Agents of Chaos

A/N: Ok, so let's play a game. This story was founded on the ideas of me and some of my friends. I may be lead writer, but they have supplied me with like 70% of material in the story, so they deserve thanks for that. More importantly, each of the members of team MSTT are based off me and them. So, I am willing to reward anyone who can guess who is who. The other people that have helped me with this story are EcoActivistElmo – co-head of the creative department, AbsolHunter – lead artist for the story and (questionably) most importantly Mazon48TheWyrm – lead editor for the story.

These three people are the editorial group, and they deserve a round of applause, so start guessing. First person to guess every single one correctly gets a prize.

Dalastjedi: AbsolHunter, anything you want to say to the viewers before we start off the MSTT story?

AbsolHunter: What should i need to say anything besides that these kids are not nubters and huntress theybdont have a moral wall for say so they wont be the heroes wants but in theses hard times the criminals they need IDK derp.

Dalastjedi: You know I'll be copy and pasting this conversation onto a chapter.

AbsolHunter: Please dont edit first

Dalastjedi: Don't edit? Because your grammar sucks.

AbsolHunter: Please dont, edit first*

Translation from English: Absol-ish to English: simplified

AbsolHunter: What should I need to say anything besides that these kids are not Hunters and Huntresses. They don't have a moral wall for say so they won't be the heroes we want, but in these hard times the criminals they need. IDK, derp.

The Day After Cinder first Confronted Adam…

Nothing in the world could compare to the satisfaction and feeling of camping in the wilderness, outside the safety and confinement of the walls of the Kingdoms. The feeling of being surrounded on all sides by darkness, with only the bonfire before you to keep you warm is a thrilling and exciting feeling.

Mason tried to think back to a time when he didn't spend the night in the forest, scavenging for dry wood and hunting other campers for sport, dinner and fuel for his fire. Mhmm…Nope. Nothing comes to mind. He thought blissfully as he tossed another severed head filled with flammable resins into the fire before him. Easy Kingdom life is for scrubs.

Yup, nothing like it.

The best part was, he was also never lonely. The best part of hunting other people, that is. On either side of him were various severed limbs and appendages, propped up on wooden stakes to keep him company for the long night ahead. It was, of course, dangerous to travel the thick wilderness south-west of Vale, and travelling in groups was always advised.

"We showed them, huh Little Timmy?" Mason said to the severed head of a teenage boy he had killed not hours ago. He hadn't bother to ask for his name, and just assumed that his name was Little Timmy. "You and me are going to go on wonderful adventures, filled with 360 no-scopes and lots of MLG points." He said fondly, as he patted the wooden steak, shaking the head slightly.

"Another roasted leg?" he offered to the head with a wide smile. "Come on, I'm pretty sure it's not Human…No? Suit yourself." He said as he bit off a large chunk of what was probably not-Human flesh.

"You should really finish your arm, Timmy." Mason said, his mouth half-full of half-raw meat while he gestured to the wooden plate in front of the effigy. "I mean...unless you don't want it..." he let the statement hang as he slowly reached behind the effigy to grab the end of the roasted Human arm and pull it around and onto his own plate.

After finishing his leg and arm of...meat, he tossed the remains into the fire before pulling over his knapsack and scrounged around in it, searching for something.

"Come on, where is it?" he asked before his hands wrapped around a rectangular-shaped object. "Aha!" he proclaimed as he pulled out his Scroll. He then proceeded to open it and activate its camera function. After that, he struck a pose next to the severed head and took several snapshots.

"Selfie time with my best friends." He muttered to himself, flicking through the photos with a sadistic fondness. "There's nothing like it."

"Indeed." A slick, feminine voice called out from the tree-line, catching Mason off guard as he used his keen Night-vision to search the surroundings. After almost searching in a complete circle, he turned towards the sound of rustling bushes, as a tall woman with short ebony-hair and a red dress that ended at her hips stepped out of the darkness and into the faint light of his man-made bonfire.

