Reaper and Neo strode up the path to Reaper's house. Reaper reached out to open the door, and found it unlocked.

Seriously? What is the point of locking our door?

I don't know anymore. It's probably just Torchwick.

The second the half-apes learn how to break in here, we're buying a special combination lock.

Agreed

Indeed it was Torchwick inside waiting for them. The man was sitting at the kitchen island, turned to face the door. "So, is it finally done? Can you start searching for the ones after us comfortably?"

"Yes, I believe so." Reaper told him. "Tomorrow. We were tired before my impromptu departure. Now we're exhausted."

"We? And how is Meta?" Roman asked with a smirk.

"Meta?"

"A name for your voice?" he clarified.

Fuck that.

"Don't think so." Reaper relayed. Neo decided to text Reaper her own response.

'What about Ember?' it said.

"Why Ember?" the scythe girl asked her.

'If she controls your Red Hazes, then in a way the red eyes belong to her.' Neo messaged.

That makes sense… and I kind of like it. Ember.

You just like it because Neo suggested it.

Would you please drop that already?

Reaper smiled. "Ember it is."

"Well I've got things to do." Roman made his way to the door. "Going to take the extra measure of dissolving Orange Clockwork entirely. You three, enjoy your crazy."

"Do you have to be an ass about everything?" Reaper asked him.

"That's just my charm!" he shouted as he closed the door behind him.

Why are we even working for him?

"Because it's our best option." Reaper replied as she sat at the island. Neo started to work in the kitchen.

We could always leave and work for ourselves.

"We don't the first thing about running an entire organization. We're good with field work, that's it."

We could grovel to Ozpin.

"Weiss just tried to arrest us. They'll never take us back. We're not doing too badly here, and we don't even talk to Roman much. After we finally finish this next thing, it should be smooth sailing."

Well, the work can be fun.

"Yes it can."

Neo pushed Reaper's mixed drink in front of her. The multi-colored girl realized now she made a mistake trying to kill the bunny. She should have realized it would only tick Reaper off, not free her of 'Ruby'. Even with the girl still alive, Neo was making significant progress with Reaper. Reaper didn't miss the apologetic gesture and she sipped from the glass. She was starting to learn all the little things Neo sometimes did in place of words, small hand gestures or unique facial expressions. It was almost as if the smaller girl had her own sign language.

Like now, Reaper could tell that Neo had just heard her speaking aloud to Ember. Again. "I really need to find a way to break that habit…" Reaper pinched the bridge of her nose. Neo shrugged. She actually kind of liked hearing her speak to Ember. It was better than the blank expression she usually got when the entire conversation took place in her head.

"I bet you wish you could hear the other half, huh?" Reaper asked. Neo nodded. "You're the only person I know that wants a voice in their head. Crazy fucking mute…"

'Sexy fucking mute too, right?" Neo messaged with a growing smile. Reaper's head dropped to the table.

Well… she's not wrong…

Oh be quiet… I never should have gotten wasted with her…


Weiss Schnee was not used to failing anything. After losing Reaper and their most promising lead in a matter of seconds, all Weiss could feel was the failure of the situation. Blake could tell her girlfriend didn't know how to let it go and move on. After waiting up for her until almost midnight, Blake decided it was time to talk. Weiss walked through the dorm door with a tired look in her eyes from staring at a computer screen for too long.

"Orange Clockwork is gone. It just vanished overnight. We have absolutely nothing." Weiss told Blake.

"And how long after learning this did you keep searching for nothing?" Blake asked. Weiss didn't answer. "You can't throw yourself into the abyss like this."

"That girl is out there, doing god knows what. Torchwick is encouraging her and that pipsqueak has her on a leash. If we can find them, we can take them all down." Weiss pointed out.

"Neo has her on a leash? That's not what it looked like to me. Ruby, or Reaper, or whoever she is, stopped Neo. If anything, it's the other way around." Blake responded.

"That doesn't change anything!" The heiress shouted.

"And neither will you if you run yourself into the ground!" the cat girl shouted right back. "I've been where you are, Weiss. With Torchwick and the White Fang. You feel like you're the only one that can stop her. What would do if she stepped through that door?" Blake called upon the memory of Yang lecturing her in the same way.

"I would fight her!" The heiress replied.

"You would lose."

