Starting Strong

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works, if you recognise it from somewhere else, surprise it isn't mine.

Betad by Atrius, Hermes, Priapus, Marethyu, Old man of the mountain and TheDonFluffles

New Game Plus, Game of the Year Edition

Chapter 05: Starting Strong

— Blake Belladonna —

"Did it have to be so… skintight?" Blake asked, her voice modulated by the mask of her new armour. She honestly felt like she was naked at times with just how tight it was, practically a second skin that did nothing to hide her feminine charms.

"Yes, now stop whining," Shiro replied calmly, checking her out like he hadn't just watched her get changed into it. "So, the basics: it's far more protective than it looks, but it's made for infiltration, it should hide you from just about any sensors and cameras, plus it has an in-built cloaking system. The current charge only gives you about an hour of invisibility before it needs recharging, so use it sparingly and monitor your battery level," Shiro said, making her blink.

Okay, as tight as it was she couldn't deny it would be extremely useful. A lot of her old missions would have been easier if she had this.

"So we're sneaking into this base?" Blake asked, making Shiro chuckle.

"You are, I've planned your infiltration already. You're sneaking into the back to get to the prisoners, I'm kicking down the front door to cause a distraction while you extract the girls," Shiro said, putting his own, much bulkier armour on.

Hm, she could see the benefits. If the thugs decided to get rid of the evidence during the attack, the Faunus would die.

Shiro could distract them while she rescued the poor Faunus, then she could flank the thugs herself once the civilians were free.

"Have you decided what to do with the girls?" Shiro asked, making her hesitate as she glanced at him.

Shiro didn't really seem to care about their plight, he had his own reasons for doing this, so he'd left the decision of what to do with the 'products' to her.

"I'm going to send a message to Sienna Khan, she won't be happy to hear from me but she'll help these girls get to the Menagerie," Blake said, expecting him to oppose her plan since it involved the White Fang.

"Ah, paying off your betrayal with some new recruits? Smart." Shiro asked with a twitch of his lips, making her scowl under her mask.

That wasn't what she was doing… but she couldn't deny that it would help stop the White Fang from hunting her down for abandoning the cause.

"That's not- I just think they'll be happier in the Menagerie, especially after all this," Blake refuted, making him chuckle.

With Shiro you couldn't really tell when he was being serious or not, he seemed to enjoy poking at sore spots and pouring salt into open wounds.

She wouldn't say he was necessarily a bad person, but he was definitely an asshole.

"Sure, sure. Now, Sombra has agreed to run interference for us, they won't be calling for any reinforcements and the police won't be called until we're done, so we're ready to start this party," Shiro explained, making her pause.

"She can do that?" Blake asked, she wasn't sure what to think about the smug hacker but Shiro seemed to trust her.

"Easily, don't worry about Sombra, she'll do her part," Shiro said, with utter confidence in his… friend?

He was apparently dating Melanie, but she'd almost felt the sexual tension between Shiro and Sombra.

"Fine, then let's get this over with," Blake said, shaking her head. She wasn't interested in Shiro's sex life, and she absolutely wasn't interested in Shiro himself. If she kept telling herself that, she might actually believe it.

Heading out, it didn't take them long to make it to the hideout of their targets, Sombra had acquired them a van so they could move through the city without attracting to much attention (though the van noticeably struggled when Shiro got into it, the weight of his power armour almost too much even for the large vehicle.)

Parking up nearby, she looked at the map in her heads up display, taking a deep breath. She hated how easily she slipped back into 'mission' mode, after swearing to leave it all behind when she left the White Fang.

But there were almost a dozen Faunus who needed her help, and these scum didn't deserve her pity. Shiro had already made it clear he didn't plan to take survivors.

Given the feed she'd watched of what these men were doing to the prisoners they had, she wasn't feeling overly merciful either.

As she prepared to head into the back entrance (already open thanks to Shiro's drone), she sent off her message to Sienna Khan.

She didn't know how the White Fang would react to her, but she hoped they still believed in helping Faunus enough to do what she asked.

The sounds of an explosion drew her out of her thoughts, and into the moment. That was the signal, Shiro had made his entrance.

— Coal —

Coal wasn't a particularly important man, from a poor family with no real skills beyond some combat training he gained before he was kicked out of the Huntsman academy he'd been attending.

