A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good. Each should have its own reward.

George R.R. Martin,

8:00 pm

A fire crackled in the corner of the campsite, projecting long shadows on the surrounding area. The light cast by the flames danced across the dark trunks of the trees, twisting and curling in obscure shapes and providing a small radius of light. The fire itself was pulsating, the glowing embers seemed to move in rhythm with the flames, matching every dip and sweep. It was mesmerizing to watch, colors of orange and red gave way to yellow and white near the center, where the emanating heat was the greatest.

Tanner stood in the middle of the campfire, staring straight at the flames as he tried to contemplate what had just happened in the past few days. He had just committed a murder, to an officer no less. Granted, that officer was a bit maybe crazy in the head, but he at least was protecting the mine from most likely Grimm and other bandits who would dare raid the mine. But now he and the rest of the robots are dead because of their actions. After having killed the officer, Amber released the captured Faunus and guarded them alongside Tanner until they reached a village not far from the mine. It was barren as if the village was left in a hurry. Turns out, this was the village of the faunus that was captured, which was fortunate that they didn't burn the village down and just left it there.

While the village was in bad shape, it wasn't impossible to be restored. So the faunus with the help of Amber and Tanner, they managed to reimburse the village within two days. Tanner had not said a word throughout the two days except for necessary things like orders from the faunus to do specific tasks or telling them his own condition whether or not he is tired. Amber had tried talking to him, but it didn't work as he either ignored her or just stayed away from her when the opportunity presented itself. He just didn't want to discuss anything after the horrifying event that was transpired.

It wasn't like he blamed Amber for convincing him to do this in the first place, after all, no one convinced him to kill the officer, he did it with his own hands again. He knew it hadn't been the first time he killed, but yet this one felt even worse than the first time he killed someone. Maybe because he was protecting someone or he was about to die at that time that it didn't really occur to him just how bad he would feel later on. Now that he is alive and he looked back at it, he shouldn't have done that. There was no need to in the first place, all he had to do was just distract the guard long enough so they could escape, but yet, he just had the brilliant idea of just killing the man who was just doing the job. While he was eccentric, he wasn't a bad person, he was just doing his duty to protect the mine from bandits such as himself and the Grimm. He didn't deserve to die like that. No one did.

"Hey, Tanner you ok?" Amber's concerned voice snapped him out of it as he looked at her. Her concern was unnecessary. After all, he didn't deserve it after the crap he pulled. He just nodded at her as he continued to stare back at the fire. Amber didn't take that too kindly as she used her maiden powers to blow the fire towards his face, forcing him to stumble over as to not get burnt in the face. Tanner stood up and glared hatefully at her, but she beat him to the punch first.

"What's wrong with you Tanner? Look I get it, you killed somebody by accident alright. I get it, it's not something we can get used to, but just ignoring me when I'm trying to help you out is not gonna make it feel better, so just talk to me please." She pleaded with him. What she didn't realize though was the backlash that she is about to receive from the rant.

"What's wrong with me? What's WRONG WITH YOU?! THIS WAS YOUR SUGGESTION, AFTER ALL, TO GO THERE AND RESCUE THOSE FAUNUS BACK THERE. I TOLD YOU NO, BUT SINCE YOU WANTED TO PLAY THE HERO SO BADLY, WE - NO I HAD TO KILL SOMEBODY JUST TO DO IT! SO YOU HAPPY NOW AMBER!? HAPPY THAT I HAD TO KILL SOMEBODY JUST TO RESCUE THEM?! HAPPY THAT I HAD TO BREAK MY ONLY PROMISE I HAD LEFT WITH MY DEAD PARENTS WHO I CAN NEVER SEE AGAIN TILL I DIE HUH!? HAPPY NOW!?"

This statement was kinda ironic, considering the fact that he had already killed somebody back on Earth before coming to this new world. But at least, he wanted to try and see if he can still keep his promise by not murdering people who don't deserve it. Turns out, his luck of keeping promises is pretty poor and he had to kill another poor soul just to save an idiot trying to be a hero.

