XI - Fragmentation

~~~(XI)~~~

Oxon had gotten his first leg free when a great big green beam lit up the sky. The sounds of explosions and large splashes followed immediately after. He'd seen Torchwick's weapon, and there was no way one of those faunus had anything like that. If they did, then they'd not have bothered with simple robberies.

He squeezed off a few more shots at his other leg to free it. The process of blasting off the ice worked. But the pain he received from the bullets going through and hitting his leg was maddening.

If I had an ax, or even a damn rock…

The last of his ammo was expended with an empty click. There were only a few chunks of the ice still holding him to the ground and he knew he was running out of time before the authorities arrived. Without any care for the gun, he began to use it as a way to break off the last bits physically.

He was almost done when he heard some noise further down behind a building. Panicking, he beat faster on the ice to remove it, in his fear, he didn't realize it was less effective since he wasn't getting as much precision. The noise got louder and closer and he saw a shape move out into the shadows. Oxon aimed the gun at the shape and hoped it was an ally, or if not, that he could bluff his way out of the situation.

"Who's there? Identify yourself!" The shape paused, he couldn't make out much, but they were not wearing the White Fang uniform and mask, and if it were a member of the gang, they would not have hidden from him.

"Mr. Ax man?" The person came out of the shadows and revealed themselves as a young kid. As they got a bit closer Oxon was able to see they had a canine-like nose.

Realizing he was pointing a gun at a child, again, he quickly lowered it. It was after that that he took in the child's words.

"Uhhhh, what? Ax man?" He didn't know what to say to that, he didn't have an ax on him! He also lowered the black surgical mask he wore in hopes the kid would either recognize him or not.

Seeing the gun and the mask lowered, the little faunus got a bit closer. He looked Oxon up and down, sniffed once, and nodded his head.

"Yup, you're Mr. Ax man. You're the person who got us food!" The kid's face broke out into a toothy grin, he then picked up a broken pipe piece from where he was and started to help remove the ice. On the third swing the pipe went through the last big chunk, allowing Oxon to rip his leg free of what was left.

After rolling his joint to loosen the cold muscles, he followed the kid's lead behind some buildings, he abandoned his gun and jacket, since they were no longer useful and would only draw attention to him if a cop spotted him. And not a moment too soon, right as they were turning a corner, half a dozen police cars sped past to the scene.

The pair kept to the shadows as they made their escape. The young faunus was easily able to navigate dark corridors and alleys far better than Oxon, who didn't have night vision, and was constantly tripping on debris or trash.

What I wouldn't give for his ability to see in the dark.

Moving far enough away from the docks, they came to a more residential area. While it was clear people lived here, the state of the area showed it was for those that had little going for them. It reminded him of the shelter he'd stayed at all those months ago when he first came to the city.

"This way! We're almost to our place!" The excited child grabbed his hand and led Oxon down the road to a nondescript rundown house in the middle of the street. There were a few lights on inside and he could hear some voices as well.

The kid flung open the door and called out to the other inhabitants. "Big bro! You'll never guess who I found at the docks!" Oxon was hesitant to follow him inside, but he felt like the kid was too honest to be tricking him. With a light sigh, he walked inside and shut the door.

~~~(XI)~~~

Ruby was happy she arrived in time. Torchwick had been a problem on his own, but adding the numerous White Fang soldiers? That was trouble, and one she knew would get worse. But for tonight, she was content to know Blake was fine. And speaking of Blake.

"I can't believe they'd partner with a man like him, it's one thing to work with humans who are sympathetic to the cause, but he's just as racist as they come. I knew they were getting worse, but this confirms it." She had been in a dull mood once the adrenaline of the fight had passed, and ruby felt bad for her. It must have been hard confronting them like she had.

"Yes, and the numerous thousands of lien in damages to the docks will have lasting repercussions." Her partner was looking over the chard containers and numerous craters and pockmarks that covered the industrial area. "It's a shame about the dust, but at least they were unable to get away with it."

Weiss and Yang had showed up after the police had arrived. They had been worried when the reports of the explosion at the dock and the message Sun had sent them from Blake's school. She was worried about the reunion. But it seemed to have worked out when the heiress and the former Fang member had their heart to heart and came out stronger for it.

