Halo: Reach has been released on the Master Chief Collection. Dark Souls Remastered came out last year. It's like I'm reliving my life from ten years ago.

. . .

. . .

The faucet handle turned and water stopped pouring into the sink. A dry cloth was grabbed and Robin reached for the first of many cleaned cups and began to wipe it down. As he picked up the third cup, a gentle chime rang across the store as the door to A Shepherd's Rest opened and three people stepped inside.

"Slow day, Robin?" one of them asked.

Robin didn't look up as he continued to dry the cups. "A good portion of my patrons are your students, Four-Eyes. Students that are either panicking or eagerly awaiting tonight's dance that's been the talk of the town," Robin said, picking up a fourth cup. "Besides, if it was always busy here, then I'd end up working myself to death. That or I'd have to hire some people to help out around the store."

The polite people-smile never faded from Ozpin's face as he simply nodded to Robin's words. As the headmaster took a seat by the counter, Robin glanced over his shoulder and spotted the familiar visage of a certain general.

"Afternoon, Mister Sternface," Robin greeted.

James Ironwood's eyes narrowed by a fraction upon hearing the nickname.

"I never did get the reason as to why you call me that," James said.

"That's because I never told you, though I assure you that the reason for doing so is a lot simpler than you might think," Robin casually returned. "Did you find your lost toy?"

The already-narrowed eyes narrowed even further. "Yes. I did."

Robin raised his hands in mock surrender. "Don't blame me that it was out there in the middle of the street. I'm not physically capable of lugging a giant, pilotable robot that most likely weighs a few tons to a safe area, nor was it my responsibility."

"He's…not wrong…" a woman said from James' right.

"He's not. However, that does not mean I have to like it," James glowered.

"Lighten up a bit, would you? And Winter, thank you for taking my side," Robin said, smiling at the white-haired woman.

The eldest daughter of the Schnee family returned the smile. "It is good to finally see you again, Mentor."

Robin's face scrunched up as if he bit into something sour. "Please stop calling me that. Never took you on a student, and I never did anything mentor-like. All I did was inadvertently train a bunch of Specialists since they kept trying to beat me after that initial…fiasco." Pulling out two menus from underneath the counter, he asked them, "Anything to drink?"

"Cappuccino, three teaspoons of sugar, and a little bit of cinnamon, please," Winter immediately ordered, not even looking at the menu.

James, on the other hand, took a moment to look over the menu. His eyes roamed its surface until finally stopping near the bottom of the page.

"A cup of Baron's Eight with a drop of cream," the general ordered, handing the menu back to Robin.

With a single nod, Robin tossed the menus back under the counter and began preparing the drinks. A scoop of Baron's Eight beans went into the grinder as a filter was placed onto a plastic cone just as a sudden thud came from the floor above them.

"What was that?" Winter asked, her eyes glancing at the ceiling.

"A guest. Not entirely a morning person," was Robin's casual reply. He then casually dumped the ground beans into the filtered cone and set a cup underneath it. "So, James. Those are some nice ships you brought in. Very fancy-looking. If I didn't know any better, I'd say there was something else going on beneath the events of the ball and the Vytal Festival."

At this, Ozpin sent James a smug look that said, "I told you so."

James let out a tired sigh. "My ships are here to show the civilians and the city that they are safe during such a large-scale event. My men can be deployed anywhere and at anytime."

Milk was poured into a pitcher. Turning a knob on the espresso machine in front of him, Robin began to steam and foam the milk for Winter's cappuccino, all the while keeping a close eye on James's coffee.

"And for what reason would your men need to be deployed?" Robin asked. "Surely nothing truly threatening lurks in the shadows - nothing more than the common thief that the VPD can't take care of."

Another look was shared between James and Ozpin, only this one lasted longer than the smug, non-verbal one-liner from earlier.

"…As you say, Robin, there is nothing that the VPD cannot take care of. My ships are here to simply send a message to the people, to tell them that they are safe and at peace."

"A message to the people?" Robin skeptically asked. He turned the knob the other way to stop foaming the milk and wiped down the steamer wand. "Or to discourage the curious."

James let out a heavy sigh as Ozpin gave him another smug "I told you so" look as Robin poured the foamed milk over the espresso.

"I admit that it is both, though mostly the former," James said with another sigh. "You can never be too careful during large events, especially when the White Fang has been growing bolder with each passing day."

"Point." Robin shrugged and sprinkled a bit of cinnamon.

As he handed the finished cappuccino out, Winter's eyes practically sparkled even though she held a brilliant poker face.

"It's just like Weiss said," Winter wistfully smiled after her first sip. "This can match Klein's."

"Klein?" Robin curiously asked as he prepared a cup of tea.

"My - that is, Weiss' personal butler," Winter clarified. "He was the one that first introduced me to coffee years ago, and I will admit that I pestered him for months before he finally gave in. Through me, Weiss would get her first cup, and she eventually grew a strong liking for Klein's drinks." A light laugh escaped her lips. "She would always go on about how all the other cappuccinos that she had never even compared to his."

"I see. It pleases me to hear that my craft can match such high standards," Robin replied. Turning his head back to James, he continued, "Back to what I was saying - there are more subtle ways to pass along the message, but then again, what do I know? I'm just the owner of a small-time coffee shop."

"Who so happened to infiltrate the sanctioned Dark Zone to kill an Elder Grimm and alter the landscape so greatly that one of Remnant's oldest mountains are no more," Ozpin offhandedly added. Cheeky bastard.

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, Four-Eyes," Robin casually said without missing a beat and handing James his coffee.

"Talking 'bout whah?" a new voice suddenly asked.

Everyone except for Robin turned as a pink-haired woman in a cream-colored sweater walked out of the door behind the counter. With a mighty yawn, she plopped down into a chair right next to Robin and yawned again, resting her elbows on the counter.

Without saying a word, Robin placed the tea that he had been preparing next to her arm.

"It's not ready yet," Robin told her as he placed a cup down by the kettle. "Give it another minute and it'll be ready."

The woman mumbled a response that didn't get past her lips and Robin turned to face Beacon's headmaster.

"If memory serves, the infamous Dark Zone is on the other side of the world, far from Vale. I already told James that I have no recollection of leaving my house on that day you called me, so do tell me: how is it possible for me to have gone to the other side of the world and back within a day?"

"That is something that is still under investigation," James said. He took a sip of his coffee and his expression softened by a fraction - a silent praise to the quality of the brew.

Winter's eyes suddenly widened. "I see! So you're the one that was in the security footage! As expected of my mentor."

"I repeat: I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about," Robin said again.

"Mm…that sounded like fun," the woman mumbled, raising her head and pouring herself a cup of tea. "Robin, why din' you invite me?"

"This happened some time ago, and you only arrived yesterday," Robin replied and turning to Ozpin, he continued, "Oh and before I get." He raised his hand and a cup materialized in his palm. "This is for you, Ozpin. As promised, your coffee."

The only sign caution from the headmaster was the split-second hesitation he had before grabbing the cup. Nevertheless, he grabbed the ceramic. And just stared at it.

"It's coffee, Ozpin," Robin bluntly said. "Drink."