Tanner panted as he blew up in front of Amber with all his emotions. This had been bottling up for two days straight so it was good that he managed to let it out of his chest. Amber stood still, shocked at the amount of animosity and hatred towards her just because she wanted to do the right thing. She was taught to do the right thing no matter what. It was more evident with her maiden powers since her spirit trusted her with this power to do the right thing. But now she is being questioned at her actions just because Tanner had to kill someone for her. Did that make her feel better? No, probably not. But it did make Tanner feel a little better at least so it didn't matter to her how she feels about it. She just wanted to help Tanner, even if she gets insulted and questions her actions. After all, maybe it was her fault things happened this way. If maybe she rested enough or was strong enough, perhaps they could have won much more easily and maybe end the conflict bloodless. But alas, such as the fate of the world.

Tanner and Amber didn't talk to each other for the rest of the night. The campfire was burnt out by this point and went back to each of their tents. One was still angry while the other one was sad and maybe hurt a little inside. Amber just hopes that things will be better tomorrow.

Downtown Vale

12:00 am

Vale is a large city on the western coast of the Kingdom of Vale.

Vale has a large port area where passenger and cargo ships dock, including international ships from Vacuo and Atlas. The cargo docks include large-scale container handling facilities, indicating that the port handles large quantities of goods on a frequent basis.

To the southeast lies a mountainous and uninhabited area, but it is also known to contain the ruins of Mountain Glenn, a failed attempt by the kingdom to extend the city's borders. The location was overrun by Grimm and had to be fenced off from the rest of the city.

The cityscape was unapologetically urban. There were no trees or city planted blooms, just monoliths of concrete soaring out of the sidewalk in an exact grid pattern. At night it was beautiful in its own way, so many lights. By day you relied on the sky to let you know that it wasn't a monochromatic world; just one in which the people were too busy for art. For over generation progress had meant the teaching of specific skill sets to the children of the metropolis and art had been the first casualty, then dance, then music and television. In this city we only work and eat, there is no time to sweep fall leaves or plant spring flowers, hardly even enough to notice the blue above. With no more designers our clothing and cars never change, there are five styles of everything in white through the grey. You pick the best one for you and use it until it falls apart before returning it for a replacement. In this way, Vale outperforms those in the region.

This peaceful city was interrupted as two figures ran in the deep alleyways. One of them is a huntsman, who's noticeable features are his golden armor and his huge mace at his back.

Meanwhile, the other figure is the criminal. He has slanted, dark-green eyes and bright, long, orange hair, with long bangs covering his right eye. Black eyeliner traced his visible left eye.

He wears a red-lined white suit with long black pants and black shoes. His accessories included a small gray scarf, black gloves with buckled sleeves, and a black bowler hat with a small feather tucked into its red band. In his right hand is a normal cane.

"GET BACK HERE ROMAN!" The golden huntsman demanded the now named "Roman". Roman looked back at the huntsman and blew a raspberry before continuing to run. The huntsman, now enraged and with new vigor, used his aura to boost his legs to grant him more speed, but still not close enough to catch him. Eventually, they both ran at a dead end. The huntsman pants as he deactivated his aura from his legs as Roman just looks back at him with a disappointed look on his face.

"Oh come on surely you got more energy than that kid! In my youthful days, I was running even twice as fast as you now. Geez, what's up with these kids today, so slow." He mocked the huntsman in front of him. The huntsman glared back at Roman with anger as he grabs his huge mace from his back, gripping it with two hands as he readies to strike him down. Suddenly the huntsman gasps for air as a rapier-like blade, stabbed through his groin, forcing him to kneel down before being quickly decapitated to end his pain.

The one who stabbed the huntsman is a small petite girl with pale-white complexion, pink and brown hair, and her eyes have two different colors. Her left eye is brown while her right is pale pink.

She wears a white cropped wide, broad-tailed jacket with a pink interior, collar, a single gold button, and large pink cuffs. She wears brown pants with a dark belt that has a gray buckle and an additional narrow belt under it. Under her jacket is a brown corset, curved in the middle and at the bottom, exposing her hips. She also wears a multitude of black beaded necklaces, which hang haphazardly around her neck. She also wears black and white spat styled under the knee boots alongside black gloves.

"Well, great job as always Neo, but still, maybe we need to keep the killings to a down low, otherwise there might not be enough huntsman to kill Grimm for us, and trust me, I don't want to go back to that poor village back there where all we did was kill boring Grimm instead of stealing, understood?" He chastised the young girl, which responded just by rolling her eyes over, not caring about what he just said. He sighed as he began to stroll right past the body, but not before grabbing the corpse's money, grabbing all his dust and using his fire dust to burn his body and the head. After all, he didn't want anyone to know that homicide just happened here, not to mention that since he burnt the body, no one would know who died here or who he was chasing after. He doesn't want any more people in his trail than he needs.