"I can stop her! I have to! She could be killing someone as we speak! Putting them into comas-"

Blake pushed the heiress just as Yang had pushed her to prove her point, and Weiss fell to the ground. "You can't even stop me. You wouldn't stand a chance as you are now." The faunus picked her girlfriend back up and drew her into her arms. "This does you no good if you destroy yourself in the process. The day will come. You have to be ready for it. Get some rest, Weiss. Please."

Weiss sighed. "I'm sorry Blake… I just don't like her being out there like that. Ruby was always so cheery, willing to befriend anyone, willing to help. She wanted to be a hero for the people's sake, not her own. She was arguably the best of all of us…"

"I know..." Blake felt the same. "But you need to pace yourself. There's school, the Vytal Festival. Promise me you'll slow down before you destroy yourself with this search."

"I promise." Weiss nodded. Blake led the heiress to the bed they shared and noted that she was asleep before her head hit the pillow. It almost felt like Blake was watching herself, almost two years ago now. Yang had been there to make Blake see straight, and was definitely a little better at it. But now she was gone, and a case could be made that Ruby was dead now too.


The next morning Reaper had managed to get up and into Vale without waking and being followed by her pink shadow. It felt good to finally have some time alone, walk the streets with just herself for company.

Hey, I'm here too.

Ah yes, how could I forget? Good old Ember… I'll never get a moment to myself ever again, will I?

Probably not.

Please, just for a little while, shut up?

Oh come on, we say that to each other so much it's basically our 'I love you'.

Of course! You're like the conjoined twin I never wanted.

Oh shut up. See what I mean? We can make this work.

Maybe you just want to gush about Neo?

Eh?

Oh shut up…

I love you too! Maybe you have a point…

That last comment was only followed by more silence in her head, a rarity Reaper cherished. She figured it was time to get Roman off her back, and set off for what the locals lovingly called 'Poor Town', the 'low income' decrepit slums of Residential that housed more hobos and thieves than anyone actually trying to get back on their feet. With all the discrimination faunus receive, a great many of them make up the population here. There's a good chance that if you're looking for a criminal faunus, they spent some time living in Poor Town.

Including our monkey friend.

Reaper sighed. "Well the silence was good while it lasted…"

The trick for searching places like this was learning how to read people. Many of them didn't like to talk, especially to someone they didn't recognize. The went doubly so for faunus since Reaper was human. One had to look for the people whose tongues could be loosened by cash or coercion. There was the rare 'decent hobo' who would speak freely, but they often didn't know more than rumors and whispers.

Rumors or whispers can point us in the right direction. Poor Town just keeps getting larger.

Good point. This guy looks like a good start.

Reaper came up to the vagrant man on the ground. He seemed terrified by the mere sight of the black clad girl. "The grim reaper… that stupid bunny…"

Stupid bunny?

"Listen up, I'm looking for someone." Reaper told him.

"To kill them?" He asked. Reaper realized the rumor of the grim reaper she was the subject of, which she used for her new name, was still strong.

"I haven't decided yet. Maybe I'll let my bloodlust out on you." Reaper told him with a cold edge.

Ohhh I got chills. Nice one, girl.

The vagrant shook in his boots. "Uh… who're you lookin' for…?"

"A monkey, with dark hair and a dark tail." The scythe girl answered. "Has a grudge against Roman Torchwick and likes bombing his legitimate businesses."

"I think I may have overheard something like that from a lion not too long ago…" The vagrant pointed Reaper the way and let out a sigh of relief when she walked away without killing him.

A few blocks later, Reaper confirmed from another street man that this was indeed the area. Next she was going to look for someone who would react to cash or fear. Preferably fear. Not that her criminal ways haven't already earned her a small fortune, but she didn't like spending it if she didn't have to. Especially to one-off informants who will talk you out of the clothes on your back if they think their info is worth it.

She found a likely candidate, leaning against the wall of an alley. The man had a confidence that was hard to come by in this place, and seemed to enjoy watching the people around him. A careful observer, likely a practiced eavesdropper, watching from the shadows. Perfect. The second his eyes settled on Reaper, the man knew she saw him and was here for info.

"What do you want to know, sweet heart?" he asked casually.

"A dark haired monkey with a hate-on for Torchwick. Can you point me his way?" Reaper was getting annoyed at repeating this question, but it was a necessary evil.

