"Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires." ~ Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
Those were the first words that raced through my mind.
What the hell was Blake of all people doing here?
The rest of the White Fang members gathered around and leveled their weapons at her as she continued to press the edge of Gambol Shroud against my boss's throat, threatening to slit it if anyone tried anything.
I saw her amber eyes glance over me briefly, but considering I was wearing one of the Fang masks and my leveled weapon was deceptively nonthreatening I probably didn't look like much to her. To me I was nervous as all hell, I had actually killed someone with that tiny gun. I knew just how bad this could all turn out with just one wrong step.
What could I do? Should I have stripped off that mask and blown my cover? Should I have leveled my gun against someone else? Should I have hoped that my crew would follow my lead instead of listening to Roman and these terrorists?
I wasn't sure that any of that would have worked for the better. So I kept my weapon trained on her as I tried to think of how I was supposed to help her out of this little jam while still maintaining this facade I had built around myself. It seemed the only thing I could do at the moment.
"Woah! Take it easy there little lady!" Roman said coolly, not a shred of fear or concern touched his voice. A blade to his throat did very little to perturbe him.
I watched as the huntress in training reached up and tugged off the black bow that I had always known to have adorned her head. I gazed as the simple sea breeze carried it away leaving the black pointed cat ears atop her head completely exposed.
I had not been expecting that.
"Brothers of the White Fang!" She called out to all of us as we gathered around her.
I definitely hadn't been expecting that.
"Why are you aiding this scum!?" She asked them all, accusatorially. She looked at us all once more and I felt a chill when those amber eyes of hers passed over me. From the corner of my eye I could see the Fang members lowering their weapons with indecision.
Apparently they had reservations aiming their guns at one of their own kind. I on the other hand kept my revolver raised to her just so no one would suspect anything of me. Did Blake really expect that to just put an end to all of this? Did she really believe that Roman would be threatened so easily?
Roman chuckled with genuine amusement. "Oh kid, didn't you get the memo?"
"What are you talking about?" Blake asked him, applying pressure to her black sword as if he needed a reminder that she had a blade to his throat.
"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together." He told her smugly, giving me a look and a confident wink.
"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation!" She threatened him.
The wind around us kicked up and I gazed above to see that two more of our bullheads had arrived as they were scheduled to. Reinforcements had arrived.
"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation!" Roman proclaimed proudly.
When I looked back down I saw him angle Melodic Cudgel and fire the explosive dust round straight into the ground at Blake's feet. She went flying back from the deafening blast.
Roman pressed his advantage, spinning around on his heel and leveling Melodic Cudgel to fire off a barrage of the explosive rounds. I watched as the agile woman retreated and expertly dodged the blasts before ducking back and disappearing behind a cargo container.
I ran up and approached Roman from behind as he moved to follow after her. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty," he taunted her as everyone else moved, spreading out to find her.
"We should get out of here!" I told him quietly as I followed in his steps. "People had to have heard that, the badges could be here any moment." I told him, hoping that I could get everyone to leave before Blake or anyone else got hurt.
"Get it rolling Gent!" Roman told me. "I'll handle this myself."
I wanted to protest but I had no choice but to listen to him. I pulled out my scroll and called Cardin's number. "What's going on? What was that blast?" He asked me the minute he accepted my call.
"We got a huntress," I told him, deciding to omit Blake's name. "Get ready to leave and don't get into any fights unless you absolutely have to, this job is finished, we're out of here."
"We almost got one container loaded, it'd take longer to detach it than take it," Cardin explained to me.
"Then take it, might as well get something, but don't take any chances just to get some dust," I warned him before hanging up.
I hung up and moved to follow Roman in the hopes of convincing him to just abandon this job with everyone else. "Sir I-" I was interrupted as a banana peel dropped from the sky and landed right in my boss's face, insulting him.
Roman growled as he tossed the offensive bit of trash away.
A spiky blond haired kid dropped down, a monkey tail swung behind him and his shirt was open to show his very muscular chest and abs. Show off.
He landed on Roman's face with both feet and kicked off to do a flip and glared at him.
"Leave her alone!" he demanded of Torchwick. As if that was enough to make Roman think twice.
