A/N: Aw shucks, here's another one!
As some of you might have already noticed, I am quite shit at fight scenes, so I will force myself to get better at it by making more fighting scenes! I might re-do Chapter 1 because I now feel like it's outdated and also feels like bait. I will also atempt to always post new stuff every month.
Anyways, have at thee Chapter 17.
While Bemaia duked it out with Cardin for needless motives, the other librarian and their team leader watched the duel with varying feelings towards it. Francisco had a look of expectation, imagining himself in Bemaia's place, observing how he used Reliquit Custodiam and how he would better tinker with it taking in not his partner's -unexisting- fighting style, and even looked at him with a hint of pride seeing that he accepted his challenge.
Penny, however, was a whole different can of worms. Her eyes did not, even for a second, fall upon the arena. No, her primary focus of attention was her bald teammate. Last night Bemaia had the brilliant plan to make Francisco start respecting his android leader, though he might have overlooked the most important thing. "Hello!" She spoke in an attempt to catch Francisco's attention, to no avail. He ignored her as if she was but a fly that happened to fly by his ear, not even sparing the girl a glance.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the first time that the bald librarian ignored her, he did it every day! He ignored her call to the cafeteria, he ignored her pleas to go to class, and even during lunch break! She murmured, her voice was so low that no one heard it. "Maybe I'm not cut out to be a leader..." Could you blame her for thinking that? Penny shook her head, she needed to push those thoughts away. So she steeled herself, straightened her posture, took a deep breath, and tugged on the side of Francisco's shirt in an attempt to take his attention.
"Hm?" Francisco reacted, having to tilt his head downwards in order for his gaze to meet with his leader's. "..." Francisco was silent, the excitement of watching the fight vanished before her very eyes, now replaced only with apathy heavily suppressed by stoicism. Mimicry's gaze sent chills down the robot's spine. "Um..." Penny figuratively swallowed, deciding on the next best course of action. A single image of her friend Ruby came to mind, a form of inspiration perhaps. With an outburst of energy, Penny stanced-up, puffing her chest outwards, then, doing an overly elaborate pose seen only in the most bizarre of places, Penny pointed her index finger directly at the face of the former librarian. "Your times of ignoring your leader's efforts are now over, for friend Bemaia has told me of your weakness!"
Francisco's response was unexpected. In fact, he did not react at all. He simply stood there, arms crossed and a hateful look on his face. "Yes?" He spoke in a monotone voice, waiting for Penny to finish her piece so he may return to watch Bemaia's fight. The leader was not thrilled in the slightest, her face growing red with anger. "I challenge you to a du-"
"Francisco! There you are, mister!" Another voice seemed to invade the training grounds, such a voice to a peculiar professor. "Professor Oobleck!" Penny exclaimed as Francisco's eyes were filled by the professor's presence.
An odd one, Francisco thought. Oobleck, wearing his white buttoned-up shirt with a greed neck tie and plain black pants, rocking that messy green hair, reminded him a lot of the sephirah responsible for the Security Team that soon became Floor of Art. Though, those resemblances were specific to looks. Though Oobleck cared little for his appearance in front of his students, it did not mean he was a messy individual like Netzach. No mind-altering substances, no lack of energy, and most definitely no pent-up frustration, Oobleck was the complete opposite.
"It's doctor, Miss Polendina." The Doctor corrected earning a nod from Penny, however, that was not the reason for his arrival. "HeLLo-" Mimicry yelled with its many voices, taking Oobleck by surprise. "Francisco! Care to explain yourself as to why you've been missing my classes? Even the messages I've sent to you were to no avail." Francisco scratched the side of his face, unsure of what to say. "Well... I can't read?" Straight to the point. So much so that the doctor didn't believe him. "And you expect me to believe you?" Thankfully, Weiss, who was currently mediating the duel up until this point, decided to add to the conversation. "He's not lying Doctor Oobleck."
Oobleck looked back at Weiss, somewhat surprised since he hadn't seen her there at all, since he tunneled directly at the bald librarian. "Oh? Then we have a much bigger problem." He spoke, saddened on Francisco's behalf, who seemed to not care. "This won't do. This won't do at all! I will not allow a student of mine to remain illiterate!" The doctor exclaimed, taking a large sip of his trusty canteen that Francisco failed to see before. "Every day, at the end of the last class, you will meet me in my room where I will personally have you learn how to read and write!"