"Stale coffee," Ozpin noted. "There's no aroma and it just looks flat."

"Drink. I'm letting you off easy by only having you drink one instead of the promised three, so drink."

"Robin, I - "

"Drink."

"Surely there's an alternative - "

"Drink."

With a trembling hand and an audible gulp, the headmaster slowly brought the cup to his lips. It was then lowered as Ozpin desperately tried to plead mercy, but Robin's hand snapped out to land on the bottom of the cup, preventing him from lowering the cup.

"It's coffee, Oz. Your favorite," Robin slowly said.

From the sidelines, James and Winter only watched as Robin tipped the cup back onto Ozpin's lips. The headmaster had one of two choices, the first being to keep his mouth shut and let the coffee spill onto his clothes. The second option was to just drink the stale coffee, which was also what Ozpin picked. He had no doubt that had he picked the first option, there'd be more cups of stale coffee waiting for him.

"Good, good," Robin coaxed as he continued to tilt the cup back. "Make sure to drink it all. It'd be a waste to throw it out, would it not?"

For the first time in many years, Professor Ozpin, the renowned headmaster of Beacon Academy, shed a tear.

. . .

The sun had long set since the start of the dance, and yet the energy in the ballroom was as high as ever. It started off slowly with an air of awkwardness as only a handful of students were familiar with formal parties, but after a soothing piano solo that brought only the bravest students onto the onyx dance floor, things kicked off from there.

After the piano solo, the music in the room became more upbeat and festive, which only added to the students' liveliness.

Then a certain boy walked onto the floor in a flowing white dress. He immediately became the center of attention, and while there were many that laughed at him, he took it all in stride as he made it into a joke in an effort to keep spirits high.

"Oh. My. God." Yang's voice was a mixture of wheezing and laughing. "I can't believe you actually did it!"

While she was doubled over in hysterics, Ruby, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren did their best to hold back their laughter for Jaune's sake. Weiss and Blake were a lot more controlled, though Blade did look amused while Weiss just looked appalled.

"I'm an Arc, and an Arc never goes back on his word. It feels a little tight in a few areas though," Jaune replied, fiddling with his shoulder straps. " I guess the measurements were a little off."

"Well, duh," Nora lightheartedly scoffed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You've been training like crazy, so of course the measurements from a couple of weeks ago wouldn't fit you!"

A gentle smile rose onto Pyrrha's face. "Well, I think you look amazing in that, Jaune."

Jaune's face brightened from her words. "Thanks, Pyr."

"And I must agree with Miss Nikos. I did not expect you to arrive in a wedding gown of all things, Mister Arc. Is there something that I missed?"

Heads turned to the familiar voice. There was only a handful of people that would refer to the members of the teams RWBY and JNPR in such a polite and formal manner. And in that small handful, there was only one person who had a smooth voice.

"Nothing much," Pyrrha replied. "Although I have to admit: I wasn't expecting to see you here, Mister Reflet Alius?"

The cafe owner donned a mischievous smile. He was dressed in a suit that matched the color palette of A Shepherd's Rest - a dark purple jacket and pants with a silvery-grey shirt underneath. In fact, it looked as if he came wearing his work uniform with a jacket thrown on top, albeit a little fancier and more expensive.

"Reflet Alius?" He slowly tested the name on his tongue as if it was foreign to him. "I'm afraid I don't know what it is that you are talking about, Miss Nikos. Surely you must have me mistaken with somebody else, for I am merely the owner of a cafe."

"Oh, please." "As if."

Weiss and Blake immediately scoffed and rolled their eyes in unison while Robin turned his attention to Jaune.

"If I may ask, what made you pick such an outfit?" Robin curiously asked.

"Dance contest," Yang answered. "Jaunie here said that he was a better dancer than me. We made a bet, our teams voted, and he lost!" Her last word was punctuated by her jabbing a finger at Jaune's direction.

"It was a narrow victory," Ren added to defend Jaune. "The votes were three and three, and Zwei was the one that broke the tie, though I'm still not sure if their pet constitutes as an actual vote."

"A win's a win," Yang grinned.

Robin slowly nodded as he looked at Jaune's dress. "Well, I can say for certain that you, Mister Arc, look simply…" He took a moment to lower his voice in a husky tone. "…ravishing."

Yang wolf-whistled as the other girls' cheeks turned red from the clear implication behind Robin's words and tone. Jaune, on the other hand, blanched.

"Ah - I uhh… That is…" Jaune stammered.

"I jest, Mister Arc," Robin cheekily grinned.

"Didn't you say that you already had a woman in your life?" Yang asked with a sly smile.

"That I did. That does not mean that I cannot appreciate beauty when I see it, nor does it mean that I cannot say the things that are some people's minds, no?" Robin replied. He then subtly glanced at Pyrrha, who immediately averted her gaze. "In any case, how are you all faring tonight?" he asked.

"We're doing well," Pyrrha quickly replied, who looked happy at the change in topic. "I must say that I wasn't expecting you to make an appearance. No offense, of course."

"None taken," was Robin's reply. "I wasn't going to attend at first, given how I am neither a student nor a staff member, but then Professor Goodwitch sent me an invitation, to which I figured it would be rude if I rejected it. She said that no one would question my presence as I was a substitute teacher for a short time."

"A short time but making yourself a big deal within those two days," Yang grumbled. "Did you know that Goodwitch upped the intensity of her classes thanks to you?! I thought that her classes before was hard, but now they're just borderline sadistic! It's torture!"

Robin raised an amused brow at her. "Is that not a good thing? You are training to be huntsmen and huntresses. The more you struggle and sweat during training, the less blood you'll spill out in the field."

"I mean…if you put it that way…" Yang mumbled, struggling to find a way to refute his words. "E-Even so! That doesn't mean that I have to like it!"

"Oh? Is a mere training exercise too much for the fearsome Yang Xiao Long?" Robin teasingly grinned. "Perhaps I should ask Professor Goodwitch to make her classes easier, not that I think she'd actually do it. Would that please you?"

"Of course not!" Yang yelled as she jabbed a finger into his chest. "Just you watch! I'll tackle every single thing that you and that witch of a teacher throws at me!"

Having said her piece, she turned on her heel and walked away from the group, leaving behind a chuckling Robin.

"You're quite the motivator," Pyrrha noted, staring at Yang's retreating back.

"Motivating is just a very fancy and nice way of saying manipulating," Robin offhandedly said. "They're more or less the same thing. Two sides of the same coin. It's all a matter of perspective."

"And Yang isn't really that hard to…motivate," Blake mused from the side.

"I…guess that makes sense?" Ruby said-slash-asked.

Ren raised a brow at Robin. "Then which are you? A manipulator or motivator?"

Instead of giving him a straight answer, Robin simply smiled in response - the same smile that he always wore that made it difficult to discern whether or not his answer was a "Yes" or a "No". "On a different note…" He gave them all a look over. "…What are you all doing here when you could be elsewhere? This is a dance, after all."

A few of the teams' members shifted uncomfortably on their feet.

"I…don't really know how to dance…" Jaune muttered, contradicting Yang's earlier statement about their dance contest.