In the brotherhood, he was someone, one of their better fighters and one of only two members with their aura unlocked.

He liked his life in the brotherhood, being the big fish in a small pond, being able to put the beasts in their place and getting paid well for it.

The fact that he could play with the merchandise as well just made this gig even sweeter, even if he didn't know who their mysterious sponsor was.

Yup, he was living the good life here, but he wasn't particularly loyal to the brotherhood, so when the door exploded and a large heavily armoured figure burst through it, already aiming its massive pistol, more of a hand-cannon really, he gave some serious thoughts towards running, especially when the figure pulled the trigger and a loud bang echoed through the bar, the round blowing a hole in the skull of one of his 'brothers'.

When the masked figure turned to him, the blue eyes of his helmet glowing as the massive gun was aimed at him, those thoughts vanished and he made his mind up.

He was getting the fuck out of here, they didn't pay him enough to deal with some fucker who looked like he was from some Atlas black-op.

The bullet that struck him took a massive chunk of his aura, and as one of the other members rushed the armoured figure, swinging his dust-enhanced blade at the intimidating man, Coal ran for the window, firing his own weapon to break the glass before he jumped through.

The others would call him a coward, but somehow he didn't think they'd actually survive long enough for that to be a problem.

He had a lot of lien stashed away, enough to live comfortably for a few weeks before he joined up with some other gang.

Yeah, he wasn't going to die for those guys, they could fight their own battle, he was-

Pausing as he ran down the street, he blinked as she spotted a very short girl with mismatched pink and brown eyes standing in the middle of the street, a parasol over her shoulder.

As she started to walk towards him, he growled and rushed towards her. He didn't know who she was but he didn't plan to let her get in his way.

Swinging his greatsword, he watched in shock as she shattered into glass and then all he knew was pain.

— Neo Politan —

Tilting her head as she looked down at the man, she wondered who he was briefly before shrugging and stabbing him again.

Watching Shiro was getting more interesting, but she'd never been good at sitting on the sidelines, so Roman wouldn't mind that she played with one of the thugs who tried to run away, right?

Well, he probably would, but that was easily solved, she just wouldn't tell him. It could be her little secret.

— Shiro Eis —

I knew the brotherhood was a small time gang, but this is frankly a pathetic showing, they'd definitely have been wiped out by one of the larger gangs soon even if I hadn't decided to come pay them a visit.

Watching apathetically as my attacker's sword is deflected by my shield, I chuckle to myself, my voice modulator making it sound rather intimidating as I watch my shield levels.

I had hoped these fools would be useful in helping me test my newest armour, but they're just so… pathetic.

Backhanding the idiot away, I watch as he flies away and smashes into the wall, the enchanted strength from my armour doing good work.

Before he can get up, I take aim and put him out of my misery, enjoying the kickback of the large handgun.

I'll have to let Ruby know that her recommendation was a damn good one, though perhaps I should tell her I was fighting some tough grimm instead of gunning down thugs.

I doubt she'd take it well to know I took her recommendation and used it to kill people, even people as irrelevant as these fools.

I don't mind that one of them got away, he didn't see anything that could truly incriminate me and he won't get far.

Sending one of my drones to follow him, I pause as I realise just how right I was, seeing him on the ground on the very same street.

Ah, Neo got bored of just spying on me? I'll need to talk to her sooner rather than later, but for now her spying has been relatively harmless.

I know she's doing it on Roman's orders, but my drone caught him complaining about a 'Cindy', who seems to be giving him orders from his complaints.

So, Roman Torchwick wants to recruit me on 'Cindy's' orders, while he works with the White Fang to steal dust? I'm missing a piece to this puzzle, and I think Cindy might be it.

Who is she that has both the White Fang and Roman on a leash? The White Fang don't seem to like Roman and Roman certainly doesn't like them or the attention they're drawing.

Questions for later, as I sidestep another attack, smirking under my helmet. I wonder how Blake is getting along?

I'm mostly apathetic towards the suffering of the Faunus that these guys have been selling, I'm here for something far more important than them, but I chose to attack right now for a reason.

Blake has too many morals for what I have planned for her, and while she knew the Faunus women were being raped here, I'm hoping that what she's going to find down there will shake some of those morals up.

Because my drone saw something rather disturbing earlier while it was scouting, and I want Blake to see it herself.

