[X] Yang did meet up with Junior that one time. Maybe she can slide by there again and see if he knows anyone willing to be hired for a job.
The music in the nightclub was booming, as Yang walked in.
It was kinda late, and the sun was nearly down, but Yang's dad didn't expect her home for a bit after sunset anyway, so she had time.
People had started to gather, but not in numbers. It was probably mostly people who were going to leave before long, or had things to do in the morning. Not any people who'd party hard all night or anything.
Still, if it was open, then that meant Junior was here somewhere.
Probably.
Maybe not, but if he wasn't, Yang could just ask around for him.
There was music playing, as the DJ wearing a bear mascot mask sat behind his turntables lazily, kinda snoozing off a bit. Was he getting paid for that? That didn't seem like something he could get paid for. Unless he does really good work when he actually tries or something like that.
A bodyguard noted Yang's entrance, and approached her. "What are you doing here, Miss?"
Yang smiled. "I'm looking for Junior. Do you mind if you an direct me to where he is?"
"Why are you looking for him?" The bodyguard asked.
Yang flexed her fingers in frustration.
"I want to talk to him about something." Yang explained. "There's potentially some money in it for him."
The bodyguard considered it for a moment, then tapped on something inside his ear, holding his finger down for a moment.
"...Right this way." The man said, walking Yang over to the VIP section she'd gone into with her father after Melanie's whole thing was revealed. "Be aware, there are several armed guards positioned in there to act if you try anything."
"I'm not taking my gauntlets off." Yang said defensively.
"I won't ask you to, Miss." The bouncer assured her. "But keep in mind that if you start acting violently, you will be asked to leave."
"Don't worry." Yang replied. "I'm here on business, not... Well, you know."
The bodyguard nodded, then opened up the VIP door, gesturing Yang through. The girl walked through, heading up the stairs.
A moment later, she walked into the VIP room. Yang noted four bodyguards standing around the room, and Junior looking at something on a giant screen as he sat at a table.
"Yang Xiao Long." He noted. "It's been a while since you were last here."
"Junior." Yang nodded. "What're you watching?"
"Just checking my mail." The club owner replied. "You might be interested in knowing how Melanie's doing."
Yang stepped forward, moving to look over Junior's shoulder, and he shoved the screen up so it folded out of view.
"Stop that." He said. "It's private."
"Yeah, yeah." Yang rolled her eyes. "What'd it say, pal? Miltia still in Atlas?"
"Not for much longer." Junior explained. "There was some kind of disagreement, so Miltia's leaving Melanie in Atlas and coming back."
Yang winced, as she stepped around to the other side of the table. "Ah. Ouch. What about?"
"If Miltia wants you to know, she'll tell you." Junior replied. "Ask her when she gets back in a few days if you really want to know. You came here for a reason, didn't you?"
Well, so much for small talk.
"I'm working on something with someone." Yang explained. "You remember the Intoners, right? Two and Five? Because Four's in town, and trying to do something."
Junior stiffened. "...What does she want?"
"She'll tell you if she wants you to know." Yang replied, with a smile. "Point is, she's looking for some people who are trying not to be found."
"And you're trying to get information out of me?" Junior asked.
Yang shrugged. "If you know some stuff, I'll ask about it afterwards. Four's got a plan right now, though. The people she's looking for are going to be meeting up in the Fight Club thing. Trying to throw fights with each other to manipulate the bets. Four wanted some people on hand to figure out who they are, identify them, and sabotage their scheme."
Junior frowned. "I've seen what the Intoners are like. If this Four is going to be hunting people down using the Fight Club-"
"She doesn't intend to enter herself." Yang explained. "Just wait outside for them. And besides, even if the Fight Club management has rules regarding using the establishment to hunt people down, I suppose they won't like the idea of people going in with the intent of manipulating the fight for their own purposes?"
Junior considered it for a moment.
"...Point." He considered. "As long as you let the management know in advance, they should probably let you get away with it."
Yang nodded. "Good, good. Anyway, Four was thinking about hiring people. Do you have anyone in mind?"
"A few." Junior continued. "I've been looking for someone to fill in the gap, and there's some names that might help. I had to narrow it down to people I found trustworthy enough, so I do have a list of people who'll either honour their words or not break a contract."
"Such as?" Yang asked.
Junior pulled down the screen and pressed his fingertips against it a few times. As he swiped through something, he talked.
"If the next Fight Club meeting is when I think it is, then Miltia should be back by then." Junior noted. "She seemed to get along with you, so maybe ask her."
"Thanks for the heads up." Yang nodded. It'd be nice to see Miltia again. They hadn't talked in a while. Not since Yang had failed to ki- Successfully driven off the Death Stalker.
"Then there's a few people you might be able to rely on." Junior eventually stated, as he stopped swiping over the screen. "First up is someone I'm told you encountered last time you were at the fight club. Fuyu Chizakura. He had a sword that turned into flying drones?"
"I think I remember him." Yang mused. "Sounds familiar, at least. I think I beat him?"
"That's right." Junior nodded. "He's got a kind of honour code. If you hire him for a job, he'll carry it out. I'll pass his information on to you?"
"Sure." Yang shrugged. "I'll send them in to Four afterwards so she can pick who to hire. I'll pass her Miltia's contact information too, if you tell her in advance I might want to request her help."
