(A Few Days Later)
Inside of Junior's nightclub, the heavily bandaged Junior heads over to the Malachite Twins' room through a hallway with the help of a couple of his red glasses wearing goons. One of the goons are holding a tray of food with one of their hands.
[These guys minus the weapons and the non-injured Junior.]
Once he reaches the room, Junior opens the door to find the room unlit compared to the hallway outside. He finds the twins laying on their respective beds and under their blankets.
Junior: "Girls, dinner's ready."
In return, Junior doesn't get a respond from either of them as they quietly shift away from looking at Junior's brightly lit direction. The nightclub owner is hesitant to leave as he speaks up once more.
Junior: "Look... it's been a couple days since those handful of Grimm attacked us here... I know that you two are frightened and upset that Y/N had to leave... but don't worry, I'm sure Y/N will come back safely and as for me, I'm doing-"
Before he could finish, he starts to wince in pain from his injuries as his pair of goons rush over to his side.
Goon #1: "Boss!"
Goon #2: "You alright!?"
Junior brush them off as he steadies himself by holding the doorframe as he continues to look at the silent twins and speaks once more.
Junior: "I-I'm doing fine. So, please... stop hiding in your room..."
He slowly begins to mumble to himself.
Junior: "I'm worried about you two."
Melanie and Militia continue to give him the silent treatment as Junior let out a brief sigh.
Junior: "Okay... you girls can grab the food from the bar... if you feel well enough to come get it."
With that last part, he slowly closes the room's door and with the help of his men, Junior walks off and head back to his nightclub. The club has been temporarily closed following the Fall of Beacon where several Grimm attack the front of the club, leaving it in disarray and tiny debris littered around the place. Once Junior reaches the bar, one of his men goes to put the food down at the end of the bar.
Goon #2: "You sure you'll be okay, boss?"
Junior: "I said it's fine... you two should be working on cleaning up this place."
The pair of goons share a quick look before nodding to their boss, walking off to get some cleaning supplies to get started. Watching them leave, Junior slowly pulls out his scroll where he swipes a couple of times to find an image of himself, Y/N, and the Malachite Twins. Y/N, wearing his host outfit, is shown to be between the twins, trying his best to smile as the twins are shown to be pulling him to either of their direction, all while smiling happily with Junior behind them.
Junior: ("Those were the good old days...")
Junior can't help but smile at this image but, he can't stand to look at it very long, and putting his scroll away in his pocket. He busies himself by cleaning up the glasses behind the counter. However, his mindless cleaning is interrupted upon seeing Roman walking inside and dropping his elbows unceremoniously onto the bar when he sits down on one of the stools. The crime boss's presence shocks the bandaged nightclub owner a little bit.
Junior: "Torchwick... you're alive..."
Roman: "Indeed, I am. Geez, you sure seen better days."
Before he continues, Junior narrows his eyes at him.
Junior: "Word had got around that you're looking for that mute girl of yours."
Hearing this, Roman becomes quite neighborly and somewhat hopeful as he goes to ask him.
Roman: "Well, that's so good to hear. I was hoping that you can help me find her. Oh, could you also tell me where Y/N's whereabout is, too?"
Upon hearing his two requests, especially the one with Y/N, Junior starts to glare at the crime boss.
Junior: "No. You should leave."
Roman: "Huh?"
Junior: "I don't want to get involved in anything or with anyone that had their hands on what happened during the Fall of Beacon. And I'm certainly not selling out Y/N's whereabouts to you."
Roman puts a hand to his chest, pretending to be offended by his remark.
Roman: "But I'm innocent, Junior. I have nothing to do with that. And if you must know, me and Y/N are acquaintances."
Junior is quick to shoot him down.
Junior: "Yeah right. There's not a snowball's chance in hell that's the truth. You were arrested for the Breach months ago and with the White Fang involved, it's clear to anyone with eyes and a brain that the same people were involved. Besides, there's no way a crime boss like you would know a student from Beacon."
Furious by this, Roman snaps back at him.
