Chapter 17
The streets of Vale were busying as usual, especially down one street. The owner of Dust Till Dawn shop just finished hanging up a sign that said New Re-Opened. Seeing that it was up the right way, he climbed down the ladder and started towards the door when he bumped into someone.
"Excuse me, sorry." The voice said belong to a girl. She looked to be about 19 who was as tall as Yang. She had green hair that stopped right below her head. Two thin trails of hair were on the back of her head. Her eyes were as red as sapphires. She wore a white and earth green chest plate, suggesting that she was a huntress. She had a dark green fingerless glove on her left hand accompanied with a bracelet. Here pants were also a dark, earth toned green that stopped right below her knees. She wore dark brown high heeled shoes and had two guns strapped behind her waist.
"I'm not really from around here." She said with a sad look, while helping the old man up. After doing that, she pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket, showed it to the owner and asked, "Um, would you mind pointing me in the direction of this shop?"
The owner explained her the way with a smile. She then waved goodbye and walked away. Right as she passed a block she heard a voice.
"I knew you were lost." It said. Turning around she saw it belonged to her traveling partner. He looked to be 19, 6'2" and had dark grey hair. His eyes were as black as the night sky. His wardrobe consisted of dark grey and black short sleeved shirt with a zipper. On his shoulders were small pieces of armor. He even had some from below his elbows all the way to his hands. His pants were dark grey and black was well. His shoes resembled gauntlets with extra ammo on them. He was leaning against the building with his arms crossed and a smile on his face.
"Mercury," the girl said to the boy, while walking up to him and showing him a wallet full of lien, "I will seriously pay you to shut up."
"That's not your money." The boy named Mercury replied in a matter of fact tone, indicating that the girl wasn't a huntress, but a pickpocket.
"It could be yours for five minutes of silence."
"Hmmmm. No deal."
"Grr. Fine."
The girl then pulled the lien out of the wallet and placed it in her pocket. Then discarded the wallet on the street. Mercury followed closely behind while laughing. The two suspicious characters walked the streets of Vale towards their destination without attracting any unwanted attention. The girl was enjoying the sights while Mercury just wanted to be done with the job and leave.
"So how much farther?" Mercury asked.
"A few blocks." The girl answered.
"Uhh, this place is so dull."
"Meh. I kinda like it. Tall buildings. Diverse culture."
"And nice, dopey people who are easy to pickpocket."
"That's every city." The girl retorted, stopping in her tracks, with her hands on her hips and an annoyed look on her face.
"Oh, Emerald, master thief." Mercury mocked beg, stopping right in front of the girl, named Emerald, "Please don't take my money. I barely have enough to get by."
Emerald just walked by him with an angry look. Mercury just sighed and followed saying, "You're no fun today."
They reached their destination which was a book store titled, Tukson's Book Trade. They opened the door, that rang a bell when they entered. Looking around they heard humming coming from the back room. Mercury stopped to look at books while Emerald walked up to the reception counter. She saw a small bell and rang it.
"Be right there." The voice said ceasing its humming. The door behind the desk opened with a large man carrying a pile of books with both hands.
"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade." the man said while placing the books down and walking up to the counter, "Home to every book under the sun. How may I- "
He let out a surprised gasp at who he saw, but calmed down after a while. The man was about 6'3". He had black hair and sideburns that reach to his chin. His eyes were a sort of bronze in color. He wore a dark red shirt with some black on it. He had dark grey pants on as well.
"How may I help you?" he finished with a smile on his face.
"Just browsing." Mercury said, loudly closing an opened book in his hand.
"Actually, I was wondering." Emerald said, "Do you have any copies of The Thief and the Butcher?"
"Yes, we do." The man answered.
"That's great!"
"Would you l-like a copy?"
"No, just wondering." Mercury loudly closing a book caused them both to look at him. The man looked at them both suspiciously, but brought the smile back on his face when Emerald turned back to him.