As he and Neo walked back to their temporary bar, his mind wandered back to how did this happen in the first place. It was supposed to be a very easy raid for the notorious Roman Torchwick. He was just robbing a jewelry store for some lien and nothing else. He didn't want some fake jewelry to sell anyway. But as luck would have it, the huntsman's son was the one manning the store temporarily, so imagine his surprise when he had to grab his huge mace from underneath the table and started to chase him down. It was a waste of time for him, not to mention that he didn't even manage to at least rob the place for money and decided to just leave the store alone. He would just find another one instead, one that hopefully doesn't have a huntsman guarding it again.

He needs as much lien as possible, why? Well, to take a vacation of course! It's been a while since Roman and Neo had left Vale for a quick vacation to Vacuo, which wasn't the best idea, granted the beach was nice and he got to see some girls that maybe he would want to settle down with, but he doubts that Neo would approve any of them. They are just eye candies to him and not worth his time.

They eventually reached their temporary base. The warehouse has been abandoned for a while due to unknown reasons that Roman could care less of as he is just satisfied to have a base in Vale to do his evil deeds. The corrugated iron roof was domed some twenty-five feet above them, like a shanty-town cathedral. The grain was piled high at the far end and for the farm rats, it was a free-for-all. At the other end were the packed sacks of grain ready for distribution.

Roman has been gathering supplies for a while now for a few months now. For reasons unknown, he had a strange feeling that Vale won't be safe for long and his instincts are telling him to book out of here as soon as possible. That's why they have been trying to grab lien more than the resources themselves since they need to buy the bullhead needed for transportation of their stolen goods. After all, if instincts taught him anything, it's that no matter how unbelievable it may be, his guts have some sort of foresight into the future. This gut feeling allowed him to survive and thrive in the underworld and rise to the tops. So he would trust it again to keep himself safe from harm as well as Neo.

But something in his soul told him to stop his movements, which he did, alerting Neo as well of his sudden lack of motion. She was about to go and ask why, but all of a sudden, she also stopped moving as well, her eyes darting around the room as if to look for something as well. It seems the Neo also felt the same thing he felt. It was strange, it was as if there is a huge threat in this warehouse that would be able to destroy them if they are not careful with their next moves. Roman also looks around to search for the threat, but sadly comes up short.

But then the clicking of heels could be heard from one side of the warehouse. They both turned around to see Cinder walking towards them with a smirk on her face, alongside her are Mercury and Emerald as well. The trio stopped a few meters away from Roman, gauging them from afar. Roman could now feel his soul, egging him to get out as soon as possible. He felt as if he wouldn't be able to win this fight as easily as the last guy he fought. He looks to Neo and also sees the apprehensive look as well. It seems both of them could feel just how much of a threat these three are, but they would need to play this smart and try to figure a way out of this mess before things go wrong very quickly.

"No need to be so scared of me, after all, I won't bite." Cinder starts up the conversation with a smile, a smile that would speak death over a thousand times. Roman gulped at this but chose to put up a facade.

"Me? Scared? Why would I be scared of a beautiful girl like you?" Roman speaks with as much confidence as he could muster up. After all, this is a first for him to speak to a threat this big so casually. "I would have loved to invite you to dinner sometime if it weren't for the fact that we would be leaving soon."

"Oh? And pray to tell where would you go?" Cinder was curious about where their new potential acquaintances would be leaving so soon. But Roman wouldn't budge at all.

"Oh well you know, here and there, somewhere, everywhere. The world is our canvas for guys like me. So, is there something you require of us? After all, I'm pretty sure if you were a huntress, the whole Vale Police would be swarming our little hideout by now and I can tell just by looking at your eyes, that you have something devious in mind."

"Hmmm, I do have something in mind, but I must applaud you at the very least for your very quick detective work. You were able to tell already who is the one in control of this conversation." Cinder smirked evilly at that. "All I need from you are your services for the time being then you could go on to your merry way of exploring the world as you desire."

"And what would you have me do then? Miss…"

"Cinder, you may call me Cinder." She smiled.

Roman cleared his throat. "Alright Miss Cinder, what would you require of me, the greatest thief of all of Vale?"

