Chapter Twenty-Nine: Scoundrels in Spotlights
It was a moonless, cloudy night which offered no natural light as the shadows of two figures slowly began to shrink as they approached the light of a run-down warehouse which now crawled with members of the White Fang. Aircraft sat waiting in makeshift hangars, delivering crate after crate of dust shipments of various shapes, sizes, and categories. With the two criminals stepping into view of the light above, it revealed the minty hair of one and the ashen silver of the other. They wordlessly passed the plethora of unloading crews which were offloading, transporting, and stacking up the many stolen sources of stabilized energy reserves, and headed into a smaller, secluded section of the warehouse, where there was much less light. And there stood a man all too familiar. Black bowler hat, white jacket and dark gloves and trousers. His cane was held firmly in his right hand, as if he intended to hit the pair over the head with it, as he slowly turned to face them, instead of the map he'd been studying.
"Oh, look. She's sent the kids again…!" He grumbled in a higher, exaggerated voice which clearly mocked the two as he shuffled towards them, stepped to the side, and then wrapped his arms around their heads from behind. "This is turning out just like the divorce…" He continued, covering their faces with his gloves as they cringed underneath him and rapidly shook him off.
"Spare us the thought of you procreating." Emerald groaned as Roman walked between the two, unaware that she'd just been pickpocketed by the slick, sleezy mafia boss wannabe.
"That was a joke..." Roman sighed, as he held aloft the memo which he'd swiped. "And this…" He paused, turning around to show them what he'd taken, "just might tell me where you've been all day."
Emerald's red eyes darted downwards as she patted her pouches in shock that she never felt his hand groping through her pockets. "What…?"
"I'm a professional, sweetheart. Pay attention, maybe you'll learn something." Roman stated, oddly coldly but no less sarcastically as he observed the note closely, only to be interrupted by Mercury murmuring something.
"…I'd rather not learn how to lose to children, since that's all you seem to be good at."
Roman sharply inhaled, crushing the note in his hand in anger. "Oh yeah, mister 'broody' and 'edgy?' Think you could've done better?" He stomped, tossing the note at him, who caught it effortlessly.
"If you're asking if I could beat up a child who is armed with a farming instrument, then the answer is yes." Mercury retorted, confidently.
"Who did you lose to last time? Wasn't it a girl with an umbrella?" Emerald chimed in. "You know, I think the one with the scythe sounds scarier. Are you running out of excuses, or are you just that sad and incompetent?" She smirked, almost determined to see steam come from Roman's ears and lava trickle from his eye sockets and hair.
"Oh ha-ha-ha! I bet you think you're really funny, poking at my past losses like that, but I'm telling you, those kids just keep getting weirder! Little Red singlehandedly takes out all the armed muscle a small fortune can buy, and nobody blinks an eye. When said girl gives chase to Mr Torchwick – who escaped with a large haul of the merchandise – everyone loses their minds?! And parasol girl was even weirder. She strapped herself into a boarding missile, took out twenty half-breeds in close quarters, and then is insane enough to attack me whilst I'm the only thing between us and a watery grave?! And I'm the one to blame?!" He exploded with anger, before taking a long, deep breath to calm himself down and regain his composure. "Need I remind you that, if anyone decided to give me a heads-up about what in the hells is going on around here, I wouldn't have had a large supply of surplus goods just lying around at the docks to begin with?"
Emerald and Mercury just smirked at each other, glad to see that they managed to get under his skin so easily, only to then narrow their expressions when it was clear that Roman had not lost his train of thought from that note he'd swiped.
"Now then. Why do you have this address?!" Roman asked, his mood swiftly changing from annoyed to impatient. Emerald raised a finger in defiance, not about to let herself get lectured by him.
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Yes. I. Would. That's why I'm asking. Now, where have you been all day?!"
"Cleaning up your problem." Mercury frowned, stepping in between the two. "One of them, at least."
"I had that under control." Roman grimaced, his eyes narrowing in frustration.
"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise." Mercury flatly responded.
