Prologue

The air here in Vale is still, no clouds hovered over the broken moon, and one can barely hear the whispers of the people walking down the streets. In other words, it's the worst night to pull of a robbery. Which makes me wonder why one of my "associates" chose this night in particular to hijack Dust till Dawn, one of the most popular Dust shop in downtown Vale.

"I don't think this is a good idea."

I protested while I knelt down on top of the building overlooking the dust shop, a couple of hundred yards away. No one responded at first, but as soon as I heard the sound of high heel shoes clanging against concrete rooftop, I was able to confirm my suspicions that I was being watched.

"So you knew I was here the whole time? Maybe you are who the rumors say you are. I admit, Torchwick might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but his influence and manpower is essential to our plans."

Her voice was low and smooth, just like her footsteps. There are very few people in this world who know how to move their lips to both the tune of confidence and intimidation without ever being in danger of sounding childish and arrogant, it's a very thin line after all, and she was definitely one of them.

"Hmph. Your plans, not mine, I'm only here for the part you pay me for. Not after whatever your endgame is."

I stood up, slowly tilting my head back and gave her a glance that convinced her that I can see still see her, even when half her body was hidden in the shadows. She smirked back at me and returned my gaze with her own terrifying amber eyes.

"And that's your problem, OWL, you need to dream bigger." She paused and glared at my outfit from head to toe. "OWL huh? That's a strange stage name you got there. You certainly look the part though."

I grabbed hold of my metallic owl mask, slowly running my fingers through the contours and it's many scratches.

"It's practical. I can see farther and better at night." As soon as I said that, the blue feathers attached to the top side of the mask lit up, and Torchwick's voice became clear as if as though I was right next to him. 'hand over the dust' he says. Typical.

"And the robe?"

Unimpressed, the woman behind me crossed her arms and pointed at my tattered knee length white robe.

"Style... and practicality."

I immediately turned around, hopped off the rooftop's ledge. As soon as the air pushed my robe back, it instantly spread wide open like wings. I quickly glided across the sky, passing by buildings, and dodging lamp posts along the way till I was only a few feet of the ground. I tucked my knees close to my chest and rolled to the alley nearest to the dust shop as I fell to the ground.

"Gah!"

I leaned myself against the wall, hiding the rest of my body in the shadows, while I squinted my eyes, allowing my owl mask to zoom in on one of Torchwick's henchman being thrown across the street. The still and quiet night was now flooded with the noise of gunshots, and blades clashing. I know it won't be long before the cops arrived here.

"Damn Roman. I told him this wasn't going to be an easy hit. Dusk till Dawn is one of the most famous shops here in Vale, of course hunters and huntresses are on the prowl-"

I placed my hand on the hilt of my katana, about ready to pull it out and extract Torchwick before he makes a bigger mess, but the sight of a red blur and a stream of red petals stopped me in my tracks. Even more captivating was that a child in a red robe was so effortlessly and gracefully swinging a scythe, almost as tall her body, and making quick work of Roman and his band of imbeciles.

Sirens began to echo from the distance, and Roman began to make his escape. He launched an exploding bullet from his cane, distracting the girl in red. I slowly stepped out of the shadows and quickly pointed to a ladder leading to a rooftop where the rest of our crew is set to extract him. Roman smirked and nodded, as he ran as fast as he can, but the girl in red was persistent. Soon, the two fought for control on top of the building before an aircraft finally arrived to pick him up, but before they could escape, a blonde huntress, holding a riding crop on her right hand, fell from the sky.

I placed my hand over my ear, initiating a radio connection with my female associate.

"Code Red. You have a huntress up your ass. Want me to take care of it?"

I was fully expecting a snarky remark, but to my surprise, her voice as calm and cool just like our little talk mere moments ago, as if our conversation was never cut off in the first place.

"No. I got it. Head to the rendezvous point immediately."

The rendezvous point was 15 minutes away, and judging from the confidence in her voice, I knew that the huntress would be nothing more than a minor speed bump, so I left. Had I been wrong, then all I ever got out of all of this was time that I'm never going to get back regardless.

HAD I been wrong.

I arrived at the abandoned docks right at the edge of town just as the ship landed. The doors on the side slowly opened and Roman impatiently walked out before the ramp had the chance to fully extended.

"How in the world did such as simple job blow up just like that!? First it was that little red, then a huntress!? Everything that could have gone wrong tonight had gone wrong!"

His complaints reeks of stupidity. I moved a couple of inches right in front of his face. I stared deep into his eyes through mask and raised my finger up to his eyebrows.

"I told you Torchwick. This wasn't gonna work out."

Roman gritted his teeth, and furrowed his brows, it was clear that he had little intention of holding his anger back. He then took a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Oh forgive me, I'm not the kind of man who spends hours upon hours, perched on top of rooftops, wasting opportunities left and right. NO! 'OWL' I am a man of action! NEO!"

I jumped back, sensing something falling from the sky, and sure enough, all I hear is the distinct sound of a blade hitting the ground. I look up, and was greeted with the sight of a woman whose hair was half pink on the left and brown on the right, the same color as her fierce and glaring eyes. Neo stood proudly beside Roman while she pointed her pink umbrella straight at my face, taunting me, no, challenging me to duel is a better way to put it, but before I could pull out my blade, my associate's voice broke the tension between the three of us.

"Now, now. We had a small hiccup today, but we were still able to gather all the dust we needed. Everyone put your weapons down and let's talk about this peacefully..." She grinned at me and Roman both as she walked out of the aircraft gracefully. "...shall we?"

Roman hesitated to calm himself down, but he tried to speak in his usual classy and sarcastic tone, though you can easily sense the anger in his voice.

"Why of course. Neo..." He glanced at his bodyguard for a quick second and tilted his head to the side, urging her to walk away. The girl named Neo, complied obediently.

With Roman somewhat calmed down, she shifted her piercing gaze towards me and raised her head like a curious cat.

"Now, I don't believe we've been properly introduced. My name is Cinder. Cinder Fall. And you are?"