"Simple." Cinder puts her hand out in front of him for a handshake. "Join us for a little while, then we can explain the details of our plans for this… party of ours."

"And if I refuse?" Roman knew he shouldn't be asking as stupid as that. Of course, he knew the most likely scenario for refusing an offer like that is…

"Your death."

… Not what he had expected. He actually thought for a minute that he would probably just get arrested, or just be ratted out of Vale. He didn't expect to just die if he chooses to refuse. Then again, considering the pressure this woman is emanating out, he should have known better. But if he does accept…Then what would become of Vale? Sure, it isn't like he really cared about the place, he could just leave and go to either Mistral or Vacuo and he still wouldn't care, but something tells him in his soul that it wouldn't be just about Vale or Mistral or Vacuo heck, even Atlas. If he chooses to accept this Villainess deal, then maybe humanity as a whole would be doomed. He may be a criminal, he may lie, cheat, steal, and kill, but it was only for his own benefit and not to harm the kingdom as a whole. He didn't want the destruction of humanity just because he is a criminal. He has standards to uphold dammit.

But if he does decline as well, then his and Neo's life are essentially forfeit as well. He didn't even need to see the woman fight just to feel the amount of power coming from her just by standing there. His chances of winning this little confrontation are next to none at this point. But then again, maybe Neo might not forgive him if he was right and Vale did fall apart because of these evildoers. After all, the reason why Neo liked Vale is because her favorite brand of ice cream is made here and it would probably be not a wise idea to go against Neo and her ice cream. No one wants to go against Neo and her baby.

Speaking of Neo, he looks to her to see any sort of confirmation or clue to what she is feeling at least, but all he sees is a death glare being shot at the woman. He probably guessed that she doesn't want to team up with her at all. Neither does he, but does he have any other choice? He could either join them and burn humanity or refuse and die like a pig.

Or a third option.

"Sorry beautiful, but I'm afraid I have to decline your little offer there." He refused as he readied himself for a losing fight. Neo also prepares herself as well for this confrontation.

"Oh? Do tell your reasoning for declining such a generous offer of sparing your life." Cinder continued on with her condescending tone as she too along with her subordinates prepared themselves for battle as well.

"Well, miss I hate to break it to you but this offer of yours has a problem that just won't allow me to accept it no matter what." He replied back as he readied his Melodic Cudgel for a plan he has in mind.

"And what is this problem then in our deal then?" Cinder asks away even though there would be no turning back at this point. She would either force them to cooperate with her or die fleeing.

Roman smirks as he throws an earth crystal that rolled a few feet ahead of him before aiming his cane at it and answering her question as well.

"Neo wouldn't get her favorite ice cream anymore."

He shoots from his cane, hitting the earth crystal in the process. It created a huge amount of sand and dust to blind them, which gave him a chance to run alongside Neo as they both attempt to leave the warehouse, but not before a flaming arrow whiz past them and is shot at the top of the door, lighting up for a few moments before exploding, forcing Roman and Neo to stop in their tracks as metal debris fall to block their exits.

"Well Neo, it was fun while it lasted. Might as well just kick the bucket now while we still can kick eh?" Roman joked about their predicament, which wasn't funny to Neo and kicked him in the shins. Roman let out a yell due to the high heels that she is wearing, making the kick hurt even more than normal. After their little banter, they both turned around to face their opponents head-on. They both know at this point there is no turning back for these criminals. They may be bad guys, but even they have limits to how far they would go just for the sake of committing crimes.

Cinder rushes to Roman with her twin blades named Midnight on her hands, forming an X formation. He managed to block it with his cane and pushed her back, giving him a bit of distance from her. Mercury jumps into the fray, doing a roundhouse kick aimed at his head. Roman managed to duck from the attack and shot at the ground, which resulted in an explosion that sent Mercury flying a few feet away from him for the moment. Cinder rushed back in as she swung her twin blades left and right. Roman struggled to parry her attacks as she swung her blades much faster than anticipated. As soon as there is an opening for him, he swings his cane to disarm one of her blades and shoots at her chest.

Cinder was knocked back a few feet before pushing herself upward quickly, forming her disarmed blade again and rushing towards Roman once again, this time with more ferocity than the last. Mercury also joins the fray as he and Cinder tag-team with each other to keep Roman from fighting back, which seems to be working as Roman can hardly keep up with his defense, not only having to deal with Cinder's attack but also Mercury's as well. This becomes too much for him as kicks and gashes from her blade impact his aura. He could tell at this point, he will die if he keeps this up, so he has one option left.

