The Ace of Spades: A RWBY Story

Prologue: Making a deal

[Vale's commerical district, late at night]

A pale skinned, human male in a black and white outfit, wearing a black bowler hat was seen strolling down the darkened streets of Vale, his orange hair swept over one of his green eyes. Behind him was a similarly pale skinned human female in a pink, brown and white outfit. Her hair was brown on the right and pink on the left with white streaks through it, her right eye also brown while her left eye was pink. They soon stopped at a black and red casino with the ace of spades on the front of it, the name "Diamond Queen of Spades" lit up by neon lights as the man let out a nervous sigh before they both walked into the building. Once inside, they saw the interior was noir themed with black and red neon lights, people playing at slot machines, doing poker and several other gambling games. But the two walked past all of these, the man seeing a glimpse of a black trenchcoat in the corner of his eye before disappearing. Then five men in black suits closed in on them from all sides, the supposed leader stopping in front of them and gesturing to their cane and umbrella. "Weapons please, if you will. The boss doesn't like armed guests." He spoke calmly with a heavy Italian accent, as the two quietly handed over their weapons. "Very nice. I'll take you to the boss." He told them as he lead them to an elevator, all of them entering it before the doors closed, taking them to the top floor. Once the doors opened, they stepped out to the sight of two black doors which closed showed a giant S on the front of them, the guard knocking on the left door. "Boss, got the people who wanted to meet you." He said, as a voice answered back. "Well, bring them in, we don't have all day." A man's voice answered back, the guard opening the doors to show a lavish black and red office, and behind a desk at the back of the room sat a light skinned man with black hair that had a gray streak right down the middle, his brown eyes watching them closely. He wore a dark red dress shirt with a gray vest over it, grey pants and black boots, a tattoo of the ace of spades could be seen on his neck with a bleeding crown on top of it.

The man gestured at the seats sitting before the desk, no expression on his face. "Come, sit down." He said, as the two walked over to the chairs and sat down. "I understand you have a proposal for me, Roman. For both of your sakes, I hope you aren't wasting my time." He said, opening one of the desk drawers as he pulled out a cigar and lit it with an engraved lighter. "N-No, of course not. I would never waste your valuable time, Spade. Sir." The man now known as Roman said nervously, his every action showing his nervousness and fear. Though, it was understandable, for before was the infamous "Spade", head of Vale's mafia and leader of the most powerful criminal empire ever known. How he gained such influence was a mess of vague rumors and half-truths, for some believed he actually fought the other families personally, beating them to death. Others still believe that he recruited the most wanted criminals in Remnant, then had every competing family and crime boss disappear or sent to their untimely deaths by unknown reasons. All the same, it was wise never to mess with him. "I came with the proposal for us to be...partners." Roman told him, as the guards in the room looked at him like he was nuts, which he most likely was for making such a proposal. But Spade simply chuckled at his words, casually smoking his cigar as he looked at Roman with an amused glint in his eyes. "And why would I become partners with you?" He merely asked, giving Roman a chance to explain himself when one of the guards approached him and whispered into his ear for a minute. Spade nodded before waving him away, then gestured to one of the guards at the doors. "Turn off the lights." He ordered, the guard immediately doing so as the room was immediately covered in darkness. "Turn it on." He ordered again, and as the lights came on two men were seen in the middle of the room with a tied up man and woman between them, bags over their heads. "Boss." The first one said, his voice as cold and unfeeling as stone. He had pale white skin and emerald green slitted eyes, his hair a raven black color. He also had on a black, hooded trenchcoat like the one Roman had seen before, his face hidden both by the hood and a red half-mask. He wore a red shirt and black pants underneath the coat, black gloves covering his hands and black boots on his feet. The second man merely nodded his head in acknowledgement of their boss, wearing a full paramilitary uniform, his face completely covered by a gasmask and a helmet on top of it, covering his hair.