"Hmmm… perhaps…" It was clear the man wanted payment.

Reaper sighed. "How much?"

"Well… he recently got a powerful friend. Would hate to be on his bad side…"

Cheeky fuck.

Reaper didn't want to pay the man such an excessive amount, and decided to chance an alternate approach. He found himself on the ground halfway into the alley a second later, having been thrown all the way there from his previous position.

"Monkey man may have a powerful friend, but you don't. And I am a very dangerous enemy to have." Reaper threatened, punctuated by the unfolding of Brutal Thorn into its full glory.

The once cocky man's tone changed immediately, and Reaper swore she could smell the piss in his pants. "I-I-I'm sorry! Holy shit! Look, the monkey's name is Maxwell! He likes to call himself Nightshade! He's an anarchist, he doesn't care about Torchwick! He joined up with some group, someone is paying him to bomb the places, providing him with the bomb recipe! He lives just over there!" The man pointed at a nearby building.

"Thank you." Reaper folded Brutal Thorn back into its holder across her back.

So Maxwell, or rather 'Nightshade', isn't even the top of this chain. Someone has him on a leash.

Nightshade will know who. And we know where Nightshade lives.


Nightshade bid his lion partner goodbye at the door. Torchwick changing up his operations will set them back a few days, but he still felt confident they could blow another storefront in just a few days. He was happy. So happy, in fact, he failed to notice his door was already unlocked. He didn't know there was an intruder until he turned the light on and saw a hooded girl sitting on his sofa chair. He recognized her from his research into Torchwick's operation instantly.

"Reaper!? What the hell!? What are you doing here!?"

Under the low hood he could only see the girl's mouth. It was still enough to see her vicious grin. "Hello, Maxwell. We need to talk."

"Like hell. And that's not my name."

Reaper was reminded of her own Ruby/Reaper troubles with her old Beacon friends and found herself laughing. "Very well, Nightshade."

"Get out of my house," Nightshade growled, "before I force you out."

"But I only want to talk. About friends, employers maybe… Who's guiding your hand? Who's holding your leash?"

"A man who's promised no more leashes. But there's a nuisance he wants gone first. And that's my job. Pester the pest." Nightshade answered cryptically.

Reaper looked to the side of herself. To Maxwell, it almost looked as though she was listening to something. The scythe master smiled again and turned back to face the monkey. "If you won't talk to me, perhaps you'll talk to a friend of mine?"

"Call all the friends you want. I won't talk."

Reaper stood and the pair looked at each other for a few moments. Reaper's smile faltered. "It's not working… Looking at him's not getting me angry enough… Yeah, because letting him beat us up a little before fighting back is a great idea… Actually I might." The scythe girl left a very confused monkey boy in the living room as she searched through kitchen drawers.

Was she just talking to herself? Is this girl insane? He watched as the girl took up a small knife and walked back into the living room. "Let's try this again." She smiled once more and buried the knife into her shoulder. Definitely insane… As the scythe girl slowly pulled the blade from her shoulder, the faunus could fell something. A shift on the energy of the room, a change in the girl in front of him. He finally saw her eyes, and when she opened them they were bright red.

"Much, much better…"

She moved faster than Nightshade could see, and he felt the force of a runaway train smash into his side, throwing him against the wall. He pulled out his weapon, but it didn't do him any good. The crazy girl reappeared in front of him, one hand around the wrist of his sword hand and the other toting a massive scythe over her shoulder. A quick flick of her wrist broke his and made him drop his sword, and she used the same grip to throw him across his apartment.

"This is amazing! I'm still clear headed in this! I can think, I can actually fight! The power, the energy, it's such a rush! Oh, we need to find a way to fight Pyrrha again. I bet we could win this time… Yeah, I know, don't kill him. Guess I just gotta get used to this new strength."

The monkey felt himself slam against another wall, and a few of his ribs cracked in the back. "Holy shit… What the fuck are you!?" This girl was very strong, and very crazy, and it all added up to very terrifying.

"A beautiful nightmare to you. And your final nightmare if you don't talk soon." He tried one last desperate attack, and all it earned him was more cracked ribs when he was launched into another wall. "Ready to talk yet?" The scythe girl rushed forward.

As she charged, Nightshade found himself shouting the name she wanted to hear. The last name Reaper ever expected to hear.