"So what do you think, sir?" Mike asked Ironwood, as they watched Flux exit the old gym area from the view of a hidden camera. Ironwood was deep in thought.
"Jet and Flux. Two different personalities in one body. One of them a female no less." he mused. He wouldn't have believed it if it weren't displayed right before his very eyes.
The only other person in the room was a shorter figure, dressed in a full black cloak and hood. The only detail of the individual's face that was visible was the glowing red eyes that did nothing to illuminate the rest of the face. Mike had introduced him as an accomplice, and Ironwood, while he did not trust this stranger, he did trust Mike's judgement.
"You could use this, you know." the figure said, in a slow and ethereal voice.
"What do you mean, Shade?" Mike asked. It was the nickname given to the figure, due to the fact that his true name was unknown even to himself.
"Think about it." Shade explained. "You have the Skulls who are terrorising the place, and you have someone who can not only end them but make it look like a convincing accident. I say we use that."
"How?" Ironwood queried sternly.
"Let Jet and Flux know that you will ignore it provided they only target the Skulls. As the Grimm half, Flux will need to do it anyway just to rebuild her strength. You just need to paint a target on their backs, and they'll take care of the rest." Shade replied.
"You're suggesting that I allow potential murder in my prison?" Ironwood growled.
"Only so that you can take care of loose ends. The Skulls are all here for life – they don't care about punishments because they've not got anything worse to suffer, save for what Flux and Jet could do. If anything, you could tie it into Jet's community service, by dealing out the punishments and instilling genuine fear in their hearts, it pulls them back in line." At Shade's words, Ironwood could see a plan forming.
"That could work." Mike interjected. "But there's two things wrong with that. First, you'd have to make sure that they will not die. Second, the prisoners must not know that Jet and Flux are the torturers."
Shade's eyes narrowed. "I've already thought of that." he said. "You must ensure that Jet and Flux exercise restraint when doing this. They must also disguise themselves, though I think their darkness manipulation will be more than sufficient."
"Why are you helping us like this?" Ironwood asked. He did not trust this… person at all.
"Nothing at all. I am, for all intents and purposes, an assistant of Michael. I am merely performing that role. If anything, the only two rewards I attain are the pleasure of service and a fulfilment of my curiosity." Shade explained, though Ironwood detected a hint of anger in his voice.
"What are you curious about?"
Both Ironwood and Mike spoke at the same time, and turned to each-other in surprise. Shade, however, did not react.
"I am curious about their case. They claim to have been manipulated, and the White Fang are currently the greatest threat. It would not surprise me if some semblance were used to aggravate the hunger and bloodlust of Flux. Since all of the Skulls are co-incidentally White Fang, I think at least one of them must know something." he replied.
"Do you trust this man, Michael?" Ironwood asked. To his great surprise, Mike nodded.
"Sir, while I have only known this man for two months and he remains hidden in most aspects, in that time, he has made three suggestions that have resulted in monumental progress in my particular line of work. With that in mind, I don't think you should ignore him." he said, and Shade tilted his head to indicate his ascent.
"Very well." Ironwood conceded. "I entrust this to you two."
In two days' time, Jet had been appointed to the role of the prison's hidden torturer, unofficially named "The Reaper". Jet had agreed with Mike that their shadow manipulation would work, and now Jet stood in a prison bathroom normally reserved for the staff. Flux stood beside him in her clone form, using their new ability. Mike now knew that his semblance was theirs, though he didn't seem too surprised.
Both Jet and Flux moved in unison, facing a full body mirror. Balancing on their left legs, they raised their arms until their hands were level with their shoulders, and stretched sideways. Darkness started to pool around the pair, forming into robes. Jet felt his hands become silver claws as black and silky sleeves wrapped themselves around his boots. His wings were hidden under the robes, and he felt a gold skull mask materialise around his face as a hood grew from the cloak.
The pair returned to a normal stance, and turned to gaze at one another. Jet had to admit, through his mask, Flux looked terrifying, and he knew he was dressed in the same way.