At this, Pyrrha playfully rolled her eyes. "Oh, Jaune. What do you think we've been doing the past week?" She grabbed his hand and started walking towards the dance floor. "Come on, you'll be fine! It'll be just like how we practiced."

As the two not-dating-but-totally-are-dating couple made their way to the floor, Nora suddenly grabbed Ren's shoulders and began to shake him.

"It's happening! It's finally happening!" Nora exclaimed in a voice that was both a yell and a whisper at the same time. "Let's go and watch them! I need to see this up close!"

With that, the second not-dating-but-totally-are-dating couple made their way to the ballroom's center.

Keeping his amused grin on his face, Robin turned to face the remaining three members of Team RWBY. Rather…two members, seeing how Blake mysteriously vanished within the past few seconds. Most likely in order to avoid dancing.

"And what of you two?" Robin asked Ruby and Weiss. "Will you not take part in the festivities?"

Ruby wouldn't meet his gaze. "Uhh…I-I… Oh! Would you look at that!" She raised the cup that was in her hand. "I'm out of punch! I think I'm just gonna go and get some more. Yeah. That."

"Of course," Robin chuckled, and Ruby scampered off with her not-empty cup of punch. "And what of you, Weiss? I thought that you would have a number of dance partners lined up. Or are you taking a break at the moment?"

"Hmph. As if I'd be tired an hour into a dance," Weiss scoffed, crossing her arms. "I'm only standing here because I have no suitable partner."

'Or is it because your glare scared everyone away, I wonder?' Robin mused.

Extending his arm with a smile, he said, "Well, that's something that can be easily remedied. Might I have this dance, milady?"

Weiss raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You're not a student."

"An astute observation," Robin sarcastically said without any bite in his tone. "However, I do not think one must be a student in order to partake in tonight's events. After all, all of the faculty members are enjoying themselves as well, are they not?"

A quick look around the room proved his statement right. Every professor (plus doctor) was present in the room, either standing off to the side or dancing.

"You know how to dance?" she asked.

"I may have dabbled in it a little," Robin replied.

"I'm sure," Weiss deadpanned, rolling her eyes. Nevertheless, she took the offered hand and they walked towards the center of the floor. "You seem to be knowledgeable in many things," she added.

"I'd like to think that I've lived a full life," Robin said. "I also had a number of teachers in a variety of subjects. Dancing and playing the piano are two such examples."

"Piano?" Weiss asked before her eyes slowly widened. "Wait, was that piano solo earlier from you?"

Robin smiled again as their bodies began to sway to the music's tempo. "It seems that I've been found out."

"I should have expected as much. You have a piano in your lounge, after all," she sighed. "Were you self-taught or did you take - wait, never mind. You just said you had a teacher."

"Indeed, though…" A wry grin formed on Robin's lips. "…I had a very harsh teacher. She had this parasol that she carried around everywhere, and she was not afraid to use to as a disciplinary tool. If my posture wasn't perfectly straight, I'd earn myself a sharp hit from that parasol of hers. If my fingers weren't raised properly while playing, she'd hit the back of my hands."

And he wasn't lying. He vividly remembered his countless lessons with Maribelle on dancing, etiquette, and how to play the piano. She wouldn't have been his first choice as a teacher for the subjects, but at the time, the only people that he knew were Lissa, Frederick, and Maribelle. Lissa rarely took things seriously and Frederick was…overbearing, to say the least, so the only person left was Maribelle.

"A nobleman must always carry himself with grace!" he remembered her saying. "This means that you must keep your back straight and your chin high! And for Naga's sake, fix that shoulder slouch of yours! Honestly, you'll be making a fool of yourself if you were to present yourself beside the exalt!" Maribelle huffed and waved her pink parasol in his face. "Granted, you aren't a noble, but you are Chrom's right-hand man nonetheless!"

It was only years later that Robin and the rest of the Shepherds would find out that he, in fact, was a noble. The heir prince to Plegia, no less, giving him the same standing as Chrom.

It was also around this time that Maribelle began to teach him how to play an instrument.

"Every noble must know how to play at least one instrument. You'd be the laughing stock of the room otherwise," she started. "Normally, I would have preferred to teach you the violin. I've a feeling that it would suit you perfectly, and I have never been wrong about those feelings. Just look at Lissa and her flute! Absolutely wonderful, she is, and - " She suddenly cleared her throat. "Pardon me, I got a little carried away. As I was saying, the violin would suit you perfectly, but seeing how my brute of a son already knows how to play it, I will have to teach you another."

"Why not the cello?" Robin asked. "It's basically a giant violin that you play while sitting down - "

*WHAP* Maribelle's parasol made itself known to Robin's head again. It was almost a familiar feeling at that point in time.

"OW!" Robin yelped, rubbing the sore spot. "What was that for?!"

"A cello and violin are NOT one and the same! How dare you insinuate - " Maribelle paused, took in a deep breath to calm herself, and pat down her devastating tool of destruction. "There are countless intricacies in both of those instruments, and it will take far too much time to list them all. That being said…" She pointed the fearsome weapon at him. "…a cello isn't a bad choice. However, if you are going to be playing an instrument that requires you to be sitting down, then I have something in mind."

And that was how Robin found himself in front of a grand piano not two days later with a sympathetic Brady nearby. He still learned how to play the giant, sitting-down version of the violin anyway.

Weiss hummed as the music began to speed up ever so slightly. "Of all the choices out there, your teacher chose a parasol?"

"It'd be wise to not underestimate what she could do with it," Robin chuckled. "A tool in the hands of a master can be a very efficient one. I feared that pink monstrosity of hers more than I feared most other weapons that I happened across."

Even more than Falchion, and that was quite literally the bane of his existence. It didn't help that Lissa and Miriel decided to gift Maribelle a new parasol that could cast spells just as easily as a tome was able to.

"I see. Since you've apparently "lived a full life", is there anything that you can't do?" Weiss asked.

"Quite a number of things, actually. It'd be faster to count the things that I can do rather than what I cannot do," Robin said.

"Humor me."

"As you wish." He spun her around before speaking. "I cannot play any woodwind instrument despite numerous attempts, my cooking skills are mediocre at best, I never learned how to drive, and I am rather prone to blowing myself up with Dust, which is why I tend to not use it."

Weiss raised a brow she was pulled close to him. "You don't know how to drive?"

"If put into the seat, I'm confident that I'll be able to steer the vehicle well enough so that we don't crash and burn, but other than that, I'm afraid that I've never tried."

"Then how do you get around from place to place?" she asked.

"I'm rather fond of walking, if I'm to be honest," he shrugged. Or would have, were it not for the current position that he was in. It was quite difficult to shrug while holding someone's hands in a dance. "Besides, there are other methods of traveling far distances. Like flying."

The same eyebrow was raised again. "You don't know how to drive but you can pilot a plane?"

Robin gave her a tiny smirk. "Who said anything about planes?

Weiss was about to ask what he meant when she suddenly felt weightless. She no longer felt the ground beneath her, and when she looked down at her feet, her eyes widened considerably as she found herself hovering just above the floor. A tiny platform of what looked to be wind was swirling beneath her feet so subtly that she could barely even see it.

