Leadership is not a position or title, It is an example – Unknown


As she exited the APC's armoured confines Ruby once again glanced at the sack that Blair had hauled and was now yet struggling to shift it down to his quarters. He had explained that this was to be used for thermite but in all honesty the amount was ridiculous. Sure he would only be able to get so much rust from this, while the rest went down to the foundry where he would be paid a small amount for whatever scrap was left over.

Still that wasn't her business, she helped him shift the thing down to the elevator; the rest was up to him. She entered her room and fell down on her bed, bag in hand. The trip had taken all day and her legs ached from having to take a turn watching for Grimm; not that she was weak or anything but she was definitely tired, both now and then. She put the formal and regular uniforms into her closet and went to sleep the moment her head hit the soft pillow.


Inspector Schultz Lehman was livid as he left High Commissioner Javert's office, followed closely by Neo's sulking form. He had to admit, he'd never expected for her to become this invested into the case, resulting in her being just as calmly pissed as the High Commissioner for Crime in Vale both literally and figuratively spat in their faces and showed them the door.

They had all but solved the damn thing, just because they hadn't found much during the past week didn't mean that they had to be laid off! Still there was little he could do about it now, the world's most incompetent police force could surely handle the rest given just how much he'd left them leads-wise.

Neo turned to him as they left the station "I could use some ice cream right now"

"Me too kid, although I'd prefer a shot of strong whiskey"

"You know anywhere that'd do that?"

"Of course not, you're a local, you should be the one advising on restaurants here"

"The only place I personally know is Junior's Bar, he does decent ice cream"

"And since it's a bar, they're bound to have alcohol" concluded the detective as he walked on

"Yeah, that too"

They got into his car, a vintage 1960s Dustkovitch Luxe and the car grumbled to where Neo directed him, right in front of a rather high-class looking bar

"You know this place from your criminal days?"

"Yes, I enjoyed talking to the man and he served me good ice cream"

"Well whatever, you know the place so you take the lead; get us a booth and I'll discuss what we need to do now" as she stood up he warned "I don't mind you talking to your friends but don't take too long"

As she headed off he signalled a pretty waitress and ordered himself a few shots and some ice cream for the girl. Schultz knew that he could probably handle a whole bottle in one go but it was better to be safe than sorry, it would be quite awkward if a policeman caught another breaking the law no?

Neo sat back down opposite him, offering a nod in thanks for the Ice cream, digging in as he began to talk "It seems like it's time for us to return to Murmansk, a bit earlier than I anticipated but welcome nevertheless; I know we're both pissed at that shithead but let's not ruin the atmosphere. Waitress! Bring me another and your finest cigars! Oh, and a tub of ice cream"


As Roman Torchwick exited the lounge of the hotel he'd stayed in for the past few days he opened an umbrella and allowed the rain to touch his shoes as he stepped out into the streets. He had finally decided to head to the police station.

It sounded stupid; a criminal walking into a police station to ask for help. However, he concluded that what the girl on the train where he met Ruby was actually true; only accepting the truth after a few trial runs with patrolling policemen, all of whom confirmed this and even directed him to a club where there were others in 'his situation'.

His visit to this club had taught him a valuable lesson, 'Don't fuck with the MPD, they are not like Vale's joke of a police force'. One of the men there even showed him a video shot by a helicopter of burglars being chased by what were essentially soldiers and them even shooting the burglar in the leg as he tried to hop a fence. This was a whole new area; popular as a refuge for criminals, but only those that wanted to forget their past as all who continued their sprees were crushed like cockroaches and made to work in prison workshops, manufacturing this and that for a minute salary.

He now stood in front of the building, it's grey outline only lit up by the sign denoting it as a police station. The bell chimed as the door opened, startling the receptionist behind the glass; this must have been a district or an even lower level station since there was literally only one other person there, chatting to some other policemen on the side.

"Hello Officer, I'm looking for someone" he stated, approaching the bulletproof glass as the guy behind it sized him up "I believe she ended up in prison"

"So you want me to find a prisoner for you? Sure, name?"

"Neo"

"No surname?"

"No"

"Okay" he typed it in and asked "By the way what relation do you have to her?"

"Father"

"I see, I think it would be best if you came inside, her situation is currently out of the ordinary…"

The man directed him over to a locked door to the side, allowing him entry past the reception area and into the small station proper. He was lead into a small room with two chairs and a desk; the man withdrawing a few hastily printed sheets.

"It seems she has joined the force somehow. She currently works as the assistant to Detective Lehmann, would you like me to give you his contacts? You'll have to arrange a visit with him"

"Thank you Officer, that would be great; could you tell me what station he works at so I can ask?"

"Well most detectives work from the High Station on the Broadway of Malakovsaja district near the centre, it might be good to start there; I can't actually access his records without consulting the higher-ups first, alright?"

"Okay then, thank you for your help"

"No problem mate, I'll lead you out"


A sudden buzz from her phone interrupted Ruby's early morning stretches, informing her that she needed to call Blair as soon as possible. Dialling the number she waited as the lines connected and she spoke to the man himself "Morning Ruby, I understand this is a bit sudden but I've managed to track down two of your teammates. We're currently having Breakfast in hall two, not three. Come on down 'n meet them"

"Blair… It's nearly six, can't this wait?"

