The city of Vale was quite cold at this time at night. Even with a steaming cup of coffee, it didn't help fight the strong and cold breeze of the precinct's rooftop. But Sergeant Frank didn't let the fact deter him from waiting there.
Up until now, he still couldn't believe the entire mess that's happening in Vale: Torchwick and the White Fang working with one another, the silence of the mob regarding the entire thing, the unforeseen 'invasion' of the Atlesian Army, and now the sudden appearances of vigilantes in town. It's all so much to take in!
The department is already stretched too thin, between covering every Dust Shop and Dust Shipments that come through Vale to cracking down on the illegal activities of the White Fang. But with how much that goes to them, it's difficult to sift through and differentiate what's real White Fang activity and the deductions of amateur racial profiling. He's never seen Internal Affairs work this much before. Higher ups thought the Atlesian Knights provided by General Ironwood would help in 'keeping the peace', but they've only been designated to protect Atlas goods and properties. All in all, all they're doing right now is patching holes in a sinking ship, only nobody knows where the water is mainly coming from.
VPD is scrambling and the public is getting more and more paranoid. Worst of all, they were nowhere near getting any progress with the White Fang-Torwick Investigation. That left no other choice but to take things outside the law.
"Sergeant,"
Sgt. Frank jolted upright at the sudden modulated voice. Turning around, he saw Robin crouching by the ledge of VPD's rooftop. About damn time, he thought.
"Ever thought about announcing yourself like a normal person?" The sergeant took a quick sip of his drink to calm himself, "Instead of, you know, creeping up from the shadows?"
"Got here as fast as I could," Robin ignored his comment, "You mentioned you found something."
Taking another sip from his cup, he then laid out the details. "Rumors were right. The heads of Vale's Organized Crime gathered here and Red Hood paid them a visit, only he wasn't looking to make friends."
"Casualties?"
"That's the interesting part, they all left practically unscathed. But whatever Red Hood said to them certainly got a lot of them to lay low. Junior locked himself in his own club and refused to leave while Lil' Miss Malachite has been real quiet since her arrival."
Robin's interest piqued at the sudden change of MO. For weeks, Red Hood has left a trail of dead criminals and White Fang members alike. If anything, the Crime heads of Vale all boxed together should've been fish-in-a-barrel for the killer vigilante.
"If anything, it's Sionis who's the only one acting rational."
Sionis?
"Black Mask is in town?"
"Yup, been here a little over a month or two, but now seems far too eager to leave. Whatever business he had here beforehand must've been cut short because he's been hauling everything he has from his warehouse in the Industrial District."
Sionis being spooked? Years of dealing with him, she and Batman thought they would've never seen the day. Guess they were only half right. Regardless, that makes the incident even more puzzling. Black Mask is one of the biggest and most ruthless players in the criminal underworld. And yet, the Red Hood's sight is purely on Roman Torchwick. This was far more personal than she thought.
However, Sionis still shouldn't be disregarded. With how keen he is on leaving, he must know more than he let on. That's more than worth an investigation.
"We assume he's got smuggled weapons from Atlas in that warehouse. Unfortunately, we can't get a warrant to search the place before he leaves town. So far, we're basing this off of assumptions, and you're already gone aren't you?"
To confirm his suspicions, Sergeant Frank turned around and found Robin nowhere on the roof, earning a grumble from the man. "Typical".
"Come on already! What's the hold up!?"
Inside of the Sionis' Warehouse, everyone has been moving in 5th gear. Dozens upon dozens of people were moving around the place doing something; armaments were being stuffed into boxes and crates; said boxes and crates were being loaded onto waiting trucks; and numerous trucks were moving in and out of the place to keep on schedule. It was all somewhat chaotic, but that didn't bother Black Mask at the moment.
Any other time, Roman Sionis considered himself a patient man. Whenever you run an organization, it's always expected to run into delays and hiccups. If you want something done well, give it enough time for it to be done. He wouldn't be as big as he is today if he hadn't honed his skill of patience. Unfortunately, the same can't be applied now as the longer he stayed, the less likely his empire would continue to stay as well.
"How much more until we're ready to cut and run, Ms Li?" Black Mask asked his assistant as they walked to the Warehouse's main office.
Keeping up by his side, the suited spectacled woman responded. "About 15 more truck loads sir. But at the rate we're moving, we're bound to be noticed."
"Nevermind that. VPD has got their full attention on Torchwick and every other family is cowering away from the Red Hood's message. Besides, nobody is stupid enough to take what's ours."
