Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-5426254-20150825005304/@comment-5426254-20150915011649

A crowd had formed at the street corners surrounding the restaurant as Carmine flew out the window of the restaurant after a gunshot was fired.

Sooner or later, Violet then calmly walked outside to retrieve her other two wallets, before spraying a burst of fire in the air to force a path through the crowd.

Vert had heard the commotion and all of the noise, and had made his way when he saw Violet heading out to make her escape.

"Stop! You're not going anywhere!" Vert screamed as he aimed Law.

Instantly, Violet returned fire, shooting at the ground in front of him as she ran past the crowd.

"I'm afraid our we're going to have to cut our little game short, old sport, Violet remarked. "Farewell, gentlemen ... especially you, Mr. Ravenholme."

"Ugh... wha... what happened? All I remember is getting the wind knocked out of me with that kick of hers. Guess I didn't see her preparing for a headshot coming, all right. Normally, it would be the other way around, with the bulletproof vests and whatnot..."

"Told you that we shoulda stayed out of it," Vert mused as he helped his partner up.

"Me? I was the one who warned you about these ladies here!"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's walk a few blocks and call an ambulance."

"Whatever happened to the For Justice mantra?"

"Look it's been a long evening. I messed up, and because of that, we let our targets slip away. How about we get you patched up and call it a night?"

The two limped down the street together before pulling out their Scrolls and dialing for an emergency ... --- As Alice ran on rooftops past the back exit of the restaurant, trying to make it to her current client in time, she thought back to what had happened.

She had understood the sentiment of her new acquaintance Violet, and the reason why Violet wanted to recruit her in the first place.

''Was she really who she said she was? Was she right?''

She had thought up of all of the pros and cons of a membership with the Black Chariot, and had soundly rejected the offer based on her own principles, and her own experiences with the White Truth.

''Well, Violet, we're always different. I'm fine with what I do and how I do it. I'm going to show you that I can stand on my own two feet, and that I'm happy with the path I chose. Still, you're not half bad. They're a rotten crowd, but you're worth the whole damn bunch put together.''

As she ran past the local pubs, she couldn't help but smile. And when she made it to the target location a few minutes late, panting heavily in a damaged mask, she continued to serve her client, and follow her path... --- When Violet reached her car, the first thing she did was to stow away her weapons and change her clothes.

I might have to go to Taylor's and get these tears fixed, Violet mused as she buttoned up her new blazer.

Then she looked at the parking meter. Her time had expired. She opened her two remaining wallets, only to find that she had a handful of bills each. She took two of them and inserted them into the meter, before starting the car and driving off.

At the intersection, Violet waited at the light when she saw a shadow run on the rooftops once more.

Then the horn blared as the light turned green. Violet then stood there, in a moment of shock, before she realized what was going on, and continued to drive to the party ... --- "So, remind me again why you ran off to the destitute sections of Vale, young men?"

Glynda Goodwitch demanded an explanation after she saw and heard the news report. Thousands of images had burst onto social media as the incident would be burned into people's memories.

"It's ... a complicated situation," Carmine replied.

"That does not qualify for an excuse, let alone an explanation," Goodwitch angrily retorted. "When I am finished, I-"

"Now, now, Glynda. We must give them time to properly explain what transpired in the past few hours," Ozpin interjected. "What exactly were you doing there, Mr. Ravenholme and Mr. Jacobs?"

Ozpin was particularly interested as he wished to find out what information they had on Violet Cesario, now that Ozpin had reviewed her appearance on the surveillance footage.

"After we ate our dinner," Vert began, "we noticed a shadow on the rooftops. We decided to investigate the situation. After the chase led us to the seedy side of town, we saw her interacting with this Violet Cesario person. I believed, under reasonable cause, that this target was the cop killer Selena Schiess, the target of a VPD investigation I participated in some time before. Unfortunately ..."

"He misjudged the targets," Carmine intervened. "By the time he had realized it, the suspects managed to slip away, leaving us with some bumps and bruises. While I did warn him about how dangerous the two were, I admit, I must take some personal responsibility for this fiasco when I took the fight further to what you see on the news report. Now, I wanna know what you've got in store for us when it comes to punishment, plain and simple."

The response was somewhat surprising. While they didn't show it on their faces, they were in fact surprised.

"When the appropriate course of action is decided," Ozpin continued, "we will notify you with the full details. What I am interested in, Mr. Ravenholme, if you have any information on the suspects, particularly Ms. Cesario."

"Well, for all intents and purposes, let's just say that my family knew who she was," Carmine subtly explained. "I've also looked up who she was on the Web. Now, the other suspect, Memories, has recently undertaken a mission concerning the Borealis and the White Fang hours ago, according to Alicia's video log. That is all the information I have on the two of them."

