The Games We Play

Chapter 176: Unannounced

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattles publishment at threads/rwby-the-gamer-the-games-we-play-disk-five.341621/. Anyway on with the show...err read.

Unannounced

As it turned out, Torchwick and his men were busy little bees. I suppose that wasn't surprising, truthfully; as secretive as Cinder might want to be, robbing all the Dust stores in a citya city that, itself, ran on Dustwas hardly a minor project. Logistics had a tendency to complicate pretty much everything when you really got down to it, and when it came to stealing and transporting tons of valuable materials, that was especially true. Beyond the obvious need for transportation, targets would need to be scoped out ahead of time, dangers such as the police would need to be accounted for, and everything would need to be stored carefully, to prevent any particularly exciting accidents from happening with a material that was volatile at the best of times.

That itself led to a need for a place for storageand one that was big enough to handle a massive quantity of Dust. Even so, there were obvious risks entailed in such a thing; though in shows and such, the criminals can just set everything up in an abandoned warehouse and never be discovered, the truth of the matter was that, while there were abandoned places, with space being such an issue with the Grimm all around us, it wasn't necessarily a good place to hide. People didn't just look at an abandoned building, shrug, and forever dismiss it from their thoughts, after all; odds were that someone was going to want to put it to use eventually. Add that to the dangers of the police driving by and wondering why the lights were on and, wellthere were issues in running a major criminal movement out of such a thing.

Of course, actually buying a place large enough to suite your needs had its own issues. Things like that left paper trails and raised questions like 'What do you need a warehouse for?', "Why are all these strangely dressed people coming in and out of said warehouse at strange hours?', 'Why do you never seem to produce anything?', and the ever annoying 'Why do you look like that wanted criminal on the news?' To say nothing of the issues of regulations and building inspections and keeping up appearances.

Crime wasn't easy, especially when you wanted to make a life out of it. And the risks of failure werewell, worrying by anyone's standards. Really, it was no surprise that Cinder had chosen to delegate a task such as widespread Dust theft to someone elseand someone on another continent at that. Even then, I imagine that she probably spent a decent amount of time worrying about being exposed or betrayed; such was the nature of the game.

All of which meant that, instead of being some lush set up filled with a bunch of criminals relaxing and smoking cigars, Torchwick's place was full of people hard at work. Members of the White Fang were serving as muscle, transporting Dust in carefully sealed containers and storing them with exacting precision amidst other goods that would likely serve as a cover if they were could. To that same end, there were guards stationed around the surrounding neighborhood, though most of them didn't look that way. Instead of standing out by looking scary, there was a White Fang member working out of a bar nearby, a job Torchwick had presumably arranged for him, and he simply kept an eye on the streets as he worked, along with several of his fellows in similar jobs around the area. There were men in suits and marked trucks moving things through the city under the guise of what I assumed to be a real business, transporting goods both illegal and not. I wondered absently what ties Torchwick had to the actual business and how involved they were in these dealing. He certainly seemed to know a lot of people.

The long and short of which meant that they were busy.

So it took them all a while to notice me sitting on a chair, reading a book.

The first person to finally do so was a member of the White Fang who drifted close, either to see what I was doing or to tell me to get back to work. I didn't look up at him or speak, however, instead simply flicking my tail once to acknowledge his presence. He took one look at it, me, and the mask lying on the table beside me and then just walked away. When someone else tried to head towards me, however, he stopped them and spoke to them in quiet tones and, well, word traveled quickly from there, at least amongst the Faunus. Despite their present alliancewhich had obviously gone past the stage of mere negotiationsnone of them went to tell Torchwick yet.

Still, all of them kept a respectful distance from me and eyes were often on me as they worked. That nearly led to several accidents, including a dropped case of Dust, but I caught it with before it hit the ground, despite it being on the other side of the warehouse and handed it to the man who'd dropped it without even closing my book. After that, the warehouse quickly descended into murmurs, and that was what caught the man's attention.

"You," Torchwick said as he noticed me at last. Even with the amount of work he was no doubt handling with this operation, he probably knew better then to ignore it when everyone around him started whispering about something.

I smiled, closing my book at last as I looked up.

"Me," I agreed. "Hello, Mr. Torchwick. I don't believe we were ever formally introduced."

Will of the Torch

Level 57

Roman Torchwick

He looked at me for a moment, the corner of his jaw pulsing slightly as he watched me, and then nodded sharply as if deciding something.

"I suppose not," He agreed at last. "Though I can't say I much expected to see you here."

I chuckled slightly and nodded at that.

"I heard your employer wished to arrange a meeting with me," I stated. "But given her current situation, I thought it would rude of me to drop in unannounced."

Roman gave slight twitch at that and I figured he probably wanted to say something about how I'd chosen to drop in on him instead, but he reined it in with a quick breath and nodded again.

