The three huntresses-in-training finally came across a store that was owned by Orange Clockwork. They stepped inside, Weiss and Velvet going to the counter while Blake hung back in the back of the shop. "Hello! I was in the market for a very specific kind of blouse, and was wondering if you stock it?" Weiss asked the teller, barely breathing before launching into a long and convoluted explanation of what she was looking for. Velvet acted as a lookout, eyeing the clothing from the counter while really keeping an eye on Blake.

The cat faunus was already on the move. She picked her way through the locked door to the employee lounge and from there stole away to the manager's office. If there were any incriminating files, they would be back here. I can't believe Weiss talked me into this. The one-time criminal easily found the important books. Here, their ledger. There are a few peculiarities here… There are large 'donations' which are then paid back to 'OCHQ' every month. Orange Clockwork Headquarters? No address in here… perhaps something else has it.

She didn't have time to tear the office apart. Weiss could only distract the shop keeper for so long. She used a nearby notepad and pen to jot down the numbers. It would be suspicious if the ledger itself went missing. The note was torn away from the pad and Blake left the office quietly. She stepped out in time to see the aggravated shop keeper telling Weiss off. Velvet noted Blake's return.

Velvet tugged on Weiss's sleeve. "Maybe it's time to go." Weiss took the cue and bid the angry man farewell. Once the trio were safely across the street the heiress turned to her girlfriend.

"So, what did our cat-burglar manage to find?" She asked with a grin.

Blake returned it with a cold glare. "Well, Yang, this is a rough copy of some unusual figures in their ledger. Large anonymous donations that were then paid to Orange Clockwork."

"Good lord…" Weiss looked over the numbers. "No address for 'OCHQ'?"

"None. Maybe we'll be lucky at the next shop."

"So we have to do this again?" Velvet asked.

"As much as it takes." Weiss told her.

The rabbit faunus was obviously uncomfortable with the idea as she had been from the start. But she didn't argue with it this time. They had to do whatever it took. Despite their mixed opinions of how it should end, they still needed to get to the end. Hopefully sooner rather than later.


Reaper forgot whether it was her or Neo that turned on the music, but her body hardly cared. As an inexperienced drinker, the scythe girl was too far gone before too long. Neo had a bit more tolerance, though she was also wasted soon after. As soon as the music started, the living room looked like an excellent dance floor. Until she fell over the ottoman ten minutes later.

As she flopped onto her back, the alcohol dulled the impact. Instead of a pained breath, Reaper released a barrage of laughs. When she reopened her eyes she saw Neo convulsing on the other side of her kitchen's island.

What the hell?

Reaper stood in a panic and looked Neo over. The girl was shaking alright. With a giant smile on her face while holding her stomach. Reaper noticed the multi-colored girl was laughing but still wasn't making a noise.

Are you fucking kidding me!?

The scythe master's laughter began anew, echoed in her own head by The Voice. "Do you seriously make no noise when you laugh!?" she managed to gasp out. The situation only worsened Neo, who was now squeezing her eyes shut in silent laughter. It took nearly twenty minutes for the drunk girls to put themselves together once more.

"Okay, Ice Cream Girl, seriously. Be honest, okay? Will you be honest?" Reaper asked. Neo nodded. "Can you actually speak at all? I've never been sure, can you speak? Because I know damn well you can moan, but you can't laugh?" Neo shook her head. "Can't talk? Like at all?" Neo shook her head again. "And you're being honest?" The multi-colored girl nodded this time, trying not to laugh at the absurdity she found in the line of questioning.

"Then it's official!" Reaper announced loudly. She jumped to her feet and pointed at Neo. "You! Are one crazy fucking mute!" The 'crazy fucking mute' may have been offended if the scythe girl wasn't completely wasted along with her. Reaper sidled around the Island toward Neo. "You… are also one sexy fucking mute…" Neo's humor was interrupted by a double take. She had not been prepared for that line to go that direction. She recovered quickly though, placing a seductive smile on her lips.

"I know you can make noise…" Reaper continued, the girls' lips brushing as she spoke, teasing. "Let's see if I can't make you talk… let's see if I can't make you scream my name…" She couldn't, but the two girls had fun trying.