As the two gentlemen began to leave the office, Ozpin had one last thing to ask of them.

"Mr. Ravenholme? I'd like to know what more there is to that arm of yours."

Carmine froze for a second. ''Does he know? How do I explain it to him without spilling all the beans?''

"Well, as you can see, this is a prosthetic after I survived a Grimm attack. It's a memento of how much my family loves me. All it really does is help me fight the Grimm."

"I see. Well then, the two of you are free to leave."

When they left, another conversation continued in the office.

"Whatever happened to keeping a watch on him?"

"The situation is always changing, Glynda."

"Well then," Goodwitch replied, trying to change the subject, "That Jacobs fellow reminds me of-"

"-Ruby Rose, I'm quite aware of that," Ozpin countered. He could see the parallels between Ruby's intervention and the more recent incident.

"You do realize that we should punish them, correct?"

"That will be decided, in time. What I'm curious about is that Cesario person, a former student of ours."

"Should we send a manhunt after her? Surely a squad of Hunters can get the job done quickly."

"No, Glynda, we should not. Spreading terror and fear into the public for such a trivial matter is very counterproductive to the real task at hand... finding a means to combat our enemies in the shadows."

"With all due respect, I-"

"Besides, we are living in a time of peace. We should not spare any effort to make sure this tranquility is disturbed. Even if we find Cesario, we have no means of gathering evidence against her, and that is not considering the possibility of an alias. Our focus is to combat the forces conspiring against the stability of Vale and the other Kingdoms. We will continue surveillance and intervene when necessary. Now I would like to not discuss this any further, Glynda."

As Glynda left, she questioned Ozpin's motives once more.

''Ozpin, I have always believed in you, for as long as I remember, and I will continue to do so. But now that Ironwood has lost faith, your position as Headmaster is at risk of termination, and with situations like these, what more can you possibly be hiding from us? And how do you intend on getting others to trust you?'' --- Carmine whipped out his scroll and dialled a number.

"Hello? Bertram Ravenholme speaking."

"Dad? Have you seen the news?"

"Son! What news?"

"I got involved in a fight."

"Oh God, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just a few bruises. But this next bit of info will surprise you."

"Yes?"

"I fought against Violet Cesario."

"Carmine, do you know how worried I am right now?"

"Yeah. Now, can you tell me the best way to defeat her?"

"You're going to need to have talented people surrounding you. And it takes a lot more strategy to deal with her. What you did has made me furious, son. We are going to discuss this in the future."

"Goodbye, Dad." --- The party was quite rambunctious, to say the least. All over the building, people were gambling in poker, slot machines, and roulette wheels. There were those performing swinging dances, and some had even dived in the swimming pool. There were plenty of rich people from all walks of life, man or woman, Human or Faunus.

All of them were laughing and having fun, drinking alcohol with plenty of ice cubes and various fruits on top, whether or not they were rotund men with beards and oversized hats, slim young men with greased hair and the perfect smile, old bald men in suits, or even the attractive women that made Violet's heart skip several beats.

When they saw Violet enter, the whole building cheered.

"Viola Wolfsheim! How are you doing?"

"Just wonderful," came the response as Violet grabbed his hand, and patted him on the back.

"Viola! I knew you could make it," a woman in a strapless red dress beamed as she approached Violet.

"Thanks for inviting me," Violet replied as they both air kissed on the cheeks.

Then the whole party continued their flights of fancy until moonlight.

When Violet had all of her fun, she retreated away from the casino section of the building into the upper balconies of the exquisite building, where she could see the full moon rise into the sky, and the dark, gentle waters bordered by the lovely green gardens.

As she continued to drink a cocktail of her Mint Julep and a Strawberry Sunrise, she thought back to what occurred between her and Memories.

''So, all this time, you wanted to strike out on your own, Mems? That you'd reject anything I can possibly give you?''

As she drank another sip, she remembered her own past, and how she got to who she was.

''I suppose you wanted to stand on your own two feet, don't you? That you can still make it out on your own, without anyone's help? Without people like you and me being hunted down by the sins of our pasts?''

A smile grew on her lips as she finally understood the message that Alice told her that night.

''Well, I think I'd do the same thing if I was in your shoes. You're a very interesting individual, Mems. Not bad, old sport, not bad at all.''

As she continued to stare into the night sky that turned into day, against the receding tide, three paths that once stood intersected now lay separate forevermore.

Fin --- Afterword: Wow, that was long. And really, really fun. Full of shoutouts, and references. I'd like to thank my co-author, DustpeltX, for making this sophomore collaboration fun. And I hope you enjoyed it!

-Gundam Legilis