Chapter 24
We’ve been patrolling since yesterday, keeping a particularly close eye on the banks, and still no sign of them yet. Blake and I are currently split up around the city while Weiss and Yang stayed behind at Weiss’ place.
Yang: “Are you sure this was the right call? We haven’t seen them at any of the banks since yesterday.”
Blake: “Where they strike is never a sure thing. They never did have a set pattern for their heists. They just hit wherever they wanted whenever they wanted. That’s why we also have to keep our ears open for any banks we don’t currently have eyes on.”
Ruby: “Haven’t had much luck on that front either though.”
Weiss: “Maybe we should regroup and find a way to pinpoint them instead.”
Ruby: “Maybe.” That’s something black zooms pasts me! Cutting my web line and nearly causing me to fall if I didn’t react quick enough to web to a nearby ledge. “What the heck!?”
Weiss: “Ruby! Are you okay?”
Yang: “What was that?”
Blake: “Wait, what happened?” I see it heading towards the large bank I was just at.
Ruby: “I don’t know what it is but it’s heading for the eastern major bank!”
Blake: “I’m on my way!” As I make my way towards the bank, I can hear loud noises coming from its direction, along with seeing a large burst of dust coming from the roof. Once I’m close enough, I can see a massive hole in the roof. And through the hole, I can see a person in a black flight suit with dark grey straps around him strapping him to a large pack on his back, and strange claw devices strapped to his boots. His head in concealed in a full head helmet with a silver like mask covered in red marks and flame orange eyes, along with tubes attached to the mask from the wing pack. Along with him in the bank gathering large bags of money into a large box is... Neo!
Neo: “Okay. The box is full. We ready Roman?”
Torchwick: “As ready as I’ll ever be.” As Neo seals up the box with a lid that comes with large handles. Torchwick’s pack flares its engine for a moment to allow him to jump on top of the box, landing his feet on the handles box triggering his claws to grip the handles tight. Then the pack spread out large black wings before starting up again and taking off. “Keep your eyes out on the skies, and meet me at the hideout!” Before he starts flying through the roof hole, carrying the large box with him.
Blake: “Okay. I’m here.” As she lands on a rooftop on the other side of the bank.
Ruby: “Blake, are you seeing this?”
Blake: “Yes. But I don’t know exactly what I’m seeing.”
Ruby: “This is gonna sound crazy, but I think that might be Torchwick.”
Blake: “What!?” That’s when I hear the banks front door burst open and stopping on the street to look up at Torchwick.
Ruby: “And I’ve got eyes on Neo out front.”
Blake: “Leave her to me. You're the one better suited for aerial combat.”
Ruby: “Right. Let’s go!” Blake jumps down onto the streets to confront Neo, while I stay up on the rooftops to get in close to Torchwick. “Alright, Weiss. This seems similar to what happened with Watts, so I’m going to need to a scan of the wings going.”
Weiss: “Copy that. I have the scan program up now. Just buy enough time for us to get a full scan.”
Ruby: “Right.”
Torchwick: “Alright. I think this thing works well enough. It’s time to skedaddle.” Again, he’s not paying attention as I web the box and pull to stop him from flying away and get his attention.
Ruby: “Not gonna be that easy, Torchwick!”
Torchwick: “So you already know, huh?” He maneuvers the left wing to grab my web line in its feathers and then uses it to cut the line with said feather in a scissor fashion. “But the days of Roman Torchwick are over!” As he’s moves to throw the box at me, to which I have to jump out of the way as it lands on my roof. “From now on, you can call me the Nevermore!” As he charges at me! I backflip just in time to dodge and he flies right by me. He pulls up to take to the air again.
Ruby: “Oh no you don’t!” To which I use a web to zip up to him for a direct confrontation. He and I tussle in the air while we cut to Neo on the ground watching it all happen.
Neo: “Agh. If only I had some wings of my own. I could help.” And that's when Blake showed up.
Blake: “If your so bored, then why not play with me?” She already at the ready with her claws. Neo turns around startled as she drew her knives.
Neo: “You!”
Blake: “Long time no see, Neo. So, where did your boyfriend get the wings, huh? Stolen like everything else in his life?”
Neo: “Wouldn’t you like to know!” She goes on the offensive as she and Blake enter their own street wide brawl. Eventually, Vernal and Qrow show up on the scene to see everything going on themselves.
Qrow: “The Cat and Spider again? And what the hell is that thing?” As he points up at Torchwick.
Vernal: “Better question. I see Politan, but where is Torchwick? They’re usually not too far away from each other.” Back to us, Torchwick looks down to see the cops.
Torchwick: “Well, Red, it’s been fun, but I’m afraid I’m must be going!” As he did a spin maneuver to fling me off of him. I try to zip back up to him, but he did another spin that smacked me hard into the side of a nearby building. “Now to reclaim my prize.” To which he flies over to grab the box and starts fleeing the scene. “Alright, Neo! The shows over! We’re outta here!” She and Blake tussle around a little bit more until she gets an opportunity to throw down another smoke bomb and escape. Blake is stunned for a moment before her mask triggers to help see through the smoke, but is too late as Neo is already gone.
Blake: “Shoot...” That’s when she decides to get out of there herself with the cops nearby. I myself, also recover and stand at the ledge of the hole I made in the building to see that they’ve all left, with Qrow and Vernal setting up the perimeter.
Ruby: “Great. Blake, tell me you’ve got some good news...”
Blake: “Unfortunately, the trails have gone completely cold. These guys aren’t the type to play around.”
Weiss: “On the bright side though, we have enough data from the scan to begin a proper analysis.”
Ruby: “Then let’s all meet up and discuss this while that’s going on.” Meanwhile, Torchwick hovers over the open skylight of an abandoned gym in that dead neighborhood before descending and carefully putting the box down, and the landing right behind it, where he took detached the tubes and took his helmet off. His hair falling into place over his right eye. Neo shows up not long after.
Torchwick: “Well that went well, all things considered.”
Neo: “Hell yeah.” As she opened the box and took out one of the bags. “Not only did we beat the spider, but we also got away with twice as much money as we usually leave with.”
Torchwick: “And just think. With these wings, we can even outrun the cops! We'll be able to go beyond just robbing banks. We can steal whatever we want from anywhere without having to worry about them or the heroes catching us.”
Neo: “And I think I know just the thing to start with.” As shows a newspaper stating how a rare jewel will be arriving in Vale in two days to be displayed in the history museum. An emerald believed to have been around hundreds of years ago.(shaped a lot like the gem on Ozma’s staff in the canon show)
Torchwick: “Hahaha! You know I love the way you think! Once this jewel is on display for Vale to see, they won’t know what hit them until it’s too late! Ahahaha!”