Chapter V: "-STUPID!"BANG BANG BANG "STUPID"…BANG "STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID!"...BANG BANG BANG BANG "STUPID!"

"Kill you? No, don't be obvious. I mean I'm going to kill you anyway, someday. I don't want to rush it though. I'm saving it up for something special. No, no, no, no, no, if you don't stop prying... I will burn you. I will burn... the heart out of you."

-Jim Moriarty

BBC Sherlock

AN: That oddly inspired this fic…and kinda fits Yang in a way…and obviously like the book character trend; Ask is based on Sherlock Holmes…DUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH…BACK TO THE STORY!

Transient:

adjective

Lasting only for a short time; impermanent.

noun

a person who is staying or working in a place for only a short time.

a momentary variation in current, voltage, or frequency.

Princess:

noun

the daughter of a monarch(or of a powerful asshole).

a close female relative of monarch, especially a son's daughter.

the wife or widow of a prince.

Stuck up over privileged bitch…(Synonyms: Weiss Schnee-Hey!)

Transient Princess: (the picture Monty Oum drew and was used as the picture for who Yang was looking for.)

noun

female ( hopefully…)

someone of importance to Yang Xiao Long

seems to have wealth

has some modeling experience

photogenic

was near a tall castle balcony at some point…(must investigate further)

a VERY difficult person to find…

Ruby Rose, though she may never admit it, does seem attract trouble, being Yang's younger sister it's entitled. With her ferocious fighting style and semblance anyone who was (stupid enough) to engage her in a fight usually by the ends up at the nurse's office. Add that with her wanton love for weapons and designing them, equates to an almost always partially( or totally ) destroyed school weapon's shop where another one of her grand weapon designs catastrophically malfunction causing more than one weapon crafting teachers to retire for their health, both physical and psychological. As you may have guessed a record such as that, it's not a stretch of the imagination to guess that Ruby would be would be sent to the principal's office more than once(a month).Now that's were our adorable heroine was, sitting in front of the desk of a very familiar office of the principal of Signal Academy.

The thing is the man behind the desk was NOT the principal.

It didn't take a long time for Ruby to notice this, even when all of the lights were dimmed. Spooky as it was she wasn't afraid to ask "You're not the-"

She was very rudely interrupted by the...person "Of course I'm not, don't waste my precious time with unnecessary questions."

Being harshly yelled at never made Ruby comfortable "Who are you?" she asked hoping that's what he wanted her to say.

Instead of the quick harsh answer she thought was coming, the man started a monologue or something with a big word. He stood from his...make that the principal's chair and turned his back to her

"Tut, tut, tut, my, my, surely he couldn't possibly thought ahead with one of his strategic moves...he really has lost it" the man said only to himself as if Ruby wasn't in the room.

"Um...mister, who are you talking to?" was Ruby's innocent question

The man grunted as if he was rudely awoken from a very nice dream. "Two things" he said through gritted teeth

"Huh?" was the perplexed young Ruby's expression. 'Is he talking to himself or what?' Was the theory she had, obviously it was her only one, from the man's line of words being so of subject

It was a logical conclusion…but the wrong one.

"I said two things, you just did two things wrong. Firstly you asked a question but before you got any form of usable information, asked another question. When you question anyone make sure they answer, for if they don't and you look past it..." he finally turns his body toward her, suddenly Ruby can finally see him properly, but he continued "... the person you're asking will never, I repeat NEVER take you in any way seriously." he stopped there trying to create dramatic effect he walks around the desk and circles the office, making the desk and Ruby the centre, like a vulture. "Secondly" he started while still walking around, examining the office. "You asked a question you knew the answer to" he stops and looks at Ruby, in way a T-1000 terminator would identify their target. "You knew I was talking to myself, and yet you press on with a useless question." He finished as if with a bad taste lingering in his mouth.

'God, this guy's scary' was pretty much what Ruby continued in her head. As she stared into his dimly lit face again she had a new line to add `…And mean, really, really mean'

"Now about whom I am. I'll give you a hint, you seem the type to read all those books about heroes and monster's so I'll relate it to one of those." he said as if he was talking to a child

"Why would a mysterious dark figure come up from nowhere and communicate with the protagonist?" Was his answer to Ruby's question; another question.

"Uh...Is this-"

"It's not a rhetorical question, you're supposed to answer."

"RIGHT!...you're...uhm...no no not that...WAIT! I got it you're uh...the fairy godmother?" was her meek answer.

"WRONG!" was his booming response.

SCENE CHANGE

"Remember, you heard none of our conversation." Ask reminded as he bribed the driver with some more Lien.

"What conversation?" the cab driver fake-asked while driving away from the two teens, with some well needed cash in his pocket.

"No, Xiao Long, bribing him wasn't necessary. I just thought he needed some extra cash to give his children who his ex-wife won't let him see."(1)

'If he can tell that from sitting behind him, why can't he seem to tell that my fight last night is the reason he's going to Junior's club. Wait did I just want to get caught?!' Yang's own brain was starting betray her, while Ask had somewhat similar thoughts.