— Blake Belladonna —

With the cloaking system built into her armour, sneaking towards the room where they were keeping the 'products' was all too easy, she could have easily done it even if Shiro wasn't raising hell on the main floor.

Shiro did damn good work.

Shiro's drones had marked the gang members on the map her heads up display had built in, which made her hesitate as she spotted a single red dot inside the room with a dozen blue dots.

Rushing towards the room before the gang member decided to get rid of the witnesses, she found the door to the 'storage' room already open, the man standing at a computer as he typed desperately.

"Pick up, damn it. Why the fuck aren't they answering?!" he half-shouted, and she would have found his desperation mildly funny if it wasn't for the overwhelming rage she felt.

As she saw on the drones recordings before, the room had a dozen small cages lined up along the walls to hold their product, with a metal stockade to hold the girl in place for the scum to have their fun.

She didn't know who he was trying to contact, but she didn't particularly care either, looking over his shoulder she noticed a laughing purple skull.

She'd seen that symbol before, it looked like Sombra was causing them quite a lot of trouble, she'd have to thank the bitchy hacker later, but right now she had something more important to deal with.

The man was so focused on trying to get the computer to work, he didn't even notice when she moved forwards.

She'd killed before, an unfortunate truth of being a member of the White Fang as long as she had been, but this time she enjoyed it as she slit the rapist bastard's throat, leaving him clutching his ruined throat with confusion and fear as he spun around, collapsing.

Uncloaking, she stood over him, watching him with complete apathy as he stared up at her in terror, choking on his blood with a desperate look on his face.

He must feel completely helpless, like everything had been snatched out of his control, so maybe now he'd understand what he put these girls through, but she doubted it.

Walking away, she walked up to the closest cage, seeing the girl inside back away in fear, a dog Faunus who couldn't be more than fourteen.

"S-stay-"

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. Don't worry, we're here to stop these guys and get you to safety," she said, her voice sounding threatening thanks to the voice modulation.

Finding the keys to the cage, she opened it and gently coaxed the naked girl out of the cage she'd barely fit inside, hiding her rage as she spotted the bruises on the girl, dried cum between her thighs.

As the girl burst into tears, lunging forwards and hugging Blake, she froze in place. She didn't deserve the thanks the girl was giving her, how the fuck had the white fang not noticed this?

They claimed to have formed to protect Faunus, but they'd been so busy stealing dust to notice that their people were being enslaved and sold.

Each cage only made her feel worse, each girl in a similar state, some even worse. Even the youngest of them, a rabbit Faunus that barely looked ten, hadn't been spared the sick lusts of the bastards, basically catatonic and unresponsive as she was removed from the cage, only flinching back when she was touched.

Shiro arrived at some point, but being the asshole he was he left the traumatised girls to her and immediately got on the computer, plugging something into it as he typed away.

"You said you'd made contact with someone to take these girls out of Vale?" Shiro asked, not even looking up from the computer as he did.

"I have, Tukson will take these girls out of the city, then a ship will take them to the Menagerie. If they want it, that is," Blake agreed, making him nod.

"Good, we need to extract. The police have been delayed but they'll be here sooner rather than later, and I'm burning the bar down," Shiro said casually, making her eyes widen. "There's a van behind the building, take the girls there for now, we need to not be here when the police arrive."

"Shouldn't you leave this as evidence?" Blake asked, making him chuckle.

"It's adorable that you're still even slightly optimistic, and while I hate to be the one to ruin that optimism, the police were in on this. Vale PD is corrupt as fuck, our hacker friend followed the money, and a lot of it found it's way to the Vale PD retirement fund if you catch my drift. Worse, there's at least one council member in on this little scheme as well. We've definitely kicked the hornet's nest with this."

Her eyes widened behind the mask, her blood running cold. Shiro had mentioned that these guys used to be small time, that their growth had been too fast, but for the police and council to be in on a slave trade in their own city?

She didn't think Shiro was a liar, a smug asshole, sure, but he wouldn't lie about something like this.

"I've got everything I need, let's move," Shiro ordered, casually destroying the computer with several shots. "What, was I not clear enough? Let's move, you girls don't want to be here when the authorities arrive."

Sending a message to Tukson, she gently pushed the girls to start moving, giving Shiro a half-hearted glare at his blunt tone.

