Sometimes, Reaper really wished Neo could speak. Seriously, can she though? She's made plenty of other noises, just not coherent words. Whether she's mute or stubborn, it still stuck Reaper with the task of reporting to Torchwick. This one couldn't be given through a cutout. Reaper marched through the estate and approached his secretary. Another cute brunette? Wait, it looks like be the same one.
"I'm here to see Roman, he needs to hear what I've got." Reaper told the girl sharply, scaring the poor thing with her sudden entrance.
"Oh! Reaper! I'll buzz him right away." She hit the intercom button. "Mr. Torchwick, Miss Reaper is here to see you."
"I told you I'm in a- wait Reaper wants to see me? This can't be good. This meeting is five minutes from over." His voice came through the device. Reaper leaned against a nearby wall to wait. The brunette secretary kept stealing glances.
"Y-you're really pretty." She eventually told Reaper.
"If you work hard, Roman might wait a week to replace you, unless he gets bored of you sooner." Reaper shot venomously, her eyes turning red. She was sick of how this girl's hair kept reminding her of Velvet. The rest of the five minutes were held in uncomfortable silence. The meeting finally ended, Roman's contact in the Valen police force leaving to make room for Reaper's report.
"So what's so important you decided to see me directly?" Torchwick asked after closing the door.
"A couple things," she started, handing him Junior's Brochure, "apparently the courier that was delivering ours was new, and Junior hasn't seen him since."
"You think someone stole it."
"I think it's more likely someone wanted to us not to get it. We don't quite have our sea legs yet, and someone may see our rise as a threat."
"True. You've learned a lot about this business in such a short time. I'm glad you're not more ambitious. Could give me a run for my money." Roman smiled. "If someone is plotting against us, I need someone I can trust to find out whom."
"It's not the only problem. My old friends from Beacon were at the Club. They were looking for me, and for information on you."
Torchwick eyed Reaper as though it were Junior who would feel his gaze. "What did he tell them and for how much?"
"Two grand for 'Orange Clockwork'."
Roman sighed. "I suppose at current market value, that's not too bad. Man's neutral. Pity." Torchwick started to think through these latest developments. "Would you mind taking off so I have some privacy to think?" He asked Reaper as his secretary brought him tea. The secretary hurried past the scythe girl without making eye contact. "Oh, and stop breaking my girls' hearts, if you would?"
"I wouldn't have to keep doing so if you stopped 'recycling' them every few days." She shouted back at him, turning to leave.
"They get boring!" Reaper heard Torchwick bellow as the door to his office closed. 'Would you mind taking off?' God that man frustrates me. Her mood was certainly not improved by catcalling from some random low-level thug as she stepped 'outside'.
"I hear crazy girls are crazy in bed! Why don't you test that with me, baby!"
Reaper stopped short, and turned to face the owner of the voice. Everyone around the smiling idiot backed away. There was talk about two men before now who had tried to hit on the black cloaked girl, and one of them even had a halfway decent pickup line. It seems this man chose to ignore those cautionary tales.
Velvet's on the lookout for me, someone's on the warpath against the gang, Neo's acting crazy, Torchwick's secretaries are annoying, the man himself is an ass, and now some sweaty half-ape is hitting on me!? Each thought made her eyes brighter. Today. Had been. A. Bad. Day. She placed her hands on her hips and approached the poor soul with a strut and a pretty smile.
"I bet you would love to see how crazy I could be." Reaper told him in a sweet voice.
"Ohhh yeah…" The man couldn't believe his luck. The others around him couldn't believe his stupidity. And Neo, who was passing by, almost couldn't believe her eyes. It had been a while since Reaper blew her lid. Too long, in her opinion. Tonight, Reaper would need to calm down. Tonight is going to be fun, Neo smiled at the thought.
Reaper finished her slow walk up to the man, face full of grin and glowing eyes. Inches away from the man, the grin turned sour. Before the man could react to the sudden shift, Reaper had a vice grip on the male parts no man wants in a vice grip. "How is this for crazy, 'little' boy? I can tell you're new, so here is some free advice. Don't fuck with the girl who can castrate you with her bare hands." She felt a pop and warm liquid seeped through the man's pants. She let go and the man fell straight to the ground. "You have one left. I suggest you save it for the not-so-lucky lady who wants it."
Reaper stomped away, staring at the blood on her hand in disgust. She didn't particularly like Torchwick, but she was starting to get how he felt about the common rabble here. They were useful idiots, but they could be revolting. The only thing on her mind was washing her glove thoroughly before taking Brutal Thorn into the wilderness. Until Neo walked by, strutting and twirling her umbrella. Two birds with one stone. Maybe she'll stop stalking me for a while if I give her what she wants.
