Roman knew Cinder well enough to know that when she says "we make our move at 8", she means the heist starts at 8 exactly. Any later, and he's late. So, naturally, he was on the rooftop of a building near the Dust shop with his men about five minutes before he needed to be. He and his men got down from the rooftop and walked into the Dust store. The elderly man behind the counter looked up at him. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open at this hour?" He nodded to his men. "Grab the Dust." He leaned on the counter and thought. Maybe Talon's right… I should get out of the game. He picked up a Dust crystal and started to spin it absently with his fingures. It was fun for a time, but it also attracted the likes of Cinder to me… If I had known that someone like Cinder would recruit me, I would've never started-

"HI-YAH!" Roman looked up just in time to see one of his men fly through the window, followed a few seconds later by a flash of red. He went to go look, then heard something from the other side of the store. Something that sounded like chimes- crystal chimes. A lot of them all at once. He turned to see a wave of Dust pushing three of his men against the window, then through it. The Dust receded, then he saw a girl with two bandoliers across her chest riding a hoverboard made entirely of Dust fly out of the window. The flash of red he had seen was another girl standing over the unconscious body of his goon. He was dumbfounded. What in the world is happening today?!

"Okay…" He looked around at his men. "Get them." They ran outside to fight the two girls. Hoverboard-girl got off of her board, then the board turned into a mass of Dust crystals. The crystals seemed to lash out of their own accord and pelted his men. Red-girl was close behind, jumping back and forth between the men, knocking them out one by one. Roman walked out, took his cigar out of his mouth, and dumped a small amount on the ground. "I must say, that was quite an impressive show of skill from you two." He lifted his cane, and his scope flipped up and out of the way of his shot. "Sadly, all 'good' things must come to an end. Consider this your applause." He fired a shot at the two girls. Two vials of Dust that Hoverboard had in her bandoliers quickly emptied themselves and started to form a barrier between him and the two girls. The shot hit the Dust barrier, and exploded. He started moving towards the rendezvous for the escape, then tripped as something grabbed his leg. He looked down to see a rope of Dust wrapped around his ankle. He tried to shake it off to no avail. He then tried smashing it with his cane. The cane simply clinked off with no effect. This is bad… His eyes followed the whip back to its source- behind the Dust barrier. His eyes widened. The Dust barrier was completely gone. The two girls started walking towards him. Anytime you want to show up, Cinder! Now would be a good time! Dust was flowing from the vials around Hoverboard's torso and belt. Roman reached his cane up to fire another shot. Before he could, a thick whip of Dust ripped the cane out of his hands and threw it behind him to where he couldn't reach it. He turned to follow its flight, and saw a Dust crystal within reach of him. He didn't realize that he had still had it in his hands when he walked out to confront the two girls. He grabbed it and hid it behind his back, throwing his other hand up in surrender. "Let's not be hasty here, ladies. Surely we can come to some kind of deal?" Hoverboard walked over to him.

"Why should we make a deal with you, criminal?" Roman smiled.

"Come closer and I'll tell you." Hoverboard leaned over to listen. Perfect. He wasted no time. He moved faster than he thought he could under normal circumstance and the the crystal at her. The crystal stopped nearly as soon as it left his hand. His jaw dropped. The crystal started rotating, and then flew back into the Dust shop. The Dust storm around Hoverboard stopped, and the Dust returned to their vials. Well, I'm screwed...

"Nice try, criminal. I knew you had that crystal." Roman's smile faltered. This girl is something else. Wait a second… Roman recalled something Talon had told him about an apprentice. An apprentice who could control Dust. His smile melted as he felt a chill run down his spine. Oh no…

"What's wrong, Witty Criminal?" Red said, genuinely enjoying this. "Realize you're outmatched?" Roman grimaced, then heard something. A transport engine. Finally…

"Well, Red, Hoverboard, it's been fun." Hoverboard looked at him, smiling.

"You say that as if you were about to leave. If you couldn't tell, you're not going anywhere." Right on cue, an armed transport lowered behind him with it's guns pointed right at the girls.

"Oh, but don't you see, girls? I AM going somewhere." He lifted his hand, then clinched his fist. The transport opened fire. Hoverboard and Red jumped back, and Roman felt the Dust rope let go. Roman quickly got up and sprinted for the transport, grabbing his cane on the way. The transport hovered just far enough off the ground for Roman to get inside. "PUNCH IT!" The transport took off, leaving the Dust shop and the two girls behind. Roman went into the cockpit and sat next to Cinder. She turned to him, a mischievous smile on her lips.