He coats his entire body in an orange aura as he shoots the ground beneath him to get him away from them. He already knew at this point that there was no point fighting people way out of their league, and just basing that on a few seconds of the encounter he had with them. He knew they were fucked. But hey, at least if they did manage to live through this. Then this might prove that he truly is the greatest thief of all time. Not only managing to fend off against Huntsmen and Huntresses but also fend off against power-hungry megalomaniacs that just want to see the world burn.

Oh, the stories he could share when he does have kids. Now that's something he would look forward to.

Meanwhile, Neo was having the time of her life as she danced around the bullets Emerald was shooting from her twin guns named Thief's Respite. Having enough of Neo's games, she used her semblance to change her perception. Sadly this didn't work as she was suddenly hit from behind by a kick to the head, setting Emerald off balance for a bit before getting kicked in the gut which pushed her back a few feet before skidding across the unforgiving ground. Neo strolls happily as she sees Emerald slowly getting up. She was puzzled about why her semblance didn't work on her. Her semblance allows her to manipulate their perception of sight, forcing their opponents to see things that aren't there or making certain things invisible to then as well. But yet somehow, Neo managed to either nullify the semblance or somehow ignore it altogether, which shouldn't still be possible at all.

"How! Why the hell did my semblance not work on you? Do you have some sort of canceling semblance or something?" Emerald asked indecorously as she takes a stance once more, with less confidence than before and more caution. Neo only just shrugs, not seeing any reason to really answer a villain's question. Neo just stands there as she waits for Emerald's next move. Which didn't come for a few seconds before an explosion was heard and Neo saw Roman, flying through the roof of the warehouse, bulldozing through the metal sheet like it was nothing, which gave Emerald an opening to rush to her and tried to stab her with her knife. When it connected, instead of the flashing of aura or the grunt of pain, she heard glass shattering in her ear as she saw her hit Neo but shattered into glass instead.

Emerald was so stunned by the display, she didn't have time to react as another kick was sent to her gut, causing her to land on the crates full of rice. Neo smirked at her before seemingly teleporting off into where Roman is.

Roman groaned as he slowly got up from his poor landing strategy. His head was pounding due to literally tearing through metal with his head. Seriously why did he think that was a damn good idea in the first place to do that stunt at all. He's lucky he just had enough aura to pull it off, otherwise, his head might have gone splat. He reached into his pocket for his scroll to check his aura levels.

40%

'Fuck I'm screwed.' He already knew this, but he tried anyway. If that one brief encounter managed to bring his aura down this low already, how much more if he continued to fight. He may well be a very good fighter against huntsmen, but Cinder was on a whole other level. He just can't compete with her no matter what. Suddenly, a flash of light startled him before Neo appeared before him, looking over him with a very worried expression. Despite their little banners and arguments, Neo is the only person he would rely on to face the cold harsh reality of this world together. He would count on her to help him support through everything. Even though she is much younger than him, the fact that she would go through lengths with him, speaks volumes of their trust and loyalty to one another.

He won't abandon her and she won't abandon him either.

"Neo! Good, you here!" His voice became hoarse for a few moments as the dust collected in his nose and throat from the landing. "New plan, forget the lien and everything else, we gotta steal a bullhead now. There is a hanger not too far from here where we can steal one easily. We'll just go there and steal one and leave." He struggled to get up as his legs were still shaky from his little stunt there.

Neo supported him with her wrapping her right arm around his waist, hoisting him up. She then realized his words and just glared at him for a bit. Her gaze was asking. 'Why the hell do we need to buy one then?'

"Well duh! So we can carry our shit without being discovered that we stole a damn airship, but so much for that plan. Looks like we ain't doing-"

Roman's explanation was interrupted as an arrow landed a few feet ahead of them. The tip of the arrow glowing brightly with each passing second. Roman knew what would happen next so he braced Neo, hugging her like a stuffed toy before the arrow exploded. They both were sent flying, sprawling out of control for a few moments. Roman managed to still hold on to Neo, shifting his position before hitting the cold ground. He took the brunt of the fall, protecting Neo with his body. His back was now screaming as if it was on fire, both literally from the fire of that explosion and hitting the ground in a very harsh matter.

