Week 1: More Halls, More Trials

As an experienced professional, Roman Torchwick was no stranger to changing circumstances.

In fact, his entire career hinged on being adaptable, always able to react to any sort of problem that might arise. Whether it was an incompetent element on a heist gone wrong, a screw-up made by some mindless animal from White Fang, or even a bunch of kids ruining his plans yet again, the classy criminal would always be ready to land on his feet. But, in spite of how often he came on top in these unexpected complications, it didn't mean he enjoyed them.

And this current 'complication' that was plaguing him was no different, except in how much he disliked it. Really, half of him didn't even consider it 'unexpected', considering how much of his life's already been thrown to the wayside. He was supposed to be a simple motivated entrepreneur, with a slight perchance for independence. Instead, he had been dragged into more conspiracies that he could count, and his latest predicament was certainly the least of his troubles.

Not that he had to enjoy it, of course.

No longer content with his musings, the rogue turned his attention away from his thoughts, his gaze shifting back to the only other person in the room. He ignored the way she seemed to dance around, losing herself in her childish antics as the girl in the little red hood charged at one of those sentient jello things, her massive scythe murdering the poor blob in one fell swoop.

Before she could get too enamoured in her victory over living pudding, however, Roman decided to speak up.

"Hey Red, you mind clearing something up for me?"

The rogue's tone was almost civil, bordering on amicable as he settled his sights on the teenager. That in itself seemed to surprise the little brat, as she raised a wary eyebrow at him, her gaze shifting away from her spoils as she turned to the criminal.

"... What is it, Torchwick?"

"Well, forgive me if I'm a bit blunt, but could you please explain to me..." His voice was quiet for just a moment longer, before breaking off into a full blown yell, his hand gesturing to the Dungeon corridors around him. "Why the hell I'm stuck down here babysitting you?!"

Almost civil. His tone was almost civil.

Either way, the glare he leveled at the girl did nothing to ease his annoyance, especially since he was not ignorant of the reason behind the current arrangements. If he were being completely honest with himself, that little outburst was more to ease his growing migraine rather than ask for information, as the criminal knew full well why he was stuck in some stupid tunnel watching over some wanna-be hero murder jello.

"Well, I helped you out with your adventurer trial, right? So it's only fair that you help me out with mine!"

Did... Did she honestly forget their circumstances? He was a criminal mastermind, and she was the annoying thorn at his side that always ruined his plans. Why would she even think that that was the reason? Red was either insane, or more affected by being dropped into a completely different world than he was. Either way, he didn't care, and simply settled for leveling a glare at the hyperactive brat.

"I mean... Because Tear said so? She said that, since we're acquaintances, you should help me out with my adventurer trial. And... I don't think she likes you."

That reason was more along the lines of what he had been expecting to hear. While the fact that she was already on a first name basis with the floating nightlight did not bode well for the security of the criminal's sanity, it was reassuring to know that Red was still in the dark about his true reasons for remaining compliant.

"You don't say. You're a sharp one, aren't you? I can see why you were accepted into Beacon."

So long as Red continued to think that his job was the reason behind his obedience, there wouldn't be any problems. On the other hand, if she found out the real reason, that he had no feasible way of escaping that little brat on foot because of her stupid flower petal thing, then he was fairly certain that little bit of information would make its way back to the fairy.

Why is that a problem, you might ask?

Well, Perry, I'm glad you've got your thinking cap on, unlike the rest of your barnyard friends. You see, if that little blue dust lamp figures out that Roman wasn't able to escape from Red, then she'd likely assign her to watch over him whenever he's out and about town. Then he wouldn't be able to get anything important done, and he'd end up being as effective as a neutered White Fang mongrel.

Roman sighed. Sarcastically insulting the White Fang was one of his favourite pastimes back on Remnant, and it simply wasn't the same if he didn't have any of the petting zoo around for an audience.

"...You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

Oh, right, Red was still here. No doubt, she had heard his sigh, and as much as he'd like her to think he was insulting her... Actually he kind of was, wasn't he? Well, might as well continue, then. At the very least, it'd provide him with some form of entertainment while he remained stuck inside this silly magic bubble that prevented him from interacting with the dungeon.

"Who knows, Red? Let's say I am and leave it at that. Now, don't you have some jelly to be murdering with your oversized gardening tool?"

It was an offhanded remark, so Roman was surprised to see the expression that the girl wore when his gaze returned to Red. Honestly, he didn't expect her to look that offended by his words. Honestly, the look on her face had Roman torn between simply giving off one of his signature smirks, and letting her knew that she looked exactly like one of Cinder's prideful little snots. Well, assuming she's realized who Cinder even was in the first place.

Eh. Looks like he'll just have to settle for a condescending sneer for now.

"Don't speak about Crescent Rose like that! Apologize this instant!"