Mason's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before licking his lips, a sinister smirk appearing. "Hold my Scroll for me, Timmy." He said as he put the device into the teeth of the severed head, standing to his feet as he carefully eyed his dessert. First I'm gonna kill her, then I'm gonna use her…and then I'll eat her. He thought out, careful to plan out his three-step dessert plan as he unslung Bas – folded into its lever-action shotgun form – off his shoulder.

"Please, there's really no need for that." The woman said with a sarcastic roll of her eyes.

"I don't think you understand how this works; I'm going to eat you." He explained, stressing the last few words.

"Trust me, you wouldn't want to do that." She said, still unfazed at all by Mason's advances as she simply stood there, hands at her side and weapons still strapped to her back.

This piqued Mason's curiosity. "And why not?"

The woman chuckled to herself, shaking her hair back and forth for a moment before responding. "Because you'll miss out on the deal of a lifetime."

Mason didn't respond, wanting to hear what the casual had to say first. He still kept his shotgun up as the woman before him continued. "I have a problem that requires your…field of expertise to resolve, and I can think of no better individual to deal with the problem." She ended with a slick smile.

"Is it period cramps?"

The woman's eyes widened at the question and her face turned into a snarl. "What?"

"Believe me, I know the pain." Mason said as he leaned on his axe like a crutch. "Just go with it, and it should clear by-"

"It's not period cramps." The woman said, with a slight twitch of her eye as she spoke through gritted teeth.

Mason paused, realizing his mistake and feeling awfully embarrassed by it. "Oh, I'm sorry…Is it labor cramps?"

"No!" the woman shouted as she put her hands on the hilts of her swords. As she looked like she was about to draw them, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before releasing her hold on the hilts.

She took another few seconds to breathe deeply before she opened her eyes to face the redhead. "There's a White Fang encampment several kilometers from here." She paused as Mason continued to stare at her, waiting for her to continue.

Ok, what does she want me to do? Kill them? Eat them? Screw them? All at once?

"I want you to sneak into the encampment, and burn all of their wares." She said, bringing a sadistic grin to Mason's face as he thought of the chance to burn another village to the ground. That was…until he realized something.

"Hang on." He said, releasing his grip on Bas and holding both hands up to stop the woman before she continued. "Why should I burn down that encampment at your request? I mean, it throws off my schedule and is freakin' inconvenient as hell."

"Because I'm willing to pay you." She said as she stepped aside to reveal a briefcase hidden behind her.

Mason simply scoffed and laughed sarcastically at the proposal. "I'm not interested in money. If you want to pay me, you'd have better brought-"

"An incendiary cluster bomb?" the black-haired beauty finished, causing Mason to freeze at the words.

"What. Did. You. Say?" Mason asked, turning his head towards her more and more after each word.

"I thought it might interest you." Cinder said as she slowly paced around the briefcase. "I'll even give it to you to use on the encampment. I would use it myself, but I've got better things to do."

The redhead knew how to handle business types like her. All it took as a little patience, a little haggling, and they'd crack.

"Let me see! Let me see! Let me see!" Mason shouted as he ran over to the briefcase, sliding to his knees as he opened it as saw the beautiful device inside it. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back as he had a small murder-gasm, and imagined all the destruction and napalm-burnt corpses he could make with this device. "You have no idea how turned on I am right now." He muttered to the woman, not caring if she heard or not.

"So, what'll it be?" she asked, extending a hand to Mason, who was still kneeling on the floor.

The redhead Faunus looked from the bomb in the briefcase to the extended hand several times before he grabbed hold of the hand. I like this girl's guts. "When do I start?"

Roughly Four Months before Volume 1…

It had been nearly two weeks since the dreadful events of the Trials, yet the gash wound on Sze Khun's left wrist had yet to heal. The bleeding had since slowed and the flesh had changed to a healthier color, but no matter what, the wound would not close.