"Oh, oh." She exclaimed, "What about Violets Garden, in paperback?"
"He's got it, hardback too." Mercury stated holding the opened book.
"Oooh, options are nice."
"Ehh, no pictures." Mercury loudly closed the book, put it down and looked at the man, "Hey, do you have any comics?"
"Near the front." he answered then looked back at Emerald.
"Oh, no wait." She said, "What about…Third Crusade?"
"Um…" he answered nervously, "I don't believe we carry that one, though a few copies are on the way."
Mercury loudly closed the book he was looking at while saying 'Oh. Really?'
"What was this place called again?" Emerald asked.
"Tukson's Book Trade." The man answered, the smile no longer on his face, replaced with a scowl.
"And you're Tukson?"
"That's right."
"So, then I take it that you're the one who came up with the catch phrase."
"Yes."
"And what was it again?" Mercury asked earning a sigh from Tukson.
"Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun." Tukson said.
"Except, The Third Crusade."
"It's just a catch phrase."
"It's false advertising!"
"The one who made the order for that book said the same thing."
"You shouldn't make a promise you can't keep, Tukson." Emerald said with a sinister look. Mercury started to black out the windows so that no one could look inside. Tukson was feeling very uncomfortable about the outcome.
"I hear you're planning on leaving, moving all the way to Vacuo." Emerald continued, with all the windows closed and the sound from outside blocked, "Your brothers in the White Fang wouldn't be happy to hear that, and neither are we. You know who we are, don't you?"
"Yes." Tukson answered with a scowl. He then noticed Mercury walking up to Emerald until he was a foot behind her.
"And you know why we're here?"
"Yes."
"So, are you going to fight back?"
The room was silent for three seconds before Tukson answered.
"YES!" he shouted, and his fingernails turned into claws. He then jumped onto the counter and lunged at Emerald. He swiped at her but missed by an inch. He looked up and realized his mistake. He saw Mercury get into a kicking position with those gun boots of his and realized what was going to happen.
I'm sorry, Constantine. I won't be able to help you anymore, but I can leave you one last bit of information. Tukson thought and accepted his fate.
Seeing that their job was done Emerald and Mercury exited the store. The pickpocket looked at the kick boxer and saw him with a comic book of two superheroes.
"What's with that?" she asked.
"Eh, I like the pictures." He answered, and they left the street.
Beacon cafeteria, where anything can happen as one certain boy puts it. It was full of students who were preparing for the next semester of classes. One Faunus, in particular, wasn't doing so. She was looking over her notes about the White Fang's activities. After the little run in they had, and Theodore's secret being revealed, she need to work twice as hard if the White Fang was going to be stopped.
"Whatcha doin?" Yang asked, causing Blake to have a surprised look and quickly close the book.
"Nothing." She lied, "Just going over notes from last semester."
"Lame." Yang said after catching a grape in her mouth that Nora threw. They all had surprised looks on their faces when Ruby place a book that looked to be a thousand pages long. On it read in red, BEST DAY EVER ACTIVITES! However, on the top was scratched out Vytal Festival Activities Property of Weiss Schnee.
"Ahem. Sisters! Friends! Weiss." Ruby started.
"Hey!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Fourscore and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."
"This oughta be good." Yang said before catching another grape in her mouth.
"A dream that one day, the four of us would come together, as a team, and have the most fun anyone has ever had…ever!"
"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss asked.
"I am not a crook." Ruby answered.
"Hey guys! What are you talking about?" Team RWBY heard. They turned to see Theodore in his usual attire with a curious look, plus smile, on his face.
"I'm talking about kicking off this semester with a bang!" Ruby answered.
"I always kick my semesters off with a Yang!" Yang said trying to make a pun and failing. This got her an apple to the face from Nora who was shouting 'BOO!'
"But guys," Ruby said, "It's been a good two weeks, and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great. But, classes start back up tomorrow, which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today!"
"I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store." Weiss said. Yang had thrown an apple back at Nora but accidentally hit Ren.