The two took in the building before them; the broken windows gave Ask ideas, bits of information on what occurred last night. Not enough for a theory yet, since "Only a fool would make a theory before taking in all the evidence" Yang couldn't help but smile at her own handy work; she truly did a number on a "bad guy's lair"

Too bad she couldn't say anything.

The sound of someone inflating a balloon with their own breath derails Yang's train of thought, her eyes drift to the source which was Ask doing exactly that but instead of a balloon it was surgical gloves. "Here" he offered a now inflated pair. Yang looks at it confused in a way, but follows Ask's lead and puts them on.

"Problem?" Ask…well…asks worryingly as he fastens his pair of gloves.

"I…can't get them…through Ember….Celica." Yang replies through difficulty of getting her gloves on while her weapons were in the way.

"Then take them off, you won't need them. No place safer than a room full of Police Officers." and so as Ask ordered Yang reluctantly removed her gauntlets and fingerless gloves, securing them behind her belt-bag as she hurriedly followed Ask into the club all while putting on the "butt-inspection gloves" as she had just happily dubbed them as.

Ask, followed by a noticeably less like herself Yang, entered the familiar club, Ask took it all in, every detail could tell a wonderfully destructive tale. The MCU as they called themselves were (as Ask instructed) were far from the main dance floor and most of them if not all seemed to be oddly dazed, Ask gave his first impression of the scene adding a joke in there to lower whatever tension was in the room. He however- in the process of forgetting unnecessary information- forgot who he was in the police unit's eyes, and continued casually.

"So much broken glass everywhere." Ask mutters as he walks down the glass steps down to the main dance floor/ crime scene.

"The lack of witnesses being questioned tell me; that despite the public place and type of establishment, no one's coming forward, that means they're afraid of speaking out, so I was right, this is a mob run club. I don't mind, I haven't had a challenge in a while." The arrogant line at the end was the cover for Ask true reason for true reason of levity 'they shouldn't, no civilian should have to risk their lives for us to do our job. Besides…Oh who am I kidding, I can't even convince my inside voice that I don't enjoy this…' Was the prevailing thought in the enigma of a mind Ask possessed. Too bad the other members of the unit had other-less professional- thoughts.

'The kid is with a girl, he's with a GIRL, HE'S with a girl, he's WITH a girl, no matter how you say it; it doesn't sound right' The usually stern and serious Captain internally tried out the description of what was in front of his very eyes. His graying hair probably whitened from the shock, but being the hardened veteran his men respected and his superiors feared; he had to in his words 'Stop being a wide-eyed gossiping schoolgirl wanting to chit-chat'

"ASK!" The aged captain screamed like a scolding drill sergeant.

"Are you giving me incentive to inquire a question or is this your way of yelling at me, Captain?"was the bland yet seemingly sincere reply Ask gave.

"You're one thing, but bringing some blonde broad to an active crime scene-my crime scene, you're a consultant not a tour guide. Now explain." And so he did…in the coldest way he could.

"I can assure you, all of you. She's here on business nothing more." That sounded a little too scripted, the unit wasn't convinced. They knew something must be going on, whether it was romantic or not they knew it was going to be difficult. As little about Ask as they knew, one thing has been clear…he's a sociopath (look it up) and he (for some reason yet to be brought to light) follows the rules if they don't hinder him. So why would he break both trends by bringing…wait…what's her name?

"Xiao Long, meet the Major Crimes Unit. MCU, meet…Yang Xiao Long a…valuable asset to our investigation"

An idiotic looking officer by the name of Schumacher chuckled at Ask's wording and mumbled a rather vulgar comment that sounded like "She's got a great asset" or "Asset I'd sure like me a hot piece of asset too" or somewhere along those lines, most likely both. The two officers next to him were less than entertained.

"The gruff looking, senior citizen in the making is Captain Mac Allen. Don't fell so bad, he's always grumpy, with or without you." Ask informed and introduce to Yang, the same captain made a rather angry grunt in response.

"The lovely and oddly employed woman is Lieutenant Riley. Don't think she's a stereotypical "more-than-just-a-pretty-face" she's only here to rat any of us out if we do anything wrong. So technically her face is the only reason she's here. " was the opinion Ask gave of her

"You can just call me Amy." Lieutenant Riley re-introduced in a friendly manner directed to Yang, and a steely-eyed glare towards Ask.

"And here we have-in order of competence- Officers Nolan, Burton, and lastly-and least-Schumacher." The under aged detective ended with a degrading tone and a look that clearly said; "I heard".

"Hey!" was the protest the least competent officer gave.

"You're an idiot, live with it." was the harsh reply. Harsh but true. The other two, Nolan and Burton, meekly nodded in agreement.

"What kind a girl's name's Yang anyway? How'd someone like you manage to survive a cab ride with him anyway?"

"Two cabs and a train actually, and he did take me out to lunch." Yang answered in her own mix of confidence and informality she seems to have limitless amount of.

Just before anymore unprofessional thoughts could race through the special unit's minds, Ask made a point to continue the introductions.