Junior nodded, and then moved on to look through different people's information.
"Hm." He mused. "Not many other people here showing much interest. There's someone from Beacon on the list too. Fox Alistair? Apparently a regular at the Fight Club, and been doing a bunch of jobs around the city recently after something happened to his teammates."
"I think I remember him too." Yang noted. "Not sure what about him, though."
"Not sure if anyone else here is good for you, though." Junior admitted. "Everyone else here is too mercenary or unreliable. Or too inexperienced. Miltia, Fuyu, and Fox should be enough for you, right?"
"Three, plus me." And Decadus, Yang thought, but Four hadn't mentioned him and if someone spilled information then Yang didn't want to risk any of it being lost. "And I suppose I don't have to say anything about this all being private information?"
Junior snorted. "Your'e doing this with an Intoner. I heard what happened from Miltia. I'd be an idiot to try and make things harder then you."
"Good." Yang nodded. "Thanks, Junior. How much does this information cost me?"
Junior lowered a device from the ceiling, by the screen. "I'll just send you the bill with the information."
Yang nodded, and tapped it against the device. Her scroll beeped, and she looked through it briefly to observe the contact information and bill. Then, with another press of the button, the information was sent through to Four.
"Well, I'm done here." Yang nodded. "See you later, Junior."
Pocketing her scroll again, Yang walked back into the nightclub downstairs. It was a bit more packed now, but the DJ still wasn't doing any work.
There were people talking a bunch, and Yang paused by a few of the more curious conversations.
"Have you been keeping updated on the news in Atlas?" Somebody asked someone else. "You know, that expansionist movement?"
"Not really." The other person replied.
"They've been expanding recently. Started getting organised. Different important people and corporations and politicians are all signing on. They're calling it Zeigen Schicksal."
"Hey, didn't I hear that term in the news from Mistral?"
"Yeah, they're expanding. They're biggest in Atlas, but the group is starting to pick up some traction in other places. Everyone wants their Kingdoms to expand borders. Atlas is in the best position to do it, but the logic is that if everyone supports the movement now, Atlas will expand and then help out the other Kingdoms."
Yang walked on a bit away from that conversation, noting it for a moment. Wasn't that the movement Qrow said would fail unless it got support from the Schnee or the military? It was weird, hearing them continuing to expand. You'd think it'd have died down if it didn't have support from one at the start.
Maybe there was someone pulling the strings there?
Walking around a bit more, Yang heard a brief snippet of a conversation from elsewhere.
"Man, thing's are getting rough in Vacuo." A voice noted.
"What do you mean?" Another asked.
"Things are getting rougher, back there. Rumour has it, the headmaster of Shade Academy has started pushing for more control of the Kingdoms. Threatening cities that step out of line by leaving them to the Grimm and sending food and stuff elsewhere."
"Ouch. Can't imagine that went well."
"Yeah. People thought he was bluffing, then all the Hunters trained in Shade started pulling back and stopped hunting in certain areas."
That...
Was odd. Yang didn't know too much about Vacuo as a Kingdom, but from what she did know, it was the roughest of them. Vacuo was a place where conditions were harsh, so there were a lot of people in the Kingdom who only lived there because they had no choice. This did, more often then not, mean people with rather negative views on the more organised nature of the other Kingdoms.
Shade Academy was basically the government in Vacuo, so if the headmaster was taking charge of things, that could mean a lot of things. Not many of them good. It was a point debated in the other Kingdoms a bit, but it was generally accepted that Vacuo was an area that could use more law and order in places.
But outright abandoning areas that were troublesome? Letting the Grimm take care of things? Just leaving the people there? That wasn't going to end well. People who weren't going to bow to authority won't appreciate it when they have their food supply crippled and be forced to have to deal with Grimm more.
Well, hopefully things worked out there. It'd suck if things started happening there. If things did go wrong, Vale would probably step in and try to help resolve things. Which...
Well, Yang didn't know enough about the politics of the situation, but that could either be really good or really bad. It depends on some factors that Yang didn't fully understand. Politics was hard.
As she approached the exit, she overheard a bit more about conversation. Someone was talking about their wallet disappearing while in a fashion clothes store or something. And then there was someone else talking about the White Fang.
"Did you hear about the latest attack?"
"The robbery near the pizza place?"
"No, the other one. A bunch of White Fang members attacked a police station to try and find someone. Didn't get who they were looking for, ended up running, but the police community is up in arms."
Yang mused for a moment, if Four had heard that one.
Well, of course she must of, she followed a lot regarding the White Fang. Probably got in contact to get information from them at some point.
As she stepped outside, she pulled out her scroll and started dialling Four.
It won't be long now, before Yang returns to the Fight Club. She, and a few others, would end up fighting in a few matches. Yang doesn't intend to start fighting right away and tire herself out against weaker opponents for no reason, and until then, she'll end up talking to someone while watching a match. Who?
[X] Miltia. They haven't talked for a while, and since she's coming back anyway, Yang better see what that's about.
[X] Fuyu. Why not. Yang barely knew him, and so might be able to learn the most by talking to him.
[X] Fox. He was a Beacon student, she might be able to get some good training tips out of him.
[X] ...Four had said not to, but she didn't seem to understand teenagers, because now Yang was wondering what it would be like to talk to Decadus.