[Once again, whether you choose to let the characters wear their canon outfits or these outfits for this volume is up to you.]
[Other than that, hope you enjoy.]
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Complete darkness is all that Roman could see as muffled sounds echoes in his ears. The distant combat, the screams of terror, Grimm roaring, rushing winds, and nearby explosions. The crime boss's body is covered in a thick green aura as his clothes and skin is covered in dry acidic scars.
Roman: "...!"
Panicked and angered, Roman scrabble desperately to escape the shadowy haze that he's in. His limbs pilling free for a second only to be dragged back in by Grimm-like tendrils as a new trail of scars and chemical burns etched into his body. Roman quickly shift his eyes to his blacken surroundings to find one of his hands is holding his cane as the tendrils begin to wrap around his face and body. With a moment of aiming, Roman squeezes his eyes shut and pulls the trigger in his cane. Suddenly, the darkness around him explodes in a flash of red and white.
The Alpha Griffon that had eaten him is flying from the airship it had been kicked into, having burst out of the side. A moment later, it explodes from the inside out as Roman fall off from its abdomen, killing it in the process. The crime boss start falling to the ground, his aura flickering from the slow, dissolve on his body and the sheer force of the explosion in such close proximity. His cane, Melodic Cudgel, shatters from the strain and his signature white coat has been almost completely devoured from the acid, leaving him in only the tattered remains of his shirt, pant, and shoes. His bowler hat flies off into the night as Roman see the approaching ground below him. He had no time to react as his body meets it. The moment he made impact with the ground, his aura breaks completely, and he passes out from the shock. Moments passes as a golden glow wash beneath his eyelids. His eyes open, this time a much softer green and grayer in color. Wordlessly, he stands up from his feet and he limps away from the battlefield. He glances back to see the broken cane in front of several Grimm skeletons, multiple debris and dead bodies scattered around. He continues to limp away as best he can, not wanting to look back anymore.
(11 Months Since the Fall of Beacon)
Roman immediately jolt awake in an emergency shelter set up in a Valesian gymnasium, one among dozens who have taken refuge there. He sits up and quietly evaluates the situation, including his injuries and the people around him. With a scowl look at the scar on his arm and the tattered states of his clothing, Roman tries to stand before realizing he's chained to the bed with handcuffs. A glint of panic crosses his face until he realizes that the people around him are either too busy taking care of the injured or too injured themselves to care about him being awake.
Roman: ("I need to leave. Now.")
Gritting his teeth, Roman dislocates his thumb to slips free of the handcuffs, stands up from the bed, relocates his thumb, and walks his way towards the door. The moment he reaches the door, it opens to reveal one of the emergency workers leading two Atlesian guards. Seeing the now conscious crime boss out of his bed, the worker points at him.
Emergency Worker #55: "He's awake!"
The two Atlesian guards waste no time to move in to apprehend him.
Roman: ("Ah crap.")
In response, Roman flee from them as he dashes towards the set of doors on the other side of the gym, while knocking medical equipment into the path of the guards chasing him. The chase is brief, however, as the minute Roman gets outside and into the streets of Vale, he's back in his element and vanishes into the alleyways. Roman lean against a brick wall, catching his breath as he peeks around the corner to see the guards incorrectly choose to dash towards a different alleyway.
Roman: ("Heh, Y/N done a better job at chasing me down.")
This gives the crime boss his moment to breathe and fully escape the area, while making sure no one had followed him.
(Later On)
Roman arrive at an apartment door and when he reaches for his keys, he realizes that he left it in his coat, which now has been dissolved. Groaning and rolling his eyes, he kicks open the door and walks into his safe house apartment. Unfortunately, upon entering inside, he found one of the walls has been blown open during the attack on Beacon, leaving the main room partially exposed to the street outside. Before he could speak, Roman let out a long, defeated sigh.
Roman: "Great... just great."
He moves on to what he came here to do.
Roman: ("Alright. Time to clean myself up, get a fresh set of threads, think what to do next.")
He heads over to the closet of the bedroom, opening it, and inside he found a group of outfits set aside for him and another group of outfits for Neo. He lingers, looking at Neo's side of the closet before taking his clothes and closing the door. He enters the bathroom as he tries to shower only for nothing but gunk leaves the pipes.
Roman: "Yuck."
Resign to not get a proper shower, he goes to change his new clothes.
[Minus the cane in his hand.]
Roman: "Ah, now that's better."
Once he finishes changing into his new threads, Roman hears a quiet voice seemingly somewhere else in the apartment. Immediately, Roman shift his head to outside the bathroom.
Roman: "Who's there?"
After leaving the bathroom, the wary crime boss checks every corner of the place, any spot a person can hide from.
Roman: "Come out now... I'm going to beat you with an inch of your life if you've stolen anything from me."
He then hears a noise coming from within the bathroom. Slowly, he returns back to the bathroom, hearing the quiet voice again, while looking towards the mirror. The confused Roman look at the mirror for a while before the quiet voice speaks much louder.