Francisco thoughtlessly nodded, since he was dealing with a professor he needed to treat him at least with respect. "Now then, If you'll excuse me." And just as quickly as the Doctor appeared, he vanished, leaving a trail of smoke and dust in the air. Penny and Francisco returned to their intended stare-down. "Now then," Penny cleared her throat and steadied her breathing once again. "I, Penny Polendina, challenge you to a duel!"
Francisco did not react once again, instead, Mimicry reacted for him. "ShE... Sh... Cool... sHELL... CoLD... Shell..." Though somewhat disturbed, Penny paid no mind to the unsettling voice, mostly because it was better than receiving no reactions at all. "So! What will it be partner?"
His mind could not understand what manner of prank this 'thing' was trying to pull on him. His weakness? If that was supposed to be a joke, no one was laughing. 'What does the thing want with me? I believe I was very straightforward.' Francisco thought, struggling to keep a complete poker face. 'A duel? Against me?' As tempting as that offer seemed, Francisco knew himself, he knew that if he fought against this thing he would not hesitate to rend Penny apart under the influence of adrenaline.
Bemaia just finished his duel with team CRDL's leader, pulling Francisco back down to remnant, forcing those thoughts away. "Can you stop?" Bemaia spoke as he rubbed away the pain from his right shoulder, Weiss right behind him seeming very displeased. "What?" Francisco asked innocently. "You know 'what'. Talk to Penny already, she's our leader, dumbass."
Francisco diverted his eyes momentarily, both his mind and body refusing to even pretend to respect the animated object that stood in front of him. "Help me understand..." The bald librarian began, taking a deep breath to stifle his surfacing inner feelings. "Why is it that you all so carelessly trust this overdeveloped rice cooker?" He asked, failing to hold his thoughts, pointing at Penny, who stood there not knowing how to feel about this situation.
"She has done literally nothing against you," Bemaia argued, he knew his arguments were for naught because of Francisco's hard-headedness. "Stop calling it a 'She', It is an object, asshole." Francisco corrected as Bemaia let out a loud yet short laugh, "Ha! And since when did you get the right to correct grammar mistakes? You can't even write down the word 'Object' if your life depended on it." Francisco scoffed at the comment, fully understanding that it was completely true. "So? I'm still-" But there was another interruption, this time it was Francisco's scroll ringing.
With the Vytal Festival approaching ever so slowly and Beacon becoming slightly more vacant with the coming of the school break, the amphitheater, once a cluster of teenagers ready to fight each other for the pitiest of reasons, now had only two occupants; The Doctor and his newest benefector.
"While we wait for the boy, why not tell me more about your creation Doctor?" The woman spoke. She wore an outfit, indistinguishable from one commonly used by Haven's student body, her glistering amber eyes carefully observed the contraption in front of her with her arms crossed. "Hmph." The Doctor grunted, not at all looking forward to that question, even though he already knew it was bound to happen.
"Do you know Doctor Polendina? How did he end up revolutionizing AI technology for Atlas?" The woman nodded, blinking once. "I had the pleasure of working with him in a... secretive project..." The woman did not show a hint of surprise and instead responded with a dangerous piece of knowledge. "Project PENNY." She said with no hesitation, leaving the Doctor speechless. "As I've told you before, I take my job very seriously."
The Doctor cleared his throat and gathered himself, "Then you know the results of our research..." The woman nodded once again. "I see..." The Doctor wordlessly walked by his creation, passing his hand on its surface as though he was caressing it. "There, Polendina taught me a very interesting... Cheat code, to making things otherwise impossible."
He let out a tired laugh, his listener remained wearing a stoic and unreadable expression, reminding him how dangerous this woman is. "Do you honestly believe that metal, dust, and electricity are enough to accurately read, interpret, and reproduce the memories of a human? No, that is simply impossible and unreal. However," The Doctor activated his Aura like one flex a muscle, but chunks and fragments of it were missing, worse yet, it seemed as though the Doctor felt pain in the attempt at activation upon hearing his discomforted groans. "By giving a part of my Aura, it now also carries my Semblance, and after a few months of improving it, my creation can now manifest things into being, accurately depicting a scenario in its entirety, but the main subject of the manifestation comes only in the form of Hardlight Dust."
He exclaimed proudly, "If my predictions are correct, I will be able to temporarily manifest anything stored in the machine's memory with their actual material and form before the start of the festival." The woman eyed the machine once again, pondering things the Doctor couldn't even begin to imagine. "Are you certain? Our schedule is very tight." The Doctor nodded his head furiously. "In two days I've made more progress than I did by myself in a year, thanks to my newest testing partner."