"You're not the brightest banana in the bunch are you, kid?" he asked with amusement as one of our bullheads passed right overhead.
The doors of the bullhead opened and a dozen of the White Fang members dropped and surrounded him to attack him in close range. I switched my revolver to my left hand to draw my collapsible saber moving to assist them.
I needed this fight to end, getting more of the White Fang members involved was completely counter to my intentions to end this disaster with a hasty retreat. Going into that fight I was hoping to end this quickly and get him to back off or at the very least be a lot more merciful than the terrorists that outnumbered him.
Not that he really needed my mercy.
The blonde drew a collapsible staff and proceeded to fend off the multiple attackers. I moved in with my blade and proceeded to trade a few blows with him. Dove and Russel's would have been proud to see me putting their fencing lessons to such effective use.
I ducked a few swings and even managed to parry away some of his swings as his staff emitted flames from a dust dispenser built within it. I watched him knock several of the terrorists down with ease. And as the fighters diminished under the onslaught of his staff his attention focused more on me as I directed cuts and thrusts towards him.
I was no match for him. Practicing my bladework with Russel and Dove had certainly shown an improvement but I was an amature compared to him. I struggled just to keep up with his onslaught of blows.
The weapon split into a pair of nunchaku before my eyes and as I parried one swing but the other completely blindsided me. I was taken completely by surprise.
The weapon cracked against my face smashing me directly in the grimm mask I wore. Stars bloomed in my vision as he spun a kick right into my solar plexus sending me flying back like a ragdoll, I flew across the dock to smash right into a cargo container.
I was left on the concrete with the wind knocked out of me. I felt like I had just downed a bottle of cheap booze and did a number of spins. I was so whiplashed. I was thankfully able to keep myself from throwing anything up as I tried to reorient myself on the solid ground.
"He's mine!" I heard Blake call out and I raised my head and blinked a few times to watch as she moved in to engage Roman herself. I blinked the stars out of my eyes as I watched the display unfold before me.
Blake was an amazingly agile fighter. I already knew that but seeing her in action like this was a spectacle to say the least. But even more impressive was how Roman was managing to keep up with her. Melodic Cudgel really was like a natural extension of himself, he blocked her blows and attacked her ruthlessly.
I briefly considered getting up and trying to join the two of them. To try and take Roman down right here and right now. It may not have been what Ozpin wanted me to do but I had a split second where I thought it might be my best option. I may not have discovered what the White Fang needed the dust for but I could help bring in the guy stealing it for them.
That was the next best thing, right? I reached into my pocket and grabbed the diamond ring, squeezing it for luck, as if it could guide me.
Watching as Roman pummeled Blake over the head to send her back quickly dispelled the idea. If these two were being outmatched by Roman then I had no doubt that having me suddenly betray him would hardly make a difference to the fight, I could barely last a minute with these two and Roman hadn't even broken a sweat. Not to mention there were plenty of more fang members to join in and outnumber us.
All I would have done was show that I was a traitor and ruin everything I had been working on for months. And besides, it wasn't like there was any shortage of people to take Roman's place should he get pinched. Believe me, the Valean Mafia could have kept on stealing Dust for the White Fang without Roman. And Roman was perfectly capable of running the mob behind bars.
My best option was to hang back and pretend to be a useful little recruit for Roman and secretly do what I could to help Blake and her friend, or at the very least see that they both walked out of this situation alive and healthy.
I tried picking myself up as I watched the monkey faunus swing his nunchaku at Roman firing shots from the exotic weapon that Roman proceeded to expertly block with amazing speed. It was awe inspiring to watch.
Blake slipped in like a black flash and managed to land a blow that knocked him onto his back. For a moment I wondered if they had gained the upper hand when I saw him recover and raise Melodic Cudgel firing an explosive round overhead.
It blasted apart a crane overhead echoing like thunder as the steel machine holding up a container crumbled. I watched it drop and I closed my eyes as it crashed into the concrete kicking up dust and sending a shockwave beneath my feet that made me stumble back down just as I was starting to stand again.
Blake had been able to jump back and avoid the falling container that left her separated from Roman and her friend. That left her alone with me.
