The Games We Play

Unannounced

  I smiled at the question and leaned back on the desk, doing my best to look amused.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" I asked. "It is your employer who desires a meeting, after all. I assumed she had a reason to do so."

Torchwick took another puff of his cigar and glanced at Neo as if to confirm she was still there—which might be an actually concern when it came to an illusionist.

"You already know she doesn't tell me anything," He stated.

"Perhaps so," I acknowledged. "But I know a fair bit about you, Mr. Torchwick—"

Though nowhere near as much as I'd like you to believe, I admitted internally.

"—And you seem like a fairly intelligent man," I finished. "Given your efforts here, it's obvious that you have a fair bit of experience, so I assume you're aware of the dangers you currently face. Should you fail your task here, I take it you are aware of what will most likely come of you."

Torchwick didn't deny it. This part, at least, I was fairly sure of—a man in his situation had as much, if not more, to fear from his allies as he did from his enemies. If the Hunters or the police caught up to him, he'd likely face a great deal of time for his many crimes. If Cinder or the White Fang though he'd become a loose end, however, he'd be lucky to find himself face down in a shallow grave. That wasn't a possibility, it was just a fact, and odds were pretty good that not only would none of them miss him, but they probably wouldn't even feel much regret for doing the deed.

"Sure," He said instead. "I know the rules of the game. You got a point to that?"

"I'd think my point was rather obvious," I replied easily, still smiling. "Given that you're gambling with your life, I'd take it you foresee a reward that would make it worth your while—and given what I know of you, I doubt you accept payment in empty promises or ideologies."

"Fgh," He answered with a disgusted sound. "I can't put either of those things in the bank, now can I?"

"Indeed not," I agreed. "So I assume that however secretive Ms. Fall might be, you know enough to see a chance for profit. Even if you're not entirely sure of her plans, you wouldn't be here if you didn't. Not even with an illusionist to assist in making your getaway."

Torchwick fell quiet as he looked at me with a speculative gleam in his eye.

"Maybe so," He allowed after a moment. "But I've been in the business long enough to know not to give anything away for free, especially not when someone's fishing for information."

I couldn't muster up too much surprise at that; he was far from the strongest person I'd ever met, but no one went to Torchwick for his muscle. He wouldn't be here—or out of prison, or alive—if he wasn't good at his job. Instead, I simply let my smile widen and flashed a quick gleam of teeth his way.

"Besides," He continued, musing aloud as he tilted his head slowly. "You strike me as the type of guy who likes to know more than anyone else in the room."

"Mm," I hummed quietly, mulling over his words for a moment before inclining my head in concession. "Indeed, I suppose that is correct. Although, in truth, it is more that I simply hate it when I'm surrounded by people who know more about what's going on than I do. I tend not to like what follows when I find myself uninformed."

Torchwick snorted.

"You're preaching to the choir," He told me. "The point being that I think you know a fair bit about what's going on or at least have some educated guesses. So imagine how I feel, locked in a room with you."

"Do I make you nervous, Mr. Torchwick?" I asked, though there wasn't much point. I did; I knew because I could feel it. "Feel free to unlock the door, if you so desire."

"Unlock it to a room that would cheerfully obey if you told them to shank me?" He mused skeptically before shaking his head. "Somehow, I don't think that would make me feel better. And I prefer the term wary."

"I see," I replied, chuckling slightly under my breath. "That's too bad, but I suppose it can't be helped. I have a way of making people feel...wary."

"I'm sure you do," He answered with another click of his tongue. "So let's cut to the chase. I know something you don't know. You know something I don't know. What do you want with me and why should I give it to you?"

I looked at him for a long, silent moment, staying relaxed and silent as I watched him. Sitting her now, I thought I saw a chance. It wasn't what I'd planned for when I came here, wasn't something I would have even truly considered before I spoke to him, but it was still an opportunity I could exploit. But should I? There was some risk to it, certainly, though I could control exactly how much. Given that, I stood to gain a lot more then I stood to lose.

"Cinder's planning to return to Vale during the Vytal Festival," I said, starting with what I knew. "She'll come as a representative of Haven's team, which will allow her to get inside of Beacon. While she's inside, she'll have you put that Dust outside to use."

Truthfully, that was nothing more than conjecture, bits and pieces put together that carefully avoided any specifics. Still, it was enough to make Torchwick's eyes widen slightly, meaning at least some of it must have been news to it while the rest mapped to what he knew closely enough that he didn't dismiss it out of hand.

After a moment, though, he recovered and is expression returned to one of reserved wariness.

"Good to know," He mused. "But I hope you're not expecting me to pour out my heart for a little bit of unconfirmed information.

"I try to avoid unrealistic expectations," I replied, chuckling again.