"That reminds me," The woman spoke, "What is it that makes him so important?" The Doctor cut straight to the answer as his voice trembled with excitement. "That bald freak and his partner are impossibilities. Gossip says that they appeared one day, alongside a great wall that disappeared before anyone could do anything about it. No one has any concrete proof of that ever happening, no videos or photos, suppressed by whom I believe to be Ozpin's men."
He stopped for a moment, only to breathe. "You can censor evidence but never the mind and his memories showed me more and more impossibilities. Things made from materials never documented in the history of Remnants, beings of grotesque and abnormal form, never seen by anyone! I only took your deal so I can show the world those impossibilities so that everyone sees that there is more to life than what we once thought!"
The woman chuckled for a moment, finding the Doctor's sudden outburst of emotion risible. "Never pegged you for a conspiracy theorist, Doctor." She didn't bother to put even the most minuscule amount of effort to stifle her amusement. "Now, where is that nightmare you've promised me?" Her mood shifted almost instantaneously, adopting a more serious expression as she sat on one of the amphitheater's bleacher seats
As If on cue, In comes a group of four students, though only one of them was expected. "Ah, Francisco! Right on time." The Doctor said, eyeing the other three that accompanied him. "Seems like you brought company. Please, sit down th-" But Francisco interrupted the Doctor. "'This about a fight?" The Doctor, though bothered by the rude interruption, answered anyway. "Yes, why else would I call you?" That was enough for Francisco. "Then the thing will do the fighting." He said, pointing at his leader, Penny. "And I will choose the memory this time."
The woman observed Francisco with interest. Never once in her life had she seen someone with such a deformed face. 'Marvelous.' She sarcastically said to herself. But at least now she understood what the Doctor said about him being an impossibility. Gaze then fell upon Weiss, whom she ignored. 'Not worth my time...' Her eyes passed by Penny, 'You're already dealt with, you just didn't realize it yet.' Then they passed by Francisco's partner, Bemaia.
'Just a Faunus...' She thought seeing the singular black feathered wing. His power arm and a handgun were precisely as her informants said they were, however, there was one thing, one tiny detail she couldn't really explain. 'The wing, what is it?' It was clear that the wing did not belong to a Faunus, not a wing with luminous yellow eyes. Though she tried, her gaze could not leave Bemaia's wing. Moving her head? Nothing. Closing her eyes? Impossible. She could only look away when Bemaia's body moved slightly to the side, covering up the eyes. 'Dangerous Semblance.' She took a mental note about the wing.
"Fine by me." The Doctor said, pointing Bemaia and Weiss towards the seats. "Who's the girl, Doc?" Francisco asked, pointing at the amber-eyed woman watching them. "That's Cinder, A transfer student from Haven and also my niece." Francisco looked at her for a moment, she waved her hand at him in a respectful manner to greet him. "Cinder huh... When did I hear someone say that name?" The Librarian spoke, but soon shook that thought away for later, now he had a test to make.
Instructed by the Doctor, Francisco entered the machine's capsule where he sat for a minute. Leaving the capsule, the Remembrance Machine was rumbling and ready to go. Francisco eyed the contraption's monitor for but a moment, and was immediately met with images of many familiar places and faces, but there was only one he cared about, pointing at its image. "Aye Doctor, This one." The Doctor eagerly nodded and began fidgeting with the controls.
"Heads up Machine, I'll give you this bit of context just this once," Francisco shouted at Penny who waited patiently in the middle of the amphitheater. "Her name is Delta43, also known as Maryanne, She used to be a clerk working in the training team for a week and she's also a close friend of mine." The former librarian said, earning a concerned look from Bemaia who watched from the sidelines. "With no instructions, show me how you suppress her. Do that and I will put some effort towards the team." He finished, taking a seat next to Bemaia, Weiss, and Cinder.
While the Remembrance Machine did its thing, Weiss kept pressing Bemaia for an answer to her previous conundrum. "About your food stand for the Vytal Festival, are you sure it would work?" She asked, her eyes glued to Penny. "Yes. I plan on participating in only one of the three fights, so I'll be vacant only for that singular hour that would take for preparations, travel, and actual fighting."
The heiress sat silent for a moment, thinking about how much money would a food stand like that actually cost. "I'd have to talk about it with my father..." Then an idea surfaced in her mind. "Are you busy for the next few days?" Bemaia, though a bit taken aback by the question, shook his head. "My father would not say no after tasting your food, so how about we go there and pitch your skills to the CEO of the largest business in Remnant? Yang and Ruby should arrive from patch only next week, and Blake is off doing her own thing, so it shouldn't take more than two or three days."
