Team Nightwatch

Roman Torchwick and the Mystery Woman

     I feel like these past few weeks has killed the drama on my team.  Well...most of it anyway.  Leah'd gotten away with a minor concussion, but I could still feel her animosity towards Isabel.  I've taken to having one of them train with Destiny to avoid them killing each other.  Hopefully this blow over for good eventually.  Call me paranoid but I think that they want me to choose....
     "Are you going to say anything?"  Destiny asked.  She had gotten the courage to ask me when Leah had gotten into the shower and Isabel had gone to the library. 
     "No," I admitted.  "I really don't think I should pick one...."  A sudden thought popped into my mind.  Two of my teammates were sort of fighting over me...why does that give me a sense of pleasure? 
     "Hey!"  Destiny snapped her fingers under my nose.  "Wipe that stupid smile off your face.  This is a serious problem."
     "Yeah, I know," I said.  "I'm an eighteen-year-old boy, and this is kind of...interesting."  She threw a book at me from the bottom bunk of her and Isabel's bed, looking deadly serious.
     "You've got to take this seriously," she said, a slight commanding tone in her voice.  "One wrong move and this team could end...." 
     "I know, I know,"  I replied.  "It's a lot tougher on my side than you think...."  We stopped talking as Leah got out of the bathroom.  Before anyone could start up another conversation, the intercom buzzed to life.
     "Professor Ozpin requires the presence of all members of Team Nightwatch in his office."  The message was repeated before silence fell again. 
     "What does he need us for?"  Leah asked.  "We haven't done anything wrong have we?"  I shook my head.  We weren't exactly model students but we behaved pretty well.  I jumped down from my bunk and sighed.
     "Whatever it is, let's find Isabel and get to Ozpin...."

     Ozpin's a nice guy but I've never felt more nervous than when I stepped into his office.  It was at the top of the tower with all the gears for the clockwork mechanisms moving around us.  He was sitting at his desk with his back to us in his chair, staring out his window to the school and city below.  I stepped forward, trying to professional and hiding my nerves.  Come on, I'm a second year....  "Headmaster...."
     "Andrew," he said, turning around with a grin on his face and a cup of coffee in his hands.  Seriously, why does he always have to be drinking coffee.  "I assume that you all are wondering why I called you up here?"  I just nodded, he takes the answer of the leader usually.  "There have been rumors that a man is almost single-handedly robbing every dust shop in Vale.  I would like to have you all try to catch them."
     "Do you have any idea which shop he might go for?"  I asked.  He took a sip and pulled up a map.
     "There are four in the city," he said, drawing circles over them.  "I don't know which one, so I suggest that you each take a post outside them all."  He had a point.  "So...will you do it?" 
     "Of course,"  I replied.  "We'll set up at different areas and keep watch."  Ozpin smiled.
     "Thank you," he said.  "Before you leave, do you mind if I send word to your parents that you're doing good both in and out of the classroom?"  I shook my head and walked to the elevator, the girls behind me.

     I was leaning against the wall in an alley, staying out of the light of a near-by street lamp, watching the shop.  I'd had a quick giggle about the shop's name: From Dust 'til Dawn.  I could the shop keep working behind the counter but nothing out of the ordinary happened.  Maybe I shouldn't have promised Ozpin that I'd stay here all night.  Hopefully my negotiation skills will be better next time he asks me to do something.
     My head snapped back up as I heard the bell of the shop tingle and only barely caught the man walking in.  He was tall, towering over his cronies (about twelve people) who were all wearing black suits, fedoras, and deep red glasses.  Their leader, however, was a very different story.
     He wore a black, bowler hat with red at the base and his coat was a sparkling white.  He had an ascot and his ginger hair fell over one of his eyes.  His light step was only broken by the dull of a cane that I felt he didn't need.  Show off....  He flicked the ash from his cigar as he walked in.  At this hour of the night I knew that he was my guy.
     I slinked to the window to listen to the muffled voices.
     "Please," the shop keep pleaded.  "Just take my lien.  Don't hurt me...."
     "Easy," the ginger said.  "We're not here to hurt you, unless you make trouble.  We're just here for the dust...."  He nodded at his lackeys who started to collect dust in containers.  The ginger put an open briefcase on the counter.  "Only the refined crystals, that's it...."  I slipped behind the edge of the door, waiting for the right moment to strike. 
     As they were leaving, I slammed the door off its hinges and sent the lead thugs flying along with it.  I jumped away as they drew their swords, made of some red material, and I drew Nightblade.  Now that I could clearly see the ginger's face I recognized him as Roman Torchwick from the wanted posters.
     "Get him," he said.  His posse ran to attack me but had no idea who they were dealing with.  Three of them sank to their knees in the street and tried, fruitlessly to free themselves.  Two more rolled around to put out the fires I ignited on their clothes and another four slid past me, encased in ice.  The last guy jumped as he brought his blade down on me, but I smacked him out of line my own sword.
     His sword scuffed the street and he brought it up in enough time block my cleaving strike.  We traded blows like this for another few seconds before I fired the rifle in the blood channel and he fell to the ground.  "It seems that I have to do everything myself...." 
     Roman dropped his briefcase and raised his cane to me.  I hadn't thought about the fact that it might be his weapon.  There was a tinkling sound and I looked at my feet and saw a red dust crystal.  "That's right, just put away the sword...."  I glared at him for a moment before collapsing the blade and putting it on my belt.  "Good, it'd be a shame to have to...."
     I cocked one of my hidden guns and fired a shot at him.  He rolled out of the way and I kicked the dust towards him as he fired the shot.  Rookie mistake....  The bullet hit the crystal in mid-air and exploded, sending both of us flying back.  "Ha, ha.  Nice...!"  Roman had a big grin on his face but he wasn't looking at me.  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I rolled away just in time as a bolt of fire came hurtling towards me. 
     "Stop jumping around...it just makes this harder...."  This is one of the rare moments in my life where I genuinely feel like an idiot.  The woman walking towards us was a lot shorter and her long black hair covered one of her golden eyes.  She had on a red mini-dress and was slowly making her way across the pavement.  Something made me feel like she was studying me rather and trying to find a weak spot.  I pulled out Shadow Strike and she laughed.  "Don't make this harder than it should be."
     "Who are you?"  I asked, keeping the scythe ready.  She smiled at me...kind of like we were old friends....
     "It's strange to see you like this," she continued.  "A Huntsman in training...seems a little strange."  I tightened my grip on the shaft but didn't move to strike.
     "What are you talking about?!"  I roared.  "Just tell me who you are!"  There was the sound of running and gun shots as Leah, Destiny and Isabel came running up the street.  The woman looked at me, still with a friendly smile on her face.
     "Until next time," she said.  She threw a ball of fire, forcing my team and I to dodge.  When I got back into a battle stance both she and Roman were gone.  I stomped my foot and a crack appeared in the concrete. 
     "Damn it!"  I yelled, putting my scythe away. 
     "Who was that?"  Destiny asked, absent-mindedly reloading her hidden guns.  I looked at the scorch marks she made on the pavement.  She seemed to know who I was, but she chose to leave me in the dark.  What was so weird about me trying to become a Huntsman?
     "I wish I knew Des," I muttered.  "I wish I knew...."