"Very well, then," He said. "Shall we take this to my office?"

He didn't want the help to hear us talk, which heavily implied that they didn't know what was really going on. I'd assumed as much, but it was always good to confirm who knows what.

Although, I thought as I glanced around without moving my eyes, it was also possible that he just didn't like being surrounded by people who would take my side in a fight over his, not that it really mattered.

"Certainly," I agreed amiably before turning my head and smiling widely. "Will your friend be joining us?"

Beneath her illusion of invisibility, I saw the small girl's eyes widen, shift color, and then narrow. Her illusion fell away in the process, leaving her standing amidst the crowd of the White Fang who immediately drew back in surprise and began to go for their various weapons until I lifted a hand to forestall violence. Besides, they wouldn't like it if they tried.

"There's no need for that, my friends," I assured in an amused tone. "She is an associate of Mr. Torchwick. Hello, Ms. Neopolitan."

A Spoonful of Sugar

LV 94

Neopolitan

She didn't reply, but I took the chance to glance her over again. Even if nothing else came from this meeting, I would consider it a win to identify the name, location, and appearance of Cinder's illusionist, as well as confirming that I could see through her attempts to hidethat was one thing off my mind, at least. And, quite frankly, with that out of the way I didn't have to worry about not being able to notice her, what with three-colored hair, shifting eye-color, and her choice of wardrobe; she kind of stood out.

"Neo?" Roman asked without so much as looking her way, but he might have been able to see her nod her head in his periphery vision. After she did, he was silent for a moment before tilting his head towards one of the side rooms. "Over here."

I rose from the chair I'd returned to and followed without a word. I didn't bother looking around, either, if mainly because I'd already memorized the place thoroughly. Once inside, I waited patiently for him to lock the door before taking several steps to return the book I'd borrowed to its proper place on his bookshelf. Torchwick's eyes bored into me for a moment at that.

"So," He said after a moment of silence. "You're Jian Bing, then."

"Indeed," I answered, turning my head slightly so he could see the edge of my smile before I allowed it to fade and looked at him seriously. "I suppose I should apologize for that matter with the White Whale. You must have had big plans for it."

"Something like that," He answered, though he didn't sound quite as annoyed as I would have expected. Given the reprogrammed robots, the assault in broad daylight, and the assault on a place that had been full of Hunters, I'd have thought he'd had a lot riding on it.

But perhaps it hadn't been his plan? If he'd been working as an intermediary for Cinder even back then, then he might have been steeling it on her orders and she would have been the one with big plans. The question was, how much of those plans was Torchwick privy to? I already knew that Cinder wasn't the chatty sort when it came to revealing her secrets, but

No, it was definitely possible he didn't know. In fact, it was even likely. Should I press that and see what I found? I'd need to be careful not to give away how much I knew, but

I chuckled as I turned around and gave him a slight smile.

"She isn't one to explain things, is she?" I said and though Torchwick merely grunted, I knew I was right from the agreement I felt from him. "In that case, shall we let bygones be bygones? It would seem that we are working together for the time being, after all."

As I spoke, I took a seat on the edge of his desk while they remained with their backs to the door and stock-still for a moment before Torchwick relaxed and cracked his neck with a sigh.

"Fair enough," He said after a moment, reaching up to grasp his cigar. "I suppose I don't have much room to hold a grudge. It's like being outraged after breaking into someone's house and finding someone else making off with all the good bits. What ever happened to that ship, anyway?"

"The White Whale?" I asked pointlessly, heaving a sigh of my own. "Alas, the encounter with Ziz was rather hard on it. By the end, it was no longer flightworthy and there was significant damage throughout the entire ship. I repaired what I could, but as we crash-landed on a deserted island, my options were limited."

"Oh?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "From what I heard, you managed to fly it all the way to Atlas and back."

I gestured dismissively.

"I was forced to lift it with my own power," I answered, floating up from the desk. "It was a rather tiresome exercise, however. Between that and the amount of repairs that would be required to return it to its prior condition, to say nothing of the amount of attention repairing it could risk drawing, I decided it wasn't worth the bother, so I simply stashed it somewhere safe and left it."

"Unfortunate," He said with a click of his tongue, eyebrows furrowing as he probably went over how much he could sell each part of the ship for. After a moment, however, he sighed, probably also realizing the risks if someone from Atlas recognized anything. "But perhaps for the best. To business, then?"

"Please," I replied, smiling slightly.

"You mentioned my employer," He began. "But of course, I can hardly just accept that at face value"

"Cinder Fall," I interrupted. "She's in Mistral at the moment, working out of Haven along with those two children. Emerald and Mercury, was it?"

Roman frowned, looking annoyed, but not really by the interruption.