Twenty minutes later, Reaper emerged from Neo's bathroom with a clean hand and no top. Between the Red Haze and Neo's recent over eagerness, the girls couldn't tell who was more ferocious this time around. This was a long time coming… the multi colored girl thought, as she had the best night in a long while.
Weiss found it particularly difficult to focus on her classes the next day. Thoughts of 'Orange Clockwork' dominated her mind. The name had to be important, it cost two thousand Lien. But what is it!? If it could lead to Torchwick, to her sister's attacker, she would find out. Blake noticed her girlfriends thoughts were far from class. Rather than argue with the stubborn heiress, she simply took Weiss's notes for her.
As soon at classes ended, Weiss went straight for the library. Using the terminals there, she logged on to the internet and began researching. The keywords 'Orange' and 'Clockwork' sent a lot of varied results, including a very disturbing movie she ended up watching in its entirety out of boredom. Weiss will never look at Beethoven the same way again. A few hours into her work, after the sun set, Blake finally found her. "How has your search been going?" The faunus asked her exhausted girlfriend.
"Nothing concrete… All I know is that I never want to listen to 'Singing in the Rain' ever again." Weiss responded.
"Excuse me?" Blake was confused.
"Nevermind. There's nothing. Well, it would be more accurate to say I found too much with those two words. Nothing stands out…"
"We need to narrow the search somehow." Blake told her. "Another day. You need sleep now."
"How much money do you think it would take for Junior to just give us everything?" Weiss asked out of frustration.
"You would probably have to pay for his retirement to somewhere far away from Torchwick's influence." Blake answered.
Weiss thought for a moment. "I probably could afford that…"
"Out of the question, unfortunately." Blake informed her. "I highly doubt your father or Ironwood would take kindly to your 'private investigation', and they certainly won't miss you giving a fortune away to a random Club owner."
Weiss groaned. Blake was right, it looked like she was going to have to try and investigate herself. She might miss the time when she could just throw her money at all her problems, if that wasn't tied to a life without Blake. Blake, my girlfriend, who I have ignored all day while obsessing over Torchwick. Way to go, Weiss. "How has your day been so far?" the heiress asked the faunus while laying her head on the black cat's shoulder.
"My wrist hurts from taking twice as many notes." Blake noted aloud.
"I'm sorry. I just feel better about these things when I'm doing something about them." Weiss explained, thinking of her sister.
"I understand, I'm not angry." Blake told her. "Just know that I won't cover your notes every day."
"I know, and I wouldn't ask you to. Thank you for doing so today, I'll be better in class tomorrow." The heiress sealed the promise with a kiss.
Back in the poorer parts of vale, a rabbit faunus treaded carefully through the dark streets. Velvet had accidentally lost track of time while looking for Ruby. She also didn't intend to get this far into the more decrepit neighborhoods. But she was a fourth year huntress-in-training; she could handle getting back to Beacon. It's getting back before the last airship up the cliff leaves without drawing attention to myself that's the problem.
"What are you doing here, bunny?" A vagrant asked as she passed.
Velvet stared him down until she deduced he wasn't causing issues. He was genuinely curious. "Just passing through." She told him.
"Nobody 'passes through' poor town. Especially not someone who looks as well off as yourself. You from that academy, aint ya? The one for the Grimm hunters?"
The man seemed very observant. Perhaps… "Yes I am, and I'm looking for someone. Have you seen a young woman, dark red hair, wears a red hood, and has silver or maybe even red eyes?"
The man shifted uneasily on the sidewalk. "Don't be looking for that around here. People 'round these parts tend to be superstitious, see? And you know what they say about the devil. Speak of him, and he shall come."
"What does that mean?" Velvet asked the man.
"I don't know about a girl, but red hood? Red eyes? There was a local rumor, months back. A grim reaper appeared in the neighborhood, with so much bloodlust even their eyes burned red. I don't put much stock in tales, but there were bodies…"
"Bodies?" Velvet asked, horrified. There's no way that can be related to Ruby…
The vagrant nodded. "Faunus. Ex-Fang, all of them, minus the heads. So be careful who you ask around here. The grim reaper seems to be gone now, and people would like it to stay that way."
Velvet thanked the man and continued for Beacon. Bodies? There's no way that can be Ruby… unless… maybe… Yang's semblance… she almost killed Jaune when she lost control… what am I thinking, Ruby is not a killer! She can't be this 'grim reaper'.