"You let two girls humiliate you like that, Roman?" Roman glared at her.

"Shut up, Cinder. I didn't see you trying to help." Cinder glared back at him.

"What was that, Roman?" Roman slammed his cane on the ground.

"I said shut up! I'm not in the mood for your games right now!" Cinder's lips tightened.

"I see," she said, coldly. Thankfully, she said nothing the rest of the trip back. Sorry, Talon, but it doesn't look like I'll be able to call you. Not in the mood I'm in…

Ruby and Rie found themselves in an interrogation room, and they both knew that that Huntress woman who had shown up after their fight with the criminal was behind the only door in the room. Ruby was still in awe of her new friend. She's SO COOL! I've GOT to say something! "That was awesome! How'd you do all those cool things!?" Rie looked at her.

"It's my Semblance. I have total mastery over Dust. I'm glad you thought it was cool!" Ruby was about to explode with excitement.

"It wasn't just cool! It was, like, MEGA cool! I've never seen anything like that! You were like POP!" She mimicked Rie opening one of her vials. "And then the Dust was like WOOSH!" Ruby flailed her arms about. "And that criminal tried to shoot us and then you stopped the shot with your Dust and, at the same time, sent some Dust to grab that criminal and then you stopped the crystal he threw at your face and-"

"Ahem!" Ruby stopped talking immediately as she heard the Huntress clear her throat to get her attention. "Thank you, Miss Rose. Now, do you two have any idea how dangerous that was? Armed thugs and their ringleader, and you two fought them? They were trained professionals and you two are still in school! If it were up to me I'd send you both home with a slap on the wrist!" She punctuated this statement by slamming her riding crop down hard on the table, making Ruby and Rie jump. Her face softened. "... And a pat on the back. However, it isn't up to me. Someone wants to see you two." She stepped over to the side as the door opened. A man walked in with a plate of cookies in one hand and a coffee mug in the other. Ruby recognized him as Professor Ozpin. He set the plate down on the table in front of him as he took a seat opposite them.

"Hello, Miss Rose." He turned to Rie. "Hello again, Miss Himora." He gestured to the plate. "I thought you two might be hungry." Ruby reached a nervous hand forward, looking at Rie. Rie gestured for Ruby to take the cookies. Ruby looked at Ozpin, hand still outstretched. Ozpin smiled. Ruby grabbed a cookie, and quickly plopped it into her mouth. It was delicious. Heavenly, almost. Ozpin motioned Glynda over. He looked at Rie. "I see now why you were so sure of your Semblance." Glynda pulled out her scroll, and found Rie's little intimidation stunt. She showed it to Ozpin. "Very impressive. Sadly, as I said before, you rely far too heavily on your Semblance." He turned to Ruby, who had eaten all of the cookies by this point. "And you, Miss Rose," he said as he motioned Glynda to find Ruby's fighting, "where did you learn how to do this?" He gestured to the scroll.

"From my uncle Qrow. I go to Signal Academy right now and, in two years, I'll be applying to Beacon." Ozpin and Glynda looked at each other.

"Miss Rose, do you know who I am?" Ruby nodded.

"You're Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon." Ozpin smiled.

"So you want to come to my school?"

"More than anything in the world." Ozpin looked at Glynda, who simply rolled her eyes. Ozpin smiled.

"Well, okay." Ruby was ecstatic. She looked at her new friend, then back at Ozpin with less enthusiasm. He didn't offer her a place at Beacon… "Is something the matter, Miss Rose?"

"I think Rie should go, too. She did most of the work…" Ozpin and Rie laughed. Even Glynda chuckled a bit. "What's so funny?" Ozpin regained his composure quickly.

"Miss Rose, Miss Himora was accepted into Beacon already. In fact, that's why she's in Vale at this moment." Ruby looked at Rie, who nodded. Ruby was so excited that she almost squealed. "Now, I want you two to go home and rest. The transport to Beacon for students leaves at 11 A.M. Don't be late. Goodnight, you two." He and Glynda walked out of the room. Rie and Ruby left a few minutes later after talking about the events of the last hour.

When they were outside, Rie grabbed a vial of Dust from one of her bandoliers and sprayed a large amount of Dust on the ground. A few seconds later, the Dust turned into a board. Rie hopped onto the board and looked at Ruby. "Need a ride?"

"No thanks. We're not that far from where I live, anyway. Goodnight, Rie." Rie shrugged.

"Alright. Night, Ruby. See you tomorrow." Rie flew off on her board. She's SO cool! I hope I'm on her team.