"Yeah, dust was getting expensive before this, I'm not looking forward to it getting even more expensive." Ugh, Yang was on the cookie there, all their weapons used dust to work properly. Though Weiss was the most reliant. The resident Ice Queen may have to freeze less people.

Freeze. Shoot! The guard!

"Uhhhh, girls?" Ruby nervously looked back to the entrance that she and Penny had come from. "I, heh, I forgot about something that I gotta fix."

"What could you possibly need to do right now?" Weiss crossed her arms in annoyance. "Seriously Ruby, it's late, we just ran across Vale, and you two got in a fight with terrorists. What could be so important that can't be done tomorrow or the weekend?"

"Is it parts for C.R? You use up all your rounds or something? Dust shops are gonna be closed, Rubes."

"Speaking of dust, those vials you 'borrowed' from me, I'd like to know if I could get those back?" Weiss' eyebrow rose in the question of the dust Ruby had taken in case she needed it.

Well Ruby had most of it, the burn and shock dust had gone unused during the fight. The issue was that she no longer had the ice dust. Well, she had no choice but to confess.

"Well you see Wiess, I may or may not have…" Ruby lost her nerve and began to mumble quietly. "Used the ice dust to freeze a guy so we could help Blake…"

Blake heard thanks to her ears, curse them and their anti-mumble properties, but the other two did not. "Ruby, I didn't quite catch all of that, can you repeat the end?"

Ugghgghhhhhhhhhhh

Ruby had to rip off the band-aid of shame now. "I used the ice dust to freeze some guy!"

"Well if that's all it is, then it's no big deal, whether I use it in school or you use it on a terrorist, it's fine." Weiss shrugged and relaxed with the explanation. "Still, I can always get more easily enough, there's no need to worry about it tonight."

"Wellllllllllll, it might not have been a White fang member per se…" The three paused to stare at the little reaper as she poked her pointer fingers together in embarrassment.

Blake, being the one present for the whole fight, was the first to speak. "Now that you mention it, I didn't see you use any dust tonight."

"Ruby, what did you do?"

"Uh well, you see, when Penny and I were running here we got stopped at the gate. The guard tried to stop us from getting inside."

"Ruby!"

"Please don't tell me you assaulted a security guard!?" Yang held her head in her hands while Wiess massaged her temples. Ruby glanced at Blake who was shaking her head.

Hypocrite!

"Well, we should probably apologize to him then, did you see him with the police when they arrived?" Ruby was pulled from her mortification to try and remember if he was. They were getting near where the gate was and hopefully he wasn't too mad.

"Uh no, he wasn't, maybe he's…" she sighed deeply at the memory of their interaction. "Still stuck…"

"Ruby, if he gets frostbite and we have to compensate him, I'll make Goodwitch look like a pacifist."

"Wait, was this the gate with the big cut in it?" Yang asked as they got closer to the exit. "Cause this is the way Weiss-cream and I came in through and there was no guard. I thought that was where the White fang got in."

"Yang is correct, we ran past it, but nobody was there to stop us."

He wasn't there? That was weird. He seemed adamant about not letting her and Penny in. Why did he leave his station once she made it past? When they got to the gate, she realized she really wouldn't get answers.

The booth was lit yet empty. Any sign of the guard was gone, not even a note. The four then approached the now melting remains of the ice dust and a few scattered items. It was clear this is where Ruby had left him since there was still ice stuck to the cement.

What stuck out most to them was the gun and jacket left sitting in a small puddle. The gun was in a sorry state, its grip all busted and its barrel was bent seemingly by bashing it repeatedly. Judging by the spent casings around, the guard had clearly used the weapon to free himself.

"Well he certainly isn't here anymore." Blake picked up the jacket to inspect it. "It's definitely an official jacket, this manufacturer is known to exclusively work with security forces over multiple kingdoms."

She looked over it a bit more when a slip of paper fell out of a pocket.

"What's this?" Yang crouched down to pick up the fallen paper and opened it up. "Ok what am I looking at here?"

The other three took a look over her shoulder. It was just a white sheet with some writing on it. Though the writing was fairly interesting.