Reaper sat cross legged on a single seat sofa chair in a back room of her home. Around her were glass cases and frames of various items including a picture of Ruby and Velvet, an old Beacon uniform she had packed when she ran, her old Beacon scroll, her old cloak, and Crescent Rose. Reaper liked to relax back here sometimes, with a tall glass of milk and silence. Sometimes she almost felt like 'Ruby' again while surrounded by the fragments of the innocent huntress.
Her eyes lingered on Crescent Rose, the latest addition to this little vault. Roman had pointed out that her extravagant weapon could be as good of an identifying feature as her old clothing. Once she had the money for materials, she built Brutal Thorn to replace it. Her new sniper scythe was a little longer and all black down to the blades, which were serrated. It was perfect for 'Reaper'.
In fact, that was a theme the redhead had noticed. Every time she had to part with another fragment of 'Ruby', it was replaced with something designed or collected with 'Reaper' in mind. With every piece of the huntress that was thrown away or locked up in here, the girl could feel herself drawing deeper into the darker persona. Hell, if someone told me even as recently as when I first took the name 'Reaper' in that alley a few months back, that I would soon be ripping off testicles, regularly sleeping with a psychopath and almost flirting with random secretaries, I would never have believed them.
"Excuse me? Miss Reaper, is it?" A voice called from the doorway to the room, behind Reaper. The scythe master turned to see a slim redhead with short, curly hair.
"Who are you?" Reaper asked, looking over the girl.
"I'm Mr. Torchwick's new secretary." The redhead explained.
"Already?" The not-Velvet girl looked pretty settled in yesterday.
"What does that mean?" The secretary asked.
"It means you may not have the greatest job security." Reaper stood and turned to talk to the redhead properly, face-to-face. The scythe master could feel the secretary's eyes explore her. Can't Roman get a straight secretary, just once? Guess it's slim pickings in the criminal underworld…
"I might just need to find an excuse to stay if it means I get to see more of you, Miss Reaper." The girl offered a confident smile as she spoke.
Reaper rolled her eyes. "What do you have for me?"
The secretary just blinked as though she didn't know how to react to being brushed off like that. Eventually regaining her composure, she handed Reaper a folder. "A business model. Methods of operation and the such. It seems Mr. Torchwick has finally worked out all the kinks."
"Thanks." Reaper nodded and took the folder. She sat back down and opened the folder to leaf through it. About halfway through she noticed she never heard the secretary leave. She turned to see the girl still standing in the doorway, as if deciding what to do next. "Need something?" Reaper asked the girl.
"Actually… I was wondering if maybe you needed something? A sandwich, another glass of… milk?" she answered. "I don't have any other duties at the moment…"
Is she seriously trying the 'get on the mean girls good side because she might secretly be nice' thing? "I'm sure Roman can find something for you to do when you go back there." The scythe master told her. "Which you should be doing." The girl didn't move. "At this very moment." The redhead finally unglued herself from the door and left, head hung low. Guess she's not used to rejection. I mean, she was pretty hot, so that makes sense.
Reaper closed the folder and drank from her glass of milk, settling back into the mood of the room. She didn't know how long she sat there, staring into nothing, barely thinking at times. She may have even fallen asleep at some point for all she knew, but she was awake to hear another 'guest' enter her house. The 'cli-click cli-click' told her it was likely someone in heels of some kind. Was the secretary wearing heels? Because if it's not her, it's…
Neo rounded the chair, stepping into Reaper's vision and looking rather angry while doing so. "What?" Reaper asked her. In reply, Neo pulled out her scroll and pointed at it with an angry finger. Only Neo can have angry fingers. Just say what you want to say, you crazy mute. "I turned mine off." Reaper told her, pulling out the black scroll and hitting the power button. There were eight messages from Neo, getting progressively angrier and Reaper's unresponsiveness.
The first message said 'The meeting should be started by now, where are you?'
"Meeting?" Reaper didn't know about any meeting.
Neo hastily typed out a reply. 'Did you not read the folder Roman's redhead delivered? There was a note at the end.'
Reaper groaned. "I started it, but I didn't get to the note." She leaned her head back on the chair. I am not looking forward to this. The black scroll buzzed again, bringing Reaper back from the cusp of sleep.
'GET UP!' Neo had typed. Was I just yelled at by a mute? The scythe girl found it humorous.
"Right. Meeting. Torchwick. Yay." Reaper stood and left for Roman's 'villa' as he called it.
Neo hung back for a second to look around the room. She didn't understand why Reaper hung on to pieces of a past the girl could never return to. She was further upset by the related fact that sometimes it seemed Reaper couldn't truly accept her new self. Neo felt she had helped craft 'Reaper' and was quite proud of the part she played. The nights they sometimes enjoyed together were icing on that cake, and something Neo wished she could get more of.
