Logan: "Rrahh!" Logan shouted to the heavens.
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For three weeks, Logan had been going back and forth with specks and rumors about Bulwork shipping and found nothing concrete on them. And the cause of such an outburst? Logan's current lead, lead him to an abandoned town's red-light district. Causing him to shout in rage at finding nothing and smashing a hole through what was left of the building's walls. But the time his rage had subsided, most of the town was turned to ash and added to his [Inventory].
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Logan sighed as he made an ash chair and sat down. He couldn't help but wonder if what he was doing was right. Failure after failure after failure, and still nothing to go on. This thought plagued Logan's mind as he sat down with his head in his hands.
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Am I doing this right? What if I'm wrong? What if this all goes nowhere?
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All these errant thoughts bounced around in Logan's head at speeds he couldn't deal with. The feeling of failure was eating away at Logan. As his mind slowly fell into a void of turmoil, his scroll started ringing.
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Logan: "Hello?" Logan spoke, his voice low and slow.
Lil' Miss: "Heya Scarlett!" Lil' Miss' voice cut through Logan's depressing thoughts. "You still in that town?"
Logan: "I am, why?" Logan asked, getting back into his working mindset. "You find something out?"
Lil Miss: "Yea, that town was occupied until last year by a bandit tribe. One you're familiar with." Lil Miss' stated.
Logan: "Which one?" Logan asked. "I know quite a few and a lot that want me dead." Logan explained.
Lil Miss: "The Kannibal tribe." Lil Miss told him. "The tribe you thought you destroyed."
Logan: "I did destroy." Logan corrected her.
Lil Miss: "No, you thought you did." She reiterated. "Currently, the remnants of that tribe were in that town. When you started searching for Bulwork's HQ, they scorched earthed and ran. Knowing that you would sooner or later find them."
Logan: "How does that correlate with the town?" Logan questioned
Lil Miss: "That town was only abandoned six months ago."
Logan: "Impossible, this town has been abandoned for longer than that." Logan said.
Lil Miss: "That's what they want you to believe." Lil Miss started explaining. "Bulwork was their legal way of raising money. With you stalking around their last bastion, they were afraid you were there to finish the job."
Logan: "Then the town I'm in..." Logan thought out loud.
Lil Miss: "The town was their safe haven. Their last safe haven" Lil Miss said. "Out in the woods and away from the Kingdoms. And the best part? They could hide in plain sight and not get discovered."
Logan: "But why destroy and abandon the town?" Logan asked. "That part makes no sense."
Lil Miss: "To erase any trace. That way, it would be far harder to track them." Lil Miss explained. "They don't want to be found. They just want to move on with their lives. Even if it means throwing away what they once were."
Logan: "...shite..." Logan swore. "So Bulwork is a dead end?" He guessed.
Lil Miss: "Yes and no. Bulwork was bought out three days before the attack on Menagerie and for a great sum of Lein." Lil Miss explained. "From there, it's just shell company after shell company. I'm still working on going through it all."
Logan: "Thanks, let me know when you find something." Logan said as he went to hang up.
Lil Miss: "I found something." Lil Miss said, stopping Logan in his tracks. "An old friend of yours has ties to the one company that bought Bulwork."
Logan: "Which one?" Logan demanded.
Lil Miss: "Well... it's...
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{RWBY: Fireborn}
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Logan sighed as he exited a room with blood-covered hands.
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Ironwood: "Did he talk?" Ironwood asked as he handed Logan a rag.
Logan: "He's singing." Logan said as he accepted the rag from him. "Ask him what you need, I got what I needed out of him."
Ironwood: "Is he still in one piece?" Ironwood sighed and asked before Logan could walk off. "I may have been able to sway the council this time, I doubt I'll be able to keep my status as a General if this happens again."
Logan: "Jacques is still in one piece." Logan admitted as he cleaned his hands. "Though he may have a fear of fire and ash from now on."
Ironwood: "Do I even want to know why he earned your ire?" Ironwood couldn't help but ask.
Logan: "He earned far more than just my ire." Logan pointed out. "He got what he deserved, somewhat, and he still has much more punishment to come."
Ironwood: "You didn't answer- never mind." Ironwood shook his head. "I'll get what I need out of him and then deal with the problems that may arise afterward. If you still have some steam to blow off, head on down to the gym. I rather replace a few punching bags rather than deal with the medical reports of how many bones you've broken in sparring matches."
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Logan just shrugged and walked away, burning the rag as he went while cleaning himself with his flames. He then made his way down to the gym, snagging a pair of boxing gloves and putting them on before he stood in front of one of the many punching bags. Logan stood for a second then sprang into action, delivering a devastating body-blow punch that rocked the bag. Logan then delivered a right straight followed by a left hook, two right jabs, and a left smash. The bag lurched and bounced on its chain from the combo, but before it could rest, Logan smacked it to the side with another body blow followed by a sidekick.