This had only been possible because of him, it was his drones that found these girls, he risked himself to save them, so she couldn't be truly angry at him.

The transfer was fairly simple, with Tukson promising to look into their families when the girls were safe, but none of the girls put up any real fight and somehow she suspected most of them wouldn't have any family in Vale to contact, Shiro claimed the assholes mostly targeted people who wouldn't be missed.

Arriving back at Shiro's apartment, she stiffened every time a car drove past, peering out of the windows as Shiro chuckled.

"Blake, we're safe. Sombra delayed the police response long enough for us to get clear, they don't have a description of us, the only people who did see us and lived to tell about it are on their way to the Menagerie and not feeling overly helpful towards the Vale authorities," Shiro said with a grin, having already changed out of his power armour into some silky white pyjamas, making her sigh.

"I'm just being cautious, which you should be as well after several murders and some arson," Blake countered.

"No, you're being paranoid, everything went perfectly, the girls are well on their way out of Vale, I got what I wanted, Sombra got what she wanted, and we got home free," Shiro replied, making her pause.

"Where is Sombra?" Blake finally asked.

"Dealing with the information we stole, plus making sure the Lien can't be traced back to us," Shiro said, making her pause.

"You stole their money," Blake realised, making Shiro nod shamelessly.

"Millions of Lien, my payment for my good deed of the year, now being moved from account to account, cleaned and eventually placed into an account for me with the exception of a rather substantial reduction, which is Sombra's cleaning fee," Shiro explained. She could have complained that she didn't get any but she didn't bother.

She didn't feel like she deserved a reward for stopping something that should have never gotten this far, and Shiro didn't seem like he was particularly into sharing.

"Now, stop peeking out of the windows, get changed out of the power armour, before anyone notices someone in high tech armour peering out of my window, and stop fretting. We did a good thing, you got a gold star with the White Fang, I got paid, people got saved, everyone's happy," Shiro said with a chuckle as he poured himself a drink. "I've got drones watching the area anyway, and Sombra is monitoring the police chatter."

Realising he was right about how suspicious she looked, she sighed and moved to get changed, thinking about his words.

How would Sienna see this? She'd left the White Fang, something people didn't usually get to do and live to tell the tale, but she'd also stopped a Faunus slavery ring.

Shaking her head, she went to her room and changed into her own pyjamas, bought with her first paycheck from Shiro, and moved back to the room.

"That's better, I know I made the suits comfortable but they're not supposed to be lived in," Shiro teased, offering her a glass, filled with a no-doubt expensive wine.

Also, the armour was incredibly comfortable, hell she almost forgot she was wearing it with how skintight it was.

"I don't drink," Blake said, half-truthfully. She had drunk before but she wasn't a smart drunk, plus she was a complete lightweight.

"Don't be like that, we're celebrating a momentous victory, the start of something great," Shiro said, pushing the drink into her hand anyway.

Shiro wasn't the type to take no for an answer, so she sighed and took a seat, she'd just have one glass and call it a night.

— Three Glasses Later —

"W-we shouldn't," Blake whimpered, feeling Shiro's shirtless body against hers, her top tossed aside as Shiro kissed her neck, one hand cupping her breast as he gently teased her nipple, rolling it between two fingers teasingly.

"That's not what your body is saying," Shiro said smugly, his other hand slipping into her panties, one finger pumping into her tight slit, which was dripping with her arousal, a moan slipping out of her as he pulled back and pulled her panties off entirely.

How did it come to this?

Well that was obvious, Shiro just kept plying her with booze until she needed help walking to her bed, and wasn't sober enough to realise she was being led to his bed.

"T-this, oh fuck," Blake moaned as two fingers started to pump into her soaked slit. "This is a b-Mhmm, bad idea, you're my boss,"

"So? I'll give you a raise, but I think this falls very much under your duties. Shouldn't a good maid take care of their masters' needs?" Shiro asked teasingly, making her glower at him. She wasn't a whore he could throw money at to fuck…

This was exactly what she'd been worried about when she took this job, but as she felt something hard press against her dripping pussy, she didn't resist as Shiro started to push the first inch into her.

She wasn't a virgin, but it had been a while for her, she'd been drifting away from Adam for a while, finding excuses to not spend time with him as he became more and more violent, not that he noticed it, with his growing obsession towards the SDC.