Roman drew a deep breath as his hand curled up into a fist, before pointing an aggressive finger at Mercury. His exasperated frown twisted into a cold, dead look.
"Listen, you little punk. If it were up to me, I would take you and your little street rat friend here, and I would-!" He began, rapidly raising his cane over his head as if he were about to knock them out right there and then.
"Do what…Roman…?" Echoed a feminine voice from behind the mischievous pair. Roman immediately paused, still holding his cane aloft for a moment, as he peered upwards at the dark-haired woman who spoke those words from an elevator platform, which now began to descend. Her fiery red dress and gilded, golden embroidered sleeves glistened in the light of the warehouse as she descended like a fallen angel with invisible, flaming wings.
"Hahaha... I'd, err… not kill them?" Roman responded, sheepishly, his eyes sunken and the trace of a frown growing on his face, whilst Emerald's eyes lit up from seeing the fire come down to greet her.
"Cinder!" She beamed, barely restraining herself from skipping towards Cinder as she approached.
"I thought I made it clear that you were to eliminate the would-be runaway." Cinder scowled at Roman, walking past the minty girl as if she never existed, causing Emerald to turn and watch her pass with a poorly concealed look of disappointment.
"I was going toooo…"
"He was going to escape to Vacuo. Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat." Emerald interrupted, smiling confidently as she awaited her praise.
"…I think he was some sort of cat, actually." Mercury mumbled.
"What, like a puma?"
"Yeah. There you go."
"Quiet." Cinder hissed. "Did I not specifically tell you to keep your hands clean while in Vale?" Cinder continued, unaware of Roman's mocking gestures and smirks behind her.
"I…just…" Emerald murmured, smiling through it as she tried to brush off the remarks with her good intentions. "…Thought…"
"Don't think." Cinder interrupted, as Roman mimed slitting Emerald's throat behind her. "Obey."
Emerald's heart sank. She was just trying to impress her by taking some initiative, but all she earned from her hard day of work was a scolding. All the while, Mercury just seemed thoroughly bored at the unfolding events, as if the whole thing didn't apply to him at all.
"Yes ma'am…" Emerald frowned. "…It won't happen again."
"And you." Cinder began addressing Roman, who was taken aback as he was still in his half-mocking gestures at the scolded pair. He nervously chuckled as the frightening woman locked both eyes on him. "Why wasn't this job done sooner?"
Roman paused in confusion, his eyes darting to the masses of shipping containers around him. "Uhh… hah?!" He gestured to one side. "Hah?!" He gestured to the other. "UUUUUUUH?!" He gestured to both sides simultaneously, raising his cane high as he tilted his head in mocking confusion. "SORRY if I've been a little busy making up for the massive loss we had as a result of that raid from the huntsmen-in-training incident! You know, like you told me to! You even scheduled that red-haired freak to take over the recruitment event to give me more time to steal dust in order to make up for the supplies we lost. So don't go yelling at me for not ruffing up some lowly bookkeep when we are literally standing in one of many warehouses filled to the brim with more stolen dust crystals, vials, and rounds than we know what to do with! That I stole for you."
"You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun and a ski mask." Mercury responded, monotone and clearly unimpressed with the gentleman thief's efforts and evident skill.
"And a disappointment to any abusive parent. Since they can beat a child." Emerald chimed in, trying to get Roman's temper in a twist in front of the boss.
"…So, you're saying it's easy to defeat a kid, then?" Roman asked, his eye twitching as he turned around and walked to the desk, where a newspaper had been meticulously placed.
"Yeah. They may be huntsmen and huntresses in training, but they don't have a clue about reality." Emerald continued, pressing the attack, and awaiting the fireworks.
"So, let's say you had one of those massive, armoured Paladin mechs I stole. Squashing, let's say… four squirts would be a breeze, right? Especially if you were a feared and renowned warrior?"
"Obviously. Get to the point." Mercury sighed.
Roman smirked as he picked up the newspaper and held up the front page. 'New Type of Grimm Discovered?!' "Wait, hold on, wrong page… There!" He flipped the page over to reveal: 'Murderous Metal Monster Causes Massive Motorway Madness!'