"I don't know." Blake said, "I think I might sit this one out."
"Sit out or not," Weiss added, "I think however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team."
"Speaking of last day," Theodore said, "you all are coming to the magic show I'm performing tonight, right?"
"Of course!" Weiss stated, "Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"I'll be there!" Yang said, "I haven't been to a magic show, so I want to know what it's like."
"I can't wait to see you do more magic tricks!" Ruby exclaimed with excitement.
"I'll try to make it." Blake said then looked to the back of Theodore's trench coat, "Hey, Theodore, is that your symbol?"
"Why, yes, it is." He answered while turning his back to Team RWBY and showing them the symbol he made. It was a yellow star with blue on the inside, two circles with strange symbols in them (It's the cover of the story). "It's what I've been working on, besides my magic show and telling JNPR my secret."
"I think it looks absolutely- "Weiss didn't get to finish as a pie collided with her face. Everyone looked to Nora who was in a throwing position, started pointing at Ren. Theodore knew exactly where this was going and slowly walked away before it started.
Outside, Sun was walking with someone towards the cafeteria. He was 6'2", had light blue hair and dark blue eyes. He wore a white shirt with a tie, covered by a dark red, button sweater. He had dark brown, fingerless gloves on his hands. His pants were a navy blue, accompanied with dark grey sneakers. On his head were orange goggles and strapped to his back was a gun.
"Man, that's harsh." He said to Sun.
"So, then we were fighting side by side!" Sun told him, "And she was super-fast, and I threw a banana at a guy, which sounds gross, but it was awesome!"
"Nice."
"Right? And the best part is she's a Faunus!" Sun quickly covered his mouth after realizing what he said, "But that's a secret! OK?"
"Got it."
"And not a 'I'm gonna to tell Scarlet the second Sun turns his back' secret. I'm talking secret, secret."
"Woah, chill out man OK? I got it. I got it."
"You better. I just don't want to screw this up you know. These people here are the coolest." They just missed Jaune hit the window. "No offense to you guys."
"None taken."
"OK, they're just in here. I'm really excited for you to meet them, so be cool OK? You're gonna be cool, right?"
"Dude." The boy said stopping in front of him posing. He stood tall, his arms were crossed, and his teeth glistened in the sun when he smiled.
"Good point." Sun replied. Both then entered the cafeteria to see students rushing out of it shouting, 'FOOD FIGHT!'. Sun looked to his left to see Theodore setting up a camera out of twelve around the room. The boy noticed Sun, finished what he was doing and walked up to him.
"Hey, Sun." Theodore said then looked to the other boy, "Who's your friend?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Theodore Constantine meet my buddy Neptune." Sun introduced, "My buddy Neptune, meet Theodore Constantine."
"Pleasure to meet you, Neptune." Theodore replied holding a hand out to Neptune. The said boy looked at Theodore with a surprised look which turned into a smile and took Theodore's hand and shook it violently.
"It is such a pleasure to meet you!" Neptune said, "To personally meet Vale's Hometown Hero is such an honor!"
"You too, Neptune." Theodore said, seeing if his hand was numb from the shaking. All three-boy's attention was turned to a sinister laughter. They saw Team JNPR on a castle made of tables, with Nora laughing at the tippy top on one end of the cafeteria.
"I'M QUEEN OF THE CASTLE!" she started to sing, "I'M QUEEN OF THE CASTLE!"
"JUSTICE WILL BE SWIFT! JUSTICE WILL BE PAINFUL!" Ruby shouted while crushing a milk carton at the other end of the cafeteria, "IT WILL BE DELICOUS!"
The rest of Team RWBY shouted a battle cry and the food fight started with Nora shouting, 'OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!' All kinds of food were flying ever in the cafeteria. Watermelons, French bread, fruits, vegetables, meat, even drinks were in the mix. Yang was using two cooked turkeys as gauntlets, Blake was using two French bread sticks as swords, and Nora was using a pole with a watermelon skewered to it to make it a hammer.
