Hello! I am here with the new chapter, I hope you will all enjoy it. The next chapter will focus a little more on Roman and Neo who have an encounter with Maelstrom. Well, I'll see everyone in the next update, byeeee!
The Worst Reincarnation Yet
Chapter 4: The Deal
Thanks to Whitley's efforts, the old district was now being transformed into a proper living space for countless Faunus families who reside in the sector. Before the Xiong family came in, the place was a filthy slum full of crime that the Vale council members didn't care about because none of the people who lived there were important to them. Not to mention the Maelstrom Corps taking advantage of the Faunus since the authorities didn't want to go against a mercenary company that was supported by the government, so the residents had no one to help them until now.
"Progress with the repairs seems to be proceeding as expected." The boy look at the report with a smile, things were going as planned and Maelstrom seemed to not want to retaliate against them for the time being. "Still, we can't be too careful." He signed the piece of paper, then handed it to the henchman next to him. "Give this to the guys working at the old district and tell them to improve the new medical center and school as well. We shall make that sector the jewel of Vale." His smirk was impossible to hide.
"Yes, sir!" The man nodded, but instead of leaving, he remained where he was. "Uhmm... O-Oh, there's something you need to know." This piqued the boy's interest. Junior's henchmen didn't really show much respect to Whitley, but after the conflict at the old district, they seemed more willing to follow his advice without much complaint. "W-Well, the new refinement center is operational, and we already have plenty of orders to fulfill. The Faunus workforce is doing an excellent job. Also, with the docks under our control, we have basically secured around thirty percent of trade done in the city."
HAHAHA! Sweet! Sweet Money! A disgusting grin formed on his lips, which even made the henchman flinch. "See! If you guys keep doing what I tell you, we will be drowning in lien eventually." Whitley was proud of himself. "The Xiongs are slowly gaining power thanks to our recent endeavors, all we have to do is keep this up, and soon we shall have the attention of the most powerful families in Vale."
"S-Sir! Thank you for your assistance!" The henchman bowed, showing his newfound respect for Whitley, he was the reason why the former crime family was gaining power. "Whatever your orders are, we will follow them to the letter." He bowed again before leaving the room.
"Oh, uhh, s-sure." He was surprised by the gang members' sudden change in behavior towards him, though it felt good. These men were loyal to Junior, so having a stranger give orders didn't feel right at first, but after seeing the recent results, some of them decided to trust him more. "Hmm, guess they aren't so bad, they even allowed me to use this place as my new office." The workspace he was given to complete his task was not huge, but it was comfortable and well-stocked.
Alright! I managed to get this far without much trouble, but what truly worries me is Weiss, sooner or later she and her team will probably come looking for me if I don't go to Beacon quickly. He reclined his chair backward and closed his eyes to think more clearly. I suppose I can't avoid them forever, that's why I need to cause a bad first impression, so they leave me alone. Heh! Shouldn't be too hard.
A sudden knock at the door brought him back. "C-Come in." When the door opened, it was revealed to be Hei Xiong holding his bat with a serious expression. "You look in a bad mood today, more so than usual, what happened?"
Junior tightened the grip on his weapon. "A former client of mine has returned." Whoever this 'client' was it made him anxious and since he was armed it was clear that the customer was someone dangerous. "At first I thought he was here to hire my boys again after the last incident, but he seems to be more interested in our plans to expand my influence." He scratched the back of his head. "I-I could use your help on this."
Tch! There's only one person who would make this kingpin tremble like a dog out in the rain. Whitley frowned, as he wasn't in the disposition to deal with this situation. "I have a feeling I already know who this mystery guest is." He got up from his chair and followed right behind his partner. "You probably should gather your men, just in case this meeting goes sideways. Also, has our 'package' from Atlas finally arrived?"
"Already have them downstairs with their weapons ready, and yeah it has." Hei answered. "I took the liberty to activate them yesterday, I think they will be useful for situations like this."
"Indeed they will be." Whitley agreed.