Several raised eyebrows filled the group. Not because they were afraid of what Roman was about to say but, rather, because they were intrigued where he was going with this.
"Ahem, 'It was reported that last night at approximately 8:06PM, a large robot ran down the Valean Highstreet in pursuit of a group of reckless teenagers who were believed to be attendees of Beacon Academy. Despite there being casualties in the hundreds as a result of the incident, it was reported by multiple witnesses that a group of four teenage women were able to destroy the mech, before White Fang reinforcements caused onlookers to flee from the premises for their safety. Headmaster Ozpin was interviewed and stated…' Yada yada yada…" Roman smirked, before looking down at the mocking expressions of Cinder, Emerald, And Mercury. "…What? What's that look for? If renowned sword-sham Bullhead Taurus couldn't swat four little pipsqueaks from inside one of those machines of war, does it not stand to reason that maybe – just maybe – this recent string of horrible luck isn't just misfortune? What if we're dealing with a generation of super soldiers?"
They just stared at him, each hiding different expressions. Mercury was about to bust out laughing. Emerald was just confused. But Cinder was the first to react.
"Enough excuses. I'm tired of all of you being hopeless losers who are completely and utterly inept! All you need to do is just do what I tell you, and not fall over to the tiniest of resistances. Why is that so difficult?!" Cinder fumed, pointing a vicious finger at Roman. "All you had to do was swipe as much dust as you could get your hands on and silence anyone in our way, but you lost to a kid in single combat. Twice!" She hissed. "Even had to get your tiny, adorable little bodyguard to bust your butt out of Ironwood's clutches, because you were dumb enough to get caught the second time!"
Roman raised a hand to interject, but it quickly sunk as she turned to face the other two.
"And I gave you two the simplest of instructions. Get a lay of the land, make contacts, and just relax. Help out here and there, but don't draw attention to yourself. And you couldn't even do that."
Emerald looked like she was about to cry, whilst Mercury was holding back the urge to disconnect his prosthetic leg and begin bludgeoning her to death with it.
"Well, MAYBE we'd be able to follow order better if we knew the overarching plan! Or at least the next step in the process! Like, what are we even going to use all this dust for? Blow up Vale? Arm the mob of furries with bombs? Sell it back to the community for extortionate prices as a result of the newly created demand?!" Roman scowled, standing up to the tyrant woman and, for the first time, actually having the other two see his point of view with some semblance of sympathy.
"You will know what you need… when you need to know…!" Cinder hissed. Honestly, Roman swore she stuck her tongue out like a snake at the end. "Have some faith, Roman…!" She continued, her eyes glowing like the sun, whilst Roman just stared back at her with a twitching expression. He let out an animalistic growl of annoyance before she continued once more. "Besides, it's not a problem you'll have to deal with for long; we're done with dust, now that you've made up for your previous blunder."
Roman blinked in surprise as those words sunk in. They were done with dust? So suddenly? So, this was enough dust for whatever they had in mind? He was half-wondering if they'd be needing more in the future if they were planning on doing something like weaponizing an army. But if that wasn't the case… then they'd likely be using it to cause some damage, as opposed to constantly draining the supply with war or machinery.
"So…what now, if not dust?" He asked, his tone lightening in inquisitiveness.
"We're moving. Have the White Fang clear out this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight." Roman's eyes twitched in a mixture of annoyance and curiosity. They just got done settling in and organising the containers. Now they were just supposed to move it all?!
"…Coordinates?" He asked, not raising his voice for once.
"…We're proceeding to Phase Two." Cinder responded, as if that cryptic notion explained everything he needed to know when, frankly, he didn't even know how many phases this plan had to begin with.
Cinder began to walk off, with Emerald and Mercury trailing behind her. Roman grimaced to himself in annoyance, as he reached into his coat and withdrew a cigar, before reaching into his pocket to retrieve his lighter… only to find it missing. Then came the sound of a 'click,' as he looked up to see Emerald walking away with his lighter in hand, the flickering ember dying out in the cold air as she stuck out her tongue at him.