"We also have…Uh…" Ask was about to say "who are you?" but didn't, because Ask could know who the shiny badged stranger in front of him was in a deductive sense, but chose not to give it any thought in order to focus on the task at hand, and so, Ask did not know the new addition to their Unit. A Faunus member of their task force, a hound dog Faunus, if those flappy ears on the side of his head were anything to go by.

"Snyder, sir-I ah mean-Mr.-"the FNG stuttered out of nervousness or just the reputation (which may or may not have been exaggerated) he may have heard about Ask.

"Just call me Ask, Officer Snyder, Just Ask." Was the unexpectedly polite greeting and handshake that followed from Ask, who was slightly relieved he no longer was the "Fucking New Guy" and a bit cautious if Snyder ended up like Schumacher. 'Another idiot'

In the background, Captain Mac Allen, in a whisper, said "I swear if, she takes one damn selfie." He said in a disapproving tone. Ask heard but pretended not to notice.

"What did the idiots call in?" the idiots being whatever dispatch team that came to this crime scene and deemed it as a mere common crime and failing to see the critical knowledge the truth of this crime could have.

"Oh-um, reports said 'Gang related violence and Arson', Ask." Burton answered the question.

"It's the White Fang I'm telling you, those crazy degenerates always set places like these on fire."

Schumacher said with utmost conviction.

"Impressive." Ask commented

"Thanks bud. See told you guys I was right. Even a genius like Ask can see it."

"Oh no you're very much mistaken; the White Fang had nothing to do with this."

"But you said-"

"I said I was impressed, but not at your uneducated guess but how you used the word 'degenerate' in a sentence, now that's impressive, for you. Good job."

"Hey! Who're ya callin uneducated." Now the Major Crimes Unit were impressed at Schumacher, impressed that he pronounced uneducated right.

"Let's return to the matter at hand here shall we, you said this was and I quote Captain; 'Too messy for a gang'."

"Messy?" the fresh FNG asked to the whole population of the club.

"Your assumption is correct Captain; this level of destruction has to be a lone act." Ask informed, still being reminded that although he himself was gifted with a profound skill of observation and deduction, it could never replace the intuition and experience Captain Mac Allen has obtained through years of law Enforcement.

"And why's that?" Schumacher dumbly asked.

"Just look, if it was a team, it wouldn't nearly be this messy. If it was- and by that I mean someone got trigger happy- wouldn't you think the other teammates would get injured in the process?" Ask rebutted.

On cue or whatever instinct controlled this investigation, the Captain added his own piece to the puzzle. "And don't forget, "The more men, the less work", and the work whoever did this was-"

"Unrestrained?"

"Excessive?"

"Enormous?"

"Abundant?"

"…The hell have you lot been reading?!" Mac Allen asked his newly literate unit.

"The dictionary." was the unanimous and eerily synchronized answer the unit (minus Snyder) gave, which explained Schumacher's sudden literary skills.

"My idea thought they needed some diversity in their vocabulary, and, yes, I'll console you next time I give them reading requirements." Ask characteristically chimed while taking in the information the club contained, every piece of evidence, every single usable data, and every meticulous detail. All went silent everyone in the room knew Ask was in the zone sort to speak. Ask then, in a swift motion of the hand starts.

"Question: If you faced multiple opponents alone, what would you do?" Asked Ask in no way rhetorically.

He kneels down on the center of the room.

"Anyone know the answer?"

"Oh my god- It's 'Use a fast attack that has the widest range', amateurs." Lieutenant Riley was the one who answered.

"Correct, this one seems to be a 360-degree with a massive impact. Scorch marks indicate a massive burst of fire happened right here. While chunks of the floor tell us there was a strong force applied, strong enough to break the floor it would seem. Impact created shockwave, shockwave blew away 8- maybe 10 men, must have been thrown across the room…Hmm" he lifts his head, stares at the ceiling.

"Vertical, vertical drop aided in the impact, used gravity to increase power; sign of a trained fighter." Ask gets back on his feet and proceeds to walk around the room, stopping in his tracks every once and a while.

"Thugs disorientated and separated, next move was to eliminate them individually. Divide and Conquer; tactical but an obvious and an overused strategy; has mediocre knowledge of strategy." He once again profiles.

'Ouch'

"More brawn than brain, figures." Ask ads

'Ouch'

"What a wide angle of bullets." Ask remarks "Must have been after their numbers dwindled. That or they didn't care about hitting their own; criminals don't have a reputation for compassion."

"Bullet trajectory seems low hmm-THE DJ! An armed DJ!" A quick mad dash to the DJ's nest later "Explains those two shoulder length scorch marks, used them to increase jump to quickly get here to eliminate DJ; sign of weapon mastery." Ask ads to the profile.

"Then reloaded-no changed ammunition type; bit of engineering skills, weapon engineering skills. After the DJ was eliminated-eliminated by slamming his head with the board, brutal- things turned less one-sided, probably faced enforcers maybe bodyguards, whoever they were they were skilled enough to hold their own and exchange a few blows…for a while at least."

'He figured all that out…and I'm still not in jail? It's probably just a matter of time, should probably get my story straight, though he did pretty much tell it. I guess I should work on my alibi-excuse! I meant excuse.'

