Now, On To The Intrigue

Gray left JNPR’s room feeling refreshed and fulfilled. He really needed that fuck. Now, he was clear minded and ready to get those criminals in line. But first, he needed to change into his combat gear. He likely didn’t need to, but he felt better having all his weapons and gadgets with him for any eventuality.

He went to his dorm room to change and pick up a few things before heading down to the locker room where the students kept their weapons. He clipped his trusty daggers into place and hooked his collapsible staff on his belt.

He was ready.

Gray left the school and walked across the silent campus. Classes had yet to finish so the place was quite empty, but he only had about a minute before that would change. He only saw the occasional student walking around. They were likely from the older years. Gray’s Semblance was active for good measure. He would most likely need the extra layer of protection. He reached the end of the long causeway and took a look at the schedule at the small port by the cliffs edge. He read the times for the next flight and saw that one would be along in almost fifteen minutes.

So, he sat down at the bench to wait.

To keep from getting bored, Gray brought his scroll out and messaged this Cinder woman.

Gray: What is the location of the meeting place?

A couple minutes went by until a message came through.

Ash: 78C Vernica Road.

Vernica? Gray wondered to himself. Where was that? It sounded like an old word from the Old Kingdom period.

He searched it up on his map app and found it at the edge of the Old Town center. When he zoomed in, the place looked like it was turned into warehouses that supplied the old part of town. A few blocks away was one of the more tourist-y areas of Old Town. The streets there were made of cobblestone and fine brickwork. A real blast from the past, except for the new warehouses. They seemed like they would be an eyesore compared to the rest of the area.

But if that was the meeting place, then that was where he would go.

Gray: I’ll be there within the next 2 hours.

Ash: Understood.

Gray then sent a message to Torchwick.

Gray: I’ll be at the meeting place within 2 hours.

A full minute went by before a reply came in.

Roman: Got it Boss.

That was all the interaction they had. Gray had confirmed what he needed and settled in to wait for the airship. It was seven minutes later when the flying vehicle soared over to dock at the edge of the cliff-side port. Gray walked onboard without needing to interact with the flight attendant and found a window seat.

Next stop was the city.

Gray walked out of the Skyport to the sounds of another airship leaving for destinations unknown. People moved about carrying their luggage and cars drove by, either unloading passengers or picking someone up. Gray walked past everything and headed for the taxi depot by the car-park.

He found an available taxi with a man leaning against the hood smoking a cigarette. There were others but he was the closest.

“Excuse me, I’d like to go to Old Town Castle Square.” Gray told the man.

The man, with grey pepper at the sides of his black hair and a scruffy beard, looked over at Gray and nodded.

“I can do that. Need a hand with your luggage?” He asked with a deep yet scratchy voice.

“No luggage here.” Gray replied, relieved that he could get service from this man even though his Semblance was active.

“Alright, hop in.” The older man pulled out something to put out his cigarette in and tucked it away in a breast pocket.

They both got in, with Gray in a backseat, and off the taxi went.

The car turned into a highway and the cityscape passed them by. In another reality, if Gray didn’t discover his Semblance, he would have waited for a bus instead of getting a taxi. One was cheaper than the other and Gray wasn’t overflowing with cash before. Now, though, he had some money from Torchwick and could afford the steep prices from riding a taxi.

Of course, there was the option to not pay at all, since he had the power to be ignored now, but he felt bad at the idea. This man was trying to make a living and Gray didn’t want to be the reason he couldn’t get by. So, he had his wallet at the ready once they reached his destination.

A district devoid of residences and tall buildings went by outside the window. This area was more for hardware industries and factories with buildings low enough for any airships to fly over with lots of clearance. Eventually they left all that behind and made it to a sparse residential area. One that had some expensive looking houses. The tall buildings of the city center were closer now. Old Town was on the edge of the new city center and the taxi veered in that direction.

Gray looked out at the passing buildings and the skyscrapers in the distance. There weren’t too many as the Kingdom of Vale wanted to keep a more natural feel for their city but with all the conveniences of a modern world. They somewhat succeeded, but the differences between Old Town and the new city were almost like night and day. Old Town had character and history. The new city had... well... it was somewhat sterile.