And that sneer promptly turned into confusion, as the Red-hooded girl drew her scythe once more. Well, it didn't quite count as drawing, since she left it in its inert easy-to-carry form, but confusion was plastered on his face all the same.

There was a slight pause for a moment, as Torchwick's green eyes settled on Red's silver eyes. A part of him questioned why she had silver eyes, but the majority of his thoughts were still focused on... why she was expecting an apology? Or who Crescent Rose was, when he had simply mentioned her... Oh.

"... What."

"You heard me!"

This was stupid, and Torchwick stopped caring.

Instead, he turned his gaze settled on something behind the brat, watching as one of the dungeon monsters slowly wandered into the room. He wasn't too sure if he should hold his tongue, as it would've been interesting to see one of those dog monsters beat the crap out of the kid... Then again, if it was that easy, he wouldn't have so many damned problems with her.

"Rather than asking me to apologize for your stupid toy, shouldn't you deal with that thing?" Roman gestured to the approaching monster, giving little Red the opportunity to distract herself with something, so she'd stop bothering him. Predictably, the kid turned around, trusting him completely for some stupid reason, as she settled her sights on the monster. It only took her a few moments to unfurl her weapon, and just like that, Red was no longer his problem.

No... He had far more important problems to deal with than her. Leaning back against the dungeon walls, Roman Torchwick allowed himself a few moments of rest, clearing his mind as he settled his thoughts on his predicament.

Now that Red was traipsing around, he couldn't really gather power and influence as smoothly as he had originally intended. Sure, he had only been planning to make use of these dungeons, so it wasn't like he had wasted an unreasonable amount of effort in his plans, but he was less worried about what he stood to lose, and more of what the girl's presence represented.

As much as he'd like to think otherwise, if Red was here, then there was the very real chance that the rest of her motley little band was lost here too. Part of him wondered if Neo was stuck here as well, and if that was the case... What about Cinder?

Well, it's decided.

Even with the risks, he'd have to continue playing transdimensional huntsman, pillaging these dungeons for their mysterious power and resources, just so he had some form of safety net to fall back to. And as soon as he finished that thought, an explosion rang out, snapping the rogue from his plots as he heard the telltale ringing of Power Crystals hitting the dungeon floor.

Roman shifted his gaze back to the teenage annoyance, watching as she sheathed her weapon once again, those Power Crystals being absorbed into her aura as she knelt down to pick up whatever it was that the monster had dropped. "Finally done? Figured you would've taken a bit longer, since that mutt kinda looked like your mutt."

Was that poor form? ... Actually, it probably was. A criminal of his caliber was capable of far more than simple insults, and he must be losing his touch if that was the first thing that came to mind. Rather than continue with his prodding, he decided to drop the tone for now, if only to figure out a better way of-

"He did, didn't he?"

Red's voice was quiet, but it was still enough to interrupt the thief's thoughts as she turned to face him. Once again, her eyes bore into him, holding none of the malice or indignation he had expected, considering he had just tossed her a half-hearted insult. Instead, she seemed to be conflicted with something, her gaze shifting from the dungeon walls back to the suited criminal as she weighed her thoughts. After a few more moments, however, Red finally spoke.

"... Hey Roman? How did you end up here? And do you think we can get back?"

That was... unexpected. Not that he had any plans about telling the kid of how he wound up in this mess in the first place, but at least she was asking sensible questions for once. In fact, this provided him with the opportunity to ask about her situation. "How about this? You tell me how you ended up here, and I'll give you my side of the story. Then, we can figure out how to get back to Remnant."

"Really?"

"Of course, Red." After all, the information she'd provide him with would help the thief determine whether the rest of her group was in this stupid world.

As with all of his great ideas, Roman had found that fate had a way of crushing them before they gained any traction.

Honestly, he wasn't too sure why he had expected this time to work any differently, especially since the few interactions he had had with the hooded teenager only confirmed how unreliable she was. That is, unless the problem in question was to be a problem to his plans, in which case she'd reliably screw everything up.

So yeah, why did he expect any different this time? Rather than provide him with anything useful, all the brat had said was that her last memories were of Beacon. Not anything specific, mind you, just that the last thing she had remembered was Beacon. No, really? Of course that'd be the last thing, she attends that stupid school. Sufficed to say, Roman was not pleased with this lack of information.

"Red... Are you absolutely sure that's all you remember?"

Torchwick threw a glance at the girl, his voice slow and deliberate as they made their way through the dungeon. He resisted the urge to stab a nearby slime monster, if only because the first time he tried was completely fruitless, and settled on glaring at the kid.
"I'm telling you, I don't remember anything else!" What was worse was that she was wearing an indignant half-pout, as though she couldn't understand why her words were useless to him. "All know was that I woke up in the middle of the town square, and that people thought I was an adventurer who had fallen asleep there."