"Fight didn't end there, it merely intensified. You can tell can't you, Captain? This was a bit-"

"Let me stop you right there, Ask." Lieutenant Riley interrupts a look of scepticism and disapproval on her pretty face.

"Here's a tip for the scientists who programed you; Human's need something called EVIIIIDENCEEEE~." The sarcasm and open antagonisms was dripping with every syllable. Scepticism would always be a problem for Ask, it comes with the fact that most Private-Eyes are shams, which explains Ask's need to constantly prove himself, especially to the professionals.

"You're enjoying this too much. You find all this funny; leading us around? If you're just making it all up-" The Lieutenant's excuse of a threat was stopped right there.

"Making it all up would require imagination, I'm as you say: 'Enjoying this', contrary to a talking bipedal yellow sponge's belief; Imagination isn't enough to enjoy this. Using one's imagination isn't enough; why else would pornography be so popular." He ends flatly despite that analogy.

"Just ask Burton, he understands what I'm saying." Heads whip from the one-sided argument to the officer in question.

"I-I can explain." Thankfully for Burton, Ask elected to save him from further ridicule from his peers, he should, he put him there.

"Everything damaged was collateral and as I can tell from the lack of blood, no one was killed either, meaning not a gang attack, so that makes this an individual act. But….not a random one, a goal was made, that point was clear when I first got a glimpse of the entrance, no force entry, meant the perpetrator came in undisturbed by the henchmen, no destruction of the entrance or to the walls outside, indicated the fight took place only in this room, so our perpetrator had enough self-control to wait, which means and I mean this delicately, not in this just to watch the world burn, but there was a fight, meaning if his or her objective was completed or not is still up for investigation; this was premeditated and I know who the assailant was after." He said in a seriously decisive manner, a manner reminiscent of a soliloquy, or a depressing monotonous monologue.

"Who- ouch! That hurt-" Nolan, who's arm had been hit by a tiny fist exclaimed.

"Don't interrupt." The owner of the tiny fist; Riley scolded. She seems to have been more mannered.

"A high ranking criminal, a largely built one, strong, and probably a man." Ask continued.

"Our perp?" was the question that could answer their case.

"Uh, perp?" Yang asked.

"Perpetrator." Captain Mac Allen answered.

"No, our perp's target." That answer was hard to believe, so Ask continued in order to make it clearer.

"Honestly, the handle, look at that weapon handle over here and that large barrel way over there. You're all intelligent to piece together that, these two were parts of a weapon. It's clearly not a standard issue Axe-Machete weapon the criminal's around this vicinity of Vale use but share the same color-scheme, so obviously since it's a unique weapon. So clearly it's more than a bat, by the size of the barrel it shifts in to a man-portable recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher weapon- which explains the craters, the club was his so he can wreck it all he wants. He has to be either skilled or important, I'm on the latter, Cause let's face it if he was that skilled he might have been a warrior maybe even a hunter, not stuck as a small time mid-boss in charge of a club; who I may add got himself and his little personal army knocked around."

A few, Captain Mac Allen included, agreed. Yang the only one fully aware of Junior's lack of combat skills, had to admit that from being there (and beating all of them) herself, knew Ask might as well have had front row seats by the amount of information he got from the bad-guy's weapons alone.

"And let's say our perp's target wasn't the largely built boss, it would be very unlikely for said boss to join the fight as it would be uncharacteristic for the employer to do his employees job." Ask added in just in case someone questioned his deductions and set him of the zone. Snyder took down notes at an impressive speed while Officer Nolan scribbled something down as well.

"If we could all pay attention to the bar, we might be able to know what caused this." Ask at that moment rushed to the bar, not caring as he bumped through everyone else as he cut through the middle.

And so he stood there. Only adjusting the angle of his head ever so often, it looked rather strange having grown cops stare at someone just staring.

"Big Batzooka-swinging-guy was here sitting on a stool, bodyguards with him; two I might conclude- three would be a sign of paranoia, criminals are superstitious to that sort of thing-sat on his right and our club wrecker was on his left."

'Batzooka swinging guy? Guess that does sound way better than Junior'

Ask takes a step towards the bar and lets his index finger feel the length of it. He then examined the gloved finger, rubbing it with his thumb to detect some minuet traces of something.

"Dirty. Bartender never got the chance to clean up, but all the bottles and glasses have been cleared away. Bartender saw the fight broke out, cleared his merchandise, and left before things got too ugly…smart bartender."

'Hmm, well guess I didn't notice.' Yang thought to herself as she replayed of what happened last night; specifically the part where Junior's juniors were in danger of never being born. She chuckled slightly to herself.

"Meaning?" Burton asked.

"Our bartender had a pretty close look at what caused this mess, I could even be as bold as to say he can even identify what-and later who-caused all this." As Ask's suggestion finally sunk in, the police unit were about to call back the precinct to check on any and all bar tending professionals that may have come through the club. That was until Captain Mac Allen spoke up.

"Cut the shit, I'm not daft, you know something, don't cha ya cheeky bastard. I let you be here to be a consultant, remember? And if there's one thing people like you don't do; it's rely on someone else." The ever no-nonsense and slave driving Unit leader said.