The winged librarian didn't need a second thought, the fixer dormant in his heart had woken up and he screamed 'MONEY'. "Let's go then! I've heard a few things about Atlas and I want to check out the kingdom..." Bemaia decided, brainstorming about what to do once there. "I'd need an assistant, I'll probably take Fred with me because the alternative would mean... Him" He pointed at the bald librarian, patiently waiting for the contraption. "And I refuse to bring along someone like him to a meeting with a possible business partner." Weiss had no complaints.
"Starting the projection!" Doctor Martz shouted as his creation rumbled and roared in a cacophony of metal parts resisting the forces created by the engines inside. Penny steadied herself, even with the context given by Francisco, she still didn't know what to expect.
The concrete blocks that made up the floor below slowly turned into plates of metal, Penny stood right in the center, as the world around her shifted. Office cubicles, tables, chairs, and computers were created out of thin air, all neatly organized in a way one would commonly see in the average office building. Paper sheets and notebooks were scattered on the floor, an obvious sign of conflict inside the professional environment. As the individual in question came to be, Penny noticed the stains of red in the papers and floor, and the toppled over and broken cardboard cubicles. A loud siren alarm, screamed in her ears, as the echoes of screaming employees and the tapping sound of shoes filled the amphitheater. The attention to detail and precision of 's creation were astounding.
"W-what?" Penny muttered to herself, as a mutilated leg appeared in the midst of paper sheets. Her eyes followed the trail of blood that escaped from the severed limb, so surprised was she, when the trail led to an already deceased corpse of a suited individual wearing an orange armband with a 'H' stamped to it. The corpse was mangled beyond reason, both legs were racked off, a large open wound on the chest revealed the victim's inner organs, its ribcage was gouging out of the wound, and the person's skin became pale due to the excessive blood loss.
Penny's stomach churned in ways not designed by her creators at the simple sight of such a tragedy. "Who...? Why?" She asked herself, as her legs gave out, her knees sinking into a pool of the warm crimson liquid. Upon closer inspection, the damage done to the cadaver appeared to have been made by a heavy-bladed weapon, such as an axe or a two-handed heavy blade, but the chest wound crossed out the possibility of the latter.
Recovering from her torpor, Penny stood up and readied her weapons. From her back, many silver and emerald-colored blades floated softly, yet purposefully, around her frame. She analyzed everything around her, from the unreadable texts in the papers to the splinters of cardboard on the floor.
The projection neared its completion, and another decapitated corpse came into being next to the first one, but Penny resisted being frightened by it as her blades formed a circle around her. "Show yourself!" She demanded, taking measured steps away from the two mangled corpses.
From behind a cubicle walked in a clerk, wearing the same clothes as those two corpses, a long brown hair tainted with blood flowing down the back of the feminine figure, Her bright red lips formed an uncanny smile. "Don't move!" Penny shouted, completely immersed in the projection. But the clerk paid her no mind, and had now fully shown herself to Penny, A large black axe covered in blood came into the frame from behind the cubicle as she slowly walked towards Penny.
"Where is he?" The feminine figure spoke, her voice was ragged and she was puffing, probably due to exhaustion. "Are you hiding him from me?" She asked once again, her own blood that dripped down from her ankle, trailed her every step. "Did you do this?!" Penny shouted in response, ignoring the woman's questions and readying her blade behind her back, all of them pointed at the woman.
So she raised her axe.
[NOW PLAYING: FIRST WARNING - LOBOTOMY CORPORATION OST]
In less than a second the woman was already atop of her with the bloodied axe coming with immense speed aiming to bisect the android's head. Penny reacted in time however, four of the floating blades came forth and blocked the attack, her knees bending against the clash. With no time to waste, she pointed the other four at the woman, a green flash of energy shot outwards from the tip of each of those four swords, hitting her in the chest and stomach, sending her rolling away from Penny.
"Are you Maryanne?! If so, please stop this!" Penny shouted with gusto and certainty, her demands weren't unheard. "You're like all the rest, keeping him from me." Maryanne stood up again, recovering from the knockback, ignoring completely the scorch marks left by Penny, who was surprised to see the damage dealt by her weapon, expecting the clerk's Aura to lessen the blow.
