"Where are we going?"

Being led into an alleyway by a potential serial killer/notorious thief hadn't exactly been the best outcome to an almost kidnapping, but when you were lugging around the body of an unconscious woman dressed a bit too flashy, you'd do anything not to draw the attention of the police. Not that he was planning anything nefarious, mind you, but seeing as he'd worked with Neo before - again, not stellar for his appearance - he was inclined to at least trust that she wouldn't snap his neck.

Actually, that might be a pretty good outcome. Wait, scratch that, Josh was here. Along with that, he couldn't guarantee Neo was on good enough terms with Melanie to give a shit about her safety. But, seeing as Junior and Roman were supposedly on good terms, it might not have been that bad.

It was around this point Neo turned back to face him with an almost apathetic expression, and Jay was cut free from his musings which he'd been using as a series of minor distractions to keep himself from really letting anything like panic settle in. Turned out narrowly dodging a kidnapping could really get the blood pumping, because damn it all, his heart was pounding away in his ears.

Neo flicked out her scroll, typing up a text before flashing it to him.

"Somewhere safe, at least around here. There's a spot a couple blocks ahead where pickpockets like to stash and hide."

"Pickpockets?" Not exactly comforting, considering he'd had his pockets run through before by Junior. Neo, upon catching his wry look, rolled her eyes and delivered a second response.

"They won't touch you. Roman and I have a deal going with the kids. Once they see you with me, they'll know you're off the menu."

Now, wasn't that reassuring? Not at all, but they didn't have much of a choice, now did they?

Swallowing down the discomfort rising in his throat, he nodded, and she sent a tiny grin before carrying on. Neo led them a couple of blocks along, just as she said - texted, but the semantics didn't matter. Crossing the streets were the most harrowing for him, as he fully expected someone to scream from a window or something. Luckily that didn't happen, but with Neo leading him along he supposed that was a given.

The final alleyway turned out no different than the one's they'd passed through; just as grimy, and slicked wet with chilled residue from a lack of sunlight and poor drainage. Around a quarter across, Neo paused and turned back, where she issued him close. He obeyed, and the shorter gal held out both arms, clearly signaling him to hand Melanie over. Not exactly comfortable with the idea, Jay thought of protesting, but the lingering eyes of impatience promised swift punishment if he didn't play along, and so he caved.

With woman in hand, Neo hoisted her new charge over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes, before pointing towards a dumpster. Jay, following her silent instruction, wandered over to it, and turned back to see her making pushing motions with her free hand. Not having much to lose by doing so, Jay gave a good heave to its side, thankful the thing was empty, so it took only minimal effort. Behind it ended up being a small panel of wood, and once as he went to move it, Neo stepped past him.

This was her time to shine, and stepping back, Jay watched as she gave a swift couple knocks to it.

Some seconds later the slab of plywood moved, and they were greeted with the site of a small hole in the brickwork. Somewhat delicate and with a graceful hand, Neo laid Melanie on the ground, pushing her head through the hole, where the woman was then sucked inside quickly. Neo made a grumbly face, probably not expecting whoever took the girl to do it so quickly, but ignored it and went down on her hands and knees. Shooting a glance his way, she smirked, before crawling inside.

Jay waited until he was sure she'd completely made it in before taking position himself; he'd rather not end up kicked in the face and accused of ogling her ass - Neo probably wouldn't do something like that, but this was anime, so you couldn't be too careful.

The crawl lasted all of a second before he'd made it. Turns out, the tunnel was, quite literally, just a hole in the bricks, and once he'd stood back up, he looked back to see a child wrapped in warmer looking raggedy clothes replacing what was a set of bricks back to fill the gap. There was an outline of a door at the end of the room ahead, but it was filled in with cement, helping Jay reason that this little hideaway Neo led him too was only accessible to the children using it, and those few they informed. Knocking on the wood must have been the signal for them to remove the bricks, making the hideaway visible.

"So, you're back; great."

That unenthused, spiteful remark was handed out by the oldest of the bunch; a rather muscular, dirty looking young woman. She turned away from Neo, setting her sights on him. Eyeing him up and down, she scowled a little harder, but a light prod from the ice-cream lady had her begrudgingly speaking.

"So, who are you?"

.

.

Neo had never been happier to hold at least a little bit of a reputation with the White Fang; especially when it paid off like this.