Spade smiled as he got up, taking the cigar out of his mouth. "Excellent work, you two. You had no problems whatsoever?" He asked, as the uniformed man shook his head. "None we couldn't handle, sir." He said, speaking with a german accent. He then looked at the two they brought with them, and saw they weren't hurt in any possible way, which made him smile once again, though not in a good way. That's when he remembered his guests, and gestured towards Roman and his associate. "Ah, I completely forgot. Roman, Neo, these are my lieutenants, Nihil and Jäger." He said introducing them all to each other, Roman's and Neo's eyes going wide at hearing their names. Nihil, the infamous "black snake", was the most notorious assassin ever known, who was wanted by all the nations of Remnant for multiple charges, mostly Atlas and the Schnee Company for the murder of several Schnee family members and countless military officials, plus the murders of many Huntsmen and Huntresses. Jäger "red eyes" Von Schneider was known as the best mercenary around, having been one of Atlas' key operatives before suddenly going awol. To know that Spade had such...esteemed people working for him made him all the more dangerous. "Now, on to the fun part." Spade said, grinning as he gestured towards the man and woman, the guards grabbing two chairs and setting them down in the middle of the room while Nihil and Jäger forcibly sat the two in the chairs, tying them to the furniture before ripping the bags off. The man had brown hair and the woman had long blonde hair, the two knocked out cold. Spade simply snapped his fingers as Nihil woke them up with a punch to their faces, causing the man to groan in pain as he opened his eyes, only to start panicking while he tried desperately to escape from his bonds upon seeing Spade.

"Shitshitshitshitshitshit!!!!" He shouted, as Spade frowned and sighed. "Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy. You disappoint me. After everything I did for you, you had to go and try to rat me out to the cops. Of course, I was already prepared for that, but it just hurts me that you would do it so easily." He said, Nihil taking another chair from a table in the corner as he set it down before the two, Spade sitting down on it. "I-I won't do it again, I swear! I-It was just a m-moment of doubt, it won't happen again!" Jimmy pleaded, as Spade started smoking his cigar once again. "I know it won't Jimmy, that's why I brought your wife here to convince you." He told her, Jimmy finally seeing his wife beside as his eyes went wide with fear and shock. "B-B-Barbara?!" He exclaimed, as Barbara turned her head to look at her husband. "Jim, what's going on?!" She questioned him, as Nihil walked over beside her. "I-It'll be okay, Barb, I promise. Everything w-will be fine." He stammered, trying to reassure her as he looked back at Spade with begging eyes. "P-P-Please, sir, leave my wife b-be! She doesn't deserve to be punished for my mistake!" He begged of him, as Spade just kept smoking. "You fucked up, Jimmy. So you pay the price. Say goodbye to Barb, Jim." He replied, as Nihil began pulling down his mask with one hand before untying Barbara with the other. "N-No, god please no! Leave her out of this! I'm begging you!" He cried out, as she suddenly hugged him, tears going down her face as she smiled sadly at him, knowing what was about to happen. "I love you." She said quietly, kissing him briefly before Nihil pulled her off of him and bit down deep into her neck, causing her to cry out in pain. "NO! No, you bastard! Get off of her, you son of a bitch! It's me you want, not her!" He cried out, tears of grief and anger streaming down his face as he was forced to watch his wife die before his very eyes. After a few minutes, Nihil gently laid the woman's body on the ground, blood dripping down his mouth as two curved fangs could be seen. "She got off easy..." Spade began to say, rolling up his sleeves before putting on his knuckledusters as he cracked his neck. "But you won't." He finished, before he began to the living hell out of him, his fists glowing with flames as Jimmy spat out blood each time his fists connected. Before long, he just looked like a slab of meat as Spade cleaned his bloodied hands off on his shirt. "Plweasce...." Jimmy couldn't even speak anymore, his jaw completely shattered. "Finish it." He ordered, as Jäger simply pulled out a pistol and shot him in the head. All the while, Roman watched this happen with an extremely pale face, seeing what happened to those who crossed Spade, though Neo was watching Jäger the entire time. "Now, what was your proposal?" Spade asked, sitting back down in his desk as Nihil and Jäger took up positions on either side of him, the guards cleaning up the bodies. "Y-Y-You provide protection and men for me for my raids, and I give you a cut of everything I steal." Roman stammered for a moment, Spade thought for a moment. "...Alright. How much?" He asked, causing him to let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Twenty percent." He said, as Spade shook his head. "Thirty percent, plus a cut of what you already stole." He immediately countered, as Roman merely nodded, knowing he wouldn't be able to argue with him. "Alright, deal." He agreed, as they both shook hands. "Very good. You made a good choice...partner." Spade said, grinning as the guards dragged out the bodies, the doors closing behind them.