11

Roman cursed under his breath.

He was used to being in the spotlight. Came with the territory of being the most well known thief in Vale. He took a bit of pride in his work, in his skill, and he made sure that the people were well aware of just how great he is.

But then Cinder had shown up. You didn't make it in this line of work without knowing your limits, and he was well and sure that Cinder was not someone he wanted to cross. Strong enough on her own to be a real pain, and despite the image she tried to put on it was obvious that she had some sort of backer. She was strong, sure, but not strong enough to have taken the resources she had, and definitely not smart enough either for all she believed that she was some master manipulator. No, there had to be someone above her… And someone who could order a girl like Cinder around? He was even less interested in getting on their bad side.

So what was some extra thievery? Stealing was his specialty, and if doing it a bit more kept him alive for one more day, that was another day where he could try to figure out an exit plan. Not that he had managed to come up with much.

And as he eyed up the group surrounding him and the stupid animals Cinder had forced him to work with? It was looking like his time had run out. Port had easily dodged his shot, and the huntsmen were making quick work of all the worthless goons he had with him.

"My my, all of this for little ol' me? Why, I'm almost flattered. Though I am curious as to how you managed to get enough advance notice on my location to justify this many of you coming out…"

It didn't make any sense. Four Beacon staff, including the headmaster himself and his deputy, along with a fifth Huntsman who seemed vaguely familiar in all the wrong ways. This isn't a group that would just have stumbled upon this. They should have been on the other side of the city, worrying about tomorrow's school day. But who could have warned them? The goons he was working with didn't get locations until just before they were needed. Everything was on a need to know basis, and he didn't trust them as far as he could throw them.

"You need not concern yourself with our information source, Roman. Just give yourself up." Bart looked resigned as he said it, even as he knocked out two "White Fang" members who were little more than civilians in cosplay with how little training they seemed to have.

A source they weren't willing to reveal. Someone he could hurt then. Or at least, someone they thought he could hurt.

He had been betrayed, then. The only thing that made any sense was that Cinder or one of her other goons had pretended to be a "concerned citizen" and ratted him out, saying they had overheard he would be at this location. But for her to report him to the authorities instead of just killing him outright… Was this part of her stupid plan she wouldn't share with him? What good was he behind bars? As he dodged and weaved and fired off Melodic Cudgel any time one of them got too close, he desperately tried to figure out the reason.

But he had nothing. He couldn't make a lick of sense out of this situation. But he also didn't have a way out of it, not with this many Huntsmen of this caliber here, and Neo off doing other work…

Well, if Cinder wanted him arrested, that meant he could at least live. But a master thief wasn't going to get captured without putting up a hell of a fight.

Qrow was having a bad time. As the fight dragged on for longer than it really should have, he couldn't help but wonder why they bothered bringing him along. With Glynda, Oz and Port working to disarm the White Fang members and the bullheads they had flying around, that left Bart and him to take on Roman. Bart seemed to be about evenly matched with the thief, so having a two on one should have been a piece of cake… were it not for his semblance. It seemed like every time Bart managed to get a good opportunity to take the criminal out, Roman would trip over nothing, allowing him to dodge by a hair's breadth. Every time he fired off Harbinger, it would miss and hit the concrete below them, sending dust and debris into Bart's eyes, or even his own!

"I know that thieves tend to be the slippery type, but this is just ridiculous!" He roared out, transforming Harbinger into its scythe form and swinging at Torchwick as Bart created an opening for him.

"If it's too hard for you, you could always give up! Don't be ashamed, you wouldn't be the first to fail at catching me." Roman had the gall to smirk at him, even as the sweat dripped down his stupid, smug face and he very obviously pushed himself as hard as he could, just barely escaping the blow.

Qrow tripped, stumbling into one of the many shipping containers and leaving him wide open for retaliation. Not one to miss such an opportunity, Torchwick fired at him, careful to angle his shot so that even if he missed he wouldn't hit the precious cargo.

But as Qrow hurriedly trying to deflect the shot with his weapon, the round just so happened to hit it at a perfect angle to ricochet into the shipping container, piercing the wall. He didn't even have the time to curse his semblance before the dust inside exploded, sending him, Roman, and Bart flying and drawing the attention of everyone for miles around.

The remaining White Fang had quickly surrendered after seeing the one trained fighter amongst them get ragdolled through the air and slam into a wall. The three men caught in the explosion were in rough shape, but it didn't seem to be anything life threatening thanks to their aura. They were being transported to the Vale Central hospital for a more immediate look over, but they would likely be released into the care of Beacon the following day. Or rather, later this day given how the early light of dawn seemed to be upon them. Port had volunteered to look after them and ensure Roman didn't sneak off somehow.

That left Ozpin and Goodwitch to clean up the mess and deal with the authorities. Glynda'a semblance made her invaluable for cleaning up a mess of this size, which meant Ozpin…

"Right. Another form." He accepted the paper with enthusiasm. Or at least, he hoped that he portrayed enthusiasm. He had long run out of coffee, and had not slept in quite a long time now, only to be bombarded with page after page of bureaucratic nonsense that the city was all too happy to push onto Beacon regarding the incident and Torchwick's arrest.

"Thank you for your work, sir. Torchwick has been a real thorn in our side." The officer looked apologetic that dealing with a criminal had taken the top staff of Beacon… but not apologetic enough to help with the veritable book of paperwork, scurrying off so he could pretend to look busy.