The Beacon group tried two more Orange Clockwork stores and found everything from zilch to nada. Not that they expected to have a major breakthrough on their first day, but the more shops they crossed off, the better. In that mindset, the trio approached a third location. Once inside they settled quickly into their routine. Weiss talked up the man behind the counter as Blake slipped into the back to look for information.

Once back there, Blake ignored the books. They were thorough with them; the slip-up wouldn't be in a ledger. She focused on random sheets of paper, letters, memos and the like. She gave herself five generous minutes before she had to leave. Hopefully Weiss could hold up that long. She made me do this, she can handle a few shop keepers.

Her fingers passed over an old memo. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized this memo was faxed. Looking over the sheet, she saw a return number. Jackpot. This landline will be registered to a specific building. We're closer. Her faunus ears picked up a commotion from the front, one unrelated to her heiress girlfriend.

"This is the place. Torchwick owns it." She overheard someone say.

"Usual deal?" Another asked. Blake pocketed the memo, peeked around the corner and saw two faunus. A dark haired monkey boy with an equally dark tail nodded to his lion friend's question. Blake saw the source of the commotion she heard in the form of the shop keeper's unconscious body. At least, I hope he's unconscious. Velvet and Weiss were hiding behind the shelves, trying to decide if they should stop these two or not.

Blake saw the monkey boy pull out a homemade bomb. That was all the huntress needed to know she should take these two down. Velvet and Weiss had the same idea, and the girls surrounded the faunus. Blake and Weiss had their weapons drawn. The boys weren't surprised for long. They knew others were in the store, they just didn't expect them to draw weapons on them so quickly. "You three are huntresses? No, too young. Beacon students. Trainees."

"Where did you learn to make a bomb like that?" Blake asked him.

The monkey looked between Blake and the bomb. "Cat girl. Beacon. You're her."

The cat faunus's eyes narrowed at his response. "That's impossible. He was arrested, locked deep."

"Not deep enough, I guess. God, Atlas just loves hiding their screw-ups, don't they?" The monkey boy laughed. Blake lunged at him with Gambol Shroud. The attack was blocked by his own weapon, a longsword with a pistol built into the grip. His lion friend drew his claws and initiated combat with the other two girls. The lion's sheer ferocity made for a difficult battle, even for two allies fighting together.

It soon became clear the combat was at a standstill. Blake and her opponent seemed to be on equal standing skill-wise, matching each other blow-for-blow. On the other side of the store, it was entirely possible the lion may overtake the two girls in the battle. "This isn't working!" Weiss told Velvet. "I'm not familiar enough with your fighting style to coordinate attacks!"

"I may have a solution, if you can hold him for a few moments!" the rabbit girl yelled back. Weiss nodded and distracted the lion man while Velvet summoned her locker with her scroll. She did have her weapon of course, but that's not what she had in mind. As the locker landed and opened, Velvet's eyes were drawn to the red laying across the bottom. Weiss is familiar with Ruby's fighting style. They were partners after all. And I've mastered it.

Jumping back into the fray with Crescent Rose in its full glory, Weiss and Velvet gradually gained an upper hand in their fight. Near the counter, Blake left an after-image of stone to catch the monkey boy's weapon. Of course he could pull it out easily, but it gave Blake the time to separate Gambol Shroud into its dual blades state. Her own upper hand achieved, the cat girl unleashed her full skill onto her opponent.

The two criminal faunus recognized they were both fighting losing battles. They turned to run, but not before tossing the bomb into the air. As it flew across the shop, Blake eyed the mechanism long enough to see it was active. "RUN!" She warned her allies. The trio rushed out of the shop and were out the door before the bomb went off. Their auras absorbed any physical damage from the explosion, though the shockwave still sent the girls halfway across the street.

"What the hell was that about?" Weiss asked.

"They sounded like rivals to Torchwick's operation." Velvet pointed out.

"Speaking of, did you learn anything before the shit hit the fan?" The heiress asked her girlfriend.

"Actually, I think I found a lead." Blake pulled the old memo out of her pocket.

"Well, at least this wasn't a waste." Weiss stated proudly. Her plan was working. Maybe she could do this leader thing after all…

"So what do we tell the police when they show up?" Velvet asked.