"Actually," Ms. Li interjected, "Someone might be."
The duo stopped outside of the main office. Black Mask turned to his assistant and narrowed his hardened eyes on her.
"What."
"Recently, we've noticed one of the trucks hadn't reported in," She then handed him a clipboard with the truck's manifest. "We've backtracked the route it took and found the driver dead in a nearby alley."
Black Mask took one read of the manifest before slamming it to the ground and repeatedly stomping on it in a fit. "Lousy sonva-! Of all trucks! Do they have any idea how hard it was to get our hands on that?! Let alone smuggle it out of Atlas!"
"Given that sir, it's a high probability it's still here in Vale's industrial district."
It took a bit, but Sionis was eventually able to calm himself down enough to talk. "We'll put a lid on this until this whole Red Hood situation blows over. For now, I want ears on the ground to find whoever has that shipment. And when I get my hands on 'em…"
Black Mask trailed off and groaned, his fists tightening until his knuckles turned white. Without another word, he barged into his office and slammed the door shut, wanting to be alone.
Ms. Li has known him long enough to know when he needed to be alone to cool off, so she picked up the remnants of the clipboard and manifest and went back to supervise the move.
Isolated in his office, Sionis let loose his wrath onto the room: tossing over different furniture, banging and throwing down file cabinets, and punching holes into the already fragile walls. By the end of it, it looked like a hurricane went through the place. At least he was completely calm now.
Going over to the main desk, he dug through its drawers before whipping out a bottle of scotch that he'd been saving for a rainy day. Pouring himself a glass, he was about to take a sip before his eyes widened at the realization of a cold breeze in the room.
Above, the skylight window was ajar, even though he knew beforehand that it's always locked. He hadn't seen anyone else in the dark room when he smashed up the place. That only meant…
"Oh fu-"
His glass was smacked out of his hand, shattering against the wall, before he felt the same arm twist behind him and had his head slammed against his desk. An all too familiar routine when he's been caught red handed.
"Hello Sionis."
There was no mistaking that modulated voice. "Damn it. Can't go more than a year without you pecking into my business."
"And switching cities certainly didn't help. Now, what the hell are you doing in Vale?"
"I'm a businessman. I can conduct business in places outside of Mantle- Ah! AH!" He yelped as his arm was twisted further.
"Don't play games with me, Sionis. I know you and the other heads met up with the Red Hood."
"Oh, you know about that? Then you should also know that he wasn't very keen with us either!"
"What I DO know is that you're in quite a hurry to leave town after the incident, meaning you know something more than the others. Something the Red Hood just might be interested in, say, Roman Torchwick?"
Sionis kept silent, but it was telling enough for the vigilante. "Jackpot. Now here's how things are gonna go: you either tell me what I need to know or I break your arm and start moving downwards."
He didn't need much convincing. Besides, if his hunch was correct, Torchwick was a deadman the moment he got his hands on him anyway. "Alright. Alright. But whatever you hear didn't come from me, got it?"
All he heard was a snort in return, but eventually got an answer. "Deal." With that, his arm finally went slack and he immediately went to massage the pain away. Turning, he stared down the gaze from the white lenses of the Atlas vigilante in front of him. He started talking:
"A while back, I received a 'generous donation' to deliver armaments and heavy transport for Torchwick. Not only that, but I was also tasked in getting him connected with people who'd help him in his job, most preferably, The White Fang."
"Why specifically the White Fang? Everyone knows they hate working with humans."
" 'Never explained why. I just assumed it's because they were beneficial to one another; White Fang gets resources for their cause; Torchwick gets the muscle for his job. Nonetheless, I'll gain a profit in the end."
"Who hired you?"
"No damn clue. It's a woman for sure, but that's as far as I know. All the orders came from a burner number, and it's been disconnected ever since Torchwick's incident at the Docks. Whoever she is, she not only has Torchwick on a very tight leash, but she's also the brains of the entire operation. And if you ask me, this entire thing smells like a conspiracy."
The white lenses narrowed at him to continue.
"Someone's using Torchwick and the White Fang as pawns in their own sick game. With tensions rising from the White Fang and all that stolen Dust being stockpiled, it's all coming together as one big ass powder keg, with Red Hood being the match that helps it blow up in everyone's faces! So yeah! Like hell am I gonna stay here when that happens!"
By now, Black Mask had stood up and towered over the vigilante, staring down the white eyes of the vigilante. Robin hadn't moved an inch from her position, unintimidated while she continued the glare off between the two.
But both their attentions shifted when a red laser dot appeared over Sionis' forehead.