Then the wind dispersed and she was gently lowered back down to the ground.

"How - What was that?" she asked, only to receive a cheeky smile in return.

"Going back to how my cooking skills are only average at best…" he started.

"Don't ignore my question!"

"…I received the most curious critique about my cappuccino from a mutual acquaintance of ours," Robin continued as if Weiss never spoke at all.

In return, she gave him a withering glare.

"Are you seriously going to ignore me?" she hotly asked.

"Normally, I would not, but this mutual acquaintance is someone that I believe will pique your interest," Robin said.

A delicate brow was raised in a disbelieving manner. "Really."

"Quite. And this individual tried a cappuccino of mine just earlier today, and said that the quality of it could match a certain butler's. A butler named 'Klein', to be exact," Robin continued, carefully watching Weiss' facial expression. He felt a hint of sadistic satisfaction upon seeing her eyes slowly widen in recognition. "So I now find myself confused, Miss Weiss. By having said that my craft "wasn't bad", and that "you've had worse", are you also saying that your butler's cappuccinos are the same?"

"N-No! That's not - I-I mean - wait!" Weiss huffed. "How do you know Klein, and who told you that?! The only person that I told was…" Then it hit her. "…my…sister. You know Winter? No, before that! Winter's here in Vale? She told me that she wasn't due to arrive for another week!"

"Oh, would you look at that? It would seem that the song has ended," Robin suddenly said. Releasing her hands, he took a step back and slightly bent his body at the waist. "Thank you for the dance, Miss Weiss. As much as I would like to continue, something rather important has come up, so I'm afraid I'll have to take my leave a little earlier than expected."

"What do you mean - no, wait! Don't ignore me! Answer my question! Er…questions!" Weiss all but ordered. She couldn't think of many reasons that would cause the impromptu staff member to suddenly leave, nor did she see him receive and form of notification.

"Oh, before I forget…" He gave her a lopsided smile. "Would you mind telling Professor Goodwitch or Headmaster Ozpin these words? 'From ashes to flame'? They'll know what it means. And my deepest apologies for leaving you alone on the floor. I realize that it is quite rude of me to do so, but I'm afraid that this matter is quite urgent."

Before Weiss could say anything else, Robin snapped his fingers and vanished without a trace. With another huff, Weiss turned around and began to walk away from the center of the dance floor.

It was also at this moment that Yang decided to appear out of nowhere and throw an arm around her shoulders.

"This makes twice that you got played, Weiss Cream," Yang gleefully said. "Should I start keeping count from here on?"

"I. Did not. Get. PLAYED!"

. . .

Cinder fought down the irritation and frustration that boiled within her when she saw that man. The man that single-handedly ruined her chance at becoming a full Maiden.

What was he even doing here? He was neither a student nor a teacher. She made sure to extensively research the man as much she could through her connections, and there wasn't much. All she was able to gather was that his name was Robin, family name unknown, owned a cafe, and that he was immensely powerful, and that was something she learned on that day.

The only relationship that he had with this "prestigious" school was the fact that the students would frequent his cafe - a cafe that she actively avoided - and that he substituted as a teacher for two days. As far as Cinder knew, this dance was only for students, both visiting and attending, and full teachers. Not half-teachers. And certainly not random cafe owners.

The worst part was that he made sure that he knew that she knew that he was there. It wasn't just the aggravating and taunting smirks that he'd toss her way when no one else was looking, but it was also the fact that he was always somehow in her line of sight. No matter where she walked in the ballroom, she'd see him just within her peripherals, and it infuriated her.

Then an opportunity to escape his eyes finally appeared. Just as she finished dancing with a nameless and insignificant student from Haven, that damned man starting dancing with a student. The Schnee, to be exact.

"Emerald, Mercury," Cinder called out to her two companions as she walked towards them. Upon hearing her voice, Mercury stopped leaning against the wall and Emerald straightened her shoulders. "It's time."

"Are you sure?" Emerald asked. "I mean - I don't mean to question you, but…" She trailed off as her eyes moved over to the Schnee's dance partner.

"He's been watching us this entire time," Mercury bit out. "He'll notice it if you leave the party early."

"Which is exactly why I've been dancing for almost an hour. Anyone who has danced before will know how tiring it can be, so no one will question it if I am to leave now," Cinder explained. "If anyone asks, tell them that I went back to the dorm to rest for the night."

Emerald's eyes flicked back and forth between the man and Cinder. "Do… Do you want me to try my Semblance on him again?"

There was fear in her voice, and understandably so. The last time the girl tried using her Semblance on him, she suddenly let out a scream of pain that no one ever heard from her before she fell unconscious for almost a week. When she woke, she couldn't remember anything after meeting the assault on the Maiden.

"No," Cinder said. She couldn't afford the girl entering another week-long coma. Not with the tournament being so close. "He'll figure out that something wrong immediately."

The two of them gave her a nod, and Cinder turned to leave. She weaved through the crowds of students, not even bothering to return the looks that the other students gave her. She finally made it past the main doors, and the moment that no one was looking, she turned and began ran towards her destination: Vale's Cross Continental Transmit tower.

By traversing the rooftops, she was able to reach the tower quickly and stopped when she saw the Atlas guard stationed by the entrance. A single hit to the back of his head took him out easily.

'They're either a fool or incredibly confident to only have a single guard at the entrance,' Cinder offhandedly thought, throwing the body into a nearby bush.

It didn't take her much effort or time to reach the elevator. The few guards that she encountered were pathetically easy to beat even without her Semblance or Maiden abilities. At this rate, she'd be able to plant the virus into the CCT network and leave without anyone being the wiser.

That thought left her the moment the elevator doors opened and entered the sea-green colored room.

Sitting on a wheeled chair at the main terminal was that man. He was reclining against the chair's backrest with his feet lazily propped up on the desk.

"Good evening. Fancy meeting you here," he said, waving his hand as a greeting. "How have you been?"

"You…" Cinder growled.

"Me."

"How did you get here?" she asked.

A funny look appeared on the man's face as if he was confused by her question.

"By…walking…" he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How'd you get here before me?" Cinder skeptically asked.

"Uhh…I walked really, really fast?" he tried.

"…"

The man began to spin in his chair and brought a hand to his chin in a classic thinking pose.

"Hmm… How about this?" He spread his arms out to his side. "I have this…magical ability…to move from place to place at the blink of an eye - almost like teleporting but not really teleporting - with no one knowing how, uhh…in order to get to places faster than anyone else?"

"So you have secret passageways throughout Vale," Cinder bluntly said.

The man froze for a split-second before shrugging. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. Let's go with that."

'So there is a secret passage,' she thought to herself. 'Unless the reports of his Semblance are different from what it actually is.'

She'd have Torchwick look into those later.

"If you don't mind my asking, what brings you to this…" He twirled his hand in a circle, gesturing at the room. "…tower that's so far away from the dance?" he asked her. "Quite out of the way, if you ask me."

"That's none of your business."