That’s not to say that the city wasn’t a great place to hang around as a teenager. It was just that something of the Kingdom’s soul was lost in translation. Gray had trouble explaining it, even to himself, but everyone would agree that Old Town had lots more charm.

Some minutes later the taxi pulled up to the side of a road. A road that was cobbled with smooth stone, but nonetheless still a little uneven compared to the usual concrete. The road bordered the large Castle Square in front of the station. The station was renovated from the old castle that stood there centuries ago and held the old royal family. History said that the royal family died out after the war or married into so many different families that the royal blood was now diluted and thus powerless to hold a throne. That, plus, the world had moved away from monarchies a while ago. Now the “Kingdom” was governed by a council of elected officials.

“Castle Square.” The taxi driver announced their arrival. Interestingly, he made no move to check the meter to see what he was owed. He just seemed to wait patiently for Gray to leave. Despite that, Gray pulled out some lien and handed them over.

“Keep the change.” He told the man before getting out.

Gray shut the car door and stepped away, turning around to look at the large square. Patterned bricks in three earthy colours radiated from a central fountain. Four smaller fountains sat closer to each corner of the square. The fountain in the middle had a statue of some guy who did something important during the Great War. The other four each had animals spewing water out at timed intervals.

People moved about and sat on benches or the fountains edge. Tourists from other Kingdoms were taking pictures on their scrolls. The streets surrounding the square had storefronts that were getting their business for the day.

Gray pulled his scroll out and checked the directions for the meeting place on his map app. The warehouse was about a ten-minute walk east past the station. He set off and even hopped onto the back of a passing bus by hanging onto a handhold by one of the wheels. He jumped off when he was close to the corner he needed to take. A couple minutes later he did the same thing to a second bus. His Aura and skills kept him from getting hurt.

Not too long later Gray found himself walking down a quiet road. There was very little traffic here as there were only businesses like small automobile workshops, scrap disposals and storage warehouses. The latter was where today's meeting was taking place. Gray ambled along, looking around with curiosity at the various quiet businesses, when he noticed some of the older looking buildings. It seemed that many of the Old Town factories had been repurposed instead of demolished. That was a neat little bit of history preserved.

He drew closer to the address now. The sun was still up in the sky as it was only close to five in the afternoon. Soon workers would be heading home, filling these roads with cars for a brief moment in this otherwise peaceful part of town. Gray checked his map and walked down a side road. This side road had access to a few different storage units, each of them a large warehouse.

“Seventy-eight... Seventy-eight...”

Ah. There it was. Gray looked down a driveway that gave access to three units. Seventy-eight C was likely the last one. He made his way down and kept an eye out for any people. At the end of the driveway, he noticed a few parked cars. This warehouse unit was the only one that had cars parked by it. The first two seemed vacant.

Gray came up abreast with the cars and noticed that one of the vehicles was occupied. He peered inside and saw a man in a black suit and hat with a red tie and red sunglasses in the driver's seat. He seemed to keep his attention on the rear-view mirror and his immediate surroundings.

A lookout, perhaps?

Was this precaution made for Gray himself? Or was this just something these criminals did because of the occupational hazards? It stood to reason that it wasn’t because of Gray since his Semblance was still on, but he couldn’t be too cautious.

Gray walked over to the other cars and saw that they were empty. Three rides and only one driver. Cinder’s group must be using one car and Torchwick another, but why the third? Extra protection maybe?

Gray shook his head. He wouldn’t get answers standing there. He turned to the warehouse and saw that a door next to a rolling door was left ajar. The rolling door was shut up tight though. That meant the place wasn’t currently being used as anything other than a meeting place. At the moment anyway.

He quietly walked over to the door and strained his ears. At the same time, he used his Aura to do the Aura-equivalent of putting his hand up to his ear. This way more sound would filter to his ear and he would register more than a regular person would. It wouldn’t be as efficient as a Faunus’ hearing but it was good enough for him. Of course, any sudden loud sounds would hurt him while in use.

As he got closer, he did in fact hear some voices. They started off muffled but got more intelligible as he got closer.