She moved to rush around the container and back to the fight but I saw her eyes drift over towards me. I half expected her to attack me since I was there and conscious and holding both a blade and a revolver but when her eyes reached mine she stopped, she hesitated. I saw a look of utter confusion cross her face and for a long second I wondered what she could have possibly found so interesting about me.
Then I realized that the grimm mask had been completely knocked off when that faunus guy had sent me flying into that container. I looked down and saw the disguise laying at my feet, I looked back up and met her amber eyes.
A fleeting touch of recognition crossed her face.
Shit.
"Hey!" I heard an all too familiar high pitched voice cry out.
Ruby was here now. I couldn't see her from where I was but I knew that voice anywhere. This was absolutely the last thing I needed right now.
I scooped up the mask and bolted away before Blake could get a second look at me. I ducked behind one of the cargo containers listening to the sounds of fighting.
"Well, hello, Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?" I heard Roman cry out to my old Beacon friend, followed by the unmistakable sound of another shell exploding.
I was at a complete loss on what I needed to do. Could Roman win this fight? Did Blake recognize me? Would Ozpin even try to explain things if she did?
I wasn't about to fight my friends but I knew that if there was going to be a winning side tonight it was going to be Roman's. And that was my only hope to make any good out of this situation.
I was in too deep to let it all turn to ashes now. I couldn't back out now I just couldn't.
I used the slight moment of respite to sheath my blade and holstered my revolver to unslung the shotgun that I had slung on my back. I worked the pump again and again to expel the normal beanbag rounds I had loaded up to use against any potential security that gave us trouble. I fed in some of my dust rounds in the hope that it could get me an edge.
I fed in several ice rounds in the simple hope that if I could get off some good shots I could maybe freeze my old friends to the ground to delay them long enough for an escape. That was my hope anyway.
"Don't worry Ruby," I heard a new voice say. "I'm combat ready!"
I rounded the corner of a container with my shotgun leveled and spotted the newcomer. A small ginger haired girl with a dozen blades moving all around her. I had no idea who or what she was as I watched those blades cut down a swath of White Fang members with fearsome ease.
I ducked back behind the container. There was no way that I was going to fuck with her, whoever the hell she was.
The echoing rattle of machine gun fire sounded from overhead. I turned back around and watched as several of the White Fang bullheads opened fire from their belly mounted guns. The ginger haired girl leapt back as her blades came together circling and forming an impressive green laser that shot out slicing cleanly through the charging aircraft.
I gazed up in horror as the split craft sailed flaming over my head only to land in the water sending up a mountain of water that sprayed down onto the docks. It was frightening to say the least.
I turned back to the watch as the mysterious girl fired two of her blades up at another bullhead that was attempting to lift off with a container of dust loaded up and ready to leave. I didn't know how but the blades had pieced the fuselage and were threatening to pull the bullhead down.
My crew was supposed to be on that airship. I emerged from my cover and leveled my shotgun at the airship, focusing the red dot sight right over the two blades that were stabbed into the side of the aircraft.
I fired, pumped, fired again, and again.
The specialized ice rounds struck the side of the craft enveloping a patch of fuselage as well as the blades stabbed into them with blooms of frost.
I saw several of the fast and agile blades whip out in my direction to slash at me. With luck I was able to duck and stumble away as I slid two explosive firedust shells into the shotgun and worked the pump to chamber the round.
Avoiding another blade I raised the shotgun and fired both shells into the side of the craft.
The rounds detonated against the side of the airship shattering the ice I had blasted it with. The blades and the section of fuselage shattered away with the blast and freed the bullhead from the ginger haired girl, the craft jetted up into the sky and away to safety.
I spotted Roman as he ducked through the open door of another bullhead and took off. Finally we were making a retreat.
I ducked away from another slash of blades and I sprinted down the corridors of containers as Roman's airship passed directly overhead. A cable dangling from it and I looked up to see Roman staring down at me and waving for me to grab onto the lifeline.
I jumped and grabbed the steel cable with both my hands and wrapped my legs around it as the Bullhead lifted off into the night sky. Cool air swept my hair and clothes as the bullhead picked up speed passing high over the towering spires of Vale.