"I beg to disagree," the man said. "The CCT is quite vital to everyday operations, so I would like it if my own everyday life wouldn't become bothered. New faces come to my store every day due to the reviews they see online, and if the CCT were to stop working, then people wouldn't see the reviews and I would stop getting newcomers to my cafe. And that would be quite the disappointment. I do love seeing people enter my cafe for the first time, and I will not take kindly to those that would disturb it."

That caused a sense of unease to run down Cinder's spine. She wasn't confident that she could fight the man in front of her and plant the virus into the CCT system. The last and only time she fought him was on that day, when she was supposed to attain the powers of a full Maiden, and she was sure that the man was only toying with her, Mercury, and Emerald.

But then again, she trained and honed her Maiden powers since then, even if it was only half of her true potential.

"Malicious intent is a matter of perspective," she said as she dipped into her Maiden ability.

The man shrugged again. "True enough. That's actually one of my favorite lines, actually. "Everything is a matter of perspective." Though, now that I think about it, I haven't been saying it as much as I should. Then again, there really hasn't been a need to say - woah there!"

Cinder clicked her tongue in irritation as the fireball she shot at him was redirected to the ceiling with a flick of his wrist. She was hoping that a preemptive attack would give her a slight advantage, but she was evidently wrong.

The man whistled looked up at the fireball harmlessly dissipated before hitting anything. "Not bad. Your flames got a little hotter and have a bit more oomph behind them. You've been training, haven't you?"

"Don't patronize me!" Cinder growled, throwing more fireballs at him. She kept her distance, not wanting to enter close-quarters combat with him. The man's speed was unlike anything she'd ever seen. Even Tyrian couldn't match his speed, and that faunus could move fast when he wanted to.

But despite that, it didn't mean that the man in front of her was wrong. During their first encounter, she didn't know how to wield her power properly, so the best she could manage were wild flames that she haphazardly threw in a certain direction. Now, however, she was able to focus her flames to create intense and powerful attacks.

'Not that it does me any good,' she inwardly cursed as the man swatted the fireballs out of the air with his hand in the same manner as one swatted gnats, somehow extinguishing them immediately.

"I see. Despite how magical your fires seem, they act as any other fire," the man offhandedly said. "They feed off of oxygen. Take that away, they vanish."

Cinder growled as she focused for a few seconds. Heat traveled down her arms as it always did whenever she used her Maiden powers. Flames began to lick her fingers before it quickly enveloped her entire hand. The heat from the fire grew more intense and was slowly becoming unbearable.

'Not yet,' Cinder thought to herself, pulling out a vial of Dust with her free hand. 'It's not ready yet.'

From what she gathered from their first encounter, the man in front of her was only able to redirect non-physical attacks. Physical attacks, like bullets and Mercury's kicks, were either dodged or blocked.

She used her Semblance to create a blade in the center of her growing fireball, hiding it, which took her a few more seconds of concentration to complete. Using her Semblance with her Maiden abilities was tricky at first, like trying to do two separate things with your hands at the same time, but with enough practice, she was able to get it down.

When the Dust-turned-blade was formed, completely hidden inside her flames, Cinder released her attack. It was easily one of her strongest attacks with the use of her Maiden abilities, and was something that she poured countless hours into in order to get it as strong as it was now. She used it against an Elder Beowolf last month, and it disintegrated its bone armor within seconds. If these flames were able to burn through the Grimm's thick armor so quickly, then a huntsman's Aura wouldn't stand a chance. Even if it somehow did, the hidden blade would finish off whatever was left of the Aura.

The fireball shrieked forward with the glass blade completely hidden in the center. If he used his hand to redirect or block the fireball as he tended to do, then the blade would definitely cut through his hand and embed itself in his chest.

But then the man dodged the fireball by kicking the console and sliding his chair instead of blocking or redirecting it as he did all the other times before. The fireball crashed against the console behind him, melting a large chunk of it, and her blade stuck itself into the main monitor. The holo-screen flickered a few times before shutting off.

"Temper temper," the man chided, pulling the blade free and twirling it in his fingers. "And how devious of you. I didn't even notice this. And while your attack was definitely powerful and potent, I'm afraid there are some glaring faults with it, the biggest one being time. It took you almost thirteen seconds to complete it, and within that time, any competent fighter would have run forward to close the distance. This isn't some TV show where the world tends to slow down whenever a character prepares an attack."

"Don't lecture me," Cinder seethed.

She already knew that the time it took to create flames of that intensity was a flaw, but that was why she had Emerald and Mercury distract the enemy during preparation time. Granted, they weren't here at the moment, but the man in front of her seemed so content with staying in his chair that she was completely sure that he wouldn't move to attack her - a sentiment in which she wasn't wrong.

"The second fault is the speed," the man continued, clearly unheeding her words. "Your flames are strong. I won't deny that. However, its travel speed is something that could be improved. I'm sitting in a chair and I still dodged it. Powerful attacks mean nothing if they don't connect, and at the same time, fast attacks also mean nothing if they're too weak to do any lasting damage. There needs to be a balance between the two. Like so."

The man raised a finger and shot a fireball into the air above him, one that was twice as large and traveled far faster than hers, causing Cinder's eyes to widen. She knew that the man was an incredibly skilled fighter and that his Semblance had something to do with spacial dimensions, but she never heard anything about him having abilities similar to a Maiden.

'Unless it's a second Semblance,' Cinder uneasily reasoned, watching the fireball as it came to a halt just before hitting the ceiling. 'Just because there hasn't been one in centuries doesn't mean that it's impossible. If the mystical stories about Maidens and magic are true, then Dual-Semblance wielders must exist as well.'

"Fault number three is your control," the man said, bringing Cinder out of her speculations as his fireball dropped into his hand and circled his head. "Without control, you'll do damage to your surroundings. You may think that it isn't important, but I believe you wanted to use this terminal behind me?" The man twirled in his seat while pointing at the hole she made in the main console and the scorch marks to emphasize his point. "Almost everything requires control, whether it be your abilities to your mind and even to nature."

Then, as if to show off, he twirled his finger and the fireball began to lengthen and stretch above him. Before her very eyes, it transformed into a serpent, coiling around his shoulders and raising its head to look at her.

"Are you done?" Cinder drawled with a roll of her eyes.

The man smiled in a strange manner like he knew something she didn't.

"Quite," he replied. With a snap of his fingers, the flame serpent vanished. "I urge you to work on the control of your abilities. You've done quite well for only having them for a short time, and I am sure you can do even better. On a completely different note…" He turned to look at the destroyed terminal again. "…I'd appreciate it if you don't destroy the property here. I'm the one that's going to explain what happened. Have you ever tried explaining something to an incredibly stubborn person? It's not fun, I assure you - "

He was interrupted by a beeping noise. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll just as Emerald spoke through her earpiece.

"One of our guests is leaving," Emerald informed her.

"Sup, Mister Sternface," the man said into his scroll.

'Sternface?' Cinder thought to herself, raising a brow.

"Who is it?" Cinder asked through her earpiece, keeping a close eye on the man in front of her.

"The general," Mercury answered. "Should we stall him?"