Ozpin: "Hello, I'm Headmaster Ozpin."
Immediately, the wide-eyed Roman slams himself into the wall behind him, breathing rapidly.
Roman: "Where the hell is this voice coming from?!"
Ozpin: "Apology for startling you like that. As for your question, I'm inside your mind."
Roman: "Hah! Yeah right."
As he said this, the crime boss quickly searches the bathroom and his new clothes for hidden speakers that he might have miss. After a couple minutes of searching and finding nothing, Ozpin then asks.
Ozpin: "Satisfied?"
Roman: "Hell no! There has to be some better explanation for this."
Ozpin: "Your attitude is very ungrateful towards the one who saved your life."
Roman: "Excuse me?"
Ozpin: "I was the one that took control of your body and brought you to that field shelter."
Upon hearing this, Roman becomes visibly furious at this.
Roman: "You dumbass! I almost ended got arrested again because of you."
Ozpin: "I apologize for that but, I don't exactly have a choice of who I end up in the mind of and I had no way to know that I would be inside of your mind. All I knew was that my new host has passed out, very injured, no aura, and in the middle of the battlefield. So, getting arrested for a second time would have been preferable to being eaten, would it not?"
Annoyed, Roman just roll his eyes at his response.
Roman: "Riiight. Try spending a couple weeks locked up inside of Ironwood's prison carrier and then talk to me about what would be 'preferable'."
Ozpin: "Try spending eternity hoping bodies after bodies with little control over what they do."
As he said this, Ozpin manage to move one of Roman's arms up though, it's sluggish and clumsy. This horrified the crime boss at seeing his hand raise high on its own accord as he quick to use his other hand to restrain it.
Roman: "W-What the hell did you do?!"
Ozpin: "That little demonstration was about the peak of what I can do and even that much is dwindling quickly as our motor function will begin to fuse."
The headmaster then set Roman's arm free as Roman now control it like usual. Roman walks over and collapses on to the tattered apartment's couch, letting out a long sigh.
Roman: "So, there really is someone inside my head."
Ozpin: "Correct. It was quite a surprise when it first happened to me, and the weight of the implications might be more so."
Roman: "And what does that mean?"
Ozpin: "The world is at stake from a grave threat. A threat that I've been fighting for centuries to ensure it doesn't succeed. You, Roman Torchwick, have the distinguished honor to be the next in a long line of hosts destined to fight that threat and keep all of Remnant safe. It might be an adjustment period for you but, I can assure you that by the time we link up with my allies, my presence will begin to feel like second nature."
Having to listen to his "rambling," Roman speaks up upon hearing that last part.
Roman: "Yeah, it's only an adjustment period so much as you remain in my head."
Ozpin: "Hm?"
Roman: "I'm not sure if you have noticed but, I happen to enjoy the luxury of my own mind and I don't intend to give up the real estate that's rightfully mine. I don't know how you got in my head but, once I find Neo, probably find Y/N, we are going to find a shrink or a priest or something and find a way to kick you out."
Ozpin is quite taken aback by Roman's reply and remains quiet for a moment before speaking.
Ozpin: "Hold on, you know Y/N?"
His question makes the crime boss visibly confused.
Roman: "Yeah, why? Do you?"
Ozpin: "He's my student and a fellow ally."
Roman: "Are you kidding me?!"
The headmaster gives him a brief explanation of his connection to Y/N, much to Roman's awe.
Ozpin: "Now, I must ask, how do you know about him?"
Roman: "Uhm, he's... uh... not a friend... uh... an acquaintance of mine? I think?"
Ozpin: "So, you do know him. Good. That makes things much easier. We can start from-"
Roman: "Whoa, whoa, whoa, it's true that I know him but, it doesn't change the fact that I'm going to find Neo first. If I stumble upon Y/N, then maybe I can bring him with me and Neo, regardless if he is your student and agent or not."
Ozpin: "You don't quite understand the situation you're in. I'm-"
Roman: "Oh, I know. Some old geezer is in my head, trying to tell me what to do. Extort enough corporate suits and you get to know the type. Ugh, I just gotten out of a rather 'sticky business entanglement' and I'm not keen on entering another one. Once I get you out of my head, you can go haunt someone else and take your 'save the world' nonsense with you."
Ozpin: "It doesn't work that way. There's no way for me to leave outside of you dying. Like it or not, we're stuck together."
The crime boss stands up from the tattered couch before responding.
Roman: "I've always found a way to be the exception to the rule. You don't become a criminal mastermind without a little grit, determination, and creativity. But my first priority is Neo and in that, I'm not budging."
Letting out a sigh of his own, Ozpin replies back.
Ozpin: "Very well then. I'll shall help you look for her and in exchange, perhaps you can humor this old man's plans."
As Roman approaches the door to the apartment, resting a hand on the broken handle. He pauses for a moment before addressing to the disembodied voice.
Roman: "I might listen... just might. But you shouldn't count on it."
While saying that last part, Roman opens the door and leaves the apartment.