons showcase on himself, but that was by far the lesser of two evils.
"Thank you so much, Professor Ozpin! That would be a huge help!" Jaune exclaimed, hoping that he sounded convincing.
"That will be all Mr. Arc, that will be all." Ozpin turned to his computer, watching a video of an unknown man walking out of Jaune's lab.
"Weapons showcase indeed Mr. Arc."
…
The days passed and Jaune fell back into the same routine he had gotten into before the day of the Forever Fall incident.
Over the last couple of months, almost everyone in first year had noticed the sudden 180 in team CDRL's behavior. They had gone from being the biggest bullies of the year to using their strength to protect people from the bullying.
Their team had gotten closer to teams JNPR and RWBY, with Cardin giving the whole credit of their turnaround to Jaune. Jaune had tried to deny that and say Cardin had done the actual work in realizing his mistakes, but Cardin wasn't having any of that.
He had taken all three teams out to a night in Vale, which had turned into one of the most memorable nights of Jaune's life.
All this didn't mean he hadn't been active in the criminal world. He had been in contact with Roman, selling weapons to him and Junior, as well as looting and stealing from opponent gangs.
One other project he had started was solidifying his control over the CCT. He had learned all there was to learn about the software and how the entire thing was structured.
If Jaune had to use one word to describe it, it would be 'mess'. It was a hodge podge of different standards and protocols even in the same region with bridging in between to allow different parts to communicate. It was fantastically inefficient and looked like it was thrown together at the last moment by a group of engineers that was tragically understaffed.
It would be harder to make programs that would work across the CCT than it was to hack it. No wonder the government had spent so much money on stopping people after they hacked it; it would've costed more money to redo the entire software structure!
In some of the upgrades to Beacon that Jaune had given Ozpin, he had included CCT connected, automated doors. They would only open for authorized scrolls. Jaune had countless other similar upgrades to everything from the monitor systems in classrooms to the anti-aerial Grimm guns on the roofs of the towers.
He had installed backdoors to every single one, and it could all be controlled by his scroll, in case he ever needed to either protect Beacon from attack or protect himself from Beacon.
Life went on, until one day, Jaune received a scroll call on his Prometheus scroll. It was nighttime, and Jaune was ready to go to bed. His team was changing after a particularly hard day of combat training (they all managed to beat their opponents) and was itching for a good night's sleep before tackling the weekend.
Roman Torchwick
It was unusual for Roman to call him. Both times he had called before, Jaune had to go and scare rival gangs, some pretty easy stuff. Everyone had heard of the Prometheans and the smaller gangs were scared of running afoul of them.
When Jaune had learned of this he had not stopped laughing for ten minutes. Shrouding the organization in shadow and being intimidating had really helped him out a lot. Scaring whole gangs and making the whole of Vale know who his imaginary group was? Beyond a doubt one of the craziest things he had done, and that was saying something.
Jaune picked up the phone, expecting Roman's normal arrogant voice. This time however, the voice was dead serious.
"C. I need you to come by. My boss wants to meet you."
Jaune froze, mind whirling. He had heard of Roman's boss before, and from what Roman had told him, she was extremely dangerous and not someone to be trifled with. She had been the one who had requested Roman to capture every speck of Dust he could.
Requested was technically the right term if breaking into their house and holding them at knife point was a request.
"Alright Big R, be right there." Jaune had continued to use the nickname to remind Roman of the humiliation heaped on him by Jaune in their first meeting.
Jaune quickly changed and hopped into bed early, citing exhaustion. He conked out immediately and slipped into his alternate self. He equipped his prototype helmet that had every single advancement he could cram in there, his deadly gauntlets, boots laced with Gravity Dust to assist in jumps and general agility, as well as a sword that was similar to his railgun-sword that he used at Beacon.
One large difference was that this one had a high powered laser in it instead of a railgun. It expanded instantly, the laser able to target and shoot down any incoming projectiles up to a certain size using sensors in the hilt.
He felt like he was gearing up for a war, and in a way he was. He had to be on his best game both mentally and physically.
Still feeling inadequately prepared, Jaune slipped out into the cool night.
…
"Alright Mr. C, the boss will see you now."
Jaune, Torchwick, and Neo were standing in front of a heavy door to a warehouse (seriously, do criminals not have any creativity with their lairs? Every single one has been a storage place of some kind!).
A large guard in a black and white suit stood guard and was currently checking Jaune's scroll. Waving a jaunty little wave at Roman and Neo's worried faces, Jaune strode into the room, expecting some either large and muscular or shrewd looking, sitting in their room smoking a pipe and generally looking cool.
What he got was nowhere near his expectations. The room was dimly lit, with the only light coming from candles and lamps scattered throughout the room.
The fire department would collectively have a heart attack at all the flammable material kept near the open flames.
A large flame ignited the chandelier overhead and Jaune saw a woman sitting on a couch shaped like a U in the middle of the room, with the open end facing the door.
What surprised Jaune wasn't the gender, plenty of women ran gangs in Vale, it was the appearance of the woman. She had ashen black hair that fell over her face covering her left eye.
She wore a dark red strapless V-neck dress that ended at just below her waist, leaving her legs bare. She wore what looked like glass slippers on her feet. '
She smiled at him, eyes filled with mirth as if laughing at a joke they had shared. She smoothly motioned to the couch and Jaune took a seat, feeling clunky and awkward next to the confident beauty.