Ask released his whole weight on a stole, practically falling onto it. He then lifts his head to see the ceiling grinning while he does it. A relaxed and regretful demeanor replaced the bored yet focused one Ask had. Then a sound escapes his still madly grinned lips. A sound most of the members thought they'd never hear: Ask's laugh

"He he he…it's not arson either, not in the legal sense anyway-the kind with the use of Molotov cocktails or with gasoline, kerosene, and the stroked match to ignite the scene(2)- this whole club, as you all probably guessed-and the reason I'm here-wasn't set ablaze by normal means…"

'T-that's the first time I've heard him laugh…he shouldn't do it too often'

"Normal (means)?" was the collective summary of their reactions.

"Then what are the means? If you know then-"

"You know what can do this." Ask declared suddenly. "We all had some training in it at one point. Xiao Long and I are still being taught to do more advance versions of it." It wasn't the time for silly riddles, but this one was far too easy.

"It's Aura, isn't it." Nolan answered the obvious. "The person who did all this had a fire type of semblance." He answered for the whole unit. That's when it dawned on them that Ask and Xiao Long may have met at a combat school explaining the 'how'd you two meet' question temporarily.

"Props to the most competent low ranking officer." Was the cheer, compliment, and insult all-in-one. That 'joke'-if you could call it that-was not going to cut the tension in the room. A tension only mortal terror could cause, caused by the idea of the worst possible criminal to make this mess.

The Major Crimes Unit, in all their professional and physical strength as (arguably) Vale's Finest, had literally nothing, nothing to do with all their (limited) strength regarding the likes of an enigma like Codename: Crimson, a name they themselves created not out of a way to distinguish, but out of fear. Away for other officers to know; "If you hear the word Crimson on the scanner, STAY THE HELL AWAY!" was the origins of that dreaded name. To stop even more cops from getting hurt or worse…cooked.(3)

While standing up, Ask, in his trademark casual and bored, said "It's not Crimson by the way." He said dryly.

That fell like a piano on the room. Why like a piano you may ask? Well pianos are heavy that's why...

"It's not! Oh thank God! I thought I was gonna die." Schumacher exclaimed with true relief. The rest of the Special Unit failed to share his sense of self-preservation.

'How someone like him qualified to be here still intrigues me, clearly the Captain sees something in him I don't'

"What do you mean it's not Crimson?!"

"It's gotta be him, who else can do all this?"

"Where's the evidence in these theories, we need proof at least to insure the IA (Internal Affairs) won't bust our ass for this."

"To tell the truth, I'm wrong. Not our mysterious fire-bending(4)criminal mastermind."

"(What's) Fire-bending?" A few officers asked at roughly the same time.

"Look it up." He said simply as he began to pace.

"We're looking for- and this is if the person wasn't naked at the time- someone wearing flame retardant clothing. It's obvious; someone who uses fire to fight would need a way to dress themselves without the fear of burning up one's clothes. 'Unless of course their entire body was creating those flames in a way they had perfect control of it that they didn't need to wear fire proof clothing, that or their clothing made the fire. But none of those match with the evidence.' Not knowing exactly why Ask stopped mid explanation, the unit just awkwardly looked to Yang in search of an explanation, believing she knew him well enough to know. Yang acknowledge them but she gestured an "I don't know", with her hands in the air she thought "who does know him well?" thankfully it took Ask less than two minutes to continue.

"That helps us considerably" he continues as if nothing happened "there are very few fire retardant clothing available to the civilian market, and there are only a handful of materials capable of withstanding heat that could withstand this much damage and still be wearable; PBI, Burnstop, Twaron , Nomex, Arselon, Nylon , M5 fiber, Kevlar, FR fabric, Technora, Modacrylic and most commonly Wool.(5)" he added nonchalantly, the rest of the MCU impressed at how he named something so trivial and yet complicated at the top of his head.

"So we're looking for a guy wearing a firefighter's jacket or something?"

"Hmm…a firefighter setting things on fire, theatrical and ironic but no, a bulky suit such as that would be too difficult to move in, let alone fight in." Ask dismissed the thought entirely, finding no light at the end of it.

"We are looking for more flexible and maneuverable flame retardant clothing; nomex and alternatively nylon, there both used regularly on modern sportswear. Wool is also good, cheap, warm, can be anything, hats, gloves, even a…scarf…a woolen scarf…and twaron gloves…modarcrylic and FR fabric blend leather jacket…Kevlar lined boots…and nylon cycling shorts…isn't that…your usual apparel, Xiao Long?(6)" The question ended with Ask a mere inch away from Yang, no longer slouching for once, making him look much taller than he normally does, though Yang might not get intimidated easily, but getting caught trying to get your stuck hand out of the cookie jar (a cute story starring a five-year-old Ruby) and having been unarmed and face to face with a more than likely armed fellow Signal student who's fighting skills she has little to no scope of while an elite crime fighting police unit was right in handcuffing range, feeling a slight chill of fear was a an unavoidable result.

"Look, uh…about that…" Yang started while combing her large mane of hair with her hands; a sign of vulnerability it would seem.(6.5)

"This is about Ask?"