I closed my eyes and poured all my willpower into not vomiting as the cable whipped me around in the air. I felt it pull up and I forced myself to look up and see the winch pulling the cable up as Roman hung out of the open door with Melodic Cudgel, the crook of the cane was lowered for me to grab onto.
"Grab on Gent!" he urged me as the cable was retracted enough to put it close enough to reach for the cane.
I grabbed onto the curved handle and with a respectable amount of strength Roman pulled me up and into the airship closing the door behind him and crossing his arms.
"That was a shit show," I grumbled to him as I sat down exhausted on the dirty floor of the bullhead. I looked around at the few injured and battered White Fang members that had managed to escape with him. Sadly I knew that at least a dozen were now likely going to be getting worked over by the badges. Tonight had certainly been costly for the Fang.
"What was with that one girl?" Roman asked with a frustrated growl. "I've never seen anything like that!" He looked down at me as he fished two cigars out of his coat, clipping the ends with his gold plated cutter as he leaned against the closed door. "You were at Beacon… Do you know anything about that girl with the swords?" He asked me as he tossed one of the stogies at me and stuck the other in his mouth to light.
"I've never seen anyone like her before," I told him, standing up with the cigar. A White Fang member stood up and motioned for me to take his seat. A look at the floppy dog ears atop his head made me realize that it was George who had given me his seat. It was a slight comfort that he had managed to get out of here.
I sat down on the small seat and pulled out my own lighter to spark up the cigar and take several relaxing puffs. The cherries glowed in the dark interior of the bullhead as the thick smoke filled the compartment.
"Whoever that girl was I never saw her at Beacon," it was the truth, I was clueless about her. And that was probably for the best.
"Any of the others?" He asked me.
"I never saw that monkey guy before… that black haired girl... I was briefly acquainted with her at Beacon, her name is Blake." I explained to him. There was no secret I could reveal about Blake even if I wanted to, I was still trying to process the fact that she was a faunus. And the fact that she had called the White Fang members their brothers only made me wonder even more. I had never really gotten any chance to know her at Beacon, I sort of considered her a friend by default since she was with team RWBY but I couldn't recall ever having anything that could be considered a conversation with her.
I realized that having hardly spoken more than two words to Blake before was probably a good thing right about now. The terrorists in this bullhead could threaten to toss me out to spatter onto the concrete and I couldn't really tell them anything useful. Ignorance in this case was my ally.
"Well it seems that Ozpin has become a lot more aggressive with his little pawns," Roman said, blowing a smoke ring that hung in the air between us. "We'll have to start playing our cards closer to the chest."
"You mean we weren't before?" I asked him dubiously.
"You'll see Gent," he told me, cracking a grin. "We'll be slicker next time, this was just the beginning."
I nodded, I was starting to have my doubts but voicing my concerns to Roman while we were surrounded by White Fang members who would doubtlessly relay anything said back to Adam.
The bullhead touched down outside of town near some union warehouses and I stepped out to watch as the Fang members offloaded the one cargo container we had managed to steal from this little caper. The plan was to take more but I suppose it was nice to see that this wasn't all for nothing.
"Hey, Jaune!" Cardin greeted me with a wave as he approached with the rest of my crew in tow.
"Was that Blake Belladonna at the docks?" He asked me in a low voice as he approached me.
"Yeah it was," I told him with a pat on the shoulder. I was at least glad that Cardin and the rest of my crew had obeyed me and stayed out of the fight well enough to get as many of the people out as possible. "Did she or anyone recognize you?" I asked him, worried that in the confusion I might not have been the only one recognized by her or Ruby.
"I don't think so," Dove cut in. "We kept our masks on and hardly got a look at her ourselves."
"Good," I said to them, not wanting to admit that I had almost certainly been recognized. I was already imagining Blake telling Ruby and everyone else that she had seen me working alongside Roman and the White Fang.
What would Ruby and the rest think? What would my own team think when word spread back to them? I didn't even want to think about what would happen then. But I couldn't banish the thought, I was sure that right now word was getting around that I had thrown in with a gangster. And I didn't have faith that Ozpin would set them right, knowing Ruby and the rest they'd rush to my aid if they knew the truth.