Neo looked up to him as he showed his pained smile to her, happy that she wasn't hurt but grunted in pain as well. Neo quickly got off of him and tried to help him up before being forced to dodge a chain sickle. She kicked Roman away from her so he wouldn't be a burden to her fight ahead.

Neo was glaring daggers against her three opponents. If looks could kill, Neo would have killed them already a thousand times. Still, the fact they managed to corner her and Roman like this easily really grinded her gears. All she wants to do is rip their throats apart and feed them to the Grimm. But she knew she would have some difficulties in doing so, considering she is outnumbered, not to mention that Roman is out of commission. The only two choices she has is to flee or stand her ground and fight.

She could actually flee easily enough on her own, but she couldn't just abandon Roman like that. After all, he is the only person in her life that gave her meaning in this world, the same person that took care of her when she was at her lowest, he was there for her when she was blinded by the darkness of the world and he shone a light upon that darkness. He was her anchor in her life and she could never live without him around so she will do whatever she can to win, even if it means she might die.

"Now now, there's no need to continue if you don't want to. After all, we knew the outcome of this little spar of ours. You might as well surrender yourselves to me and all will be well."

That Cinder bitch was really getting on her nerves, the same bitch that drove Roman into a corner and nearly dying because of it. Granted he still has a ton of aura left, but the fact that they could drain it very quickly is very alarming. If he didn't make that escape plan, surely he would have been overwhelmed and everything would have been over for him in a matter of minutes.

"Actually, I have a better proposition for you. Why not join us? Your skills will be far more useful to us than just stealing and looting with a low-class thief like Roman. Join us and together, we can bring ruin to all the kingdoms!"

The one thing that she shouldn't have done is insulted Roman at all. But now that this… Bitch did, she will make her pay very slowly. She gives the trio of villains a very cold smile before seemingly teleporting out of nowhere. Mercury and Cinder were surprised but Emerald wasn't, seeing she had seen this trick already.

"Cinder, watch out! She is going to-"

Her lines were cut off as she stared back at Cinder with widened eyes as she spotted Neo, jabbing her elbow that is coated in light pink aura, into Cinder's abdomen. She could still see the cold smile on her face before she backed up and did a roundhouse kick, sending Cinder into Mercury, knocking them both down at the same time. Emerald got furious instantly and threw her chain sickles at the young girl. But Neo managed to avoid one of the sickles and grabbed the other one, pulling it towards her, dragging Emerald along with it and punching her face with her pink coated fist and sending her flying a few feet away from her. Neo smirked at her accomplishment before having to dodge a blade coming from her back. She looked at Cinder, who was glaring back with much hatred as she could muster. Good, she should know the pain of insulting the one Neo cares about. No one insults Roman but her.

"You're gonna pay for that brat!" Cinder yells as she continues her assault. Neo dodges the attacks with as much grace as she could show. She did this to irritate Cinder even more, which seems to work very perfectly as her assaults became more ferocious and berserk-like. Neo manages to get more jabs at her, whittling her aura slowly but surely. But then Mercury joined the battle, adding in his own powered kicks to the mix. And while she still does continue to dodge very well, she can no longer attack, having to focus purely on the defensive now thanks to the extra hand's Cinder has.

The struggle lasted for a few moments longer before an opening was spotted and Mercury landed a kick onto Neo's side, which shattered in glass. He predicted this however and used his powered gun in his boots to propel himself towards Cinder and kicked above her head, which resulted in hitting Neo's shoulder, who was in the process of landing on Cinder to stab her with Hush. Her pink aura flared to life before being sent flying to where Roman was.

Neo tried to get up, but couldn't as the pain flared up from her shoulder that was brutally hit. While aura can protect the worst of attacks, the fact is that heavy hits can still take a toll on someone, especially when it wasn't coated in aura, not to mention that since it was also powered by his gun boots, that made it even more painful for the girl.

She tried to get up again before a hand clasped in her other shoulder. She looks over to Roman, his expression that of someone who was about to do something really stupid and reckless. He pushes her aside as he walks toward the trio, who were still recovering from Neo's assault until he was a few feet apart from them. She wasn't sure what he was thinking at the moment, but hopefully, It's something good.