From the sidelines, Bemaia shouted a most critical piece of advice. "She has no Aura! Her strength comes from the shoes!" Penny blinked once, not even realizing the different pair of shoes Maryanne used. A pair of brightly colored red high-heels appeared to bite into the girl's ankle, drawing blood. An abnormal gloss reflected light, despite looking older than the wearer herself.
"I don't want to hurt you!" Penny tried to plead with the girl, to no avail. "You people are all rotten! You take him away and expect no retribution? I will make sure to write that message with your blood." Maryanne said as pained groans escaped her mouth with every step she took towards the android, who stood her ground and steeled her resolve. Again the clerk jumped at Penny ready to strike, only to be pushed away by the blunt sides of her blades.
"Stop it!" Penny shouted. But as the clerk swiped once again with the Axe, Penny's resolve came to light. "You are not under control of your body and I will help you!" She said, parrying away the attack with the long-ranged sword. "Firstly, I will disarm you." Penny declared.
Maryanne realized that the direct approach would not work against a foe such as this, and now took a step to the side, dashing behind one of the many cubicles and out of Penny's line of sight. Having none of whatever Maryanne planned, Penny instantaneously cut the cubicle in half from afar, only to notice that the clerk had vanished.
A metaphorical drop of sweat ran down Penny's face, observing her surroundings, not a single clue as to where her foe could have hidden. Silence invaded the room.
Even to the spectators, Maryanne had vanished.
Weiss kept her inquiries to herself expecting them to be answered afterward, so she sat there, excitedly watching the fight and wondering what kind of shoes gifted a person with the strength to match a huntsman, and what repercussions would come with the source.
Cinder had seen the first iteration of the machine not long ago, where Doctor Martz showed a memory in the form of a video. To think that in such a time frame he had managed to improve on it to the point where those memories could be played as though they were real... A door of endless possibilities had opened in front of her, beckoning her. "Amazing..." She said, breaking the silence. It was still confined to the memories of the individual with some degree of automatic generation based on the information gathered within the person's memory. Surely, when Francisco fought against this clerk he didn't do the exact same actions as Penny, so at the very least the invention extrapolates the actions and decision-making skills of the entity being generated. This was, of course, Cinder simply imagining how the machine functioned, the truth behind such a marvel of modern technology was hidden behind the worn glasses of the Doctor.
Bemaia sat next to the two, uncomfortably still, for he knew both the clerk and those dammed red shoes, but there was nothing else he was willing to do for Penny.
Francisco was watching with a serious expression, observing his leader's every movement down to the most minute tremble of the eyes or the stutter of her knees. Fortunately, he did seem pleased with her in an odd way, considering that he had not once reacted negatively toward any action taken by the android.
"Show yourself!" Penny shouted once again, her voice filled with determination. Her controlled swords hovered circularly around her body, tips pointed outwards, waiting for Maryanne to jump out of hiding.
And that she did.
Destroying the wooden table that served as her hiding spot, the clerk dashed to her side, axe already midway through her swing aiming at Penny's legs. Two swords came now in the blink of an eye and blocked the swing as three others hit the with their blunt side right on the head. Without as much as a grunt, the clerk withstood the blow and taking advantage of being tossed to the side with enough force to send her body flying, Maryanne plunged her axe on the ground, ending her momentum.
"Come." Penny teased, earning a hateful snarl from the clerk who jumped right back in as asked. Pulling the axe out of the floor with minimal effort, Maryanne dashed straight into Penny, who responded by side-stepping out of the way and using the blunt part of a single sword, bludgeoned her feet, prompting the clerk to trip and fall head first into the floor.
Penny wasted no time and was already atop of her. With a swift movement, Penny managed to take hold of the Clerk's right arm and pulled it behind her back, landing with her knee on top of it to immobilize it, and pulling the axe out of her grasp, throwing it away and successfully disarming her.
"Secondly, I'll immobilize you." The clerk uselessly struggled against Penny's heavier frame to no avail, no matter how much strength she mustered, the awkward position of the arm and the absolute weight of Penny's metallic body meant that she wasn't getting anywhere anytime soon.
Now pulling the other hand into the hold behind Maryanne's back, Penny slipped one of her swords beneath and around her legs, an almost translucent metallic string she used to control her swords tied itself around the clerk's legs, and Penny did the same once she managed to get both hands together using her inhuman strength.
Penny got up from the Clerk, still stepping in her back to prevent further escape, "Now, can you stop?" Maryanne did not answer, only breathed sharply through her teeth.