"Thanks for getting as many people out as you could," I said watching as the masked Deery limped away from one of the bullheads. I spotted Russel pull away to help her limp off towards a bench where she could take the weight off her leg. She didn't protest him trying to help her.
"No problem," Cardin said with a sigh. "What should we uh… what do you want us to do now boss?"
"Just help offload the rest of this into the warehouse," I told them. "I'll talk with you guys later over drinks, you've earned them."
Cardin and the rest nodded before turning to look over at Russel talking to Deery. "Rus! Come on, more hands make less work!" He urged him. Rus said something to the girl before getting up to help them with tonight's loot.
I spotted Roman moving inside the warehouse and proceeded to follow him. If he was planning on having us change up our tactics to start stealing this stuff on the fly I wanted to start talking about how we were planning on doing just that. I wondered if maybe the other scheduled heists were going to be canceled in light of everything that had just happened.
He was standing at a table within the warehouse. I was just about to ask him what our next move was going to be when a silky feminine voice cut through the relative quiet of the warehouse. It made my skin crawl.
"How very disappointing Roman," it said from the darkness of the warehouse.
Roman spun around. "Woah… I wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon."
I watched as a beautiful raven haired woman stepped out of the shadows wearing a provocative red dress. I could make out the silhouettes of two more behind her. I already felt danger just looking at her and her narrowed gold eyes as they completely ignored me to look directly at Roman.
"We were expecting… more from you," she told him dangerously. I just watched as the exchange unfolded before me, keeping an eye on the two behind her along with the shadows. I felt I had stumbled from the frying pan and into the fire.
Roman chuckled, looking easy and confident as he spoke. "Hey! You're the one who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang."
The woman scoffed. "And you will continue to do so," she said holding out her palm as she stepped closer, a ball of fire bloomed from her hand as if by magic. The flame added illumination to the room and I saw that the figures standing behind her were some gray haired guy who stared smugly at Roman and a chocolate skinned woman with mint green hair.
She was staring hard at Roman for a second but her red eyes moved over and examined me for a moment. Perhaps she sensed that I was looking at her boss as a threat because it was a hard gaze that only lasted a moment, she didn't find me to be particularly interesting.
"We have big plans for you Roman," she told him. Her voice was almost sensious. "All we ask for is a little cooperation." She said with a smile, that gave me chills.
Roman laughed and gave me a little glance. "And what do you think I've been giving you Cinder?" He asked her motioning across the warehouse. "I've been pushing my Capos for all they're worth."
"I heard your grievances the first time," Cinder said, closing her hand and extinguishing the flame she held within it. "Why do you think we convinced Adam to lend you the Fang as muscle?"
I didn't say anything but I scoffed at that.
"You got something to say!?" The grey haired guy said, apparently he had caught me showing my displeasure at using the White Fang for muscle. He stepped over and crossed his arms as he sized me up and found me wanting.
Everyone turned to me, even Roman. With all eyes on me I figured that I wasn't allowed to just keep quiet and observe anymore.
"Those guys out there aren't professional thieves, they're terrorists." I told them simply, looking Cinder directly in the eye. If I was going to answer to anyone here it wasn't going to be one of her underlings. "And they're not exactly pros in that profession either," I added.
"So what?" the grey haired guy cut in glaring at me. "You're stealing dust not robbing the Valean Reserve. Anyone with a ski mask and a gun can do this!"
"I'm just saying that if you want to keep the dust flowing and keep things running smoothly unlike tonight we're going to have to either work something out with some real professionals or Adam needs to start sending us the cream of his crop," I told her motioning outside.
"Preferably both if we want to keep this operation spread out, it's best to have our eggs spread out into as many baskets as possible. Most of those guys are just clueless kids that only have enough training to know what end of a gun to point. If we keep doing heists like this and with amatures then we're going to have a lot more fuck ups on our hands. It's a lot more difficult than just putting on a mask and waving a gun around."