"For the first time in this conversation you are correct. Congratulations." Then came the slow sarcastic clapping every condescending jerk needs.

"So you're like his archenemy or something?"

"No, I think he'd enjoy that though. Very much like him to want something as narcissistic as having a deranged psychopath devote his entire existence to his destruction. But mother always hated it when her boys fought."

"WAIT! Mother? That means Ask is- "

"-STUPID!"BANG BANG BANG "STUPID"…BANG "STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID!"...BANG BANG BANG BANG "STUPID"

And that's how it's been for the last eleven minutes or so, Ask punishing himself by hitting his head on the wall while insulting himself in between.

"Are you done yet?" at first Yang was very concerned at Ask's masochistic behavior, but as time went on the wall seemed to be more deserving of sympathy than his head.

'I admit, he's got a pretty hard head.' Was the lone useful bit of knowledge Yang obtained from this ordeal.

CLANK

"Hey did you hear that?"

"If you're talking about my intellect being questioned, then yes."

'Finally! I was getting creeped out watching that.'

"Oh don't be like that, you still found out that it was me didn't you?"

"It's not like I should've known that it was YOU all along who destroyed this club."

"Don't be so sensitive about it, besides you didn't ask, amirite." (7)

"Really? You terrorize an entire club full of people, beat the people who work here to a (impressive) pulp, set the place ablaze, come to my establishment in search for information regarding your friend while withholding information yourself. I say my attitude toward you is justified." Not realizing his name was used as a pun.

"I didn't think telling you was that important."

"Every detail is essential, until I decide it's not."

"Ugh I should've known this was all you all along! The glass shards behind you last night, a glass not used for commercial or industrial use but used for show, the ammo you use, Dust-shotgun shells, fed through your gauntlets fit perfectly with the shells on the crime scene, and of course your provocative appearance. Ugh stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"What about my provocative appearance?""

"You're always so damn hot! What else?"

"Um…thanks?" she thanked in surprise. "…I didn't know you were interested in me." Not being sure why but she never really did feel like Ask's type. 'If there was one'

Instead of a look that a normal teenage boy would have for hitting on a girl, for the first time for what felt like ages, Ask had a confused expression.

"What? Oh I didn't mean-"

"It's alright you're not the first to-"

"Okay way out of topic. I meant temperature hot not…'sexual arousal causes more warm blood to flow' kind of hot."

"Oh I just thought-"

"Not that I don't find you attractive." Ask cuts Yang off, in an attempt to explain without further insulting Yang… "Your facial structure would ensure attractive offspring, your physical fitness is an excellent sign of a healthy female body, your figure has perfect child bearing hips to successfully give birth and of course your above average bust size would grant any future children you and your future significant other would have an abundant supply of breast milk. So in summary you are in fact very attractive. "

…in the only way he was capable of.

"…See most guys would just say I've got great hair or a pretty smile or eyes maybe even -"

"Bored now, changing subject."

"As I was saying, Vale has a cold climate – explains why most people wear such thick clothing. You don't, that would mean that your internal body temperature is at a high enough temperature to not only withstand the cold climate but also –by my hypothesis- create your own waves of heat, and the only naturally occurring form of ability that can do that would be…"(8)

"My aura, you're right I've got a fire semblance, that's why I dress like a slut, cause I'd be too damn hot if I don't. I'm sure a a lot of girls are scantily-clad (9) because they make their own fire."

Elsewhere Cinder Fall sneezes. (Very cutely.)

"Ha choo!" the cute sound of that sneeze echoes through the warehouse.

"Gesundheit."

"Get back to work Roman." (10)

"You lied."

"I didn't lie. I just-"

"Oh don't use the "I wasn't lying, I just didn't think I needed to tell you" line on me. Withholding information like this could cost you the investigation and possibly your friend."

"Okay fine, I lied." Yang said with a tired sigh.

"So you admit?"

"Yes, yes. I admit to everything." The lack of sincerity from Yang's confession prompted Ask make spill the beans.

"Be specific." Ask instructed.

"I came in asked a guy named Junior about her, he said he didn't know her, then I punched him across the room so his little army came in I beat them all then a teddy bear DJ shoots at me…" at his point Ask's eyebrow raises from the use of teddy bear in the sentence. "…and so these twins with way to much make-up come along and they…" And so she proceeds to detail the part Ask failed to add. Ask in the back of his mind tells himself he could've solved it, if he wasn't so rudely interrupted.

"…And then he pulls out my hair and that's when I lose it. So I burst into flames and punch him out the-"

"Wait! You burst into flames and burned most of this club, because he pulled out your hair?"

"Well, yeah." Yang answers as if the most obvious thing in the world. "Did I confuse you somewhere?"

"Oh no, just checking."

"And then I jump out of the broken window, that's when I bump into Ruby…" Yang then proceeds to tell the tale of how Ruby and Yang met him. "…and you know the rest."

For a moment, Ask seemed to be digesting the information. Similar to how he absorbed the club for clues. He then breaks his thoughts by loosening his shoulders up, the same way you would before a work out.