Roman was about to comment on the sheer absurdity of that, before he remembered how utterly senseless the people of this world was. Sure, it didn't actually tell him anything about whether her words were true or not, but he honestly doubted that Red was capable of subterfuge. A dangerous assumption to make, especially in his line of work, but based on what he knew about the girl, coupled with the fact that she looked less like a huntress-in-training and more like a scared little brat... Well, Roman saw little reason to continue prodding.

Just as he was about to change the topic, he heard the quiet voice of the kid once more, barely audible above the dull ambiance of the dungeon corridors.

"People thought I was crazy when I started mentioning Vale and Beacon and the grimm." The girl's face was focused on the floor this time around, not bothering to look up at the thief as she muttered to the air. "I didn't know what to do. My team was missing, the Scroll didn't work, and I was completely lost. Then, someone pointed me to the adventurer guild, and the way they explained things there... I guess I tried to not think about it."

It seemed like the situation had finally caught up with the brat. Honestly, he was not paid enough for this, as the last thing he was qualified to be was a babysitter. Still, they'd be stuck here for the rest of the day if the girl suddenly had a mental breakdown, so he decided to hold off on the snark for now. Instead, the man continued walking, one hand slipping into his coat as he reached for a cigar.

Right, he didn't have any of those anymore. Looks like he'll just have to settle for a mouthful of dusty dungeon air instead.

The lack of cigar certainly wasn't improving Roman's mood, and the silence was only drawing his attention to the sluggish sound of the kid dragging her feet along the stone ground. This was getting tiring, and considering how long they had been in the damned dungeon, Roman should've been considered a saint for how long his patience had held up. So, really, he felt completely justified when he suddenly came to a stop, before turning around to face the little hooded brat.

"Listen Red..."

He could tell his voice was the last thing the girl had expected, especially since it carried none of his usual glib. If he were in her position, even he'd wonder why his tone suddenly shifted. Then again, if he were in her position, he'd also know that it was for dramatic effect, as his scowl immediately returned. "Would it kill you to just lighten up for a minute? I mean, compared to me, you freaking lucked out by being dropped off in town. I get saddled with Tinkerbell, and I know about as much of our situation as you do, but you don't see me complaining, do you? So suck it up already. Listening to you complain's just giving me more of a headache."

Seriously, kids these days. He could've gone into an actual rant, but his patience hadn't strained itself that far yet. For now, that light vent was enough to keep the criminal sane.

The child seemed to weigh his words for a bit, her silver eyes staring up at him as she tried to appraise him for whatever reason. After a short pause, she finally spoke out, her voice filled with a bit more strength then before.

"Are you... encouraging me?"

What? No! That was the last thing he was going for. How the hell did she go from being yelled at, to giving encouragement? Hell, he could hear the hope dripping in her voice as she said those words. Roman was about to tell her how wrong she was when the kid's eyes lit up even more, spotting something behind him. Part of him was curious as to what she saw, since it apparently sent her optimism into overdrive, but the rest of him was resolute in clearing up this silly misunderstanding.

"No, I'm not! And I don't know what possessed you to think otherwise, but-..."

Poof.

Yes, poof. He wasn't quite sure when the poof had actually occurred, but halfway through his sentence, Roman finally noticed he was speaking to a brat-shaped cloud of petals, rather than Red herself. He wasn't even sure how he missed it, but he had, and that in itself quelled his desire to protest. Instead, he turned his attention to where the kid had ran off to, only to see the girl hopping happily beside a large treasure chest.

"We made it!"

Her voice was a far cry from the subdued tone from earlier, having absolutely none of the previous doubt as Red was cheerfully fawned over the dungeon chest. She seemed to struggle with the locking mechanism for a bit, ultimately deciding to kick it in a fit of frustration. A loud click sounded out in the air, signifying the last resistance of the little box fading away, the absurdity of the opening method not lost on Roman as the hooded teenager looted the chest in its entirety.

And just as suddenly as she disappeared, the Beacon brat reappeared before the thief, positively beaming as she smiled back at him.

"Thanks Roman! Now I'm an adventurer too!" Ruby looked over her guild card once more, proudly showing it to the suited criminal, completely ignoring his deadpan look as Roman struggled to... pretend to care? Nope, can't even do that. Besides, he still had to sort out that whole misunderstanding before the dimensional door magically appears.

Not that he understood the mechanics of how that worked either. These dungeon things just didn't make any sense, and no amount of damnit where'd Red go? Roman cursed himself for losing his thoughts, trying to spot the kid and her signature cloak, only to see her standing right at the dimensional door.

Of course.

Well, at least she didn't run through it right away, so Roman could still clear up the little-

"And Roman... Thanks for cheering me up. I guess you're not as bad as they say. Now c'mon, let's go!" With those final words, Red disappeared through the door, teleporting back towards the Adventurer's Guild.

...Honestly, why does he even try anymore?