Cinder considered her options. She could order Mercury and Emerald to stall the Ironwood so that she would have more time to plant the virus, but at the same time, it would be very difficult for her to do so with this insufferable man blocking her path. The main terminal might be rendered useless, but the other ones in the room would work just as well. Today gave her the best and possibly the only chance for her to complete her task.

'Wait. The secret passages,' Cinder remembered. 'I'm going to be short on time, but I can have Torchwick find out how this man got here before me, then come back on a different day before the tournament and plant the virus. If those don't exist, then there's his lackey and her Semblance that could get me in.'

"No. Let him leave. Today's infiltration is a failure," Cinder replied.

"What?! Why?!" Mercury asked.

"Mercury. Shut. Up," Emerald hissed. "You'll draw people's attention!"

"The anomaly. He's here."

There was a strangled sound through her earpiece.

"Him? But he was just here a moment ago!"

"Well, he's not anymore," Emerald snarked.

Cinder fought down the urge to violently attack the man in front of her. He had gotten off his scroll a while ago and was once again spinning in his chair like a child. The infuriating smirk on his face only made things worse. It was as if he was taunting her. Mocking her.

Then he waved at her.

She clenched her fist to hold herself back from attacking him. She wanted to destroy the other monitors and consoles in the room, but that would only cause her problems. If it was simply a matter of more security, she'd be able to handle it, but if Ironwood or Ozpin decided to place Hunters or Specialists in the room, it would make things very difficult for her.

…Not that the security wouldn't be increased just from her entering this place.

"Oh?" the man suddenly hummed as his eyes lit up in amusement. "I do believe we're about to have visitors. Whatever it is that you are trying to do, you'd best hurry," he told her.

Cinder looked over her shoulder. Just as he said, the elevator's lights were on and it was clear that it was heading down to their floor. She didn't think that Ironwood would be so quick to get here from the dance.

"Tick tock, miss," the man goaded. "What will you do now? I'm no expert on tactics, but I would think that leaving now would be quite prudent."

'As if you'd let me leave,' she thought.

"If you do plan on leaving, I will not stop you. Not exactly my job," the man continued, much to Cinder's surprise. "After all, I'm just the owner of a small cafe," he added with a light twirl of his wrist.

If she could visibly express her doubt about him being just a cafe owner, she would have. Unfortunately, her mask covered the top half of her face, which hid most of her expressions.

The elevator was almost at their floor. She'd have to make her choice now.

"Neo," she called out. "We're leaving."

From behind the main console, the girl seemed to materialize out of crystalline shards. She was in her default look: multi-colored hair, heterochromia eyes, and the white and black outfit that Cinder definitely didn't think was cute.

Neo skipped over to Cinder as she turned to leave. As she was doing so, the man spoke once more.

"Oh, and Miss Fall," he practically sang.

She feet came to a halt. She didn't turn around, but her feet still stopped.

"The next time you wish to go incognito, might I suggest styling your hair? Your hair may be longer than it was the last time I saw you, but the style is quite similar. As such, your profile remains very much the same, despite the change in your wardrobe," he said with a teasing grin. "I find that either dyeing it or putting on a wig does wonders." His eyes then flickered over to the girl next to her. "Neo has the right idea. She's quite the expert on changing profiles at a moment's notice, but then again, her talents and skills are one of a kind. Even so, I'm sure she'll have some pointers for you."

Neo brightly smiled at his words as Cinder clicked her tongue in disdain.

"…Don't tell me what to do," Cinder irritably said. She would never admit that his advice was sound.

"Do enjoy your time in Vale," he politely said. "And drop by my cafe sometime. I'm sure you'll find something there that you'll enjoy. I can guarantee it. Oh, and Neo? Give Roman my regards."

With a smile and a wave, Neo activated her Semblance just as the elevator ding'd behind Cinder. It was then that Cinder realized that the man knew her name despite her never telling him. Before she could say anything else, however, they -

. . .

When the elevator doors opened with a ding, the first thing Ruby saw was a shower of crystalline shards dispersing in the air. It was the same effect that Roman Torchwick had when he managed to get away from her team the other day.

With her fingers tightening around Crescent Rose, she walked out of the elevator and into the green-lit room. Her footsteps echoed across the marble floor, and there was the smell of firewood that lingered in the air.

"How do you do, Miss Rose? What brings you here so far away from the dance?" a voice suddenly asked.

Ruby jumped and pulled Crescent Rose closer to her. She frantically looked around the room for the source of her voice before spotting a familiar figure sitting at the frontmost terminal in the room. The unnatural lighting of the room gave his white hair an odd, emerald-ish glow, and his smooth movements made him look ethereal.

"Mister Robin?" she hesitantly asked, wondering if he was a holographic projection. He definitely looked like one at the moment. "What are you doing here? Weren't you just at the dance?"

"I do believe that I asked the question first," Robin said with that smirk he seemed to be so fond of.

With a pout, Ruby lowered her scythe and slowly began walking towards him. At the same time, he pushed himself and the chair to slide back over to the middle of the console's curved setup.

"I saw someone being super ninja-y and sneaky and running across the rooftops," she explained. "And only bad guys act like that, and so I thought that she was up to no good, so I ran to the lockers to grab Crescent Rose and ran back and saw her a bunch of guards knocked out in front of the CCT building so I entered and saw more knocked out guards and in the elevator and - "

At this point, Robin held up a hand to stop her. "Slowly, Miss Rose. There's no rush."

"But there's an intruder in the building!" Ruby protested.

"But not in this room specifically, which is one of the most crucial rooms in Vale," Robin calmly countered. "So there is no need to panic. Unless you think me the type to simply laze about while a threat roams the area," he added.

"N-No, that's not - "

"I jest, Miss Rose," Robin laughed. He quickly glanced over her shoulder and at the elevator, but the action was so quick that Ruby never noticed. "I can assure you that whatever threat there was in this building is now gone."

Ruby frowned and looked around the room again. The elevator was on this floor before she called it back up, and she didn't see anyone in the elevator as she entered it. She thought that Mister Robin was the intruder, but the intruder had long, black hair and was distinctly female. Mister Robin was neither a woman nor did he have black hair.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Quite," he said. "I have a few security features installed, so there is no need to worry. Now then…" He pushed himself out of his seat and walked across the floor. "Shall we head back to the dance?"

"Oh, I don't - I mean…" She glanced away and twiddled her thumbs as her voice grew quieter with each word. "I uhh…don't want to…"

"Beg pardon, but I'm afraid I couldn't catch that," Robin said.

She lowered her gaze and tapped her toes on the back of her heel. "…I…kind of maybe don't want to go back? I mean, dances aren't really my thing, so…" she nervously laughed.

"Understandable," Robin said with a lighthearted shrug. "At the very least, we should leave this building. It is a restricted area, after all, and I highly doubt that General Ironwood will take kindly to you being here. And the only elevator is arriving and is currently occupied by said general."

Ruby felt the blood drain from her face at the thought of being caught by the large and intimidating man. "But then how are we going to get out?"

"Well, that is quite an easy solution. If you would take my hand, Miss Rose," he said, extending his hand towards her.