It was then that Glynda saw fit to join him again. "It seems that the last of it has been taken care of. This could have gone better… but I suppose this is a preferable outcome to our students being involved and Torchwick escaping."

Ozpin wasn't sure he could agree if it meant dealing with all of this… but he could always quietly slip it into Glynda's things later on, like he did with most of his work.

"Indeed. Though the lack of this 'Neo' character that was mentioned concerns me…" Had she simply been busy elsewhere? Or was Second feeding them lies? Only time could tell.

"Let's just hope that any other issues can wait until after the Vytal festival. It's going to be a nightmare as it is…"

Ozpin wasn't nearly so hopeful.

Once more, the two teams found themselves in front of Professor Goodwitch and the Headmaster. Having been called to Ozpin's office once more, they knew there could be only one reason for this meeting.

"Ms. Valkyrie, you may release Ms. Belladona." Goodwitch just barely managed to suppress her eye roll upon seeing just how they had 'kept an eye on' the girl.

Blake was on the other side of the room in an instant, all too eager to be free of Nora.

"So that means…?" Ruby looked hopeful.

"Yes," Ozpin replied. "Roman Torchwick has been captured, along with all White Fang members who were present. Because this is an ongoing investigation, I'm afraid I cannot share any more details with you on the manner of their arrest, nor related topics."

That was good enough for them. The group cheered, elated at the news, even if they hadn't really been involved.

"However…" the teams quieted down as Ozpin continued, "both Professor Oobleck and Qrow were injured in an explosion."

That put a damper on the mood rather immediately.

"They are expected to make speedy recoveries, but you will likely not see them out and about for the next few days. They are on strict orders of bedrest. If you wish… they should be open to general visitors tomorrow. Of course, Ms. Rose and Ms. Xiao-Long may visit their uncle immediately."

Before the sisters could rush out of the room, Goodwitch stopped them. "Just a moment, if you would. Before we let you go, we would like to know if there are any other pressing matters to attend to."

The whole room eyed Jaune.

Uhhh, got anything for me Second?

I suppose there is one thing…

"The next event of note would be the murder of a bookstore owner. The name is… Tukson, maybe? Something similar to that at least. Faunus, extendable claws like a cat. White Fang member looking for a way out, and it doesn't end well for him. That's all I can give you on that front… and outside of that, we've got some time to relax. I'll be sure to let you know when something else crops up."

"Less than expected, yet more than I wanted." Goodwitch sighed. "You are dismissed."

Sun and Penny had quickly integrated into the friend group of teams RWBY and JNPR. Sun had been spending quite a bit of time with them since the rest of his team had yet to arrive. Penny seemed to have a much more busy schedule, but was still spending what free time she had with the group.

Today was yet another day where the newest ginger in the group was absent. Sun was making obvious, and so far unsuccessful, attempts to get closer to Blake as the group traded jokes and barbs around a table in the cafeteria. The faunus girl was stonewalling his attempts, but he could occasionally get her to blush, and she had yet to seriously try and distance herself from him.

"Keep it up Sun, you'll make her crack eventually~" Yang teased the pair, having very much been enjoying the show so far. It was hard to tell if she was playing it up a bit to distract herself from her uncle's injuries, but all she and Ruby would say about it was that Qrow was doing alright and was hoping to be released as early as tomorrow. Apparently he was closer to the explosion than Oobleck, so their professor should be out of the woods even sooner if all went well.

Blake glowered at her teammate, but Sun laughed good naturedly.

"It's nice to know that I have the support of my fellow blonds." He gave Yang and Jaune a wide smile.

"Hey, don't drag me into this!" Jaune protested.

"Drag you into it? This is all your fault!" Blake looked half ready to hiss at him.

She kind of has a point, even if you were just listening to me…

"She's got you there, man." Sun's easygoing grin turned into a contemplative look. "But that reminds me… how did you know my name back then? I don't remember ever meeting you, and I'm pretty good with faces!"

"Ah, well…" the chatter at the table quieted down as they caught on.

What should I do? Jaune pleaded.

If you want to tell him, tell him. Like I said before, he'll have your back.

"...I would appreciate it if you kept this to yourself, but it's my semblance."

Sun's eyes widened. "Oh! I guess I should have expected something like that, but… what exactly is your semblance? I can't imagine it just tells you people's names. If you don't mind me asking! Sorry, I know the festival is coming up and a lot of people are keeping their semblances secret…"

"We call him Second Thoughts, or just Second for short." Sun only seemed more confused, but Jaune barrelled on before he could ask a question. "Long story short, my semblance is sentient. It talks to me, gives me advice, etc. Only I can hear it though, we interact through our thoughts, hence the name." He gave his new friend a moment to process that.

"Seriously?! That's pretty nifty… but how does that translate to you knowing my name?"

What? He just believed me? No asking for proof, no doubt?

I told you, he's a good guy.

"This is the abridged version, but basically Second can see a few versions of the future. We would have been friends, are friends, so he knew who you were."

"That is sick! So does that mean you already know who wins the tournament?! No, wait, better question," he glanced at Blake out of the corner of his eye. "Do we…?"

I'm not answering those.

"Sorry man, but that's not how it works. I'm sure that Second has some idea… but he's not exactly keen on telling me about it. It frustrates me to no end, but that's how it is."

And so yet another member was inducted into our secret society…

Are you narrating? Stop it, I'm trying to have a conversation here.

Spoil sport.