"In case of bullshit?" Who would use that for a gate guard? "Huh, look at the examples. It says to stall authorities and not call for help in case of an emergency."

Yang gave a snort as she handed the paper off to Blake. "This guy's boss sure is a piece of work. "Sacrifice yourself for me"? Seriously? Kill his ex?"

"He said that the explosion was a simple accident too." Pieces were fitting together in Ruby's mind. Stopping huntresses, hidden face, shooting at her, lying about the theft, disappearing before the police arrived. "He was in on it!"

The others looked at her clearly wanting some clarification. "He told us that there was no robbery or fight, that it was just an error by some workers. Why else would he say that to two people who could help?"

Weiss spoke up after a moment to think. "You are making valid points, if he truly was a standup employee, then he should have been thrilled to have two huntresses aid them, in training or not. Did you happen to get a good look at him?"

"He had a ball cap and face mask on, so I didn't get much. He had long black hair and green eyes though." Ruby realized after saying it that she really had far too little information.

"Great, a green eyed, black haired male, possibly faunus in the White Fang, and no age or other descriptors." Weiss sighed as she looked at the last of the ice melt slowly. "I doubt we'll ever find him. Seems like Roman has more than just the fang on payroll if he could bribe the workers here."

~~~(XI)~~~

Oxon found himself sat awkwardly at what could barely be called a table. The legs looked like they went to four different styles and the top was little more than plywood. Still, he couldn't complain. He was off the streets that was no doubt abuzz with activity due to what happened that night.

The home showed it's age obviously. The once flowery wallpaper was stained and peeling and the floor was covered in a carpet that was missing thread in more than one place. The over half a dozen kids and early teens running around the place also stood out. Tails, horns, claws, and extra ears stood out as Oxon observed the myriad of faunus kids.

The older ones were in the kitchen preparing him a meal. They had already eaten, but they wanted to make something for him since he was their 'guest' for the night. He was waiting for them to finish while half listening to a young opossum faunus talk about their big bro.

"He's thuper cool! He works alllllll dayyyy to make money for us." The kid was bouncing up and down on his stool with a big grin. Clearly, he was still in the phase where he was losing his baby teeth if the big gap in his upper jaw was anything to go by.

The kids' sermon on the elder of the house was interrupted by footsteps from the stairs. Walking down was a man roughly the same age as Oxon based on his looks. He had a bit of stubble on his face, but his real defining feature was the large pair of wings on his back. The gray feathers made him look as if he had on a thick cloak. His stern expression melted slightly as he saw the young kid hop off his seat to hug him.

"Are you being a good host Virgil?" The kid nodded enthusiastically as he had his hair ruffled. He turned to Oxon and regarded him with a passive expression. "Go on and see if the others need any help, OK? You must be the one who helped us, as well as stopped some of the more enthusiastic kids."

"Ah well, It's not like I could let them continue down that path." not the same path he'd begun to walk on. "Kids should be kids, not thieves."

"A little rich coming from you though, isn't it?" The winged man's face morphed into an icy glare. "They might be too young to know about the darker powers in the city, but I do. I want to know why you are here in our home."

Oxon knew with reasonable certainty that a fight wouldn't break out, both from his own unwillingness and the fact that the faunus is no doubt hesitant to endanger the others. Oxon raised his hands in a signal he won't try anything. The shoulders and wings of the guy in front of him relaxed slightly, but his expression stayed stern.

"I was working when one of the kids found me. He helped me out of a real bind, so I am very thankful." Why that kid was at the docks was another question. Surely he knew it was a bad idea to wander off?

Letting out a deep sigh, he sat down at the table across from Oxon. He put on a happier face when he noticed some of the kids were coming into the room with some food. It was a simple meal, not that he would complain, some cooked chicken with beans and rice and basic seasoning.

"Here ya go mista!" A young girl with scales on her hands placed the food in front of Oxon. "We wanna treat ya right since you 'n rusty found us a lot a food."

The bright smile on her face brought some color to Oxon's cheeks as he was unsure about how to handle the praise. "Oh, of course. Thank you kindly for the meal, kid." She gave him a quick hug before running back to sit with the others in a side room.

The food was decent, obviously the group had little to offer, but he was touched by the effort the kids went to. "I realized I never got your name, Ax man."

Pausing from the meal, he swallowed his current bite to answer. "Oxon, though some call me Ox." he reached out his hand, but removed it when there was no effort made to shake it.

"My name is Rhease. Now my question for you 'Ox,' why were you at the docks and what was that commotion?"

"It's for the best if you stay out of it. I don't know much, but the person I work for needs a lot of dust." And why did Roman Torchwick need it so badly that he worked with the White Fang? Oxon doubted he was anywhere close to important enough to know. "I can't say what exactly went down, but from the explosions and sounds of combat, It seems like the people I'm under fought against some students from the academy."

With that Rhease let the conversation die as he looked to be deep in thought. The rest of the meal was in silence with the occasional curious kid. Oxon offered to help clean up but the scaled girl, who told him her name was Gady, took the dishes before he could stand.

He checked his scroll for any notifications about the situation. It seemed like Torchwick and the White Fang were on the news being involved in a failed robbery. He did get a message from Roman about a meeting tomorrow to discuss plans going forward. Since no police had swept through the neighborhood, Oxon guessed it was safe to walk back. He said his goodbyes to the group, the kids waved him away with smiles and a few hugs, Rhease grunted at him and turned to give the dog nosed kid a lecture about 'stranger danger' of all things. Stepping out onto the street, he shivered at the feeling of the cool fall air and began his trek back to the center of the city.

