Chapter 1

A Great Way to End a Day

The man in the shadows loosened his grey silk scarf and sat there in the dark, watching and waiting. The fishy smell of the docking district combined with the hot, humid weather of a summer night did not appease the nerves of the notorious criminal mastermind. He sat leaning back on a crate of Dust inside a dimly lit warehouse that was covered with grime and dirt that couldn't possibly aid the cleanliness of his suit. With only the moon for light peaking through the cracks in the wall he was able to see that this must be block twenty-three with seemingly only one entrance but he knew better. There were hidden doors in the back that made this a superb location for ambushes seeing as he used it for that purpose once or twice beforehand. Putting his bowler hat on top of his face, he tried to doze off while fond memories of perfectly executed heists rushed to head. He was on edge, evident from his composure of stiffness. He had every right to be. He had received an urgent message from his ray of sunshine that is his employer. As his employer did not often send out urgent meetings the content of what would be discussed must be dire. Of course she left out the details at to why they must attend and what the problem was. Upon lighting one of his favorite specialty brand cigars Roman Torchwick leaned back and took a deep breath. The fact that his last heist failed as well as the two young adults blabbering away next to him did not help either. Just as Mercury was about to shut up he began telling another memory of his about one of his many meaningless inconveniences. Roman's face began to turn red as he got up, spun around, held up Melodic Cudgel and aimed for Mercury's temple. Squeezing the trigger lightly he jumped back upon one of the hidden doors in the back slamming open.

"Might I ask, what exactly are you doing Roman?" said Cinder as she slowly strolled out into the center of the large room, never removing her steady gaze from a certain trigger happy underling of hers.

"Ah, well thank you for asking. You see Mercury here just finished his ten minute long speech on his past experiences of popcorn stuck in his teeth. So I thought what better way to end such a speech than with a bang."

"You know how I feel about causing damage to our... assets. Now if you're finished I would like to begin."

With a menacing glare Roman slowly lowered his cane and reluctantly sat down all the while knowing that Mercury will never let him live this down.

"The reason I called you all here today was to hand out your new assignments. The cause of such urgency is that both they have strict schedules and will begin tomorrow. Mercury and Emerald, I am leaving you two to rally together the white fang in the northeastern district of Vale as well as kill any attempting deserters. Considering Roman's success with the white fang during the train incident, as well as going through the trouble of having to break him out of prison, this role is best suited towards you two. As for you Roman, you will infiltrate Beacon academy as a student and will act as our man on the inside. We need someone to spy on any potential threats there. Specifically team RWBY who has interfered with our plans too many times. Yes roman that means that you will have to give up the jacket, hat, melodic cudgel, mascara, cigars and even your haircut. "

The stuttering Roman rose to his feet with his face red and his cigar falling from his lips. He could hear the laughter of Emerald and Mercury behind him which only drove his rejection. Roman shouted "What! Why would you ever put me there? Do you realize that I would be surrounded by a bunch of idealistic twerps who would love nothing more than to tear me limb from limb. Not to mention the fact that my face is on a wanted poster on practically every lamppost in Vale."

"Precisely, nobody would be able to suspect that it is you because they know that doing such a thing is not in your nature. Details will be sent to your scroll."

"Don't I get a say in th-"

"No, now you ship out tomorrow. I suggest you get ready." Said Cinder as she began to leave the room.

"Do I at least get a budget to make a disguise?" Yelled Torchwick when Cinder was just about to walk out the door.

"Yes, you will see that the money has already been granted to you and is waiting in a bank account under the name of Cobalt Cyan." Replied Cinder as she closed the door behind her.

An irritated and bitter Roman let out a sigh as he held his his hand to his face in annoyance. Upon accessing the new bank account of "Cobalt Cyan" he saw he had enough to at least be creative with his new persona's outfits. He stormed out of the room leaving echoes with every step as he knew the longer he stayed the more likely Mercury wasn't going to be leaving the facility. A steaming Roman thought to himself as he left "I sure am going to have fun these next few months won't I" as he lit the last of his cigars for the year and walked out to prepare for "Class". "Ugh."