There was no hesitation as Ruby immediately latched onto his hand. The moment she did, she felt a strange tug in her gut as the world around her bent. Her surroundings twisted and stretched like how space would in the sci-fi movies whenever the characters entered slipspace.

Then, as quickly as it happened, the world snapped back to normal and Ruby found herself outside of her dorm room.

"What the - ! How did we - " Ruby sputtered, looking around and pinching herself. "What happened?"

Robin's only reply was to smile and place a finger over his lips in the universal gesture to be quiet. It was then Ruby remembered how Robin basically teleported when her team and JNPR ended up sleeping over at his house.

"You want me to keep your teleports a secret?" she guessed.

Keeping the smile on his face, Robin nodded.

"Okay," Ruby agreed. "You can count on me! I won't tell a soul!"

"You have my thanks," Robin said. "Have a good night, Miss Rose."

With that, he turned around and began walking down the hall. Three steps down, he vanished into thin air.

"Woah. That's cool," Ruby muttered, opening the door to their room. "I wish I could do something like that. Or have two Semblances. Like flying! Super speed and flying! I'd be like a superhero!"

Then she closed the door behind her, and the hallway was quiet once more.

. . .

"So you failed."

"Yes, Mistress."

"Might I ask…why you failed? I was under the impression that this was "a trivial task". Those were your words, were they not?"

"It should have - ! It was supposed to be quick and simple, and it would've been if it wasn't for him."

There was a brief pause.

"Oh? He made another appearance?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"And I take it that he was impeding your progress?"

"…Yes, Mistress."

"I see. How unexpected. Then I suppose it can't be helped. After all, he's on a completely different level. I don't expect you, or anyone else for that matter, to fight that man and win, no matter the methods you use."

"…"

"Very well. I'll overlook your failure this time as it cannot be helped."

"Thank you for your generosity, My Lady."

"You may go. I will send someone to you with a new plan as this one has failed. And with him in the fold, attempting to do the same thing twice is foolish."

"…I understand."

"Do not fail me again, Cinder. I will not be as forgiving next time."

A second later, silence reigned once more. Harsh beams of scarlet light poured in through the large windows and onto the spacious marble floor. Onyx pillars rose to the ceiling that was burnished with silver. The obsidian dining table in front of her shone underneath her gaze, and a smile rose to her lips.

"Oh, Robin. Just like before, you make things so much more fun and enjoyable. Much more than Ozpin ever did," Salem said to herself. "I do hope you'll choose to stay and make this world that much more interesting."

. . .

. . .

We've officially deviated from canon. Oh man, this has been a long time coming.

Also, I've come to realize that Cinder is a difficult character to write for me. I don't have much experience writing the intelligent yet quick-to-anger type of character. Which sucks cause she's definitely one of my favorite characters in RWBY. I hope I did her justice.

And I bet a bunch of you forgot about the safety wards that Robin reinstalled at Beacon back in Chapter 3, right? And Weiss's customizations for her cappuccino that's very similar to Winter's. And Robin's mental wards mentioned back in Chapter 8 when he was trying to incinerate his paperwork. Yeah, that's right. I purposely put them there all for this one chapter. I'm learning how to utilize Chekhov's Gun properly! (smug smug)

Now that A Shepherd's Rest has deviated from canon, where will it go, you might ask?
...I've no idea. I'll think of something. Didn't think ASR would get this far, to be completely honest.

Til next time. Thank you all for the reviews, favorites, follows, and reads!

. . .

. . .

Everything below here is a spinoff from the previous chapter - the alternate ending/OVA that I mentioned. I'm only putting part of it here since I don't want to overinflate the word count (9,612 words from the original chapter alone, 12,215 with everything else). The rest will be in the next chapter.

. . .

It was always the small things that often proved to be the most useful and helpful. Granted, it was the big things in life that made the world turn, but in the end, the big things relied on the little things to function.

Usually.

In this case, Robin was quite happy with the fact that there were some markets that were open late into the night. It wasn't the most difficult task to find one that was open past midnight, but they were so far and few in between that it was a lot more tedious than it should be.

'Then again, given how the VPD like to hold up some stores for being open late, it isn't that surprising that most stores would rather close early to avoid them.'

Robin remembered the first night that he had A Shepherd's Rest open a little later than normal quite well. Hell, he wasn't even open late. He was just taking his time in cleaning up after closing when Vale's Police Department decided to come in and hold him up for an hour as they "checked for any unsavory people". How ridiculous.

But that was neither here nor there. Right now, all that Robin cared about was getting home safe with his two grocery bags of milk cartons and cereal that was most likely going to be gone by the time the sun rose in less than six hours.

Who said that cereal could only be eaten at breakfast? People who limit themselves in such a manner are fools.

Cereal tasted best when consumed as a late-night/midnight snack.

. . .

Roman Torchwick, in his own opinion, was a man of many things. Others may have differing views on him, but those were their opinions and not his, so therefore they are wrong.

First and foremost, he was a gentleman. That was not arguable.

Second, he was stylish in both his fashion and in his jobs. Why spend extra time trying figuring out how to avoid setting off alarms when he wouldn't be caught in the first place? After all, a good thief never gets caught, a great thief is never seen, and a master thief can alert just stroll right in and get what he wants.

Tactfully, of course. There was no need to resort to barbaric and drastic measures unless absolutely necessary.

And lastly, he was a man who had morals. Granted, he didn't have that many, and the few that he had weren't exactly what people would consider "good". But nonetheless, he had them and held onto them.

Since he had morals, he had some rules that came along with them. One of those rules was something that was an unspoken rule amongst thieves, and that was to never cross someone that he was indebted to. Especially one that he owed a life debt to.

So it just so happened that in the midst of fighting off Little Red and her colorful group of friends, colorful in both the literal and figurative term, he managed to send a bullet or two at the very man he held a life debt to. Or possibly a dozen high-velocity rounds. And also a missile.

In his defense, the Atlas Tech wasn't as amazing as showcased. 'Top of the line', his ass. The auto-targeting system was worse than a rookie's aim with a damn rifle.

Fortunately, the bullets managed to miss the man's body itself, only whizzing dangerously close to him. Close enough to nick a few strands of his hair, at least. Unfortunately for him, the missile was a lock-on type, so it headed straight for the man's chest.

Then came the explosion and the smoke that accompanied it.

"Shit!"

The curse escaped Roman's mouth before he could stop it. It was quite understandable really. A stray round could very easily kill a seasoned huntsman if they were caught unawares. Aura didn't matter if the user didn't have it up at the time, and Roman doubted that anyone would have expected a hail of bullets and a gods-damned missile in Vale's commercial district.

Evident by the shocked and horrified looks on the four colorful girls that were spread out in a loose square around him, they didn't expect him to be here either. That or they were all still innocent to not have gotten their feet wet in the real world.

No one moved after the missile's detonation. The fight that Roman was in with the girls was postponed as all eyes were on the cloud of dust and smoke that was slowly beginning to dissipate. When it finally cleared, he almost let out a sigh of relief.

Almost.