~~~(XI)~~~

The next day Oxon found himself at a warehouse that he was told to go to by Torchwick. Walking in he saw numerous Bullheads and White Fang members moving and storing dust. He was surprised at how large an operation was occurring with nobody finding them. Though if anyone did, they'd likely get the same gun in your face treatment he'd gotten before he was confirmed allowed in.

"There he is! Glad you made it out of that clusterfuck at the docks safely, would have been really annoying to have to find another new idiot to drag along." This is why he hated the man, his casual assholery caused great amounts of anger in Oxon.

"Yeah, I saw the reports of your robbery." if he wanted to dish it out at Oxon, maybe he could fling some back. "Though I thought the plan was to steal the dust, not detonate it."

"Well, when the help isn't helpful, my glorious plans can only do so much." punctuating his sentence was a puff of smoke to the face and a gesture for him to follow. "Now the reason I brought you here is that you are officially under new employment. No, don't speak, I'm not done."

Oxon closed his mouth feeling his confusion and dread rise. He had no Idea what the ginger meant by this. Junior had not said anything about this to him, and Torchwick was too casual for this to be last minute.

"You worked great for the jobs I had you pull; lots of great traits. You have good decision making, good confidentiality, obedience, and most importantly, a whole lot of crimes committed to lock you away for life." The grand flourish at the last 'trait' proved just how much of a choice of this new job Oxon had. Zero. "See, this new opportunity is more like an order, with the threat of either death by the boss or imprisonment by the kingdom if you disobey."

He turned around to lean sarcastically on his cane and looked oxon in the eyes. "So, what'll it be kiddo?"

Oxon was starting to feel short of breath at this. It was true that he had done much in his time in Vale, and hardly any of it was legal. Even If he went to the cops to confess, all that was likely to happen was himself getting locked up and the masterminds above him would escape and/ or kill him in retaliation. He had a strong feeling in his gut that accepting this would be akin to a deal with the devil, but for his own sake, he truly had one option.

With clenched fists and teeth he looked away from the smug jackass. "Not much of a choice is it? Even if I refuse, it won't inconvenience you at all, will it?"

The thief walked over and patted him on the back before guiding him to the upper levels of the warehouse. "Oh don't get me wrong, having to sub you out for someone else would be an inconvenience, not much of one admittedly, but it would be there."

There was a table and some chairs placed in the middle of the room they walked into. Sparse decoration except a graffitied map of vale that he'd also been seen by a few crates downstairs.

Roman took a seat and lit up a new cigar. "Piece of advice kid? Let me do the talking. As amusing as it would be to see you do an impression of an urn, ashes are not that easy to clean up. So you may as well get comfy, the boss likes to take her time. She's one of the dramatic entrance types." Oxon took a seat upwind from the man and waited, a few minutes later and he was about to ask if roman knew where this 'boss' was when the door opened revealing a very attractive woman.