So when Shiro finally thrust forwards, she could only let out a lewd moan as he sheathed his entire cock into her, pushing past her cervix with ease as the tip of his cock penetrated her womb.

Shiro wasn't a nice guy, so she wasn't surprised when he didn't give her any time to adjust, immediately starting to move, pumping into her quickly with no care for if she was ready, but then he hadn't bothered to listen to her attempts to talk her way out of his bed either, so she wasn't surprised.

Her words died in her throat as he started to pound her into the bed, remembering just how long Shiro could go from her nights listening to Melanie and him, her legs locking around his waist making him smirk even as she glared up at him drunkenly.

"Good girl," Shiro taunted, making her scowl up at him even as she moaned quietly, her cheeks flustered.

"Shut up," Blake muttered, before shrugging mentally. She needed some stress relief after an entirely shitty day, she was just using him for her pleasure, that's all.

With that in mind, she maneuvered them until she was on top, Shiro staring up at her with a smug smirk, his hands on her waist as she started to ride him, briefly moving behind to spank her booty.

"If we're doing this, I'm on top and you don't talk," Blake said sternly, only slurring slightly, she didn't want to give him the idea that this was going to be a common occurrence or that he could order her into his bed.

Shiro didn't respond, putting her hands bending the back of his head as he laid back and enjoyed her bouncing on his cock, her inner muscles squeezing down on the invading phallus.

Yeah, she was just using him, that's all this was.

Stupid smug Shiro, with his surprisingly muscled chest, fat cock and arrogant smirk.

This would be easier if he weren't hot, but despite his Schnee-like appearance he really was one of the hottest guys she'd seen, why did his smug superior attitude turn her on?

One of his hands came up to her breasts, which were jiggling with every bounce, groping her chest with one hand while the other played with her ass, thrusting up in time with her bounces.

He was letting her take charge but he was far from a passive participant in this, his smug smirk unchanging as she felt her climax rapidly approaching, his cock providing far more pleasure than her hands had been able to.

Moaning lewdly, she shuddered as waves of pleasure flooded through her body, grinding her hips desperately to try and extend the feeling.

Lost in the pleasure, she didn't notice the sly look in his eyes as he gripped her hips and started thrusting up into her, but she certainly did notice when something hot was pumped into her waiting womb, her eyes widening as she came again to the feeling of Shiro pumping his load into her.

"Y- you shouldn't have cum inside, you should have-" Blake started, before she paused. "I told you not to talk."

Shiro's smirk only grew, making her sigh and roll her eyes as she pulled herself off his still hard cock, staring down at her slightly spread lower lips as his sticky seed leaked out of her and down her inner-thighs.

She hated how good it felt to have a womb full of cum.

"Maybe you should have been more specific," Shiro said with a lazy shrug, making her roll her eyes. She'd have to grab some morning after pills tomorrow, she wasn't getting knocked up.

But before she could move away, Shiro grabbed her hips and pulled her back, flipping them over again as he moved her onto her hands and knees, a glare over her shoulder at him as he gave her a grin.

"You've listened to me and Melanie enough, you know full well I'm not done after a single round," Shiro said simply, thrusting back into her still-sensitive pussy. "I'm on top this time, feel free to talk though."

Before she could argue, he started to move and her words were interrupted by a quiet moan, which only grew louder as the sound of flesh clapping together filled the room.

— Next Morning —

Waking up with a massive headache and a sore body woke her right up from her usually lethargic state, her eyes widening as she sat up, feeling her nakedness as she looked around Shiro's room with a rapidly palling face.

She fucked Shiro, who was literally her boss and would probably take this as confirmation he could bend her over whenever he wanted. Sure, he got her drunk but she didn't even try and stop him beyond some slurred excuses.

Shiro himself was nowhere to be seen, nor were her clothes for that matter, as she looked around with a growing frown.

There was a stickiness between her legs that reminded her of how many times Shiro had creampied her last night, his stamina far surpassing Adam's, as well as a salty taste in her mouth.

She didn't do anal, which she'd been sober enough to put a stop to, even if Shiro wanted to fuck her 'Bellabooty.'

A note on the bedside table told her to use his shower in the en-suite, and even Shiro's handwriting was somehow smug, entirely too fancy.

Showering, she was surprised to find some morning after pills (and headache tablets) waiting for her when she got back out, along with some water which she quickly took, heading into the apartment in just a towel as her nose twitched, smelling something incredibly enticing.