She is really, really good at this. Jaune realized. Setting the scene, wearing that distracting dress, all of it was planned. This oughta be fun.
"Prometheus C, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. Roman has told me a lot." Cinder's voice was slow, confident, and was almost seductive. "I am Cinder Fall, though just Cinder is fine."
"The pleasure is all mine Cinder. And just C is fine for me." Jaune knew that a first name basis was being established to evade feeling formal, make Jaune feel more comfortable around Cinder, and make mistakes.
"Alright C, I see you have been busy around town." Cinder got up, walking to a fridge in the corner of the room, hips swaying slightly.
Does she have no shame? Seriously, what is up with her?
"The Prometheans require certain things, I do my job, everyone is happy. Sometimes that requires just ordering people around, sometimes it requires a more personal touch." Jaune put emphasis on 'personal'.
Cinder turned back to him, a wine bottle and two glasses in her hands. She set them on the table in front of them and sat back onto the couch.
Jaune took the bottle and poured it into the two glasses. He handed it to Cinder, her hands brushing his as she took it.
"I can agree with that sentiment. To do things right, you have to do them yourself." Cinder looked at him as she took a dainty sip of wine.
Jaune decided to take a small risk.
He set his untouched glass on the table and looked at Cinder. "Alright, we both know here that you called me here for a reason. As much as I wish to, I cannot stay here and exchange pleasantries and small talk with you. I hope you understand."
Cinder's warm amber eyes darkened slightly and narrowed. She set her own glass down and folded her hands in her lap.
"I do understand. I certainly appreciate a man who knows his priorities."
Enough with the flirting!
"I'm glad you do Cinder, now can we please cut to the chase?"
"Such impatience! Very well C, we will 'cut to the chase' as you said. I want the Promethean technology you have been selling."
Goddamn right you do, it's the best around.
"Our technology does not come cheap Cinder." Jaune warned. It was a way to get her to show how much she was willing to pay.
"Name your price C." Cinder stated confidently.
"5 crates of top quality dust for a basic security system for a base this size. One crate for every crate of guns, and one crate per every hunter tier weapon." Jaune had given her a higher price than he had charged the gangs.
Cinder seemed to notice that. "Oh C, that is a higher price than what the lower gangs were charged. Please, I thought we were getting to be friends." She leaned in closer still, eyes still locked on Jaune's.
You know what? Screw safety, two can play this game.
"Oh Cinder, I think so too. That's why I will get your organization better quality, just for you. The price will probably be unfortunately higher. Business is business, it stops for no man or woman." Jaune said, his tone changing to be a bit more playful.
If Cinder was taken back by this change in him, she hid it well. "C, I'm sure we can come to some sort of…deal. Maybe even a favor? I'm sure even people like you need some things that you cannot acquire for yourself." Cinder rested a hand on his shoulder, her hands warm.
SERIOUSLY? This is getting worse and worse! What's wrong with her? Is she really that desperate for weapons?
"Actually Cinder, I would be interested in a partnership. Someone like you would make a wonderful ally in times of need, I'm sure. So how about this? I cut you a deal. I waive the extra payment as of now in exchange for a favor later on, of my choosing."
"Oh how can I refuse that generous offer C? A partnership with the Prometheans? It must be my lucky day." Cinder practically purred that last sentence.
"To a long and profitable partnership." Jaune held up his glass.
"Indeed." Cinder tapped her glass against his and they both drank.
How did someone in the past taste wine for the first time and liked it so much he shared it with others?
Jaune managed to swallow his drink down and set the glass back down.
"Now all there is left to do is to decide on the exact order and payment methods." Jaune's voice turned business-like again.
"Ah yes. I can have all the crates ready to ship in a few days. When is the earliest you can deliver?" Cinder's tone hadn't changed from what it was at the start of the negotiation.
"It depends on the order. Once I know exactly what you require, I can give you an estimate within a day."
"In that case, I'm sure you don't mind staying in contact?" The flirty tone made its triumphant return.
"Oh, of course not, it wouldn't do to leave such a promising ally like yourself hanging. Here are my scroll details. Don't worry, I have a secure private channel on the CCT, we can talk freely. "
After exchanging contact details, Jaune rose to exit. Cinder rose up behind him as he moved to the door. As he was stepping outside of the door, Jaune could almost feel the triumph emanating from Cinder.
Poor girl, thinks she won today. There were no winners today, you shameless little minx.
Cinder closed the door behind the strange man. Her opinion on him was confusing, which was not something she was used to.
He had originally been polite, but had seemed to seen through her small psychological tricks. Then he had turned impatient, as if bored of the meeting. That had perplexed Cinder further. Did he not know of her? Of what she could do?
Or maybe he did and just wasn't scared of her? The thought angered Cinder. She loved inducing fear and awe in people around her.
The next moment however, C was flirting back at her! At that point, she was completely clueless on the actual nature of the man. He seemed to be all over the place, and seemed to be doing it on purpose.
But it didn't matter how he behaved. She had managed to charm him enough to get him to discount the price of the devices immensely, though she hadn't been expecting the offer of a partnership or the favor that she now owed him.
It was a small price to pay for furthering her plan faster than she had anticipated.
Obligatory AN: What'd you think of the chapter? Anything I can fix? Anything you especially liked? Please review and PM me with this stuff, I love to get them and it helps me write better. Thanks for reading!