At first, he thought that the halberd used to create the wound had been laced with Rot Dust or a variety that prevented healing, but every doctor and medic that he had since talked to have been unable to identify why the wound was unable to close.

He would've had it stitched up, but he had already spent more than half of his entire wallet just to see those few doctors that hadn't been able to help. Because of that, since he didn't know how to properly stitch a wound, he had to resort to bandaging it. This was also another reason why he considered seeing those useless doctors a mistake, as the bandages had to be changed every day. If it even got slightly dirty, the black-haired rogue would replace it with a new one out of fear that it would get infected.

He had his own theories as to why the wound would not close, but he would have to save that for when he had enough money to have it stitched up, because having to buy new bandages every day was more than enough daily upkeep to upset his entire budget.

Which is what led him here; to a bakery in downtown Mistral. How he ended up in Mistral, he still wasn't quite sure himself. All the rogue knew was that he had been constantly on the move, finding it more efficient to travel by night, giving him a chance to sleep as he snuck aboard different transport vessels, instead of searching for lodging wherever he ended up. Of course, he wasn't always sure where he would end up, but that was what he got for being so weak. Besides, he had nowhere to go, no destination ahead.

Might as well wander about.

Having run out of enough Lien to buy lunch and dinner, he had to resort to using his Semblance to carefully swipe some food. It wasn't that hard so long as nobody was looking as he miraculously caused a loaf of bread to vanish.

He had just left the bakery and was about to enjoy his simple lunch in an alleyway, when a weak applauding rang out from further down the alleyway.

Startled, he immediately shoved the wrapped up loaf in a rucksack that he was able to acquire in his travels, afraid it was someone who had seen his steal the bread. He wasn't proud of it himself, but he only took what he needed to survive, nothing more.

Looking down the alley, now darker because of the evening sunset, his glasses helped make the figure out of a woman who was leaning against the wall that cast the shadow in the alleyway. Even though her figure was shaded, Sze Khun could still make out a head of short-cropped mint-green hair with straight fringes. Her eyes were a dark-red and she had a dark complexion.

She was also wearing what Sze Khun considered to be…rather revealing clothing, but being from Vacuo, he had seen more revealing clothing than he ever wanted to.

"Very impressive." Said the green-haired woman, with a quirked smile.

Ok, Sze Khun…just play it cool. "Good evening, miss. Can I help you?" he said, bringing his hands to his front to act like he was dusting off his shirt and trousers, but was actually wiping off the bread crumbs from his hands.

The girl seemed to be in deep thought for a few moments as she looked up at the sky, but quickly turned her attention back to Sze Khun. "Mmm, no. But I think I can help you." She said as she pushed herself off the wall and began slowly approaching Sze Khun, who was still rooted to the ground.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." He said, cursing himself for the slight stutter, which she clearly picked up on if the smirk was any indication.

"Too bad your lying isn't as good as your stealing; which, by the way, was pretty good." She said as she stopped ten feet from him.

That was the point Sze Khun decided to drop the innocent act, and move to threatening as his glasses began analyzing what he could see of her weapons. "If you're planning on telling the authorities, I swear I'll-"

"Geez, chill out for a second and hear me out." She said with a sarcastic eye-roll, though the grin never left her face, even when Sze Khun put his hand on the hilt of his scimitar. Pausing to consider the situation for a moment, he eventually lowered his hands to his sides, preferring to avoid a physical confrontation. "Good choice. I was watching you swipe the bread from across the street, and I think we can help each other. You see, my employer has the need for someone with your skills, and they're willing to pay. Plus, take it from me, the pay is really good."

Sze Khun gave a bark of dry laughter as he regarded the girl before him with a cold demeanor. What am I? A mercenary? "I don't work with criminals and street trash." He tried to make his voice as sharp and menacing as he could.

"Take it from me; I used to be in your position, until She came along and found me. Now, I can buy myself a meal whenever I want." The girl said with a sincere, yet serious expression.