Looking across the street, there on the rooftop stood Red Hood, waving at them while aiming down a red-dot rocket launcher on the other hand.
Ah hell.
"Wow, he sure can move when he really wants to."
Without wasting another second, Red Hood fired the rocket and watched as the office exploded from the inside. The ground shook, a loud *BOOM* erupting, as its fireball burst out the windows, sending shards of glass and debris into the streets below. No matter how many times it happens, the sight of an explosion never gets boring.
But now was not a time to admire the view. Dropping the rocket launcher, Red Hood turned and made a break for it, going from roof to roof as fast as possible.
Given how fast Sionis ran out of that room, there was no doubt that he made it out alive. Good. A clear warning and message that would keep him out of Vale for a long while. That left only one nuisance to deal with. Unfortunately, quick eyes caught the Girl Wonder plunging herself out the window before the rocket hit.
*WHOOSH*
Speaking of which.
*BANG BANG*
Now turned around, Red Hood kept both pistols aimed across to where the Girl Wonder had landed. She looked smaller than Hood remembered.
Both vigilantes stood across from one another. Neither of them moved, but still anticipated the other's action. The air felt intensified by their staredown.
"I gotta admit," Red Hood spoke first, "It's nice seeing a familiar face."
The modulated voice slightly perturbed Robin, "Don't think we've never met."
"Not formally, but I'm all too familiar with that suit." Even behind a helmet, there was no mistaking a wide grin.
Robin was quick to fling a trio of Birdarangs at her opponent, but was dumbfounded when two were shot out of the air and the final was caught between gloved fingers.
"Hm, custom made huh," Red Hood looked over her Birdarang, analyzing everything of the projectile. "I still remember using plain-old batarangs." Not a split-second later was it thrown back at her.
Catching it took no effort, but it distracted her long enough for Red Hood to sprint towards the next rooftop.
The chase was on as Robin pursued the Red Hood from rooftop to rooftop. Neither relented and maintained speed with one another. Even when the latter kept pace by masterfully flipping between the gaps, the former kept the distance and momentum with each successful roll of the landing. From what she noticed, there wasn't any thought into Hood's next action. It all came naturally, instinctual, almost like breathing.
In an attempt to slow down her opponent, Robin threw a Birdarang lasso aimed at their leg. Just as she reeled it in, Hood had turned around and cut the line before it came taut.
Two surprises in one night? Robin was now far more intrigued by her opponent, but was also concerned. Who the hell was this guy?!
Their chase continued on until the point where the next roof was too far to jump across. Only, Hood wasn't aiming for the roof because at the jump, they crashed straight through the Warehouse window below. Robin wasn't too far behind and glided into the same shattered window.
The inside was dimly lit, barely able to make out what each shadow was. What she could make out were the different machinery and conveyor belts that flowed between 2 levels. There were numerous lines of tables with varying tools and large metal carts. This place must've been an old Dust Refinery.
Red Hood can't be too far. With a few taps to her arm gauntlet, Robin switched her mask to nightvision.
"Ah!," She winced back as her mask constantly switched in and out of night vision before she turned it off altogether. She then tried thermal imaging, only to see the same results. Not even Detective Vision was safe as it showed everything around her blurred.
"Neat trick? I sure hope so." Red Hood's voice echoed throughout the building from somewhere. "Wouldn't want to ruin the game."
Robin kept herself low to try and blend into the shadows. While her alternative visions may be disabled, the same may pertain to her opponent. Even if it didn't, her gear should still hide her heat signature.
"So, fancy gear you've got there: custom batarangs, your own plated suit, a long cape that doubles as a glider? Only change I got was the pants. Can you imagine how weird it would feel just having your bare legs out in the open with that costume?"
Robin knew what Hood was trying to do. If she talks, she loses her only advantage. Best to let that ego grow.
"Not a talker huh? Or are you the kind to get down to business? That's alright. Now, with all those fancy toys you've got, let's see what else you have."
Suddenly, all the lights in the building were switched on, and something had rolled towards her feet. Looking down, she saw a grenade.
She was wrong. The talking wasn't for ego; it was a distraction.
Robin barely had time to lunge away when the thing blew up. But the blast had still caught her and hurled her straight into a metal cabinet, bending inwards on impact. Although disorientated, she still could make up the loud footsteps that approached her. Looking up, Red Hood stood across from her, arms folded while the helmet looked over her.
"I see that you have Aura. But if I didn't know any better, I'd say you haven't trained much with it, have you?"