The grey haired guy stepped forward with a snarl and a furious look in his grey eyes. "You're scraggly little protege has quite a mouth on him," he growled to Roman stepping past his boss and right towards me. "How about I straighten him up for ya Torchwick!"
I squared my shoulders and readied for him to send a blow my way. His leg came up and I raised my arms to block only for Melodic Cudgel to flash out and parry the leg. I heard the ring of steel against steel as Roman blocked the kick, turned the cane to hook me with the crook and pull me towards him out of the grey haired guy's reach.
"If anyone is going to straighten my Gentleman out it's going to be me," Roman said with a confident smirk on his lips.
The grey haired guy scowled at the both of us but a single hand from Cinder broke that as she stepped past him. "Play nice Mercury!" She said, speaking in that same silky tone that only seemed to hide danger. "The Gentleman has a point after all… Adam hasn't exactly been the most cooperative person here and I doubt that those animals outside are the best he has to offer."
"He won't be pleased with us squeezing him for some better guys," the mint haired woman beside her said, giving me another appraising glance.
"He'll obey Emerald," Cinder told her. "And if he won't then we can find someone who will," she assured them.
"And we'll work on outsourcing these jobs," Roman cut in with a comforting pat to my shoulder. "If Adam has fewer professionals then we'll find our own elsewhere."
"See that you do," Cinder said, giving me another glance. "So… what are your plans for this protege here?" She asked him.
"He'll be seconding me for the rest of the operation," Roman told her, giving me another pat on the shoulder. "Like I said… I'll be straightening him out."
Cinder gave him a nod and turned away on her heel walking out with her two companions following her. Emerald's gaze lingered while Mercury just gave me a dismissive snarl.
Roman and I never said a word to each other until we were sure she and her cronies had left. "Who the hell is she?" I asked him finally.
"My bitch of a client," Roman grumbled to me. "And now it seems you're going to be working with her as well… sorry about that gent."
I groaned at that and Roman laughed patting me on the back assuringly. "I know I know, it's not anything I would have wanted for you either but the operation needs to carry on and we've had too many setbacks."
"I'm sorry about that sir," I told him.
"Don't apologize Gent, you're been a class act through all of this. We just need to do some pruning and get back to running quality heists. And that means that I'm going to need quality guys like you and your crew at the helm." He explained to me. "Can I count on you?"
I nodded without any hesitation. There was no point in acting humble or having second thoughts now, I had just taken another massive leap down this hole and I could only continue to go deeper in the hope that it would somehow lead me out.
"Good," he said walking out of the warehouse. "Though as good of an apprentice thief as you are Gentleman, you really need to work on your fighting. I mean you may have lasted better than these other chumps but that monkey boy still managed to cream you easily enough."
"I've been training with my crew but it's been slow going," I admitted to him.
"I'll be sure to have Neo teach you a thing or two," he told me with a smirk.
"Wh-what?" I asked, finding the idea a little sudden.
"Yeah," Roman said. "Apparently you're my protege now so I might as well have my other teach you a thing or two," he told me with a cocky grin.
"I'll uh… I'll take you up on that." I said feeling a little awkward at the idea of training with Neo, especially considering what had happened just last night between us. I had no idea how I was going to clear the air with her.
"I'll try to maybe teach you a few things myself," he promised me.
I nodded as I followed him to the bullhead as it readied to fly us back into Vale.
"Do you mind if I ask you a question sir?" I said to him.
"Go ahead Gent, what's on your mind?" Roman asked as we stepped aboard the craft.
"What did you mean by "straighten me out?" I asked, I figured that when Roman said it he wasn't using the term like Mercury had. I had the sense it meant something important.
Roman grinned. "Don't worry about that at the moment Gentlemen. Just know that when you're working for the Torchwick family, the world is yours. We're just going to have to steal it first."
The doors closed and the airship rose to the skies taking Roman and I above the city. Looking out the small windows the glittering city of Vale did in fact seem like a pile of gems that were just waiting for some thief to reach out and take.
Standing alongside Roman as we flew overhead, I really felt like I could steal it all myself. And as I contemplated the fact that my contact with Ozpin was severed and that Blake was likely telling everyone about seeing me on the docks with Roman I asked myself; why shouldn't I?