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Logan continued on for a few hours, just hitting the punching bag as hard and as fast as he could. Delivering combo after combo that rocked the bag back and forth. Mainly using his hands to get the bag going before using his legs to deliver a powerful kick. By the time the third hour rolled around, Logan was covered in sweat and had already put a hole into two different bags. Logan rolled his shoulders as he shook himself loose after his workout, using a dry part of his shirt to wipe some of the sweat off his face. He felt relieved and had lost a lot of the stress he had accumulated these past few weeks.
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Sighing in content and leaving the bags to the cleaning bots, Logan headed off to the gym showers while pulling out his toiletries from his [Inventory]. After a quick scrub down and rinse, Logan walked out in a fresh new set of clothes, namely boots, khaki jeans, and a white shirt. As Logan left the gym, he met up with Winter.
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Winter: "I'll be honest, if it wasn't for your hair, I would have thought of you as one of our own." Winter commented as she walked up to Logan. "The hair is a dead giveaway."
Logan: "Hey, I like my two-tone hair." Logan playfully said.
Winter: "How's your daughter?" Winter asked with a slight smile. "Weiss has been sending me pictures when her and team RWBY are babysitting."
Logan: "Fine and healthy as a horse." Logan told her. "She likes to move around as much as she can and is getting faster by the day. Giving me, Glynda, and RWBY a hell of a time keeping an eye on her."
Winter: "I would love to meet her in person, yet I haven't had the time." Winter sighed. "The General keeps piling on work and I haven't had time to relax."
Logan: "Well, I'm part of it with Menagerie becoming a Kingdom and all." Logan admitted sheepishly.
Winter: "I'm well aware." Winter said dryly.
Logan: "How are your mother and Klein doing?" Logan said, changing the subject. "I hear those two started dating once Jacques was imprisoned."
Winter: "Mother and Klein are doing well. Mother has been all the better for it." Winter explained, allowing the subject to change. "Mother's stopped drinking and Klein has gone back to being a doctor, though he still lives there and acts as a butler during his free time. Mother keeps telling him that she's fine with him stopping being a butler, but he keeps saying no. Telling her it's to repay his debt to Grandfather but never said what it was."
Logan: "And Witley?" Logan asked. "I heard that Klein took him under his wing as a doctor."
Winter: "He did and Whitley has grown from it." Winter said fondly. "He once was wound tight due to Jacques' influence, now he's growing into a fine young man."
Logan: "That's good to hear."
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Logan and Winter talked for a bit more before she had to run off to make sure no more paperwork was going to pile up on her desk. Logan bid her goodbye and left Atlas Academy, stopping to buy some treats for him, Glynda, and Dorothy. Once Logan flew off, he made his way home. Deciding to relax and spend some more time with his family, Logan made his way home as fast as he could.
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{RWBY: Fireborn}
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Logan sighed as he waited for a call from Lil' Miss. He had passed along the information he had gotten from Jacques to her in hopes she'll be able to find out more. More about a small group called 'Ded2Right', who was behind all this terrorism.
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Logan was aware of 'Ded2Right' before he got the information from Jacques. They were a small-time terror group that mainly did propaganda about human supremacy. Not enough to warrant them being taken down as they only had a following of ten members and only did soapbox speeches that people ignored. The worse things they have done were graffiti and a few aggravated assault charges.
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They were more of a group of delinquents than terrorists.
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But, according to Jacques, they were the ones that funded his uprising after his divorce and the ones that kept him from jail the first time around. Now, they were on their way to being terrorists.
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Logan: "Talk to me." Logan demanded after he picked up his scroll when it rang.
Lil Miss: " 'Ded2Right' is gone." Lil Miss didn't hesitate to talk. "They changed completely. They go by 'DedEnd' now and it's only three members."
Logan: "Who are they?" Logan asked.
Lil Miss: "Now, I haven't gotten that far since they keep to themselves." Lil Miss told him. "But I know one of the three members is called 'Wrench'. A Blackfinger that works on off-roaders in the snowy wastes of Atlas."
Logan: "Not many call themselves a Blackfinger anymore." Logan mused. "It's an old name for a mechanic, one that's been in the business for years."
Lil Miss: "I know a few that call themselves that, but they're all nowhere near Atlas." Lil Miss told Logan. "Either this 'Wrench' is an old mechanic or they have just taken up calling themself a Blackfinger. Doesn't matter as they're a part of 'DedEnd'."
Logan: "True." Logan agreed. "Got a location on this 'Wrench'?"
Lil Miss: "Sure do." Lil Miss told Logan. "A little mining town in northern Atlas called Anker."
Logan: "Thanks, I'll send you the money."
Lil Miss: "Pleasure doing business with you~"
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Logan sighed as he hung up his scroll. Finally having someplace to direct Menagerie's anger for the terrorist attacks.
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Logan: "DedEnd." Logan thought aloud. 'I just hope this stops things for a while. Long enough for Menagerie to get on the Council and gain some allies. That way I can focus on what Magus needs to get done so I can finally stop fighting and enjoy my life.'
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With a sigh, Logan heaved himself up from his table. He quietly walked around and picked up a sleepy Dorothy before taking her to her crib. Logan sighed as he put her down to sleep.
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He had everything to lose and everything to gain once this was all over. But even then, Logan felt like his days of fighting were long from over.