Within moments, they arrived at the dance floor, there were several gang members around the area to make sure the guests won't do anything suspicious. At the center was a male with slanted, dark-green eyes and bright long orange hair with long bangs covering his right eye. Black eyeliner traced his visible left eye, he was tall and lanky, wearing quite a fancy outfit. "Ah! So you are the rumored new partner of the Xiong crime syndicate, I have to admit you are much younger than I expected." The stranger was somewhat impressed that the person behind Junior's new rise to power was someone this young. "Oh, where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Roman Torchwick and this lovely partner of mine here is Neo."
Next to him was a lovely girl with her hair sharing two colors, one pink and the other brown, the same could be said for eyes as they were different colors the right was pale pink while the left was brown. Her outfit was eye-catching due to its bright colors and matching perfectly with her beautiful hair. Neo looked at the boy with a devilish smile on her lips. This young man is behind Xiong's sudden revival? He looks like a little defenseless puppy with an easily snappable neck if you pressure hard enough.
The first thing that came to Whitley's mind was. Captivating! Like a pink butterfly flying under the sun. Then he felt a shiver running down his spine as he quickly remembered he was dealing with two psychopaths. I can't get intimidated, I have to show them that I am their equal. Without hesitation, he took Neo's hand and kissed it, making her embarrassed for a second. "My name is Whitley Schnee, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, lady Neo or should I say Trivia Vanille."
The girl's eyes widen in shock, how could he know her true identity? In a panic, Neo unleashed the blade from her umbrella and pointed at the Schnee's throat. All the henchmen aimed their weapons at her, and now there was a stalemate. "Now, now, let's all remain calm and not do anything foolish." Although he had a sword pressed against his throat, Whitley remained composed. "I wasn't threatening you, my lady, I just simply didn't know you were hiding your identity. I give you my word, I am not your enemy, but a friend if you so wish." His words were sincere, unfortunately, the girl still wasn't sure what to do but then her partner placed his hand on her blade and lowered it, defusing the situation.
"Ha! There's more to you than meets the eye, little Schnee." Roman was amazed by the kid's cunning and lack of fear. "No, that wasn't a threat but more of a warning, if I would say so myself. I have no idea where you got that information from, but you should be careful with it."
"... I understand." He fixed his necktie. "As I said before, I am not your enemy, but I am no pushover either."
"Hahaha!" Roman laughed. "Quite the contrary, you seem to be more dangerous than I realize, though also useful." He twirled his cane while walking in a circle around the white-haired young man. "When Junior here stopped his criminal activities, I thought he had gone insane, but after a while, I heard about how the old district fell under your control. Then the docks and now a new dust refinement center that already snatched half the clients from Lambent Industries." The control of Dust in Vale was split between the Xiongs and the Lambent family. "We want a piece of that action."
Roman's fierce gaze was all over Whitley, even, so he didn't break eye contact. "I heard many stories about how dangerous you both are." He approached the tall man without an ounce of fear, well, at least doing a great job hiding it. "A pair of loose cannons that go around wreaking havoc and cause trouble to everyone. Unlike you, and your delightful friend here, we are interested in making money to achieve real power in this city, not playing cops and robbers."
Junior began to sweat uncontrollably. "T-That...ah... I..." He didn't know what to say.
Neo frowned, things weren't going as they were supposed to, and her grip on the umbrella tightened. She looked at Torchwick thinking it was about time they showed these cockroaches their proper place, but to her surprise, he simply shook his head. "I take offense to what you are saying, my good sir, the heists we do are extremely elaborate and executed without any mistake." Roman touched Whitley's shoulder, then he got close to his ear and whispered. "You should know that we never leave witnesses roaming about, nor foolish brats who refuse to work with us."
Whitley took a step backward, he snapped his fingers, which left both guests confused. "What was that for?... Wait! What's that sound?" Heavy footsteps could be heard in the distance, suddenly several doors were slammed open. A large group of AK-130s entered the dance floor, some were armed with rifles while others were carrying heavy swords.
"Careful now, I don't like receiving threats."