"Maybe," He said after a minute. "Honestly, I just try to pretend those two don't exist. Fair enough, though. What did you have in mind?"

I smiled at the question and leaned back on the desk, doing my best to look amused.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" I asked. "It is your employer who desires a meeting, after all. I assumed she had a reason to do so."

Torchwick took another puff of his cigar and glanced at Neo as if to confirm she was still therewhich might be an actually concern when it came to an illusionist.

"You already know she doesn't tell me anything," He stated.

"Perhaps so," I acknowledged. "But I know a fair bit about you, Mr. Torchwick"

Though nowhere near as much as I'd like you to believe, I admitted internally.

"And you seem like a fairly intelligent man," I finished. "Given your efforts here, it's obvious that you have a fair bit of experience, so I assume you're aware of the dangers you currently face. Should you fail your task here, I take it you are aware of what will most likely come of you."

Torchwick didn't deny it. This part, at least, I was fairly sure ofa man in his situation had as much, if not more, to fear from his allies as he did from his enemies. If the Hunters or the police caught up to him, he'd likely face a great deal of time for his many crimes. If Cinder or the White Fang though he'd become a loose end, however, he'd be lucky to find himself face down in a shallow grave. That wasn't a possibility, it was just a fact, and odds were pretty good that not only would none of them miss him, but they probably wouldn't even feel much regret for doing the deed.

"Sure," He said instead. "I know the rules of the game. You got a point to that?"

"I'd think my point was rather obvious," I replied easily, still smiling. "Given that you're gambling with your life, I'd take it you foresee a reward that would make it worth your whileand given what I know of you, I doubt you accept payment in empty promises or ideologies."

"Fgh," He answered with a disgusted sound. "I can't put either of those things in the bank, now can I?"

"Indeed not," I agreed. "So I assume that however secretive Ms. Fall might be, you know enough to see a chance for profit. Even if you're not entirely sure of her plans, you wouldn't be here if you didn't. Not even with an illusionist to assist in making your getaway."

Torchwick fell quiet as he looked at me with a speculative gleam in his eye.

"Maybe so," He allowed after a moment. "But I've been in the business long enough to know not to give anything away for free, especially not when someone's fishing for information."

I couldn't muster up too much surprise at that; he was far from the strongest person I'd ever met, but no one went to Torchwick for his muscle. He wouldn't be hereor out of prison, or aliveif he wasn't good at his job. Instead, I simply let my smile widen and flashed a quick gleam of teeth his way.

"Besides," He continued, musing aloud as he tilted his head slowly. "You strike me as the type of guy who likes to know more than anyone else in the room."

"Mm," I hummed quietly, mulling over his words for a moment before inclining my head in concession. "Indeed, I suppose that is correct. Although, in truth, it is more that I simply hate it when I'm surrounded by people who know more about what's going on than I do. I tend not to like what follows when I find myself uninformed."

Torchwick snorted.

"You're preaching to the choir," He told me. "The point being that I think you know a fair bit about what's going on or at least have some educated guesses. So imagine how I feel, locked in a room with you."

"Do I make you nervous, Mr. Torchwick?" I asked, though there wasn't much point. I did; I knew because I could feel it. "Feel free to unlock the door, if you so desire."

"Unlock it to a room that would cheerfully obey if you told them to shank me?" He mused skeptically before shaking his head. "Somehow, I don't think that would make me feel better. And I prefer the term wary."

"I see," I replied, chuckling slightly under my breath. "That's too bad, but I suppose it can't be helped. I have a way of making people feelwary."

"I'm sure you do," He answered with another click of his tongue. "So let's cut to the chase. I know something you don't know. You know something I don't know. What do you want with me and why should I give it to you?"

I looked at him for a long, silent moment, staying relaxed and silent as I watched him. Sitting her now, I thought I saw a chance. It wasn't what I'd planned for when I came here, wasn't something I would have even truly considered before I spoke to him, but it was still an opportunity I could exploit. But should I? There was some risk to it, certainly, though I could control exactly how much. Given that, I stood to gain a lot more then I stood to lose.

"Cinder's planning to return to Vale during the Vytal Festival," I said, starting with what I knew. "She'll come as a representative of Haven's team, which will allow her to get inside of Beacon. While she's inside, she'll have you put that Dust outside to use."

Truthfully, that was nothing more than conjecture, bits and pieces put together that carefully avoided any specifics. Still, it was enough to make Torchwick's eyes widen slightly, meaning at least some of it must have been news to it while the rest mapped to what he knew closely enough that he didn't dismiss it out of hand.

After a moment, though, he recovered and is expression returned to one of reserved wariness.

"Good to know," He mused. "But I hope you're not expecting me to pour out my heart for a little bit of unconfirmed information.