"I'm correct in assuming that's all you wanted to say." Ask evenly said while moving closer to the door.

"Yeah."

Ask nods and turns to the door, his arm extends to the handle seemingly trying to leave the room. But instead of leaving he jerks his hand away at the last minute.

"You're not going to run away, are you?" Ask says, but this time in a whisper.

Yang had a slight mix of confusion and being offended "Nope…why would I?"

A look of realization shortly appeared on Ask's face, not enough for the common viewer but Yang seemed to notice it.

"Did you get all that?" Ask said but not to Yang.

The door whooshes open and the entire Major Crimes Unit can be seen with their side arms all point to Yang.

Police Captain Mac Allen while slowly shaking his says in a tired voice "Shoulda known, I shoulda known, put your hands between your head, you are under arrest."

On impulse Yang attempts to activate her gauntlets. She then realized she took them of to wear those medical gloves Ask gave her, and quickly remembered she kept them in her belt-bag.

"Looking for these?" Ask mockingly asked while dangling Ember Celica.

Every hunter's or huntress' horror of having someone take your precious weapon was enough to drain the color from Yang's usually bright face.

"How did you-"

"I pick pockets." Ask answered immediately while not bothering with waiting for obvious question. "All detectives learn it, well maybe just the good ones."

"But they get here-I' mean how'd they know to-?"

"I can answer that." Nolan speaks up, "10-14 it's a police scanner it means: Citizen with Suspect." as he says citizen he's eyes nervously drift to Ask.

"We didn't really understand it at first but we remembered a while back we kept calling Ask 'The Civilian" as a joke. I'm almost glad he didn't forget." 'Almost'

"But when? Ask never sa-"

"The wall could beg to differ." 'The wall?'

"Does this sound familiar?" tap- - -tap tap tap- tap- tap tap tap tap-

"Hmm, probably can't tell without my bursts of the word 'stupid', its Morse code, Xiao Long. Shame they don't still teach it at combat schools, thankfully emergency dispatch units still use it today. Police often come across signals like S.O.S., it's good to know that they can retain the other phonetic letters and numbers.

Yang's eyes widen from the realization. Ask notices and nods in approval.

"That was the message? Hitting your head on the wall while calling yourself 'stupid' it was all a-"

"A rouse, yes. Everything I've done so far was to get you in circumstances in my favor. Perhaps some exposition is required." Ask gently reaches towards Officer Snyder, Nolan, and Burton's handguns and lowers them slowly. "The captain is plenty." Ask reasoned simply. "I only came to suspect your involvement in this after I received the call from Captain Mac Allen." He starts "Imagine my surprise when the very first suspect that popped in my head was the person dinning across from me. I was caught off guard momentarily, but soon a problem arose that I needed to solve; how to solve the case without alerting the primary suspect and keeping her in close enough proximity to arrest if the evidence pointed to her?"

Ask begins to lower the muzzle of Schumacher's more threatening looking pump-action shotgun. "Don't" Ask murmured without even staring into Schumacher's "Are you insane" eyes.

"The solution; have her solve it with me." Ask answer's his own question "It's an old detectives' gambit, in theory it both proves the person innocent or guilty while keeping them in the dark."(11)

Ask scratches his chin as if deep in thought. "Can't remember what it's called though, slipped my mind it seems." (12) He admits shamelessly with a shrug.

"Any who, I couldn't let you enter a crime scene you might have caused armed, deducing your weapon was simple, separating you from it however required deception; thus the latex gloves…"

"I…can't get them…through Ember….Celica."

"Then take them off, you won't need them. No place safer than a room full of police officers."

"…every good detective keeps them. After you removed them, pick pocketing you was the only way to make sure you wouldn't use them on any of us." Ask takes a breath, tired and deep. "After regretfully deducing that you did in fact create this mess with your aura I couldn't help but feel torn between being disappointed that it wasn't Crimson as the MCU first suspected or a little peeved that you destroyed a criminal run club and it took me this long to figure it out."

'That's what he's pissed at."

"Next was signaling the Unit, unfortunately they were still to overwhelmed that I brought another person my age of the opposite gender along with me, they became too inept to understand any of my hidden messages." He turns his back on Yang and looks at the elite unit. "As a result I had to resort to a less…dignified means of messaging" For emphasis, Ask rubs his forehead with his three middle fingers.

"I had to endure a considerable amount of pain in order to send that code while isolating you, it would have been almost fruitless if not for a certain fact all fresh officers have, so thank God for the FNG."

Snyder, the F*ing New Guy, said "Um, just doing my duty."

"Huh, so it was you." Ask said as if he got a lucky guess "Shot in the dark but I still got that one right." Ask self-praised.

"You can probably guess I took advantage of Snyder's inexperience and if it's one thing freshly graduated police officer's know best it's…"

"The 10-Code." a majority of the unit answered from their own personal experience trying to forget the dreaded code. Similar to how you try to forget those ridiculous equations you learn in high school.

"Police Academies drill the 10-Code into fresh recruits' heads, until each code becomes like an actual word in their subconscious, it takes a while but you do filter it out. I'm grateful for our recruit's presence, if not for Snyder; I could have resorted to something as unsavory as charades."