Penny stopped to analyze the girl now that she had her under control. Maryanne wore a black suit with a white shirt, both with various stains of blood. Her hair was messy due to the fighting and marks on the bridge of her nose and the side of her eyes suggested the use of glasses, though those were nowhere to be seen. The orange armband she wore that symbolized her department was now painted red.
Penny breathed in and out in an attempt to calm her currently shaking body, feeling something that she had never felt before. Was it fear? No, nothing like that. When she looked at the clerk she had incapacitated and looked at the two mangled bodies of two other people wearing her very same uniform, she couldn't stop shaking, her swords trembling matched hers.
Wordlessly, Francisco got up from his seat and calmly walked towards Penny and the clerk, slowly drawing Downpour from its sheath. "What are you doing?" Penny asked, concern coming from the bottom of her heart as he imagination ran wildly. "You passed," Francisco spoke, earning a perturbed yet thankful sigh from Penny. "But you haven't suppressed it yet." He said, finally reaching Penny and looking at her directing in the eyes.
"You're more human than most I've met. Though this person, who you haven't seen ever in your life, tried to kill you, not once have you tried to take her life." Francisco could applaud her efforts if not for the sword in his hand and the lack of a functioning left arm. "But it's not suppressed yet."
Penny looked down at the clerk, still struggling against her binds but unable to move. "Wait, she's already sedated, she can't move anymore..." Francisco shook his head. "Not her... It." He pointed the tip of his sword toward the pair of red high-heels Maryanne wore. "That's what you have to suppress." Penny blinked once. "The shoes? Friend-Bemaia did mention that they are to source of her powers... Let me just..." Penny got down on her knees, took hold of the clerk's shoes, and tried to remove them.
"Hmph!"
Artificial muscles tensed, and the shoes took strain. As soon as blood began dripping down to Penny's hand, she immediately let go. "Why..." Before she could finish her sentence, Francisco was already answering. "Those shoes bite into your feet, you would sooner cut off her feet. They also can't be destroyed, not without the lack of attempts." Penny still couldn't quite grasp the situation. "But why do we have to take it off of her? It's just a shoe..."
Though faintly, the bald librarian did smile at the innocent nature of Penny, though made as a mockery of men's holy shell, she has a genuine gentle soul. "Those shoes made a very hard-working and kind mother into a seasoned murderer, maddened by its influence. They take your worse thoughts, and force you to act on them." Penny's mind ran through a thousand thoughts per second, iterating ideas, applications, and results, one after the other, but nothing was effective in her mind. "So what do we do? Throw her in jail?"
Francisco shook his head solemnly. "No. In her case, she is now forever cursed." He said, sighing in discomfort, "She demanded for us to bring her son to her, and that we did... He didn't last a second, cut in two neatly in the middle." Francisco raised his sword, its tip pointing at the clerk's head. Penny's eyes widened, understanding very well what her partner was about to do to the girl.
"Afterwards, only by killing her did we ever manage to stop her rampage." Penny did open her mouth to say something, but before she could, Downpour had already pierced through the girl's head and the struggle had stopped. "Now then, leader, you've proven yourself. What do you need me for?" And with that, the remembrance machine stopped its projection, shutting down completely.
On an unrelated note.
A long metallic hallway with reinforced doors sequentially sorted on both sides made as prison cells on the massive flying ship. The humming of the ventilation system was easily ignored as its captives had grown accustomed to it. None dared to break the serenity of such a place, more so due to the consequences of such actions rather than respect for their temporary cell.
The prisoners themselves weren't that much of a threat, consisting of pacified White Fang members, radical protesters that vandalized Atlas Military property, and some rogue huntsmen caught due to the increased security measures instilled by the presence of the General, all waiting for trial in their small cubicle.
But, none of them held as much respect as their newest prisoner, Roman Torchwick. The man received a push into his cell, pillow, and blanket, and the most recent newspaper printed, his name boldly written on the center. "Notorious criminal Roman Torchwick finally caught!" The man himself read out loud, uncaring for the noise he made. "Ah. A stroke of bad luck I suppose..." He spoke, monologing to himself.
"Bad luck? Nah, his days were coming to an end anyway."
A voice from the cell to his left reverberated through the metal walls. It came from a male, older and ragged, likely a huntsmen or some bouncer. With nothing better to do, the notorious criminal turned notorious prisoner decided to humor his fellow captive. "What's your story then?" The stranger didn't seem very eager to share his story, "Why do you care?" Torchwick shrugged, even if the prisoner couldn't see him, he knew Torchwick shrugged. "Do you have anything better to do?"