All this sounded too good to be true for the rogue. With no prior work experience or a resume of any sort, he'd been turned away by most people he encountered. But now? Now, he was being offered a job, just from having seen him steal a loaf of bread.

Anyone could steal a loaf of bread.

There were a lot of questions buzzing around in Sze Khun's head – weighing up to options before him in an attempt to dissect which would be the most effective option to take – but one question remained at the front of his thoughts. "Why should I trust you?"

The green-haired girl simply shrugged her shoulders with a small smile. "I really don't think you should, but all you're doing is missing out on a great deal."

"And if I say 'no'?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders, nonchalantly, "Then it's your loss. We can pull off what we need, She just thought that it would be easier if we had more help."

The girl turned to walk away, causing Sze Khun to suddenly feel under pressure at having such an opportunity slip his grasp. Father would never approve of such…then again, Father never really approved of anything I did…

"Wait!" he called out, causing her to stop in her tracks as she turned on one foot to face him. "What's your name?"

That was it. This was the point where he knew there was no going back.

It's not like an opportunity like this came very often anyway.

"Emerald." The girl said, extending one hand to shake. "My name is Emerald."

Roughly Five months before Volume 1…

Another day, another successful sale. That's how Tanner made his living, a kind of justice in his own mind, but as his parents had taught him; anything could be profited from, even justice.

During the weekends, when he wasn't tracking the movements of the 'Four Corners' Mafia, Tanner travelled in between the outlying villages of Atlas to sell any Dust he could get his hands below the normal market price.

It really was incredible how he could stir up such a crowd with just a lower price.

He was just about to finish folding up his portable stall – and maybe grab a drink at a local inn – when the sound of footsteps and someone clearing their throat reached his ears. The sound came from behind him, but Tanner wasn't worried; if the man wanted him dead, he wouldn't have announced his presence.

…Wait, no. There are people like that. "Sorry, shops closed. We're not selling anymore." He said, not bothering to turn around and look at the person behind him.

However, when Tanner heard the slick voice of the man, he froze immediately.

"Not even for an old friend?"

The shock wore off quickly and he turned around slowly, finding that the man standing behind him was wearing a white suit with a pair of black gloves and an all-to-familiar bowler hat. He had a smile full of mirth as the brunette gaped with a wide mouth for a few seconds before breaking out into laughter.

"Shit, Roman! I haven't seen you in ages." Tanner said in between laughs as he gave the man a firm handshake, feeling that a light embrace was too childish at his age now. All the same, Roman reached behind him to give him a firm pat on the back.

"You sure have grown since I last saw you. How's the family?" he asked lightly as he pulled away from the handshake to lean on his cane.

Tanner shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, still crawling about the underworld like the worms they are." He remarked as he leaned back on the table of his stall that had yet to be folded up. "Now, what brings you to this frozen ass-end of the world?"

"Looking for you, believe it or not." Said the orange-haired man as he walked past the swordsman and over to the truck parked behind the stall. The shutters of the cargo hold were still open, so Roman got a good look at the Dust inside it. It always made the brunette swordsman a little nervous when people looked at his goods like that.

"No I don't believe it, and hands off the merchandise!" Tanner yelled as he walked over to close the shutters shut, only to remember that he wasn't done packing up yet. Opening them again, he hurried over to the table to finish folding it up.

"Ok," Roman muttered as he helped Tanner to load some of the folded parts into the truck. Tanner gave him an odd look, as this was unusual behavior by Roman's standards. "Truth be told, I'm actually here to make a deal with you."

"Oh," Tanner said as a smirk developed on his face. "We haven't done one of those in a while. What'll it be? I steal you a snow-globe and you give me two lollipops?" Tanner joked, causing Roman to laugh slightly.

"Something along those lines, but can we talk somewhere it's not so…" he paused as a cold breeze blew by, causing him to rub his arms.

"Cold? Sure, wouldn't want your balls to freeze out here." Tanner said as he directed them towards the local inn. The cold was also actually starting to get to the brunette, but he was able to ignore it – for the most part – with the help of his warm scarf.