"Hello Roman, I see you finally have this asset I've asked you to acquire." Her words came out calm, but with a look at Oxon, her mouth formed a frown for just a split second. "Roman, I thought we had an understanding when I asked for your assistance in finding a fourth member for our little group, I was implying your little partner."

Roman, either the most confident man alive or the dumbest, gave a winning smile at her words. "I do, truly. That's why I found Oxon here, he's just perfect for the job. He has a few qualities dear Neo lacks."

Oxon just sat silently, eyes moving between the two as they went over the plan for the 'end of a phase' or some other cryptic bullshit. He wasn't sure why he was selected to be in this group, but he was seriously doubting it would be good. He was brought out of his thoughts when the woman approached him.

"So what is it that makes you special? If Roman recommends you over his little pet, then that must mean something." A glance over at the thief giving a thumbs up and a silent laugh confirmed that Oxon was just some sacrifice to him.

"Don't worry Cindy, he's done some work with me and the zoo patrol recently, so hes not incompetent. But the good thing about him is he's a blank slate. Seriously, from the info I found, the kid has no known background, just some rando who showed up at Juniors one day." Roman missed a few important steps, but it's not like he told anybody about his run in with the older Huntsman. "Besides, don't you like these types? Young, impressionable, and smart enough to know when to obey?"

"The reason for your accomplice joining our team was for her skill set, Roman. This one can't be that impressive."

He wanted to be insulted, and his pride stung at the comments from the two, but it would be worth it if they decide he is unsuited for it. He did not know this "Neo" person they kept bringing up, but if they were supposed to be the person involved, then he didn't want to shake up plans.

"Well you aren't wrong, he's nothing special in most situations; average fighter, intelligence, below average people skills even. But he has encountered our favorite little huntress twice and managed to come out in one piece each time. Besides, he'll stick out a heck of a lot less than my favorite little psycho."

"And you think that makes him a better choice?"

"I think he could blend in with students easier than your two sociopathic lap dogs."

Students? They also mentioned a huntress earlier. The only place that both could apply to is one of the huntsman academies. Were they trying to get into Beacon?

What in the fuck is going on?

"He can fight then? Will he be able to fight among the training huntsmen?"

"How about it kid? You know how to throw down against creatures of darkness and humanities defenders?" The two then turned to him, the woman looking at him with mild interest while Roman made a finger gun gesture.

The answer he could give was a strong maybe. His only encounters with huntsmen were him getting his ass kicked. Qrow curb stomped his half starved body, the red cloaked girl demolished him twice in half a minute on his first robbery, and she froze him to the ground on their second encounter. But his ego reminded him that in each of those instances he was either too weak to truly fight or without the weapons he had trained with all his life. In the end he chose to be mostly honest with the big time criminals.

"I have not had the best fights, ma'am, but I have never really trained for person on person engagements. But if it is against Grimm, then I am confident in my abilities." If the work done to his weapons came out well, then he would at least finally have a weapon he was proficient in again. "I will likely need training for human combat though."

"And how can I be sure you will be loyal?" She approaches him and looks closely at him. As if she were trying to read his soul. "After all, I would hate to have someone with fickle ties."

He loses his ability to speak when she touches her hand to his chest. Oxon is confused by the action since it seems too gentle for someone who bosses around the White Fang and Torchwick. His confusion is dispelled when her arm combusts into flame, burning a hole in his jacket and searing his skin. He hadn't thought to put up his aura until he was already burning and his screams echoed throughout the building with no chance for aid.

"Now then, I hope that is reason enough not to cross me. Do not displease me Oxon, for now you know what will happen if you do." Through his tears of pain he glared balefully at her back as she sauntered out of the room, not once bothering to look back.

~~~(XI)~~~

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, once more Oxon seems to suffer quite a bit. Though we also see the karma Oxon gets is not always negative for once. A lot is going to be kicking off now as the fic heads into Volume 2 of the show. Will Oxon recover from his burn? Will he find a way to escape his life of crime? Will Lisian stop being a himbo? Keep reading to find out! Please leave a review if you are enjoying the fix so far!