A sound and valid argument. True, what else was there to do to kill time? Watch dried paint dry? A conversation with a stranger would be much preferred. "Hm. Well, I was caught when I tried to ambush a couple near Vale's walls." Outside of the walls? Torchwick hummed for a moment, 'Is this guy broke?' He thought to himself but decided to convey that thought in a much more refined manner. "Vale's outskirts? You a scav or something?"
Scavengers are commonly found throughout the wilderness of the kingdoms. Though rare and few in numbers, scavs usually cheat and steal from travelers and convoys carrying food and tradable goods. Most, as one would expect, form groups, and are then considered a bandit camp. "Heh, not a scav, I have the money you know?" 'Fair enough.' Torchwick thought. But if he wasn't a scav, then what? What is there to gain outside of a kingdom? 'Just Grimm.' The thought came to mind.
"I'm a... Purveyor of goods for the folk that need it." Ah, he stole from the kingdoms and sold the excess to scavs then! "You steal from the rich and give to the poor? You think yourself a Robin Hood?"
The stranger burst out laughing, finding it funny to think that he held such an honorable hood over his head. "Ha. Oh no, no. I sell whatever I get to gangs and thieves. The prime buyer was Junior... I wonder how he's doin'." Now that was a name Roman knew. Junior is a nightclub manager, but he did run an underground gambling operation and some other things. The last time Roman checked in, Junior gave him some muscle for a job, but I think we all know how that job went. "Damn, you provided for Junior? Then you must've been the real deal. How did the cops getcha?"
The stranger silently shifted in his seat as Torchwick wondered what's the hold-up, bored out of his mind. "I had just returned from a successful robbery inside the borders and made my way out through a hidden passage in a construction site to stash the goods in a safe place." The stranger declared, earning the attention and curiosity of Roman. "That lead right outta Vale?" The stranger's nod went unseen. "Aye."
"Good on you. I mostly keep my business in the city itself, less bounties in other kingdoms whenever I go for a trip. Never knew there were safe routes in and out the borders." So far, this was a pleasant experience for Roman, It's not every day that he got to talk with a professional in an area so akin to his, but a completely different beast to tackle. "Gettin' back on topic, once I stashed it away I found this couple kinda lost in the outskirts..."
"So you thought that they were easy pickings huh?" An obvious assumption, and the correct one. "Yep. There was a chick wearing a black and yellow dress with a bunch of expensive shit on her, golden earrings, golden rings, even the dress seemed to sell for a fortune." Now, that made Roman think. Why was someone so clearly important in the middle of nowhere Vale Outskirts? Even wearing so much gold? "Damn, a walking lottery ticket. Bet the guy was a hired huntsman, and he's the one that got you."
Roman could not see the stranger shaking his head in denial. "He looked like one, but he wasn't one. Though the people that caught me were some random atlesean scout... Lucky me." Did he just say that getting caught by the Atlas Military, is lucky? In what world is that considered lucky?! "Huh? What do you mean lucky?"
"The guy, he beat me half to death. If not for the random patrol I would have lost more than a leg."
Torchwick stuttered a bit, "W-Wait, this huntsmen cut off your leg?!" Huntsmen don't do that! Not only is that Illegal, they are trained to incapacitate, not hack off a limb! "Yep. Never again I'm jumping people... Actually, just not jumping in general." 'That's just horrible.' Roman thought to himself. "Shit man... My condolences. No one deserves that." Still, what kind of huntsmen does that? That's way beyond self-defense. Were they charged for it? That question echoed in his head, but he hesitated to ask, fearing that he would be disappointed once again by the Vale justice system.
"Aye. What's your story then?" Pushing all of that aside though, Torchwick's narcissistic nature came forth. "Me? Well, you've already heard of me." After all, what punk didn't know of Torchwick the Great? Well, that wasn't an official title, but it was one Roman liked to use. "What? You a big name?" He could almost giggle with anticipation, knowing that he would make this stranger's night. "You could say that," He stopped for a second, a laugh burst from his throat. "I am the one and only, Roman Torchwick, at your service." He did a courteous bow towards the wall to his left, pretending to take off his missing hat in the process of doing so.