"Let's go." Jet said, only his voice was low, deep, and carried an evil feel. Probably an effect of the mask.
"Lead on." Flux replied, in a slightly higher pitch but similar voice.
Exiting the bathroom, Jet activated his time-stop, and the pair stood before Mike in the detention room in an instant. To Mike, the two had appeared out of nowhere, and understandably jumped at the two Reapers' sudden appearance.
"We are ready." they both said in unison.
"Well then." Mike took several deep breaths, as though he'd nearly suffered a heart attack. "You only have two to deal with. A skull that started a brawl. Feel free to inflict as much pain as you like, but you'll only have five minutes, and remember, don't kill."
"As if we would do that." Flux replied, as she entered the room, Jet turning into shadows and retreating into her body.
Steel covered the walls and roof. An iron human-sized table stood in the room, with a single individual chained to it. A red LED clock was set at five minutes. Their victim was indeed a Skull, quite wiry, but lean and toned, with brown, frizzy hair and green eyes. Two spotlights trained on him provided the only light in the room.
Mike stepped into the room behind them, and the Skull turned his gaze onto him, though the Reaper remained focussed on her victim.
"Jackson. Due to the violent fight that you instigated, several prisoners were severely injured, one of whom died of their injuries, and because of this, you are now in the company of the Reaper for five minutes. The time will start once he hears the first sign of pain, and the colossal pain you feel will only be heard by the Reaper, as this room is soundproofed. That is all." Mike explained, before closing the heavy iron door and the sound of bolts being locked were heard.
The prisoner turned to Flux, who silently approached.
"You don't scare me." Jackson growled, and spat at Flux.
"Oh, you will be scared." Flux replied, wiping her mask with a gloved hand. "Your pain is my pleasure, after all, and I intend to gain as much of it as I can. Now," she drew a long, thin knife, "shall we begin?"
Without waiting for a response, Flux plunged the knife into her target; Jackson's exposed arm. Jet watched from afar, using his spirit form to move to a shadowy corner of the room. He was horrified, but utterly fascinated by Flux's technique for torture, watching 'himself' do this.
As her victim shrieked, Flux dug the knife in, and soon, with a sickening shplat, the blade exited the other side in a flood of blood and silver. Withdrawing the knife, pieces of muscle and more blood exited the surprisingly thin wound. Jet realised that Flux hadn't punctured any major arteries with that stab, and wondered how many times she'd done this.
He didn't have long to think, as Flux then used the bloody knife to rip the prisoner's shirt open, so that his bare chest was exposed. He watched, wide-eyed as Flux gave a quiet, almost tender, chuckle, before she slowly pressed the knife to his chest. Groans of pain and fear ensued as Flux opened up light cuts in long, trailing lines across Jackson's stomach, slicking his chest with red drops.
The table that had been spotless before was now scarlet with spatters of blood, but Flux showed no signs of ceasing her actions. On the contrary, the blood was exciting her, and as Jet observed, she slipped her blade underneath his skin via one of the vulnerable cuts. Jackson, unfortunately, was still conscious, and made the mistake of watching as she slid her whole blade under, before pulling upwards, ripping a patch of skin off with the knife. At this point, he was screaming in pain and fear.
Flux then withdrew her dripping knife, and moved towards Jackson's quivering face. She held the sliver of silver up to his face.
"I think I'll take that next." Flux boomed in her voice changer, and Jet looked at the clock, before realising what was about to happen. He disintegrated his spirit form and moved back within his body, and resumed his view from Flux eyes. She swung the knife at Jackson's exposed eye –
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Flux stopped just short of the eye, and instead slowly pulled away. Jackson only barely registered in his terror that the five minutes were up. Flux instead turned away, and began to exit the chamber. Before she left, she turned back to the terrified faunus.
"You were lucky. Remember the name of the Reaper, the next time you feel like stepping out of line." she growled, before Jet finally regained control and walked out of the chamber, and into a waiting Mike.