Roman: "Oh, come on, my hands were tied! I didn't want a single part of what happened at Beacon or the Breach. If I hadn't complied the way I had, Neo and I would have been killed on the spot. My "employers" over the last half-year have been exceptionally powerful. Why would I have even entertained the idea of getting arrested in the first place? I could have made it out of there scot-free if it hadn't been for the people pulling the strings, using me as a scapegoat. Y/N should know about this too. Just ask him."
Despite the truth in Roman's words, Junior doesn't buy it. Not one bit.
Junior: "Not my concern. I want no part in any of it. It thanks to you and your employers that made the Fall of Beacon happened that-!"
Once more, Junior is interrupted by the pain he's feeling on his bandaged-up head and chest. He tries to use the counter for support only for his pair of goons rush over to his side, dropping the cleaning supplies.
Goon #1 & #2: "Boss!"
The goons help him stand on his feet as Junior continues to glare at the crime boss with his men.
Junior: "It would be best if you leave, Torchwick. Because I'm not helping you nor am I going to tell you where Y/N is going either."
Insulted, Roman does leave, marching off from the nightclub. However, during the whole conversation, Roman and Junior had a couple of eavesdroppers. Melanie and Militia, who are somewhat bandaged up and came out of their room to get some of the food Junior had talked about, hiding behind a corner as they become aware of the whole conversation. Once Roman fully left, the twins sneak their way back to their room.
Roman has reached outside of the nightclub as the disembodied voice of Ozpin speaks up.
Ozpin: "Well, that didn't go so well."
Upon hearing the voice, Roman snaps back at him.
Roman: "Shut up. I'm running out of ties that haven't been burned when I enacted my last big heist and the running commentary from the stupid voice in my head isn't helping."
Ozpin: "I apologize but, I'm trying to keep your head on straight to ensure we can be as efficient as possible. We've already been at this for several days and there's been zero progress being made."
Roman: "Tch."
The headmaster let out a brief sigh before resuming.
Ozpin: "If none of your old contacts can offer their assistance and the police would arrest you on the spot, it may be time to start investigating morgues."
Snarling quietly at the suggestion, Roman starts walking towards a sidewalk as Ozpin tries to "soften" his words.
Ozpin: "Humanity is mortal, Roman. Death is ever-present. It comes to everyone and if it was Neo's time, it was her time. You should be thankful for what time you had with her."
In response, Roman bites back at his words.
Roman: "Please, Neo is made of tougher stuff than you could even ever comprehend. A stupid fall wouldn't kill her, and a few setbacks won't stop me from finding her."
Ozpin: "Then, where are we going?"
Roman: "I still have a few more contacts to dig up. Some burned bridges that can still be crossed with enough rope and resolve."
Meanwhile, the lightly bandaged-up Melanie and Militia are back in their room as Melanie starts yelling.
Melanie: "I can't believe it! Roman Torchwick is involved with those bastards responsible for the Fall of Beacon! All the damage that spread into Vale! All the damage of this place!"
Leaning against a wall, Militia takes her sister's ranting in stride as she speaks up.
Militia: "Of course, it's his fault. Don't you remember that blonde bimbo who came to the bar that one time and used him as leverage against Junior and end with the whole club being wrecked."
Before she continues, Militia lean forward out of the wall.
Militia: "That man is nothing but trouble. It's only natural he'd be involved with the Fall of Beacon."
Still wholly distraught, Melanie asks.
Melanie: "What can we do? The authorities are too preoccupied with the Fall of Beacon to focus on him, and the criminal underworld wants to lay low. Hell, we can't even ask Y/N for help at this point."
Militia: "Don't you get it, Mel?"
Melanie: "Huh?"
Before she continues, Militia smile a bit.
Militia: "We take care of him ourselves. Get back at him and the rest of his group for ruining our way of life here. For making us suffer and afraid. For making Y/N to leave Vale to whatever journey he's going through. And once we accomplish that, we'll live happily ever after with Y/N and Junior. Who knows, we might be helping out Y/N by getting rid of him."