Once they had settled in to a booth in the inn – warmed by the radiator under the table, with drinks in hand, they continued their conversation.

"You seem to be doing well for yourself." The orange-haired man remarked, offhandedly.

The brunette swordsman simply shrugged at the remark. "It keeps me fed and makes sure I sleep in a warm-velvety bed. Why?" Tanner said, leaning forward and looking at Torchwick like he was one of the shady businessmen he dealt with now and then.

Roman folded his hands together, interlacing his fingers as he cast his gaze downward. "You see, I recently signed up with a new business partner, really pushy-type. She needs me to steal an insane amount of Dust for her and she won't even tell me what it's for." He said with a chuckle as he unlaced his fingers and leaned his head on one of the open palms. "The point is, she told me to do whatever it takes to get the Dust she needs, while not doing anything too stupid. That includes paying other people to steal the Dust for me."

Tanner gave a hollow laugh as he put two and two together. "You want me to sell you my supply of Dust? That shouldn't be a problem…" the brunette noticed that Roman's serious expression hadn't dropped, meaning that there was more to this. "…so what is the problem?"

Letting out a long sigh, visible in the cold air, Roman continued. "The problem is my business partner has operations in Mistral and Vale."

There it is; the catch. "It's been great to see you again Roman-" Tanner said before downing his glass of brandy. "-But I don't have time for your fucking business overseas." He said without any malice or hatred behind the words. He just…really had no time for overseas bullshit. "I'm struggling to deal with the 'Four Corners' as it is, I don't need Vale and Mistral on me as well." He concluded as he rose from his seat, signaling that the conversation was over.

However, Roman seemed to have other plans in mind. "It's too bad." He said with an exaggerated sigh. "It really was out of my way to come and look for you." The crook was obviously trying to make him feel bad for him with that forlorn tone of voice, but it wasn't going to work. "Plus, my partner was willing to pay you triple your selling price."

Tanner slowed down in his movements as he heard the offer, but not by much. Ah, the money game. You always did know how to gamble, Torchwick. Tanner thought, as the words slowly halted his attempts to leave the shady inn. Swallowing a lump that had developed in his throat, Tanner turned his head over his shoulder to see that Torchwick was now grinning. "I'm sure that money will help with taking down your 'pappies. As well as the fact that my partner is also willing to pay you in equipment and man-power."

"What kind of assets does this 'partner' of yours have to be able to do that?" Tanner asked, sounding a little more than skeptical about how generous the offer was.

"Oh, I can assure you, little man; my partner has more than a few…assets that she doesn't mind flaunting." Torchwick commented, careful to put emphasis on the innuendo, peaking Tanner's interest.

Damn him, he knows I can't turn away from a sweet piece of ass. Taking another deep breath, the brunette decided to pry for two more pieces of information before he gave a definite answer. "How long-term is the deal?"

Roman sighed as Tanner slid back into his seat, notifying the man with his body language that he was on-board with the terms of the arrangement so far. "Y'know, I should've asked that myself; whenever She feels like it. Could be in a couple months, less than a week…you know the sort."

The final answer always depended on this question for Tanner, as he had his own goals in mind and didn't have time to be tied down by long-term business deals. Just from that answer, Tanner was considering declining the offer right off the bat, but he did feel bad for Roman…kinda. It was complicated; he knew what it was like to walk into a deal without reading the fine print.

Not to mention, the pay was pretty good. Leaning back into the cushioning of the chair he sat in, he came to terms with his final answer, determining them to be what he felt was right.

Because in the end, a 'gut feeling' was always the way he made his decisions.

Hey, they got me this far. "Does your partner care where the Dust comes from?"

Torchwick's face broke into a huge grin as he signaled for the waiter to come over. "Not in the slightest. Just do it with discretion."

A/N: Ah, I miss Torchwick…not really. If you didn't pick up on it already, this is our interpretation of the backstory to the Canon-verse.