Although Robin remained silent, that didn't stop her from gritting her teeth and glaring while she stood back up.
"Okay, what else do you know?" Red Hood taunted before shifting into a fighting stance.
She knew that it was bait, but frankly, she didn't give a damn.
Rushing forward, she threw a pair of birdarangs first. Hood easily deflected them, but Robin followed it up with a downward strike. However, it wouldn't connect as Hood sidestepped it then countered with a knee to the stomach before being tossed back to where she was.
Robin breathed in hard to get some air back. Although her aura to the brunt of the hit, it still took a lot out of her. Reaching to the back of her belt, she pulled out twin Batons, twirling them in both hands, then rushed back at her opponent.
Each strike she made, they barely missed their mark. For every swing, it was parried or blocked. For every two steps she made, Hood hardly stepped back. No matter how precise her attacks were, they'd always be countered to her sides. She was losing more ground than she could make.
With quick thinking, she threw her baton and watched it ricochet into Hood's helmet, dazing them in the process. Catching it back, Robin retaliated with two more fluid strikes to the face before twirling and sending them back with a back kick.
Red Hood stumbled back a couple steps before regaining balance on the nearby railing. Instead of groaning in pain or lashing out, Hood stood there and gave a hearty laugh. "Ha, Ha, now THAT'S new!"
This was getting her nowhere. It didn't matter how hard or fast she hit, she was barely making a dent with this guy. And the hits she took weren't random either. Even without looking at her aura level, she knew it was near depleted. There had to be another angle to this.
With no other option, the Girl Wonder threw down a couple smoke pellets at the Red Hood's feet before disappearing into the large fog it created.
Now this turned from funny to outright hilarious in Red Hood's opinion. "Come on, seriously? You really think this would work on me? We save this type of trick for the superstitious and cowardly. To the scum who stops and thinks twice, who breathes easier when the sun rises. To those who fear! And believe me, they think they know fear?"
Hood smirked at what seemed to be the blurry appearance of a silhouette ahead. With no hesitation, Red Hood swiftly turned around and roundhouse kicked the fast approaching vigilante, launching her straight into the railing and bending it to the point of barely hanging on.
"Wait 'till they get a load of me."
With one final kick, the railing gave out and both it and Robin fell from the 2nd floor and crashed to the floor below.
Something cracked when she got hit in the air, but knew it wasn't any bone. Then everything turned numb the moment she hit the railing. But when she fell and crashed? That was when her senses turned up to 11 and suddenly everything was on fire. Although her entire body burned in agonizing pain, she couldn't even move. Her eyes narrowly stayed open as they held back painful tears. Through her fading vision, she could make out the form of Red Hood looking over the edge.
"This is your one and only chance. Stay out of this…"
Robin could've sworn she heard something that was barely audible. Unfortunately, everything slipped to darkness before she could find out.
It was already the late hours of twilight at Beacon Academy. From the inside of team RWBY's dorm bathroom, Ruby held back any wince she made while she bandaged herself on the floor.
After waking up from her fight with the Red Hood, she had to practically drag herself from the Industrial District all the way to Beacon Academy, regardless how much it pained her whenever she moved around. The relief she felt when she got to her dorm bathroom and peeled away the different heavy parts of her suit. By the time she made it back, her aura had fortunately recovered enough to heal any of her superficial cuts and light bruises. However, she still had to bandage over large parts that were still discolored and swelling until her aura sufficiently healed them.
Once finished, Ruby could only look up and stare at the ceiling while she recalled the entire evening.
She'd lost. That hadn't happened in a long while. But even with a bruised ego, she knew the fault was all on her own. Bruce would be turning in his grave if he knew about this. She underestimated the Red Hood and acted careless in the fight.
Speaking of, the Red Hood was another mystery she needed to unravel. Who was this guy? He knew far more about her than she was comfortable with. Did that extend to her identity? Perhaps not. But if she's going to solve who was underneath that helmet, then she'll need to uncover as many clues as left behind. Fortunately, she had the tools to do so.
Looking over the scattered equipment around her, Ruby found her mask and gauntlet and put them on respectively. She's lucky that her recording from Roman's interrogation had continued on until her battle with the Red Hood.
Now, best to start with their confrontation:
*BACKWARDS*
"I gotta admit, it's nice seeing a familiar face."
"Don't think we've never met."
"Not formally, but I'm all too familiar with that suit."
*FORWARDS*
"Hm, custom made huh? I still remember using plain-old batarangs."