Melanie begins to nod in agreement as the two smiles at one another before they hear a knock on the door.
Goon #1: "Uhm, is everything alright? The boss and I heard shouting."
The twins stare at the closed door before one of them speaks up.
Militia: "Everything is fine."
Melanie: "Milita and I were thinking it's time we come out for some fresh air."
As she said this, Melanie and her sister share a look, smiling as the goon replies.
Goon #1: "Oh! That's very good to hear. I'll go tell the boss."
(Several Days Later)
Roman is at a morgue. The situation has deteriorated as Roman is not operating on a healthy amount of sleep anymore as the disembodied voice of Ozpin is twinged with irritation.
Ozpin: "Ugh, this search is taking up too much time. May I suggest we give up on it? There are more crucial things to be done, Roman."
Exhausted and seething, Roman snaps back at the headmaster.
Roman: "There is nothing more crucial to me than this. If she's not a corpse, then it means she's alive and they didn't check hard enough with my contacts. Not digging deep enough."
The crime boss then quietly sneaks out of the morgue and enters a nearby alley.
Roman: "I'm going to my contacts at the docks. Maybe Neo made her way out of the city though, I don't know why she do that unless she had to. Or maybe..."
As Roman ponder for a moment, Ozpin chimes in, wanting to change the subject to his allies.
Ozpin: "Does Neo know Y/N as well?"
Roman: "Ehh... you could say that... if Neo is with Y/N, then I'll just have to go find him. Ugh, but where is he exactly?"
Ozpin: "Why would she be with him?"
Roman: "Well, apparently, she has a thing for him. And if he's the only other person she can turn to, then I need to find Y/N as soon as possible."
Malachite Twins: "You're not going anywhere, Torchwick!"
The crime boss turns around to be met with the glaring faces of the Malachite Twins, both with their respective weapons.
They slowly approach as Roman flounder over both of their names.
Roman: "Oh hey... uh, Melanie... and Militia? I really can't tell who is who. Can't I just call you girls the twins?"
Melanie: "Still fooling around, even after everything you've done."
Roman: "Huh?"
Militia: "You're going to pay for you've done."
Roman: "Okay, what the hell is going on here?"
His confusion enrages the twins as they charge and attack him. Seeing their intent to kill him, Roman immediately sprint away from them.
Roman: ("Damn it! Really wish I have my cane right about now!")
The crime boss is chased through Vale's streets and alleys, scrambling to defend himself and keep himself ahead of the twin's vicious attacks.
Malachite Twins: "You can't escape, Torchwick!"
Roman: "Great! First Junior! Now these look-alike brats too!"
Eventually, he's chased into Vale's harbor where he finds himself cornered between the water, the twins, and a nearby group of Atlesian soldiers who heard the commotion not too far away. Roman flees across the docks, across the parked boats with the twins in hot pursuit, slashing and gouging their way across the yachts and fishing skiffs. With a stroke of luck, Roman manages to jump from a sail onto a much larger boat leaving out of the docks, leaving the twins to fall into the waters beside it. Hopping on, Roman collapses from exhaustion against the rails of the boat, watching the port fade into the distance.
Roman: "Oh, thank goodness."
Ozpin: "Good job in escaping."
Roman: "If what you said is true about Y/N being your secret agent, then where would he go?"
Ozpin: "So, now you want to listen to my plans."
Roman: "Shut it. I'm running out of options here."
Ozpin: "Very well. I know a place where he and another agent of mine should be going to."
Roman: "Where?"
Ozpin: "To Mistral... Haven Academy..."
As for the Malachite Twins, they manage to crawl up onto the docks, using their blades to give them the extra leverage into the wood. Giving themselves a moment to catch their breaths, they watch in distress as Roman shrinks into the horizon on the ship.
Milita: "We lost him..."
Hearing this, Melanie let out a tormented scream as she starts to cry as Militia goes to comfort her, all while Militia stare after the ship as it fully disappears from sight.