True to the dead man's words, the woman was, unlike her flowery name, incredibly unladylike - at least, according to the bastard of a slave trader. Coated in bruises and a few scars, the typical proof written in the skin of runaways, Tulip Bellows was not only great at stealing things, but she also put a pretty great wallop into her fists too. Their first meeting hadn't exactly been a thing of splendor. Tulip's fingers were quick, Neo would give her that, but nobody one-upped her in a good game of wallet snatching.

She'd shown no signs of knowing at first, intent to savor the art of stalking during the tiny moment of downtime she had between jobs. And, low and behold, she'd come across this little hobble. Gracefully, Neo's entrance into the hideaway was careful and concise, but the sight of so many kids had her slipping up in her focus. Neo wasn't a crybaby when it came to children, but even she liked to think she had a heart.

A small and spicy one that liked to make quips and jabs, even though she lacked a voice to spread them.

Regardless, she'd dropped her illusion for a fraction of a second, and that alone was enough to have Tulip on the move. For a girl with no aura, the hobo sure packed a punch, and Neo relented. Dropping her semblance, she was ready to give the lady a stern talking too... Until she stopped. Neo was confused at first, but then the White Fang were mentioned. Yeah, Roman and her were known for working with them, sure, and Neo herself had watched as the blokes put a bullet in the perky politician's wife, but she wasn't there to see his head dislodged from his body.

But Tulip didn't need to know that, and seeing as a short nod got some admiration to swell within her eyes, Neo set out to make the most of their budding new partnership. The girl hadn't known who she'd been robbing initially, but then again, Neo had disguised her body as that of a rich bitch on her way to the penthouse Roman and her shared, so that was understandable.

Tulip had, like many others at the time of release, been scouring the net, and had come across not only the terrorist core's newest upload through the usual public release sites, but also the information they published; which Neo may, or may not, have slipped into the Fang's possession for a small price later that same night after the break-in. She could always use some extra income though, and these kids needed training and backup to fall on; all in all, a deal was the only logical course of action. She teaches them to steal better, and they give her a cut every couple weeks. Overall, a win win.

"F-friends call me Jay." Apparently, the kid trusted Tulip enough to spout his real name - either that, or his nerves were fried again. But she was tempted to give him a pass this time; seeing as Neo herself wasn't making moves to attack, Jay must have realized they weren't in any danger. Still, she at least expected a fake name or something - seriously, if this was how he acted, then why the salted caramel crunch were Junior and bitch even remotely focused on this guy?

Well, he had his stupidly vast semblance - that he shared similarly with his bud, however the fuck that worked - but based on what they knew, they'd taken an interest in him beforehand. According to the info Roman was given from Junior, one of the girls took pity on him one night, at the behest of Junior's own curiosity - which went unexplained. Really? Was that it? Was the sympathy of a bodyguard the only thing that exposed this lunatic? Turning off dust was a pretty damn big advantage, but nope; Jay was exposed to their crazy lives in the most pathetic way possible.

Face down and ass up in the streets.

"Jay, huh?" Hissing through her teeth, the woman sent one last glance down, and Neo grinned, egging her on. Snapping her eyes shut, she took an easy breath, staring at him with what might be considered a less venomous gaze. "Name's Tulip. Welcome to the Mud Puddle."

Note to self: get them a bigger hideout. Sure, this dingy forgotten hole was good for now, but all it took was a curious and clumsy drunk to kick out the loose bricks in anger; internally, the image of a raging Jay played out slamming his foot repeatedly into walls and swearing.

"Tulip..." His eyes spread far, and Neo could see the contractions clear as day. Okay, so maybe she should have given him a heads up that they were meeting with the would-have-been slave girl. Granted, Onixis was still in the room when that message was sent, so he never got to go through with the deal, but who knows if Jay got that far in before he started his liquor binge.

"Yeah." The aforementioned crook's eyes narrowed dangerously, as if she'd been sharpening a dagger just waiting to draw blood. "What about it?"

Before the goofball could respond, Neo gave another quick tap to Tulip's shoulder, springing a quick scroll message her way.

"He helped bag Onixis. He knows."

Upon seeing it, Tulip turned down her hostility, settling more on a cooler acceptance; still somewhat spiced with what Neo had come to playfully describe as tsundere nonsense. Eyeing him again, she curled a brow. Clearly, she wasn't expecting someone who bagged a politician to be so… weak looking.

"Don't seem like much." Either way, this was followed up with a sigh. "But if she says you were there, then you were there. So, I take it you already know what that double-crossing shitbag was planning to do with me?"