Torchwick clapped his hands. "Haha! Such an unexpected move, I must admit." Although Neo was a skilled fighter and had a strong Semblance, they stood no chance against so many opponents. "Well, I guess this means negotiations are over then."
"Not quite." The Schnee replied. "I would prefer it if you stopped playing games, you are a smart man and I know for a fact you have more ambition than just being a petty crime lord." This gained their attention. "As you are at this moment we have no use for you, but if you truly wish to help us rule Vale without burning or destroying everything in the process, we could use both of you."
"As we are right now?" Both he and Neo exchanged confused looks. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"We are not bloodthirsty murderers or to be honest not anymore. All our businesses are legal and the amount of lien we are gaining is more than enough to accomplish a few objectives, but that doesn't mean we don't have our fair share of enemies. The same could be said about you." Whitley walked to a table at the corner and offered both guests a seat. "You already have an employer, and a dangerous one at that, though I doubt she will help you with your ambitions." Roman accepted the offer, Neo was a bit hesitant at first, but she followed suit, trusting her partner's judgment. "Heh! Most probably, she will kill you both after everything is finished."
"I won't question how you know we are working under someone, 'cause it seems you have spies everywhere. And, well, that woman certainly is shady." A cold drink was handed to him and Neo by a henchman. "... I do want to be more than a street thug, but how can I trust you?"
Whitley smirked. "You can't, at least not yet anyway." He then pointed at the Malachite twins who were playing cards at the table in the far corner. "I bet you know who those two are, don't you?"
"Of course I do, little spiders are everywhere, such a nuisance they are."
"Then, you know what, Lil Miss Malachite will never let you be." He said with a serious expression. "No matter where you go those spiders will find you and one of these days they might trap you in their nasty web."
"Tch! I already know this brat."
The young man nodded. "Indeed, so instead of something like that happening, I shall persuade the spiders to let you be free without worrying about being bitten."
Roman couldn't believe what he was hearing, ever since he left the Spider crime syndicate after the whole ordeal a few years ago he knew there were spiders still watching him as he had too much information about the organization. Being free from them would mean he and Neo didn't have to watch behind their backs everywhere they go. The pink-haired girl slammed her fist on the table quite angrily. This bastard! If it were that easy, we would have already done it! As if we would trust a scum who had a silver spoon in his mouth all his life!
"I understand your anger, I give you my word that I won't fail." His eyes were filled with burning determination. "... I know you hate all nobles because of what happened to you, but I am not like them, I shall prove it to you."
Neo wrote on her Scroll and showed it to Whitley. 'And if you fail?'
... I will pack my things and leave! "You can have my head." His confidence knew no limits.
'Then when you fail miserably, I will come to collect my prize.'
Neo's devilish smile embarrassed the boy a bit. "Heh! We shall see!" He winked.
Haha! This guy is really crazy, though such a shame I will have to kill him, I like his blue eyes. Without realizing, Whitley kept staring at Neo admiring her beauty, especially her eyes which seemed to have him in a trance. What are you staring at?! I know I am a freak, so you want to make fun of me too?! The girl glared at him.
"M-My apologies, lady Neo." He bowed his head. "I-It's just I have never seen such a unique beauty like yourself before, I... I do like your eyes, the different colors make you alluring..." What the crap!? I panicked and blurted it out, now she's probably going to skewer me!
... Alluring, huh? That's a first. Neo looked the other way, still angry but blushing.
SAFE! Thought Whitley.
Torchwick chuckled. "Fine, we seem to have a deal, but what do you expect us to do if you manage to free us from Lil Miss Malachite?"
"Simple, no more stealing Dust because we need it, and help us deal with threats that might show up to bother us."
"Ha! No fun." He was somewhat disappointed. "Alright, let us see if you can pull it off." Roman and Neo both got up, they made their way to the exit, but then he looked back. "This was quite fun, little Schnee, I hope we can work together."
"Until next time." Whitley smiled.
I'm surprised that Schnee didn't make fun of me because of my eyes... Alluring... Alluring... I like that.