Reaching the kitchen, she watched as Shiro happily plated up some breakfast for both of them, humming to the music that was playing.

He was only wearing his silk pyjamas bottoms, making her mentally shake herself, why did he have to be hot?

"Morning, just finishing breakfast," Shiro said, spotting her. He definitely noticed that she couldn't immediately make eye contact, her gaze wandering to his chest, but he just gave her a cocky smile as he gestured to her plate.

"Thanks," Blake said, not sure how to bring up last night. She should try and make things clear immediately, and set some boundaries.

But she was also very hungry, having worked up quite the appetite, so she put it off and dug into the food he'd prepared.

Unfortunately, that proved to be a mistake as Shiro immediately devoured his plate and stood up.

"I'm gonna be busy today, clean the pots and tidy the bedroom, we made quite the mess last night, after that you can have the day off. Go do whatever you do when you're not serving me," Shiro said immediately, not even waiting for a response as he turned around and headed towards his workshop, making her blink.

He seemed excited about something, but she didn't have a clue what. She'd bring up last night later, it was probably a better idea than trying to interrupt whatever he was excited about.

— Shiro Eis —

Today is a very important day for three reasons.

I've finally fucked Blake. She's not eager for a repeat because of some silly reason, but I've got my foot in the door (amongst other things) and she'll quickly learn that whenever anyone gives me an inch I'll take a mile.

I've also expanded my sights beyond just Vale, because my nanotech specialty made it possible to sneak some tech into the van with the girls, and it's arrived in Menagerie. It's just some set-up for now, but it's a start.

And most importantly, me and Sombra stole a fucking fortune from those idiots, and that's the capital I need to start my empire properly.

Sure, I've pissed off a considerable amount of people in the process, but the council member who was involved won't try anything once he realises I have proof of his misdeeds. The bigger threat is a group simply called 'The Syndicate'.

From what Sombra gathered, someone is gathering dozens of smaller gangs and uniting them under one banner, a worldwide crime syndicate.

They're mostly based in Mistral, but they definitely have more agents in Vale who will likely make life difficult for me for stealing so much money from them.

But that's a problem for later, because right now it's time to start my empire. I've thought long and hard about how I want to start this, how I want to build my empire, and while I have already started making arrangements to buy a factory (so I can massively up my production game) I've also made up my mind.

I'm going to open a nightclub, because I have plans, and it will serve as a good front if I can look like a legitimate businessman.

It worked for Junior, and I've got in contact with him about his contacts in the industry. He doesn't particularly mind the competition since his club is his third business.

He's an info broker, a gang leader and finally a club owner which he uses to launder the money from the others, but honestly his club kinda sucks.

I'm planning to move into the entertainment business hard, not settle for a single nightclub, this is just the start.

Watching the map of Vale, I smile as my AI starts to highlight prime nightclub locations, having analysed the entire city in seconds, taking into account the other businesses, traffic, and a hundred other factors to work out the ideal locations, before working out which buildings were for sale.

You know, looking over the map, if someone had the capital to buy the many, many buildings that were for sale, they'd own a sizeable chunk of the city, and with that comes power and influence.

But that's beyond my current means, unfortunately while there's plenty of buildings that could work, none of them are in the locations that are deemed the most ideal for clubs.

But that's fine. Just because they're not publicly for sale doesn't mean I can't convince the owner to sell.

I don't even want the building, I want the land, because as my AI spends some time learning every single law and analysing financial data to become my lawyer and accountant, I'm working on something new.

I've made spy and combat drones before, and construction drones are even easier to design. Whatever building I buy is going to be torn down and rebuilt to my exact specifications and my (and my AI's) designs.

My AI can learn master-level architecture design in minutes, it can analyse every single nightclub with a public floorplan and learn how to make the most efficient nightclub floor-plan in existence, plus my own talents can handle the aesthetic designs.

After a moment, I come to another decision and mark some more cheap land to be bought up, because I've got another plan, which will only make Blake fall further into my grasp.

She's focused on the plight of her fellow Faunus, and buying up some shitty buildings to tear down and build an apartment block for cheap housing will help with the homelessness problem, while also making me look charitable to both Blake and the public and getting me access to a grateful workforce for future endeavours.