Swallowing hard, Jay nodded. "Y-yeah."

"Cut that out." Tulip's brow twitched right as she gave the harsh command. "I don't know what kind of cowardly crap you're pulling, but we're not enemies, so give up on the act."

Neo was pretty sure it wasn't an act, but if Jay knew what was good for him, he'd oblige the misunderstanding either way. And he did. The tensing of his whole body was paired with a noticeable attempt to sound not so frightened; keyword being 'attempt.'

"Alright."

Catching on that he was still "acting spooked," Tulip looked to just brush over what she took as careful caution, probably figuring she'd need to prove their allegiance as opposed to just saying it aloud.

"Whatever." Her sights then swapped over to Melanie, who was laid carefully across a few cushions in the form of a makeshift bed. "Give me the rundown on events. What's up with her?"

Jay, managing to keep up his partially rattled voice, gave a suitable explanation; Neo personally would have worded it with a few insults and ridicule towards the kidnapper wannabe, but to each their own.

"We were gassed." He started off, wandering over to Melanie who was being treated by a much younger girl. That tyke, as it turned out, happened to be Tulip's little sister; nothing else was afforded in the information department, and with the whole 'Onixis scandal' before, Neo could see why. "We were supposed to be headed for Beacon, but the driver had other plans."

This drew Tulip's attention again, and curiously she asked, "You a student?"

"No." He confirmed, twisting back around with a stronger expression. "We were just going to meet up with her sister."

"I'm assuming she ain't a student either." Jay shook his head. "Figures. Far as I've been told, they run with Junior. And, with that in mind, I'm guessing she was out meeting with an actual student, yeah?"

"Yes, a friend of hers." Jay looked to fidget, and Tulip rolled her eyes. Neo, on the other hand, was having quite a good time watching this all go down; sure beats reruns of daytime drama.

"Fine. I'll drop it there. I know better than anyone the price of information, and I'm not willing to lend myself out for the sake of blind curiosity." Casting a quick eye over Melanie, who was breathing steadily as the little girl in a hoodie sent back a thumbs up, Tulip capped her decision off with, "You can crash her until your friend wakes up, but once she's up, I need you both to scoot. Most of the others get rowdy around new faces." Her expression shifted, almost to the point she'd began looking down her nose. "Even ones as dainty as yours."

"Got it."

Neo, upon watching him return his attention to Melanie, pranced casually over to the other side of the room, where she sent a short text to Roman while taking a seat on one of the many beanbag cushions, confirming the kid's location and the status of their situation.

.

.

"Well well, would you look at that?" Roman kicked the chair over, making sure to step down on the idiot's bound wrists as he did so, drawing a low whine from behind the gag. "All of a sudden, I don't think you'll be very useful anymore. How about that?"

A pair of wide eyes was all the man could give before Roman delivered a swift boot to his head, knocking him out cold and also potentially doing some decent brain damage. Scrunching up his face, Roman lifted his heel to see the bit of blood on his nice, once freshly polished shoes, before gently stepping over the guy; but not before rubbing the bottom of said boot over the sleeve of the victim's jacket.

Like all thugs he'd dealt with, Roman could confirm that the old tricks still offered great value when it came to interrogations, and he had a few extra goons of his own to thank for that. This bugger was the tough, no nonsense type of guy, so nothing short of a gruesome beating would have normally made him cry uncle. Luckily for Roman, the unsuccessful spy had a family, who were nicely photographed and tucked away in his wallet. Upon seeing this, Roman knew the exact method he would use.

A wife and two daughters; if that didn't get the hubby screaming, Roman didn't know what would.

But Roman was a gentleman thief, and as such, he would never willingly lower himself into the pits of filth to actually do something to the innocent and unknowing family. He would, however, have one of his more trusted and sane guys track them down and snap a few pics. One wave of the two little ones on the swings at the park next to the mall and the guy was spouting out what little he knew, soon doubling that amount when Roman spun a small little tale of having ties to some especially unsavory folk.

Ha, as if Junior or the big wigs would let that slide; crime paid, but with all of them possessing kids both blood and honorary, they had a few rules in place for keeping peace and order - such barbarism was better left to the politically corrupt, like Onixis for example, who paid for his acts with slow and visceral decapitation.

