RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime
Chapter 16: Pyrrha Nikos, Reporting for Duty
Pyrrha Nikos, three time champion of the Vytal Tournament and Valedictorian of Beacon Academy, which she was a recent graduate of, stood outside the police station holding her carton of personal belongings which she would use to decorate her desk with. She was wearing her police uniform with it's snappy black hat, blue shirt and black pressed pants, black shoes polished to the point of reflecting anything. She was excited, to say the least, to be here. It had been her dream to enter the police force to fight crime on the streets. It was after all why she had gone to Beacon academy, to fight villains that tormented the city. People had been confused by her choice at first. Why would someone as talented and popular as her want to become a common cop when she could join an elite fighting force?
But the truth was she simply wanted to be out of the limelight. She didn't like the abhorrent attention on her. She felt like she couldn't do anything without being judged harshly for it. That she always had to act a certain way. And she certainly did not want to join an elite hunting force which would have everything publicized, which would have all their actions criticized and whose finances came from corporations that told them what fights to fight and what clothes to wear. Pyrrha didn't want to be a sponsored hero. She wanted to be authentic and what better place than the police force where most of the work done by Vale's force got under appreciated.
With a warm smile on her face she strode right into the building, pushing the heavy and worn oak doors open with her shoulders. The place was a bit rundown but nothing could wipe away the girl's excitement. Not even the sour face the receptionist made when Pyrrha asked her where her desk was. Not even the small size of her cubicle, desk, and chair that would be her work station for the foreseeable future. Not even the klutzy blonde haired boy who spilled coffee all over her shirt front. Nope. Nothing could take away her enthusiasm for this job.
She was going to be able to change lives. She was certain of it.
Smiling at her desk she began to type information on records into the computer.
Frowning she sat at her desk, looking at the information on her computer screen.
Something fishy was going on with this station. She was certain of it.
She had been here for just three months but already something heavy rested on her stomach and her mouth tasted sour. Pyrrha had been doing her job. She had been out on the streets, patrolling them and chasing after perps before they could get a chance to rob stores. But that was the issue. The perps that she captured wouldn't stay behind bars. More than once Pyrrha had watched Roman, a notorious swindler and dust mule, and Neo, a silent interrogator, been let out to walk back onto the streets. This had confused her at first, her thinking she had gotten something wrong in arresting them. But running through their files did confirm that they were indeed criminals. So then why were they being let free?
She had confronted the chief of police on this but the man had waved away her concerns telling her that since she was new here she didn't know what she was doing. But she did know. She wasn't some dumb jock. She had been top of her class for a reason!
And the other cops had been the same! Whenever she had raised this sentiment with them, wondering if the criminals they caught ever walked away, they had laughed at her, saying that she shouldn't mess with the Grimm gang. This infuriated her. Corrupt cops! And of all times, when the city was in the grips of a nasty power hungry and bloodthirsty gang. She tried to change their mindset on corruption; how they were supposed to protect the citizens and not let harm come to them. But they had yet again laughed at her and said that she didn't know how the real world worked, that she should stop living in an utopia, because those didn't exist. She had been offended by this. She wasn't naive! She had seen bloodshed, had brought pain to others. She knew the horrors of life in and out. Still they didn't take her words seriously, waving her off and telling her that until she had crossed the Grimm gang leader, that she didn't really know pain. That pain only took on meaning when it was wrought upon others by her hands.
Pyrrha had then said that she was going to reach the top of the Grimm gang. That she was going to work on the side to capture the leader. They called her a fool for it but didn't do anything to stop her. Pyrrha took to researching like mad anything she could about the gang. She combed through all the police forces records and found herself appalled and sickened by the extensive list of the Grimm gang's damages. She saw that Roman, Neo, Emerald, and Mercury were in the top of the gang, having served the once leader Cinder. But the woman was no longer leader, serving another. And Pyrrha had to wonder who the person was. Not much was known about them yet, except they carried a scythe and left their mark, a red rose, on their work.
Pyrrha was going to have to interrogate some of the top brass at the Grimm gang. And she was going to start with Roman and Neo. She just had to catch them. But they were slippery and good fighters. Still, she was talented and determined.
"Working late again?" the blonde haired boy, the one who had spilled coffee on her shirt the first day of her work, asked as he leaned over his cubicle wall to gaze at her. It was past operating hours and Pyrrha was sitting at the computer, her hair tied up into a messy bun and an ash tray next to her, filled with about twenty butts. She had recently taken to smoking. Something which she knew was bad but which she couldn't help. The injustice was making her burn up inside so she had to burn something else or else she would combust herself.
"Yea, Mr. Arc," she responded to him without taking her eyes off of the screen as she typed stuff in. "Why are you here late again?"
"I uh, mucked up some documents. So I gotta redo them. All of them," he admitted uncomfortably. Pyrrha would have apologized for making him feel unsettled with her question, but she was too worn out to care. Today she had been pulled off to the side and reprimanded harshly after she had tried to go bust a dust robbery conducted by the Grimm. The criminals had been let go and she couldn't do anything about it. "But it's fine. I'm used to it."