The fight was intense for the first five minutes before Team RWBY started to lose. Weiss was the first to be taken out of the edible war when she was knocked into a pillar by Nora. Yang was sent through the roof by Nora as well. Blake was sent to the wall when Pyrrha used her semblance to send soda cans flying into the disguised Faunus.
Ruby decided to end the food fight, here and now. Using her semblance, she dashed towards Team JNPR with all manner of food following her in the wind. She picked up speed when she was half way towards them and moved right past them. She then stopped right at the other end of the cafeteria, causing a crater to form in the wall. The resulting wind, following behind her, threw Team JNPR into the wall with the food impacting them as well. Ruby had single handily won the food fight for her team.
"Abstract art." Theodore commented seeing all the food coloring on the wall and on everyone else, "Nice."
"I love these guys." Sun told Neptune, turning to see him with an angry face all covered in purple soda. Theodore, seeing the mess, decided to clean it up. Noticing what happened to Neptune, the young sorcerer waved his left hand and the soda disappeared off him. Theodore then walked to the center of the cafeteria and raised both hands.
"REPERIA FOD COURTE ISTANEINIALE!" he shouted as his hands started to glow blue. All the tables in the room that were overturned or broken came back into the place they belonged in the room and repaired themselves. Even the crater in the wall was fixed and the food leftover was sent to the trash. All the students in the cafeteria, minus Yang, watched in amazement as the cafeteria was repaired.
Once the cafeteria was done being cleaned up, expect the students being covered in food, Theodore heard the door open and turned to see Glynda Goodwitch with an angry look on her face. It changed to surprise when see saw the cafeteria in good condition. Everyone pointed to the Theodore with smiles on his faces.
"Thank you, Mr. Constantine." Glynda said and then turned to the students, "Children, please, do not play with your food."
She got an answer when Nora made a very loud burp, then followed by Yang falling through the roof back into the cafeteria. Everyone started to laugh, even Theodore, causing Glynda to have an angry look on her face again.
"Let it go." Glynda heard a voice say. Turning, she saw it was Ozpin. She let out a sigh before answering back.
"They're supposed to be the defenders of the world." She said.
"They will be," Ozpin answered, "but right now they're still children. So, why not let them play the part? After all, it isn't a roll they'll have forever."
In a hidden warehouse, White Fang members were moving dust crates out of ships and into the building. Mercury and Emerald walked past them, not even interested in what they were doing. They were only interested in seeing Roman Torchwick, who was looking over his map. He turned around and saw the assassin and the thief.
"Oh, look. She sent the kids again." Roman said, walking behind them and giving them a hug, "This is turning out just like the divorce."
Emerald shivered in disgust before removing herself from his grip. Mercury just removed the arm from around his neck.
"Ugh. Save us the thought of you procreating." Emerald said in disgust.
"That was a joke," Torchwick replied walking in front of them, "and this…just might tell me where you two have been all day."
"What?!" Emerald exclaimed seeing the address paper in Torchwick's hand and not her pockets.
"I'm a professional, sweet heart. Pay attention, maybe you'll learn something." He said holding the paper in air. He then looked at it and his smug look was replaced with a suspicious look that he directed at the two. "Why do you have this address?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Emerald asked in a mocking tone. Roman walked back up to them for answers.
"Yeah, I would." He replied, "Now, where have you been all day?"
"Cleaning up your problems." Mercury said, "One of them at least."
"I had that under control."
"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise."
"Listen you little punk, I've got enough on my plate as it is without you adding to it. If it were up to me, I would take you and your little street rat friend here and I would- "
"Do what, Roman?" a voice said followed by footsteps that sided like glass. Torchwick, Mercury, and Emerald looked behind and up to see a woman walking towards the elevator. She was Yang's height with black shoulder length hair, some covering her left eye. Her eyes were a sinister gold. Her attire was a red long-sleeved dress that stopped halfway past her thighs, with gold designs on sleeves. Her shoes were black high heels that looked like they were made of glass. Her nails were painted a blood like red.
