The day of the mission snuck up on me sooner than I had anticipated. The mission itself didn't really send any instructions, so I guess I had to use my own methods. I checked my scroll again for any updates. Apparently Roman was last seen near a dust shop not to far from where I was. If I caught a ferry, I could attempt to catch him in the act before he left for somewhere else. I quickly got my essentials together and made my way to the docks. After purchasing a ticket, I boarded the ferry and quietly waited until I had reached my destination. The industrial district was busy as ever. People crowded every inch of the place it seemed. Looking for a young thief would take longer than I had thought.
"Hey! Catch that punk!" I heard someone yell.
Before I could understand what was happening, someone ran past me. I only caught I quick glimpse of them, but it was enough to tell that I had found who I was looking for. An older man, around his fifties or so, ran up to me.
"That little brat took my favorite hat! Do you have any idea how much that costed?!"
I just stared at him. "Sir, there's a lot more you should be worrying about. You're lucky that kid didnt steal anything else from you."
He glared at me and opened his mouth to say something, but before he had a chance, I took off after Roman. I would lose him if I waited any longer. I was only a few feet away when he took a quick glance behind him. His eyes widened when he noticed I was on his tail and quickly took a sharp turn down a dark alleyway. Unfortunately for him, the alleyway lead to a dead end. He stopped running to catch his breath.
I smiled as I slowed down and walked up to him.
"Nowhere to run now, is there Roman?" I asked.
Roman glared at me for a few moments, then to my surprise he leapt into the air and sent a strong kick to my stomach. It didn't hurt all that much, but it was enough to make me stagger back and become dazed for a moment. That gave him enough time to take off running out of the alleyway.
"Speedy little tyke," I muttered to myself as I took off after him.
I thought I actually lost him until I saw a small dust shop. It was quite far off from the rest of the other shops. I saw Roman inside, holding a pistol to the cashier. I had to get Roman out of there before things got much worse and he did something he would regret. Quickly, I walked through the door, startling Roman. He turned to face me, pointing his pistol strait at my face.
"You're still following me?! Leave me alone!" he said.
He fired his pistol and I quickly moved out of the way. The door was now frozen solid with ice. He was using dust bullets.
"Nowhere to run now, is there?" he asking, grinning mischievously.
I glared at him. "We'll see about that."
I clenched my right hand into a fist and shattered the glass door as well as the ice. Roman looked shocked for a brief moment before turning the pistol towards the cashier again.
"I'll repeat this one more time. Hand me all of your cash and dust!"
I saw my opening. I swiftly walked up behind him and wrapped him up in a bear hug.
"Hey!" he cried. "Get off me!"
He tried squirming free, but he wasn't that strong. Getting the pistol out of his hands shouldn't be an issue. I slowly unwrapped my left arm and quickly took his wrist and slammed it into the counter. He cried out in pain as the gun flew from his hands and clattered onto the floor. I had to wrestle him out of the broken glass door.
"Hey! Watch the hat!" Roman snapped at me. I took a quick glance and saw the cashier on the phone. Most likely talking with the police. I had to distract Roman until they showed up.
He was still trying to twist free from my grip, but I held on tightly.
"Let me go!"
"Nope. Let's chat for a bit. Why are you after money and dust?" I asked him.
"Are you stupid or something? I need dust for my gun! And I won't be able to do anything without Lien idiot!"
"You can't just steal things, kid. That's what got you in trouble to begin with! Also, how in the world did you escape that juvenile detention center?"
He grinned at me. "It's wasn't too hard. Their security system is a piece of crap."
"Well, you're going to have to go back to that detention center whether you like it or not," I replied.
"Hell no! I'm not going back there!"
As if on cue, I heard sirens in the distance. Roman must've heard them too. He started to struggle harder and harder.
"Let me go! I need to escape before those stupid cops find me!"
I tightened my grip on him a bit.
"I don't think so. You need to deal with the consequences of your actions. And to do that, you'll need to do your time at that detention center. Maybe that'll put you in shape."
A few cop cars stopped in front of us a few seconds later and an officer got out of one of the cars.
"We got a call that a juvenile had tried to rob and threaten cashier with a deadly weapon," they said.
I nodded. "Sounds right. I'm Tai Xiao Long. I'm on a mission to find a kid that escaped a juvenile detention center. Here he is," I said, releasing my grip on Roman and shoving him towards the officer. Roman tried to run, but the officer quickly grabbed hold of his wrists and put handcuffs on them.
"Get in the car, kid," he instructed.
Roman followed the instructions without arguing.
"Okay okay. Once question though... can I keep the hat?" he asked.
The officer just looked at him.
"Fine. Now be quiet before we extend your stay at the center."
Roman kept his mouth shut as the officer closed the car door.
He then walked up to me and shook my hand.
"Thank you for your assistance, sir."
"My pleasure. Oh, and you might want to mention the security to the detention center. They wouldn't want to lose Roman a second time."
The officer nodded and walked to his car. After the cars had left, it was silent and peaceful again. I walked inside the dust shop to check on the cashier.
"Hey... I'm sorry about the door. I'll pay for it," I insisted.
"No no! It's fine. I'll have it replaced. You've done more than enough. Thank you so much!"
"It's no problem at all," I replied. "Be safe and have a nice night."
I went home shortly after and brought out my scroll. Under my current mission, I pressed the completed button and sent a short message to Ozpin.
"Well... this has been an eventful day," I said to myself as I headed upstairs to bed.