"Wow. Never thought I would meet a celebrity. So, how did they get you?" The stranger's voice was so devoid of enthusiasm that it sucked Roman's right out of his soul, his expression, once filled with joy and expectation, now turned sour. A snarl appeared on his face. "Charming." He said sarcastically, but he still chose to continue to conversation. "As I said before... A stroke of bad luck." The stranger chuckled at the comment. "Tell me about it." 'Fair enough.' Roman thought. The one with the worst luck between the two was the stranger after all.
"Well... I might have messed with some people I shouldn't messed." It was shameful to admit it, but it was something that did in fact happen. "Who are those people? You're Roman Torchwick ain't you? The, like, most notorious thief in the whole of Vale? Who is it that you can't mess with? I heard you even stole a few of Atlas' newest combat mechs." Hey, at least the stranger knows his name! That's a start!
"The names I can't tell, client and employer confidentiality and that. But they had me work alongside the White Fang... Bunch of incompetent fuck-ups if you ask me." Truth be told, it was kind of the White Fang's fault. They were tasked with filling the train and always being on the lookout for intruders. How the two maniacs found their way in was beyond Torchwick. "Ah, the Fang messed up and you paid the price?"
'Not really' Torchwick is still alive after all. Imprisoned, but that's better than dead. "You could say that... We had an operation going at Mount Glemm, stealing dust and throwing it in some containers in a train to cause a huge explosion right in the middle of Vale, the White Fang being responsible for the attack and me being the facilitator." Not the brightest moment of his career he had to admit. "That's why I don't sell my shit to terrorists, they want to blow up my home! No way I'm helping their cause." Torchwick could almost laugh at the absurdness of his situation if not for the fact that it happened to him. "Same here, but I still have my hands tied on the matter..." Cinder had him in the tightest of leashes. He did not know how the mysterious woman got so much power or how she knew what to use as leverage against him, but he knew he needed to find a way out as quickly as possible, payments be dammed, money ain't worth shit in the afterlife.
"Anyways, things were going smoothly until this duo showed up, and killed almost everyone including a lieutenant of the Fang, who was supposed to be the contingency plan, but I guess not!" Again, an absurd thought. Did the lieutenant get caught by surprise? Did he hold back? He was once a licensed huntsman but decided to join the Fang, so he at the very least could hold his own on a fight.
"Huntsmen?" Could Torchwick call them that? Probably not, the White Fang grunts told him that they wore black suits and attacked with the intent to kill... "I didn't get a good look at them but I doubt it, they caused bloodshed, I'm talking heads blown off level of carnage." Huntsmen don't do that kind of thing!
"Did the Fang have their Auras unlocked?" A fair question, but no. "Couldn't. Since Aura makes Grimm sense you better, If everyone involved had their Auras unlocked we would have been like a siren for the Grimm." Not to mention the required costs needed to train the unwashed masses that bloated the lower ranks of the White Fang. "Mount Glemm... I was sweet on a girl from there back in the day, I wonder if she's fine."
Torchwick went silent for a moment, as memories he didn't want to face again, resurfaced. "..." His breathing became erratic. 'Glemm... To think that I survived that...' He didn't mean the recent events. There was a reason why Cinder wanted him in charge of the operation there, being one of the few survivors of the disaster, he was one of the few people on Remnant who knew the layout of the ruined city. 'Let's focus on the now, yeah Roman? What lives with the past are museums after all.' "So? Carry one with the story!" If he could, Roman would punch the stranger. "Let me reminisce about my past for a second!"
"Sorry mate." That was all he got as a response.
Steadying his breath, Torchwick carried on and told his damned story. "So, these two appeared, I activated the train aiming for the city, and they managed to activate some of the old railways which caused the train to change direction, and we hit a dormant Wyvern Grimm with a train filled with bombs." Which was an even more absurd happenstance that occurred that night, 'I hit a Wyvern with a train...' That was something that none could claim, but him. 'Damn, I'm badass.' It was quite an achievement, that is true. "Sounds like fun."
"It was for maybe half a minute..." Before he could recollect his most recent achievement to his fellow convict, the door to his cell opened abruptly, taking the thief by surprise. "..." He made no sound, expecting a random soldier to shut him up. However, upon noticing that instead of a grunt, the general himself came to greet him, he couldn't help himself, a witty one-liner was well on its way. "How has your time on my ship been?" The general asked, one hand behind his back and another on Due Process. Roman put up a fake pained expression, struggling not to burst out laughing at the general.
"As first impressions go..." The notorious thief took an extensive look around his 2 by 1 cubicle of metal, looking like someone dissatisfied with the room service they received. "Not great."
A/N: Next up we got Godfrey's funky escapades