"Heh, heh, heh. I'd uh…not kill them?" Roman asked nervously as she descended in the elevator.
"Cinder!" Emerald exclaimed in a joyful mood. Cinder ignored her and continued walking towards Torchwick.
"I thought I made it clear that you were to eliminate the would be runaway." Cinder said in a matter of fact tone, stopping a few feet in front of Torchwick.
"I was going to…" Torchwick said trying to defend himself.
"He was going to escape to Vacuo." Emerald said, "Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat."
"I think he was some sort of cat, actually." Mercury said.
"What, like a puma?"
"Yeah, there you go."
"Quiet." Cinder ordered with an angry look. Torchwick started to make gestures, indicating that they were in trouble with their boss. "Did I not, specifically, instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?"
"I just thought- "Emerald tried to say with a scared look but was interrupted by Cinder.
"Don't think. Obey."
"Yes, ma'am. It won't happen again."
"And you," Cinder said turning back to Torchwick who laughed nervously, "why wasn't this job done sooner?"
Torchwick gave off a small 'uh' before gesturing to all the dust in the warehouse while going, 'Eh? Eh? Eh?!'
"Sorry, if I've been a little busy trying to make sure this warehouse isn't discovered, while trying to steal dust and not get caught at the same time!"
"What're you talking about?" Mercury asked in a mocking tone, "Has a vigilante been stopping your heists or something?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. Here, see for yourself. Type in Vale's Hometown Hero and see what comes up."
Torchwick then threw a scroll at the three conspirators, which they caught. Cinder then typed in what the robber said and saw the results of the search. One boy has been protecting Vale for over a year, giving Torchwick a run for his money. She watched a few videos hoping to get some information on the boy, but came up empty handed. She couldn't even see his face, but she at least got his name.
"Theodore Constantine." She said while reading one of the articles, "Interesting."
"Ohhh! So that's how his last name is pronounced!" Torchwick exclaimed, "I don't have to get it wrong every time now."
"Think he'll be a problem?" Emerald asked out of concern. This boy had stopped a lot of people from common thugs to members of the White Fang.
"Don't worry." Cinder said while turning off the scroll and handing it back to Torchwick, "I'm sure we can handle him."
"Yeah, good luck with that." Torchwick said, "Do you know how many people had tried to off this kid and failed? No one can come close to killing him, not even me. I learned that the hard way. So, I just stick to trying to successfully rob dust shops. Speaking of which, if you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on your grandmaster plan, it might actually make my next string of robberies go a little smoother, and lessen the chance of being caught!"
"Oh, Roman, have a little faith." Cinder said while walking up to him and putting her right hand on his left cheek, "You'll know what you need when you need to know."
Her eyes started to glow and Torchwick knew what that meant. She would use her powers to destroy him if her ever stepped out of line. He suddenly thought he would be safer with Theodore Constantine taking him to prison.
"Besides, we're done with dust." Cinder said, removing her hand from his cheek and turning away from him.
"Ooookay. Then what now?" Torchwick asked.
"We're moving." Cinder replied walking to exit the warehouse, "Have the White Fang clear out this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight."
"Coordinates?"
Cinder stopped walking and slightly turned so that Torchwick could see her face.
"We're proceeding to phase 2." She said and continued to walk away with her two partners in tow. Torchwick decided to smoke, hoping to get his mind off the events that just happened. When he put the cigar in his mouth, however, he couldn't find his lighter. Hearing the click of his lighter, he looked to see Emerald holding it in her left hand. She stuck her tongue out at him, closed the lighter, and then followed her colleagues out.
AU: Hey everyone. Happy Late New Year! Sorry, for the late update. I'm back in school now so it was a while before I could upload these chapters. Thank you all for your patience and support. I will update as soon as possible in the future, school or no school. Sentinel Prime, out.