"That we were here when those guys showed up and tried to stop them." Weiss answered.

"And about Torchwick?" the rabbit girl asked.

"Even if we wanted to tell them, we have no hard evidence to back up what we know." Blake explained. Velvet grimaced, but at least she didn't have to lie to the police. Just not tell the whole truth…


A loud clanging woke Reaper and Neo up. "OW, FUCK!" Reaper and The Voice spoke simultaneously. "Ohhhh… why is it so bright…" The black clad girl brought her hands to her head. God this is one hellacious headache… "What time is it…?" She asked out loud.

How the hell would I know if you don't? Even as a voice in her head, Reaper didn't miss the dry sarcasm.

"I was asking Neo, idiot…"

Because that's real rewarding when your eyes are still shut. Remind me, who's the idiot?

"We both are, obviously!"

Roman slapped his can against the metal leg of a lamp, causing the loud clang once more. Reaper finally noticed he was there. "Who are you talking to?" he asked.

"I'm talking to… uhhh… we need to find you a name. Maybe I won't sound as crazy if I called you Josie or something, rather than 'the voice in my head'."

I am strongly opposed to 'Josie'.

"Eh, we'll ask Neo. She's good with that stuff."

"Ahem." Roman cleared his voice to bring the girl's attention back to him. "I see Neo has been teaching you the finer points of blackout alcoholism. Make sure her next lesson is 'moderation'. Also, voice in your head?"

"Yes, I now have a voice in my head. She says hello-"

No I didn't

"-She also says you willingly employed a sociopath who doesn't speak a word." Reaper continued unimpeded. "It's your own fault you surround yourself with crazy."

"I suppose you have a point there." Roman conceded. "There's been a 'disturbance' at one of our storefronts. I'll tell you more in my office, give you three time to clean up a little. And put some clothes on."

Reaper looked down and saw that, thankfully, she was only topless. Her tank top, jacket, gloves and hood were laid like a trail between the Kitchen Island and couch, where Neo currently lay rubbing her own headache. Reaper herself was on the floor for some reason. "Wait, three?" She realized. Torchwick gave her a strange look and chuckled under his breath.

Oh, ha-ha.

"I bet you think you're hilarious, Roman." Reaper told him dryly. He slammed the door on the way out, aggravating the girls' headaches further. "I am in too much pain to deal with that man today. Asshole." Neo gave her a thumbs up in agreement before getting up and working the coffee machine in the kitchen. Reaper tossed her tank top on but left everything else in a bundle on the Island counter for when she was more awake.

'So how is you're first hangover so far?' Neo buzzed Reaper's scroll.

"Hell." Reaper told her. "I sincerely hope this is not what a 'mild' one feels like."

'Don't worry, you did drink a lot for someone who had never touched alcohol before.' Neo assured her.

"Why did you let me do this to myself?" the scythe girl moaned, laying her torso on the counter as she sat on the stool.

'You wanted the experience.'

"Well if I tell you I want to experience what a gunshot feels like, talk me out of that one, okay?" Reaper asked. No message this time, the multi-colored girl simply nodded and pushed a hot mug of coffee towards her. Which she consumed greedily.

'We better go see what Roman wants at some point.' The black scroll buzzed.

"Yeah, but give it some time. I have a feeling migraines and Red Hazes don't mix well at all…" Reaper took another deep drink from her mug and Neo made her own. "So… what do you remember from last night?"

'Everything ;)' Neo messaged with a knowing smirk.

"I remember something about… screaming and names… screaming my name…? Making yo-" the scythe girl cut herself off and started putting pieces together.

Well shit, sleeping with your stalker is not a good way to shake her off.

Shut it, you.

Next time, let's not get completely shit-faced.

Agreed.

"I guess we gotta go talk to Roman." Reaper pulled on the rest of her outfit and headed out the door. Neo smiled. She knew the scythe master still wasn't the biggest fan of their current… arrangement? Relationship? Booty call? Whatever it was now, Neo could tell she was breaking down the barriers slowly. She hasn't been kicked out of Reaper's house in two days, and drunk Reaper came on to her. At least part of her liked Neo the way the multi-colored girl wanted to achieve.