Chapter 25
Once we meet up again at Weiss’ place, I’ve been told that PENNY has already started the spec analysis, which still gives us a bit of time to talk a bit.
Ruby: “Well that went about as well as I expected from a super villain.”
Yang: “These guys just keep popping up out of nowhere.”
Blake: “Torchwick may be tough with his new gear, but Neo is no walk in the park either. She’s clearly been through some serious training.”
Weiss: “You’ve dealt with them before, right? What can you tell us about them?”
Blake: “For Neo, not much is really known about her. The name ‘Neo Politan’ doesn’t even seem to exist in any system. At least not until she suddenly appeared in Vale at Torchwick’s side about a decade ago. As for Torchwick, his criminal record extends long before that. He started stealing at a young age, and has been getting by from stealing since then. His record started on the streets of Mistral, but he was less notorious over there. He became a much bigger name when he and Neo appeared in Vale and started staking their claim.”
Ruby: “Huh. So, he’s Mistralian?”
Blake: “Yes. But his life of crime came from being born and growing up in the city's lower levels, where all the scum and shady businesses hideout, which makes them Mistral’s equivalent of a shady part of town.”
Yang: “In other words, he grew up in the dregs. Though why did you put it as the lower levels?”
Ruby: “That’s because the entire city of Mistral is built on a couple of mountains, making use of every inch of them for the city layout. The famous Haven Academy lies at the very top, stretching across the peaks of both mountains. The lower levels, or Mistral Below, refers to the portion at the foot.”
Yang: “Yeesh. Talk about being dealt a bad hand.”
PENNY: “Then I guess lady luck was rather kind to him recently, given what I’ve found.”
Weiss: “Go ahead, PENNY.”
PENNY: “First off, I want to over the wings origins. Analysis has found the same emblem I found on Dr. Watt’s arms, right here at the base of the pack right above the thruster. I believe this proves my point with Watts that he didn’t make his arms and they were instead given to him. Of course, Torchwick wasn’t known to be an engineering genius, so it makes sense that he got the wings from someone else. And with the emblem in the picture, it’s clear the wings and the arms were made by the same person. Unfortunately, there still isn’t anything about the wings that give away their makers identity.”
Blake: “So, someone is supplying criminals with advance tech?”
Weiss: “That’s what the evidence seems to suggest. And what about the wings themselves? What can you tell us about them?”
PENNY: “They are made in a way to be properly handled by just about anyone. The feathers can evidently act as razor blades. They can even be detached to act as a ranged weapon.”
Ruby: “And what about a potential weakness?”
PENNY: “The power source emits a unique electronic signal through the whole thing. Which means there’s actually an easy way to deal with him. We just need to make a signal jammer specifically tuned to the wings and use it to disable them. The wings can act as a glider should they shut down, which means he’ll have no choice but to ground himself.”
Weiss: “I can get to work on that right away, but it’ll take until tomorrow to finish.”
Ruby: “Then we should keep an eye out on their whereabouts in the meantime.”
Blake: “As well as any potential targets they may try to steal. While they mainly target banks for their money, Torchwick has always been an opportunist. There have been times where he aimed higher because of him gaining some kind of new advantage. Hell, his targeting banks was a step up in his career since he was more of a petty thief back in Mistral and thus before he had Neo at his side. I remember one instance where he and Neo made off with a whole crates worth of diamonds after gaining a temporary alliance with one of the Maggia crime families, with promises of a split in the profits between Torchwick and the associated don. I forget which family it was though. All their thugs really look the same if I’m being honest. Aside from Junior’s men all dressing the same in a similar style to Junior himself, none of the family's members have a way of distinguishing themselves from each other, and I never actually saw the don in question at the time. I just know it has to be someone other than Junior given how the thugs were dressed.”
Weiss: “So that only leaves Paul Parrot, Vermillion Raddock, Abigail Pyre or Jax Asturias, the overall leader of the whole Maggia.”
Blake: “I think we can automatically rule out Asturias. He doesn’t usually make deals street rats like Torchwick. He’s more known for seeking bigger fish like the rumored Queenpin of Crime.”
Yang: “Queenpin of Crime?”
Weiss: “They haven’t made any appearances, but rumor has it there’s another group of organized crime around whose just as powerful as the Maggia. The only thing that’s known for sure is that the supposed leader may be a woman since any followers of the group that have been caught refers to them as the ‘Queenpin of Crime’. Literally nothing else is known about them aside from that.”
Ruby: “Regardless, there are probably plenty of other places in Vale with items of significant interest.”
Yang: “Before we go, I do have an unrelated question that I didn’t ask before since it was hardly important at the time, but I’ve been curious about Torchwick’s choice of alias.”
Weiss: “You mean when he referred to himself as the ‘Nevermore’, right?”
Yang: “Yeah.”
Ruby: “Well, just like with Watts and what we came up with for Merlot, the name is a direct reference to a creature in Remnants mythological stories. In this case, the name is referencing a giant bird resembling a raven.”
Blake: “I suppose clearing that question was to be expected. Let’s just get going and look Torchwick.” Unfortunately, our patrol since then hasn’t turned up anything. Even as we transition to the next, we haven’t had any luck. The only real good thing to come of today was that Weiss had finished the signal jammer.
Weiss: “Okay. Thorough analysis of the wings systems let us come up with this jammer specifically tuned to his wings. However, the jammers range is extremely limited, especially when considering how fast he can fly. You're going to have get up close and personal with him to be able to use it.”
Ruby: “Okay. Now we just need to find him.”
Blake: “And I think I have an idea on where. The news has been talking about a rare jewel coming to Vale tomorrow to be displayed in the history museum.” As she shows the paper mention as much. “A jewel like this is definitely the kind of thing that he wouldn’t miss out on. Especially with his new gear to give him the escape advantage.”
Ruby: “Then we have our game plan.” All that’s left is to wait and execute it. Get ready Nevermore, because it’s time for me to clip your wings!