"I suppose it could, our guests may not be too interested in waiting though"

"Fuck you, alright, I'll be down in then"

She dressed, quickly splashing her face with cold water to get rid of the drowsiness as she sped out of the room.

Nevertheless, she kept going and soon found herself sitting down by Blair as she looked upon two unfamiliar faces: One looked rather rugged, his black stubble and oily hair appearing like dots on a snowy white plain. He wore the standard uniform aside from a small, barely visible satchel-bag on his hip.

The girl beside him was quite different, her face and hands soft, yet hard at the same time; it was almost how she remembered herself when looking in the mirror when she first arrived here (aside from the cream hair which was done up in a ponytail). She was dressed like the, man? Boy? (He looked young enough) Yeah, she wore some sort of net-styled scarf in a dark orange colour.

"You must be Ruby! Good to finally meet you; I'm Osmond Peel" introduced the boy warmly as he extended his hand and Ruby shook it

"Glace Cream, I hope we get along" she also extended her hand and Ruby shook it

"Alright kiddies, you sit here and chat while I get us something to eat. What'll you two have?"

"Some eggs and bacon for me"

"Some Croissants and jam if they have them, porridge if they don't"

"And Ruby'll have apple porridge. Alright, I'll be right back" The man walked off and stood in the que over in the corner, leaving them to chat.

"Okay Ruby, I know a little about Glace but nothing on you; wanna go first?"

"Sure, I'm Ruby Rose, 15 but I'll be 16 soon. I used to live in Patch with my sister and father, went to Beacon before unfortunate circumstances occurred and ended up with me here. Now I'm here… Yeah"

"Alright, not much but I guess I'll go next. I'm Osmond Peell, I turned 18 a few months ago. I used to live in Ao Forest up north, my father was a lumberjack but an accident claimed his arm and now its up to me to support the family until I can afford him a replacement"

"I'm Glace Cream, 17 years old and have recently moved here from the town I used to live in on the outskirts of Vale. I'm an orphan, lost both parent's in a Grimm attack because those Hunters" she spat before breathing in and continuing "A retired Overseer rescued me, trained me and sent me here to learn about a year ago"

"Alright guys. Nice to meet you, now how about we get to business. How do you two fight?"

"Well I just have my Breaker and sword" he put his satchel on the table and withdrew a cylinder "and I've got these bad boys. These here are called Bangers, we use 'em for uprooting trees. What can I say, It's an explosive on a stick I jab at people, then it goes boom and yeah, you can guess the rest. My semblance is to manipulate the mass of objects, so I can make things lighter or heavier, to be fair though there isn't usually much opportunity to use this in battle unless I can touch them and make them so heavy they'll have trouble moving; It's not permanent of course, a single touch could only apply this thing for a minute or so unless I really pour a shitload of aura into it"

"For me, I have a semblance which makes me angrier as I take damage, I will be honest though. I hate being out of control so I just stay at mid-range and pelt things with my LMG" she noticed Ruby glancing her up and down and chuckled "Yes, I am stronger than I look. Anyway, I guess what I'm good at is dealing with hordes; My magazines have 50 rounds of the same 9.23mm you have in your Breakers and it packs just as much of a punch. In a nutshell, provided it's not much stronger armour-wise than a Beowulf I can mow it down, and by that I mean lots of whatever it is"

"For me, I… guess I'm pretty good with a bayonet, plus I'm a good shot with my rifle. Oh! My mentor also taught me how to use Thermite in just about anything from combat to cooking (really, look it up on youtube). When at a distance I just shoot and if they end up near me I use my rifle as a sort of spear. If that doesn't work I just go for the sword. I can also use up Aura to speed up my movement to a massive extent" 'although it gives me a headache' thought Ruby as the group exchanged pleasantries, Blair returning with their food.

"Alright then kiddos, here's the food. I just received a message from Admin that you're all free from missions until after the tournament; I'd advise you use this time to train how to work together"

"What would you suggest?" asked Osmond as he began to cut into the egg "I doubt just sitting here and talking 'll teach us much"

"Well discussing your strengths and weaknesses may be a good start, however I'd recommend you all head into the nearby forest with the next hunting party and try working together in the practical sense" as he munched on a spoonful of porridge he continued "How about you tell me what your combat styles are like and I'll try and evaluate how you could fit together?"


So they pretty much repeated what they'd shared between them.


"Okay, well for a start I can definitely tell that Mr Peel will be the heavy hitter and close up fighter of the group, he seems to spend most of his time there anyway with those Bangsticks of his. Glace will probably be some sort of support with that LMG of hers, primarily keeping the little guys off Peel's back. Ruby… Well to be fair you're quite versatile, you can probably support whichever person needs it; Oh! And you also happen to be the only one with anti-vehicle capability, I showed you how thermite can cut through armour didn't I?" He took another mouthful as the students listened "I suppose the only one I can't say much on is the ever-elusive Mr Bergen; still hasn't arrived! Perhaps I'll give him a call, actually how about you guys do it? The number is in your folders"

Blair stood up and picked up his empty bowl "Alright, I do have some stuff to do today; think on what I told you; I could be wrong but I rarely am"


Phew! Another one bites the dust, I'll keep working on this story but the homework is piling up and I need to get on it, bye!