"I try to avoid unrealistic expectations," I replied, chuckling again.

"Then why?" He asked after a moment, seeming honestly confused. He didn't seem like the type to believe much in charity, which, in fairness, this wasn't.

"Consider it an investment," I said. "And investment in your future."

"An investment?" He repeated before tilting his head. "You want me to do a job for you?"

I smiled again and nodded, to which he looked entirely unsurprised. I assumed this type of situation wasn't new to him.

"Why would I work for you over Cinder?" He asked. It seemed like an honest question, as if he'd pulled out a mental notepad and was prepared to start weighing the pros and cons.

"I'm not asking you to," I said. "So let me instead tell you why you should work for me."

I snapped my fingers once and as the sound faded, so did all the sounds outside the door. It was a minor difference and yet, at the same time, a noticeable onebig or small, the sounds of civilization disappeared. All of a sudden, we were surrounded by silence.

It was enough to send a shiver up the spine of anyone and I chuckled as Neo and Torchwick stiffened.

"What did you do?" Torchwick demanded, an edge of fear touching his voice.

"Nothing much," I assured. "I simply wanted some privacy for this display, so I drew the three of us into another dimension."

"What?" He whispered. "What are you?"

"You don't believe me?" I asked before gesturing towards the doorway, making it collapse into dust. "Feel free to check for yourselves, if you desire. All the men and women out there are gone, as is everyone else in the world. It is just the three of us for the moment."

To prove it, I reached out with my Psychokinesis and my Elementals, turning them upon the building around us. It immediately began to break down, falling to pieces that gathered into flowing rivers of dust. A sudden breeze swept away the building, leaving us in a mostly empty lot, surrounded by empty buildings and cars. I was careful to kill and remove any Grimm, but everything else I left as it was.

Torchwick was dead silent as he looked around, though I could see droplets of sweat gathering on his brow.

"Now, now," I said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Don't be afraidI've no intention of hurting either of you. As I told you, I simply wished for a bit of privacy for this display."

With that said, I began floating upwards, grasping to two of them with my Psychokinesis before they could resist and drawing them with me into the air. With a thought, I mean a loose ring of firing spheres that began to rain power down on the city at a leisurely pace, tossing out Magic Missiles and Flares with an occasional Gungnir thrown into the mix. I let the process continue for a minute or so, masking the presence and sounds of the Grimm with a field of explosions, and then held out a hand, gathering the power of Lux Aeterna and plunging the world into a mix of pure darkness and blinding light. When things returned to normal, there was a path of destruction cut through Vale and columns of smoke rose along its length.

I held them above it all for a moment, letting them get a good look, and then lowered us to the ground. Just outside where the warehouse should have been.

"As you can see, it's difficult to express my power within the confines of normal reality," I continued blithely, landing with my back to them bothwhich, of course, did nothing to stop me from seeing their expressions or from feeling the emotions racing through them. "At least, not without causing a significant number of casualties. Also, I'd appreciate it if you kept what you just saw a secret."

There was a moment of silence before they replied.

"You wouldn't have shown me any of that if you thought I might tell anybody," Torchwick whispered, which made me look over my shoulder and give him a gentle smile.

"No, I wouldn't have," I agreed. "And I know you won't tell anyone, Mr. Torchwick, because I have something you want."

Torchwick licked his lips once, heart pounding in his chest as he met my eyes, doing his best to look calm and mostly succeeding.

"And what's that?" He asked.

"A way out," I said. "I'm not going to ask you for anything yet, Mr. Torchwickbesides, of course, your silence. Instead, I simply want you to remember this when things go badly for you. And I think we both believe they eventually will, with the company you keep."

"And when they do, you'll?"

"Save you, of course," I said. "So long as you keep faith with me."

"So long as I'm useful, you mean?" He asked.

"Yes," I stated in reply.

He swallowed once and pursed his lips before looking behind him at the destruction I'd caused.

"Why do you need me, when you have power like that?" He asked. "Why do you even need the White Fang?"

"I have plans of my own and they go far beyond whatever you believe them to be," I replied. "Truthfully, I care about Cinder's plans only insofar as they risk-affecting mine. You don't need to know any more than that right now, Mr. Torchwick."

I snapped my fingers again and we were back in front of the warehouse, the only sign that anything had happened at all being the fact that we were no longer in the office. People were walking and driving across the street as they normally did and ignoring us for the most part, largely because I made sure they couldn't see anything important.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Torchwick," I continued, still smiling at him. "You and I will be seeing each other in the future, no doubt, and I wish you the best until them. I take it you will keep what I said in mind?"

He nodded wordlessly, hand firmly clasping his cigar.

"Then goodbye," I said as I turned and began to walk away. "And tell Cinder I will be happy to meet her."

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