"Then why?" He asked after a moment, seeming honestly confused. He didn't seem like the type to believe much in charity, which, in fairness, this wasn't.

"Consider it an investment," I said. "And investment in your future."

"An investment?" He repeated before tilting his head. "You want me to do a job for you?"

I smiled again and nodded, to which he looked entirely unsurprised. I assumed this type of situation wasn't new to him.

"Why would I work for you over Cinder?" He asked. It seemed like an honest question, as if he'd pulled out a mental notepad and was prepared to start weighing the pros and cons.

"I'm not asking you to," I said. "So let me instead tell you why you should work for me."

I snapped my fingers once and as the sound faded, so did all the sounds outside the door. It was a minor difference and yet, at the same time, a noticeable one—big or small, the sounds of civilization disappeared. All of a sudden, we were surrounded by silence.

It was enough to send a shiver up the spine of anyone and I chuckled as Neo and Torchwick stiffened.

"What did you do?" Torchwick demanded, an edge of fear touching his voice.

"Nothing much," I assured. "I simply wanted some privacy for this display, so I drew the three of us into another dimension."

"What?" He whispered. "What are you...?"

"You don't believe me?" I asked before gesturing towards the doorway, making it collapse into dust. "Feel free to check for yourselves, if you desire. All the men and women out there are gone, as is everyone else in the world. It is just the three of us for the moment."

To prove it, I reached out with my Psychokinesis and my Elementals, turning them upon the building around us. It immediately began to break down, falling to pieces that gathered into flowing rivers of dust. A sudden breeze swept away the building, leaving us in a mostly empty lot, surrounded by empty buildings and cars. I was careful to kill and remove any Grimm, but everything else I left as it was.

Torchwick was dead silent as he looked around, though I could see droplets of sweat gathering on his brow.

"Now, now," I said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Don't be afraid—I've no intention of hurting either of you. As I told you, I simply wished for a bit of privacy for this display."

With that said, I began floating upwards, grasping to two of them with my Psychokinesis before they could resist and drawing them with me into the air. With a thought, I mean a loose ring of firing spheres that began to rain power down on the city at a leisurely pace, tossing out Magic Missiles and Flares with an occasional Gungnir thrown into the mix. I let the process continue for a minute or so, masking the presence and sounds of the Grimm with a field of explosions, and then held out a hand, gathering the power of Lux Aeterna and plunging the world into a mix of pure darkness and blinding light. When things returned to normal, there was a path of destruction cut through Vale and columns of smoke rose along its length.

I held them above it all for a moment, letting them get a good look, and then lowered us to the ground. Just outside where the warehouse should have been.

"As you can see, it's difficult to express my power within the confines of normal reality," I continued blithely, landing with my back to them both—which, of course, did nothing to stop me from seeing their expressions or from feeling the emotions racing through them. "At least, not without causing a significant number of casualties. Also, I'd appreciate it if you kept what you just saw a secret."

There was a moment of silence before they replied.

"You wouldn't have shown me any of that if you thought I might tell anybody," Torchwick whispered, which made me look over my shoulder and give him a gentle smile.

"No, I wouldn't have," I agreed. "And I know you won't tell anyone, Mr. Torchwick, because I have something you want."

Torchwick licked his lips once, heart pounding in his chest as he met my eyes, doing his best to look calm and mostly succeeding.

"And what's that?" He asked.

"A way out," I said. "I'm not going to ask you for anything yet, Mr. Torchwick—besides, of course, your silence. Instead, I simply want you to remember this when things go badly for you. And I think we both believe they eventually will, with the company you keep."

"And when they do, you'll...?"

"Save you, of course," I said. "So long as you keep faith with me."

"So long as I'm useful, you mean?" He asked.

"Yes," I stated in reply.

He swallowed once and pursed his lips before looking behind him at the destruction I'd caused.

"Why do you need me, when you have power like that?" He asked. "Why do you even need the White Fang?"

"I have plans of my own and they go far beyond whatever you believe them to be," I replied. "Truthfully, I care about Cinder's plans only insofar as they risk-affecting mine. You don't need to know any more than that right now, Mr. Torchwick."

I snapped my fingers again and we were back in front of the warehouse, the only sign that anything had happened at all being the fact that we were no longer in the office. People were walking and driving across the street as they normally did and ignoring us for the most part, largely because I made sure they couldn't see anything important.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Torchwick," I continued, still smiling at him. "You and I will be seeing each other in the future, no doubt, and I wish you the best until them. I take it you will keep what I said in mind?"

He nodded wordlessly, hand firmly clasping his cigar.

"Then goodbye," I said as I turned and began to walk away. "And tell Cinder I will be happy to meet her."

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