Roman thanked his lucky stars that the man was unharmed. There wasn't a speck of dirt on his clothes, but the murderous look in his eyes was the reason why that 'almost' was an 'almost'. The reason being for his murderous gaze made itself known when he looked down at his feet, where a puddle of milk had gathered around his shoes, and a couple of cereal boxes were ruined.

"R-Robin? Wh-What are you - " Short White began.

The Schnee's voice got caught in her throat when his gaze landed on her. His gaze then slowly moved onto each of the other girls before he took in a deep breath. He held it for a full five seconds before slowly exhaling it through his mouth.

"Why…is it…" he began as he took a few steps forward, leaving behind a set of milk-colored footprints. "…that whenever something happens…" His eyes locked onto the colorful four as he continued his slow advance towards them. "…the four of you are involved? I mean, I get it. Everyone is the main character of their own story, but that saying seems to take a giant leap forward when it comes to you girls."

The four girls shared a glance with each other before shrugging back at him.

"Uhh…lucky coincidence?" Red sheepishly guessed.

"It was a rhetorical question, Miss Rose," Robin glowered.

Red looked away and scratched the back of her head. "Oh. I…knew that?"

With a deliberately slow nod of his head, Robin's eyes landed on Roman - rather, the giant mech that Roman was currently piloting.

"Torchwick…" Robin's eyes narrowed at mech, though Roman had absolutely no idea how Robin knew that it was him inside of it. "…What…the hell…are you doing inside that thing?"

"N-Nothing much. You uhh…" Roman gulped and waved a giant mech arm around the area. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," Robin deadpanned, pointing a finger down the block.

Six sets of eyes turned to follow his finger. Not three buildings down was the familiar storefront of A Shepherd's Rest. A few scorch marks were scattered around the walls and the weird teardrop-apostrophe in the word "Shepherd's" had a bullet hole that bullseye'd the center of it. Miraculously and strangely enough, the windows and door looked to be perfectly fine.

"I…uhh… I see…" Roman slowly said, turning back to face Robin. "You've…you've a nice place."

Robin crossed his arms as a dangerous glint appeared in his eyes. Evidently, he did not appreciate the lackluster compliment towards his slightly charred shop, and Roman quickly raised his arms in defense. He wasn't sure how the action looked to the others as they were seeing a giant robot suddenly raise its arms.

"Okay, before you get mad, I just want you to know that it wasn't necessarily my fault that your place got a bit…wrecked and all - "

"What?! No!" Annoying Red jabbed her finger in his direction. Honestly, with that look that she was giving him, one would've thought that he desecrated her family grave or something. "It was totally your fault with the explosions and bullets and fire!"

"We're only here because of you," Pretentious White said, putting her hands on her hips. "You are in possession of Atlas technology, and I demand that you return it!"

It was getting increasingly difficult for Roman to not roll his eyes. The audacity of these kids was something else.

"Okay, you snot-nosed brats, let's nip a few things in the bud, shall we?" he grumbled. "First and foremost, I'm a thief. A thief steals things. If a thief returned whatever it is that he stole, it wouldn't really be stealing, now would it? Second, I didn't do anything. You four are the ones that broke into my secret little meeting and caused a ruckus."

"Says the one that knocked aside dozens of civilian cars back on the highway bridges," Gloomy Blackie snarked.

"You can blame Snobby White for that one," Roman replied, pointing a giant robot-finger at the Schnee.

As expected, the Schnee looked absolutely appalled at the accusation.

"What?!" she shrieked. "And how exactly is this my fault?!"

"Alright, sure. Maybe not you specifically, but your empire, or nation, or country, or whatever you want to call Atlas," Roman offhandedly said. "Your engineers are the ones that crafted this clunky thing that I'm in right now, so why not go and blame them for their shoddy craftsmanship?"

"Well - "

"Enough." Robin cut in at that moment, and Pompous White's mouth closed with a click. Whatever bit of satisfaction Roman obtained from seeing her being quelled so easily vanished when Robin's eyes landed on him once more. "Girls, inside."

"But he - " "I didn't do - " "Why - ?"

"Now."

No one continued their attempts to protest after hearing Robin's tone of finality. With slumped shoulders, they walked across the rubble-ridden street, only to be stopped the door to A Shepherd's Rest not opening.

"Um, Robin?" Angry Yellow called over her shoulder. "The door's locked."

Robin snapped his fingers. The sound was loud and clear, ringing and echoing through the streets like some sort of magic.

"And now it's not," he said.

Sassy Black tested the store's handle. True to Robin's word, the door opened with a click, and the four girls stepped inside. When they walked through the doors and sat down at one of the window-tables, Robin's eyes landed on Roman again.

"I'll ask you once again, Torchwick." Robin crossed his arms over his chest. "What. Are you. Doing."

"You mean in this giant mech or here in general?" Roman asked with a smirk.

Evident by the narrowing of his eyes, Robin did not appreciate his smart-ass response. He slowly raised one arm and pressed his middle finger and thumb together in preparation for another snap, and a chill ran down Roman's spine.

"Get out of that thing before I blow you out of it," Robin ordered.

Had anyone else threatened Roman with a finger snap, he would have laughed at him. Had anyone else heard Robin threatened them by finger snap, they would have laughed at him.

But it was not 'anyone else' that threatened Roman in the former scenario and Roman was not 'anyone else' in the latter.

As such, he quickly powered down the mech he was in and scrambled out of the pilot's seat.

"Okay, okay, I'm out! I'm out!" Roman said as he jumped down to the street. "No lightning blasts on me, please!"

It turned out that Robin wasn't even paying much attention, evident by the scroll call he was in. Roman cautiously approached, not wanting to earn cafe owner's ire, and was able to overhear some bits of the call.

"…didn't steal it, I got the person who stole it out of it," Robin said over the line. A pause. "No, I'm not lugging this thing back to Atlas so - oh, you're not in Atlas? Then where…?" Another pause. "Oh, so you're on your way to Vale? That's perfect. You can pick this thing up when you arrive." He paused again. "What do you mean why do you have to do it? It's your property and it's sitting in the middle of the street. Pretty sure the fine for leaving such a thing is pretty high."

Roman couldn't help but raise a brow as he listened to Robin. He didn't know who was on the other end of the line, but he could surmise that it was someone of a significant rank given the context clues. Not anyone could hold the ownership of Atlas's latest military tech.

"Thanks. I knew you'd come to see reason," Robin continued after the fourth pause. "It'll be sitting right on Hamlet Road and 13th. Just saying, you may want to hurry up in case some unsavory individual decides to pick it up. See you later, Sternface."

With a swipe across his screen, Robin ended his call and turned to face Roman. Whatever mischievous glint that was present before during his chat with 'Sternface' was no longer present, replaced by a gaze that suited the moniker given to the person on the other end of the line.

"You've got connections with Atlas," Roman noted in a non-questioning manner.

A chilling smile appeared on Robin's face.

"Now then…"

A hand clasped Roman's shoulder.

"…Let's head inside and talk, shall we?"

"Can…can we not?" Roman asked despite already knowing the answer. "I just remembered that my pet rock needs watering and - "

That was as far as Roman got before the grip on his shoulder tightened and the air folded around him.

. . .

Roman's life debt to Robin will be further explored later. Peace.