“...you still haven’t said who this person is we’re meeting.” Came a low and dangerous sounding voice. It was a man's voice, and it had a hint of a growl to it.

“And you haven’t given a good reason why you invited yourself to come along.” This second voice was just as dangerous as the first, but belonged to a woman. Her tone was just as low but with a hint of silk. Gray imagined that at any other opportunity she would have sounded seductive, but here she seemed more annoyed.

“I already told you that if I’m going to be a part of this operation then I should also be in the know.” Came the low growling voice.

Gray was intrigued now. He hadn’t asked for this other person to show up, but it would appear that his Semblance didn’t account for this development. He stepped closer to the door and peered through.

“So, now you're going to follow us around like a lost puppy, are you?” The woman asked with a more dangerous edge to her voice. “Incapable of taking orders and pissing all over the carpet?”

Gray saw a large warehouse in gloom through the door crack. The lights were left off with the only light coming from the narrow windows in the rafters. Despite that, Gray spotted the woman who had just spoken by the glowing eyes and clothing, along with the fire burning in one hand.

The man let out a frustrated growl that promised pain. There was a tense moment where the two just stared at each other. Until...

“I stay.” The man said with finality. A demanding finality. This man was wearing a white mask that was glowing with accents of red. His clothing consisted of a black suit jacket with a stylized symbol in red and white on the shoulder, black pants and a red undershirt. His hair was short and a dark mix of red and black. Two... horns protruded from the forehead above his white mask...

Oh. This was the White Fang.

Cinder and Torchwick were mixed up with the White Fang.

Gray shouldn’t have been surprised by that really. Criminal elements teaming up wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. But, still, Gray found his pulse quickening at the sight.

“Fine.” The woman spat out after a moment. “But I do the talking. If that isn’t understood, then...”

The fire in her hand grew in size and intensity as she stared him down.

“...Fine.” The White Fang member grated out through gritted teeth.

The fire died down slowly before being extinguished.

The man stormed off to one side of the room where Gray spotted other members of the White Fang waiting a little nervously. The man with the horns leaned against the wall and, supposedly, glared at the woman while one of his men stepped up beside him and spoke softly.

The woman, Cinder with her red dress still glowing and lighting up her immediate surroundings with a dim light, then turned her gaze onto another man in the room. This one was Roman Torchwick, leaning against a crate and twirling his cane with amusement, meanwhile Neo, the short girl was sitting on another crate stacked on yet another crate. Roman spotted Cinder staring at him and stopped spinning the cane that he likely didn’t need.

“Hey, don’t look at me.” He told her, a little bit of fear leaking from his tone, but also some stubbornness. “Do you really think I could have stopped him from coming along? Me?”

Cinder gave him an unimpressed look before snorting. Even that sounded seductive and dangerous.

“Our friend will be here soon. I want everyone to play nice.” She said, raising her voice before turning around and walking over to where her subordinates were by another wall. Those two were Emerald and Mercury.

Torchwick and Neo glanced at each other and Neo rolled her eyes.

The ensuing silence, broken by occasional whispers by any one of the criminal groups, was Gray’s cue to enter the scene. He slipped through the gap in the door and stepped into the dimly lit warehouse. He immediately noticed a small group of men wearing clothing similar to the driver outside in the blind spot behind the door. These men sat around a small table and were playing cards to pass the time. Getting a good look at them here reminded Gray of that Dust robbery Ruby had busted almost a week ago.

Wow. That felt like a lifetime ago.

He turned away from them and approached the middle of the large space. No one looked his way or registered his presence in any way. Gray looked over at the White Fang, noticing them eyeing the others in the room with some measure of mistrust. Most of them wore white with hoods up to cover any animal features. The only one who wore full black, and red, was the man who had spoken to Cinder. And now, standing here and getting a good look at the man, Gray became uneasy. He recognized him. Gray had seen this man on the news.

Gray’s eyes grew wide.

This was Adam Taurus. The leader of the Vale branch of the terrorist group, the White Fang.

Before Gray really gave it any thought, he spoke.

“Adam Taurus and the White Fang are secretly loyal and obedient to me.”

Now they belonged to Gray.

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