Prostitution rings acting pretty much like slavery? Perfectly fine. Drug trades preying on the most vulnerable, with lad's being tasked with finding said easily corrupted and giving them samples, getting them hook, line, and sinker? Absolutely; heck, it's even encouraged if you're just starting out. Mass killings of entire independent gangs? So long as there's no kids in those body bags and the dough is high, then go for it? But bringing harm to kids both intentionally or not?

Nope; apparently, that's where they drew the line, and Roman was happy with that, as it made sleeping at night easier than it already was. The only exception to said rule were huntsmen and huntresses. Those in the schools were, both legal and honorarily, considered adults; when it came to Beacon and the other big three anyways. Smaller schools dealing with the kids aging 8 to 16? Nothing below 14, and even then, student hunters in both 15 and 16 were iffy.

Really, it came down to how good your excuse was; if you needed to kill a 14 year old kid just to make it out from a job, then you probably weren't even worth hiring in the first place; which is what irked him so badly in regards to that annoying Little Red. But that girl had been bumped up a few grades, meaning she was both smarter and more mature than she looked - even if she had a hero complex. Really, Roman was just hoping she'd eventually give up on catching him, because he was getting damn tired with her ability to seemingly interrupt his jobs at any given moment; having to constantly escape was tedious, and it looked bad on his end, even if it was rarely his own fault - stupid overpowered semblances.

On the bright side, dealing with this guy had proven to Roman that he still had the touch when it came to interrogation.

According to this bozo, Lil'Miss was in the market for info on their resident drunk twink - as if that was something new. With a little more prodding, he was able to extract some of the methods she had in store for getting what she wanted. One of said methods, and probably the only one really worth worrying about, now that Neo had confirmed they'd escaped the gassing trick, would be the invite. Ordinarily, being invited to a meeting under supervision didn't sound all that bad, but it was what she had in store that made it concerning.

Junior wasn't just going to be given a second chance to show off Jay, and so the kid was going to be given a simple job involving her daughters once he arrived.

Nothing all that startling in theory, especially when it came to their line of business, but the problem came when the idea of a shootout was introduced. Yes, that's right, they were gunning Jay down. If she didn't get the info she wanted from the guy himself, the plan was to have him tag along with her girls to pick up something from a safehouse. Once they'd arrived, a sniper was set to take the kid out; a local homeless man had also been bribed and provided both a gun and some serious drugs: they planned to unleash him once the killing shot was fired, just to pin the whole thing on a fake gang seeking revenge for their destruction.

Apparently, Jay had somehow upset Lil'Miss on a deep and personal level. As for what the boy had done to piss her off so badly? Even mister spy hadn't the faintest clue.

"Heh." Roman cast a teasing look down at the unconscious man, mumbling under his breath. "Most trusted agent my ass."

They always boasted tough shit, but in the end they were nothing special. Although, Roman supposed that wasn't quite fair: nobody could ever hope to stand against Neo and her cheat code level semblance, and they hadn't exactly given the guy a chance to act either. But Roman disregarded that claim; Lil'Miss had much better than this idiot at her disposal. Instead of dwelling on the extensiveness of both her network and pawns, he chose to inform Neo about their recent development, as she did him.

"They're planning a dinner date. Meet me later and I'll give you the gossip."

Author's note

…

Alright, so things are weird again.

Neo, of course, has her job with Roman, but don't think for a second she wouldn't start up a side hustle when the opportunity presented itself. Selling the document she "borrowed" from the dead man only added to both her funds and reputation with the terrorists; after all, why else would she copy evidence with next to no use to her? To give to the police? Last I checked, the cops don't pay for that type of product.

You can think of the Mud Puddle as a pseudo thieves guild in a sense; while Junior and the other gangs may have rackets and dealings, these kids are skilled in liberating the individual pockets of Vale. We also got to learn that Neo does, in fact, adjust her appearance with her semblance throughout her daily happenings; it ain't just for dirty business.

Roman also had some "fun" this time too, and we get a bit of insight into the basic outlook on the business side of the big four. Are there more rules they follow? Of course, but they're not relevant here. We also get to see why Roman's so upset with Ruby's interruption beyond just finding her annoying. For as much as it'll make his life easier, he can't exactly be the one to kill her, even if at points he may want to. Bluffing though? Now that's something he's good at.

Huh… wonder how Melanie's gonna react once she wakes up? Should be entertaining.

And before anyone asks: yes, I'm aware Yang and Blake haven't shown in a while - we'll get to them again later on, I promise.

Anyway, that's it for now.

Until next time.