First points of interest and she's already stumped. Nothing of what Hood said made sense. She's the first and only 'Robin' to have been a vigilante and never has she ever met someone like that. Not only that, Batman has never had another partner before her.
…right?
Could he be referring to her mother? No. Mom's suit has never been used outside of the Circus and the only crime it may be involved in was the Death of the Flying Graysons. Even then, Bruce handled that on his own.
Best to put a pin on this.
*FORWARDS*
In an attempt to slow down her opponent, Robin threw a Birdarang lasso aimed at their leg. Just as she reeled it in, Hood had turned around and cut the line before it came taut.
Another point of interest that shocked the hell out of her. Whoever is under that helmet was both skilled and well-trained. Only a few can know or learn how to cut a line before it comes taut…
Ruby eyed the clean-cut end of the lasso used.
…and even fewer with knives that can cut through her lines.
*FORWARDS*
"Neat trick? I sure hope so. Wouldn't want to ruin the game."
*FORWARDS*
"So, fancy gear you've got there…"
"…Can you imagine how weird it would feel just having your bare legs out in the open with that costume?"
Red Hood must've been studying her beforehand. It would explain how he's capable of counteracting her mask and able to identify her gear so easily.
Only, the last comments were throwing her off. He sounded far too familiar with the Robin suit, almost as if fondly recalling it. And the way he described it? She could've mistaken the description for her mother's flying grayson uniform.
*FORWARDS*
"...But if I didn't know any better, I'd say you haven't trained much with it, have you?"
More than once has she seen Hood show some tactical prowess: Keeping her in a false sense of security, goading her into attacking first, staying at the defensive to see what else is under her sleeves, precise attacks to weaken her defense, seeing through all her tactics.
There was a sense of deja vu here. A strong sense of familiarity. Realization dawned upon her. All the clues were starting to paint an impossible picture.
That can't be right. Looking at it all, I'd say he was trained by B-
A knock on the door would interrupt her thoughts.
"Ruby? Are you in there?"
It was Yang. She could've sworn she was asleep when she snuck in. Had she woke her up?
"Y-Yeah, I'm in here. Midnight business, you know?"
Even though the door was locked, Ruby pushed her feet against it just to be safe.
"We haven't seen you since you ditched the meet-up a while ago."
Crap. She hadn't come up with an excuse while she was gone.
"R-Right…sorry. I, uh, had a talk with Professor Ozpin. He wanted to discuss what happened in the Cafeteria."
"For more than 3 hours?"
Ruby wasn't sure what else to say. Even after years of doing, lying straight to her sister's face never got easy, especially when you're both aware of it.
She heard Yang heavily sigh from behind the door, "The team decided that we're heading into Vale tomorrow. Who's going with who is still up for debate, but the main goal is to look for any clues on what Torchwick's next step is."
Yang didn't say much else about it, but Ruby still felt her presence by the door. She wasn't sure what was going to happen next until she felt a bit of pushback on the door from someone leaning on it. "You know, the help we promised Blake can also extend to you, you know that right?"
Ruby was silent for sec, "I…I know that. It's not you guys. I'm just…"
"Whatever you're going through, just remember that we're a team now and we'll always be here when you need it."
"And if for whatever reason the others can't, I want you to know that you can always count on your big sis to have your back."
She knew that Yang was only trying to comfort her, but hearing that stung her more than the bruises did.
When she felt the pushback on the door disappear, Ruby softly called out, "...I love you, sis."
Even from the inside, she could hear her sister's soft chuckles. "I know."
Ruby waited a while longer to make sure Yang was asleep before releasing her hold on the door. It was best that she wrapped this up; something told her that she was going to be busy later.
*FORWARDS*
"This is your one and only chance. Stay out of this…or you…"
*PAUSE*
So she had heard right earlier; Red Hood had said something more. Only this time, she noticed the exhaustion in his voice. And the rest of what he said was as loud as a whisper.
With a couple taps onto her gauntlet and she was able to isolate the sound. And by maxing out the isolated volume…
*BACKWARDS*
*PAUSE*
*PLAY*
A rush of pain and aches raced through her body as she abruptly stood up. Her arms push against opposite walls to steady herself from the upcoming nausea. Taking long and steady breaths helped lessen the shaking of her body.
But all of that paled in comparison to the deep fear she now had inside.
Oh gods. What else does he know!?
*BACKWARDS*
*PAUSE*
*PLAY*
"Stay out of this, or else you'll end up like Bruce."
Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment or a review if you liked it!
I do not own any of the characters. All characters and names used are owned by Viz Media and Detective Comics (DC).