Pyrrha merely grunted in the affirmative. Jaune was by far one of the worst cops she had come across in a while. She couldn't believe he had been a student of Beacon. How had he made it through with his abysmal skill set? He didn't even have a proper semblance and his field work reports were the worst. Sloppily written and lacking details. Yet, he was a nice person. Earnest, and he kind of reminded her of a puppy that had been kicked one time too many.
There was silence, only filled by her quick typing and the small slurps of his coffee. He was still looking down at her.
"Still working on the same lead?" He asked. He knew what it was she was working on. Everyone at the station did, although they used it as fodder for jokes. He was the only one who seemed genuinely interested in it. Sighing, for it seemed the boy wanted to talk rather work, Pyrrha decided to lean back from the computer and take a break. It wouldn't hurt and she was being rather rude by not engaging in conversation with him. She wouldn't have done this months ago but she now carried no small amount of dislike for cops at this station. And while Jaune never openly jeered at her, his incompetence both on the field and off irritated her. The police force would never do any good with people like him on it.
"Yes. And I think I'm getting closer." She pulled out the cigarette from between her lips and loosened the tie around her neck more. It felt strangling. "If the others aren't going to do anything about the Grimm gang then I will."
"Why didn't you join the elite warriors then? You're amazing. I mean, I've seen you on TV. You got it all. The power, the personality, the mannerisms, the golden heart and the looks," he blushed a little on this, " to be a hero. So why didn't you go there. Why did you choose to come here? The police are corrupt. You won't achieve anything with them. Me, I suck plain and simple. I had no other place to go to after I completed schooling, which was a miracle in itself. But your potential is being wasted here." Pyrrha was a bit taken aback by his words. She never knew he felt this way about her. The two of them barely exchanged many words, the boy too shy or stumbling over his words or feet too often to talk to her. But today his words were clear, his sentences honest.
"Because I didn't know," was her simple reply. "I just wanted to be...normal. I wanted to be close to people and not some sort of icon. The hero squads aren't all that they seem to be. They have their negatives." She sucked on her cigarette and let out a long stream of smoke. "That's why I came here. But it didn't pan out like I thought it would. But I'm not going to give up. I came to help people and I will. If I have to I will use my popularity to raise awareness of the corruption in the force. But first I need good hard proof." She tapped on her computer screen.
Jaune swirled his cup, looking down into the liquid in there. "You know...I've admired you for the longest time. You were a celebrity even before you were of age to join Beacon, but you were so good at tournaments. I wanted to be like you. You helped me get through school. You kept me going with the idea that I could be better. And while I suck, I could have been worse. So...I was thinking that this time I could help you." His voice was soft, almost tapering off at the end.
"What?" Pyrrha who had been reclining in the chair, snapped up right at those words. Had she hear right?
"I want to stop the corruption in this force. But I've never been smart enough or strong enough to do it. But I've wanted to do it for the longest time. And now that you're here, you've inspired me to want to try to do something. I want to offer you my support. Let me be the light this time, the light that helps you through this trying time." He blushed as he said this. "Not that I'm like anything amazing to look up to, like you or stuff, but, uh, well, I just want to help," he finished sheepishly. "With you around, the force might actually get better."
Pyrrha regarded the boy thoughtfully for a while and her gaze must have been intimidating because he coughed and looked away, going to sit back down at his computer. "Never mind what I said, I just thought..."
"Mr. Arc," Pyrrha stood up from her seat, this time her being the one to lean over his cubicle wall. "I appreciate the offer. Having your support would mean a lot to me." Hearing those words-that someone else noticed the corruption and wanted to do something about it- lifted her mood. Even though it was Jaune Arc, the definition of a bumbling fool, it was still something. Jaune's face blossomed into joy at this.
"But, we need to work on your fighting skills, because we will be out there fighting."
"Right," Jaune's face fell a little as he took on a more serious form and nodded his head.
"And we'll need to work on your investigating skills and your writing skills. Your reports are plain horrid," Pyrrha continued on and Jaune squirmed in discomfort.
She would have pointed out more of his flaws but relented, figuring she didn't want to lose his support so quickly. "We need to work on it. I'll train you. Meet me in the police gym at six in the morning? We can start with your fighting technique first."
Jaune nodded his head in affirmation. "Sounds like a good idea. Together we can beat this corruption."
"I sure hope so, Mr. Arc," Pyrrha muttered, letting out a plume of smoke from her lips.
"Just Jaune. Call me Jaune," the blonde offered, blushing slightly.
"Alright, Jaune. I'll see you early tomorrow. And don't be late."
It was time to take this station back from the Grimm.
A/N: I know Pyrrha might be a bit ooc, but that's cause she's disgruntled. She's been working her ass off only for all her work to be dismissed by corrupt cops. That'd make anyone grumpy, especially if she's working her own case on the side. But anyways, I'm excited to write some more buddy cop chapters between Jaune and Pyrrha. We'll see if this team up is any match for our dastardly duo of Cinder and Ruby. I place my bets on the latter.