A legal front to cover up any of my more illicit activities, public relations is a powerful tool indeed.

Those idiots were nobodies, tools being used by a much bigger player, to be discarded when they no longer served a purpose, but they played an important part in the grand plan.

Their hard work made a fortune, a fortune I'll use to establish myself in Vale, before spreading my tendrils further and further until I have power in every kingdom.

I'm not going to stop with just entertainment, I'll worm my way into every facet of life, until nobody can go a single day without interacting with something I control.

Every business, legal and otherwise,

Bonus Scene — Sienna Khan

She'd not been surprised when Blake had fled. Being too afraid to do what was necessary ran in her blood.

She'd always found the youngest Belladonna flighty, talented but flighty all the same, so aside from ignoring Adam's ranting and agreeing with Ghira to not have Blake hunted down, she'd practically forgotten about her.

She didn't particularly like Ghira, but she respected him. Plus, he was still the Chieftain and she couldn't ignore him entirely, so letting Blake run was better than ending up at odds with him, especially since it meant he owed her.

So to hear that she'd stopped a Faunus trafficking ring operating right in the heart of Vale had come as quite the shock, and left her with several questions.

"You wanted to speak with me, High Leader?" Adam asked over the scroll call as she hid her annoyance as she looked at the hot-tempered bull.

"Tell me, Adam, what exactly have you been doing in Vale since you were put in charge of the Vale branch?" Sienna asked, watching Adam pause before he straightened up, immediately on guard.

"I've been disrupting SDC shipments-" Adam started before she cut him off.

"Oh yes, your constant Dust robberies I've read reports of… and where exactly is all that Dust going? Because the White Fang hasn't seen a speck of it," Sienna said, her tone growing cold as Adam went to respond but stopped himself.

Adam wasn't exactly hard to read for her, he was hiding something and she was going to find out what. She had agents reporting from within his group who told her about his alliance with Roman Torchwick, and whispered about a woman Adam seemed to be taking orders from.

"I ask because while you've been playing thief, your former partner discovered an entire Faunus slavery ring, kidnapping Faunus girls in Vale to be sold into slavery across Remnant. A slavery ring you were too focused on the SDC to notice," Sienna growled, making Adam's eyes widen.

"Blake- you know where she is?" Adam asked quickly, confirming her suspicions. Adam wasn't made for leadership, he was too easily distracted by his grudges.

Out of that nightmarish statement, he'd heard 'your partner' and immediately focused on Blake instead of his utter failure as the leader of the Vale branch.

"I do, and you'll not do anything about her. I thought she ran away because she wasn't cut out for this work, but perhaps it was your incompetence that caused her to leave," Sienna said bluntly, watching him seethe. "I'm demoting you. You're powerful but you clearly aren't ready for a position of leadership. You're to return to the Menagerie immediately."

"What?! my men-" Adam started, making her smile.

"Have already been told, and I've sent Rengar to take over your branch. This isn't up for negotiation, Adam," Sienna said calmly, seeing the rage in his eyes before he went still.

"As you wish, High Leader," Adam ground out through gritted teeth, ending the call as she raised an eyebrow.

That boy… he was far too impulsive. She'd have to increase her own security, as reckless as Adam was, he was still very strong. She wasn't sure she could beat him if he decided to act against her, but she'd also made sure people knew just what Adam had missed, so he'd have a hard time gathering support for a rebellion and he likely knew it.

Adam wasn't stupid or even particularly malicious, he was just young and hot-tempted. He was better suited for the role of an enforcer, not a leader.

Maybe after a few years he'd be ready to lead, but he certainly wasn't ready now.

— Adam Taurus —

He had failed, that much was clear.

Sienna had sent him the files on the slavery ring, and he should have caught it. They weren't even being that subtle, but he'd been so caught up with Cinder's schemes he'd failed in his actual job.

Cinder had promised him the destruction of the SDC, skilfully using his hatred against him, and he'd failed his people because of it.

What was the point of bringing down the SDC if his people were experiencing an even worse suffering at the hands of others because he was too focused on his vendetta?

He'd return to the Menagerie, as ordered. He almost wanted to see Cinder try and buy Rengar, it'd be entertaining if nothing else.

On the other hand, he didn't want to be anywhere near Rengar when she tried.

What was Blake doing? Had he misjudged her intentions? Did she leave because he had lost sight of what mattered?