"As for our isolation, I needed to get you in a room where there was only one entrance or exit, while being close enough for the unit to hear, I wouldn't have picked a better place to send a noise as Morse code, clubs are architecturally designed to allow sound to travel better, ah acoustics, I've always hated guitar…" Ask says out of nowhere. "I almost envy the enhanced senses you have, Snyder. With the accelerated senses of a faunus, I could increase my observational skills to an unparalleled degree."

"Wait. What? Snyder's a faunus?!" Schumacher, the only one who didn't know (for some reason) asked.

"La duuuhhh~." Lieutenant Riley mocked

"How else would he have heard my signal?" Ask added further.

"Idiot." Yang commented

"Shut up, you pyromaniac!" (13)

"How remarkable, 'pyromaniac' five syllables." Ask said in awe.

"Quit picking on me!"

"I trust, you recorded our conversation and that sharp noise was the signal?" The question was directed at Captain Mac Allen. The Captain however didn't respond and favored keeping his old 1911's sights on Yang.

CLANK

"Hey did you hear that?"

Burton was the one who answered "I caught it all, even that terrible pick-up line. 'Sufficient amount of breast milk' was the best you could come up with?"

"I still surprised that Ask can even hit on a girl, I thought geniuses where celibate."

"Those are monks, Schumacher."

"Do you really own a pair of baby seal slippers?"

"Am I the only one around here" the captain slides his handgun. "who thinks we shouldn't be letting our guard down." Captain Mac Allen was never that interested in Ask's personal life. 'If he had one'

Yang steps closer to Ask, a few officers expected this as a threat and came close to readying for a confrontation, without even a sideward glance, Ask once again lowered their weapons. Eye-to-eye, Yang could make out a the whites of Ask's eyes, Ask stared blankly back and caught a glimpse of red in Yang's usual lavender eye's.

'Hmm, eye change when in times of aggression…to be fair I find this rather fascinating-Fascinating? Never used a word like that before in a situation such as this. Lavender to a shade of…crimson. Crimson? Eye-change, fire-semblance, Aura activated by rage and…I believe than temperature of the room has increased.

"So this was all a trap? You tricked me and led me here to get arrested." Yang asked with the slightest hint of betrayal in her voice and embers sparking in her hair.

"Most of it." Ask admits

"So what's next in your master plan?"

"That would be; Help you get away with it."

"Wait. What?"

"Wait! What?" this time the Major Crimes Unit asked in even more shock.

"Wait. What?" Junior asked through the phone.

"You heard me" Adam Taurus, part time assassin, other time White Fang insurgent, full time bad-ass, reaffirmed.

"You're blonde's back at your club; she fits perfectly with your description." Adam looks at a crudely drawn picture of Yang; nothing more than a childish picture of a girl with yellow lines for hair and to over the top circles for boobs.

"Guess those dumb cops where on to something when they said 'They always return to the scene of the crime'." His says to Junior on the phone, eyes still on the entrance."

"Then what're you waiting for, a 'KILL ME SENPAI' sign? Take care of her already! You can get paid when you come back. That was our deal, or did you forget?"

"She's in a building full of cops. She's got a friend with her too. I can take her down just fine, but she's got too many on her side, better just observe for now."

"If you even think about letting her go I'll-" Junior's threat was cut short by and even more fearsome threat.

"YOU'LL WHAT?" the Red Death called Junior's bluff. "I know where you live. Don't forget that." (14)

End of Chapter.

1: Study in Pink Reference

2: Yes, those are the lyrics from 'I Burn' listened to that allot while writing.

3: Just wanted to justify Cinder's old fan-name, you know, helps people who use to call her Crimson an excuse.

4: AVATAR REFERENCE! What? Someone needed to say it.

5: Those are actually real-life flame retardant materials.

6: Just my theory on what Yang's clothes are made of, and why she hasn't burned her clothes of in a fight.

7: Does Yang say that? My beta says she would say that.

8: My theory on why Yang dresses so...less than the other character's who are from Vale, explains allot but can be proven wrong.

9: Forgot where I got that word scantily-clad, I remember it was from an anime fanfic but that's it.

10:Theory applies to Cinder as well, bitch got great legs and she knows it.

11: L from Death Note used this on Light, and for those of you younglings who've never heard of the master piece known as Death Note I recommend it, you can stop after Episode 26 though, it starts sucking by then.

12: Ask didn't forget but I did sorry Ask

13:Another 'I Burn' lyric, it deserves more than one mention.

14: I read a fanfic once about Adam and Blake's past together, the rest of team RWBY refer to Adam as the Red Death. I liked it so much I had to mention it.

AN: Sorry about the VERY long delay, I've been in the hospitalized for awhile and I've just been recently released from that prison cell of a room, I haven't even matched the latest volume episode yet because the hospital I was admitted to had no Wifi. I wont bore you with the details, just know I'll try my best to continue this story. Sorry no preview for the nest chapter (it will be the longest so far though) but the name of the next chapter is enough.

"Chapter VI: Adam vs Ask"

I know, I know. Fight scenes are tough to write.

Till next time.