He sighed as he watched the group leave, supposing that he did kinda deserve that treatment after he pulled the same trick on her. If anything, he was impressed that she'd managed to swipe it from him so easily after only being a victim of it once. Maybe he was getting old. Roman waited until they had left, before turning back to the map and newspaper he was holding.
"…You can come out, now." He mumbled, as he then heard the sound of glass shattering next to the table. He turned his glance slightly to his partner in crime. "What do you think, Neo?" He asked, sliding the paper to her to have a look at. The page had been flipped back to what he had actually been reading earlier. Not the section about the machine, or the new Grimm but, rather, the 'Wanted' section. The young woman flipped through it briefly, seeing several familiar faces. Her partner in crime, Cinder, various members of the White Fang and, lastly, in the 'recent' section, herself. An eyebrow raised. Not because she was surprised to see herself in there, judging from the recent breakout mission she'd done less than a few days ago, but the fact that she was wearing Roman's hat in the picture. And it was a mugshot. Unlike Roman, she'd never actually been caught by the police or military, so seeing a mugshot of herself, wearing Roman's hat was very, very surprising. She placed the paper down and then began moving her hands and fingers about.
"Yeah… I thought so. Just an unfortunate lookalike? Maybe a fan of ours?" He asked, half-smiling. Neo shook her head and took Roman's arm with one hand and held Hush in the other, before pointing it at him. "…You came to the same conclusion as me, then?" He asked, smirking as he lowered the unlit cigar from his mouth, only for Neo to reach up his lighter for him. Looks like she swiped it back from Emerald on her way out. He smiled as he lit it up and then sat down upon the table, with the short bodyguard quickly joining him.
"…So… think this is a bad thing?" Roman asked, only for Neo to shrug. "Mixed bag, eh? On one hand, we've got a scapegoat which has taken the heat off us for a while… but… she's strong." He chuckled, giving the girl an elbow. She smirked and elbowed him back. "Put me in the slammer after being fired from a missile." He joked, only for Neo to correct him with a single sign.
"Locker?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "You mean like the ones from Beacon?" She nodded. "So…it's incredibly likely she's a student there. Or is buddy-buddy with people there." Roman stated, exhaling a cloud of dark smoke.
The two sat in silence for a short while, enjoying each other's company amidst the rough situation they were in. Moving out without any notice, still being yet to get their cut of the rewards, and still being left in the dark about everything. It was why Roman was planning on just making a break for Vacuo with Neo if things got too bad. But…living a life on the run was a life hardly worth living. After a short while of looking sorry for themselves, Neo broke the metaphorical silence by signing something new to him, with a smile on her face.
"Not a fan of sharing faces, huh?" He chuckled. "That's rich, coming from you, Neo!" Neo simply gave him an annoyed shove and a pout. "But…yeah…" He began as he sat up straight and placed his hand atop Neo's head before lightly ruffling her hair, making the two-tones more of a mess of pink and brown. "I agree that she's a dangerous variable who seems out to get us. The sooner we put her in the ground, the better. Same with Little Red and the rest of Team Friendship. Knowing that lot, I'm sure they'll show up again sooner or later. And we'll be ready to take them on, alright?"
Neo nodded with a confident smirk, twirling Hush around her wrist, not seeming to mind that her hair was a mess as long as she was with him.
"Now then… we'd better get ready. Miss Bossy-Boots over there isn't gonna like it if she's going to have to wait another day for us to pack up shop. I'll send word to the troops. Why don't you continue that little project of yours?" He smirked, before hopping off of the desk and making his way towards the various White Fang members who were busy unloading the cargo transports. He then turned back around for a moment and looked at the girl who was now studying the map with intense detail.
"Two Neos? One with me. One against me." He smirked, before turning back around. "And wearing a replica of my hat, too. Considering mine was custom-made… I wonder where she got hers…" He briefly checked his pocket watch, only to see himself in the reflection. His hat sat neatly atop his head, covering the majority of his flame-like hair. "Unless of course… she got it from another me…"