"Your right Cinder, there is no need to continue this little game of ours, after all, we know the victor of this match before it even started. But you know, I only wanted to test to see if you can handle our pros on how we do business here." Roman brushes off the dust from his white coat, irritated at the fact that he needs to get it dry cleaned again.

"Oh, I think we're past negotiations already. After all, I would only give you one chance to cooperate with me, but now you leave me no choice but to kill you now." Cinder smiled evilly at that as she strode slowly towards Roman. He responded by walking away from her.

"Well that's a shame. You would have been a great business partner. But I guess we can't always have everything we want. Then again having too much of something is always bad for you, so I'll pass on the world domination thing and just go back to stealing things yeah?" Roman smirked at her before hearing the whistling sound of four rockets coming straight at their location. Cinder heard it as well and tried to back away before Roman threw another earth dust which landed behind Mercury and Emerald's back, summoning an earth wall, preventing them from escaping. He pushes Cinder together with them and leaves quickly. "THEN AGAIN, WHERE'S THE FUN IN THAT?! GOODBYE!"

"YOU LITTLE SH-" Cinder couldn't finish her sentence as the rockets impacted where the trio was standing, resulting in a huge explosion that pushed Roman quite violently, rewarding him with a face plant to the ground. Neo, despite being in terrible condition herself, manages to assist Roman as he slowly gets up, smirking at his successful plan. He honestly was surprised that it worked as well as it did.

It was simple really he managed to get quickly in contact with some of Junior's men he borrowed for the day, telling them to get ready to blow shit up while he set up a trap for them, which somehow they fell for. Maybe it's because of his good-looking charm or by sheer dumb luck that somehow he managed to get them to do things right. Since he too wasn't clear on his instructions before distracting her, he might have thought that they would mess up in the most inconvenient of times. Just his luck, they didn't and managed to set up the kill box perfectly.

"Well boys and girls, we did it." He addressed Neo and some of the men who came there to assist with red swords in their hands just in case. "Now who wants some Valean wine tonight? My treat-"

Several arrows flew out from the dust cloud as four of those arrows landed on the poor bastards who shot out the rocket. The arrows landed on their chest, briefly lighting their chest up before their bodies cracked in a golden light, disappearing into ashes moments later.

The rest of the arrows landed near Roman, Neo, and the surrounding men. Roman knew what these arrows would do to them, but he couldn't get out of its range due to his exhausted state. Neo was just about to grab Roman and teleport when they suddenly exploded without warning. While the explosion was weaker than normal, it did prevent Neo from teleporting out with Roman.

The goons of Junior scrambled around, trying to gain their bearings before one of them was stabbed in the chest by a sword behind their back. The rest of the men jumped into action to avenge their fallen comrade. Sadly for them, they got wiped out pretty easily without much resistance at all. Limbs flying out, heads being decapitated, screams of terror and pain could be heard out pretty clearly.

Roman and Neo looked at smoke before it suddenly got dispersed by a hand. It revealed Cinder, albeit with her state being much worse than before. Her dress has some tears into it, showing her assets a bit more than usual (which Roman enjoyed), her hair burnt and disheveled in a pretty bad way. Her amber eyes burning with newfound hatred and rage as she briskly walks to the criminal duo. Neo walked right to her challenge, teleporting before appearing behind her to stab her. Sadly it was easily blocked as she swatted Neo like a fly, her strength increased a lot more than before.

Cinder got a sudden idea which made her grin darkly. She immediately rushed Neo who was still trying to get back up. She caught Neo's throat in her grasp, pouring her aura into her arm to prevent her from breathing and squirming about. She lifted her up like a corpse, ready to take her life any second now. But that's not what she is going to do. She carries Neo over to Roman, who looked over in fear and desperation. Fear due to how powerful this woman is and desperation to try and get Neo out of that mess no matter what.

"You know, just be grateful I'm still giving you a chance, despite having every right to murder your little girlfriend here." She glanced at Neo who gave her the finger before turning back to Roman. "So what is your final decision. Do you still want to resist? Or join me and I will spare this girl of yours." To emphasize her point, she chokes the girl even harder, the said girl struggles even further to get out of her vice grip. Roman panicked at the sight of Neo and just told her to drop her and he will help her. Cinder smirked before dropping Neo to the ground, hacking and coughing away as she tried to get more oxygen before being kicked by Cinder over to Roman's side.

Roman quickly rushes to her side as he puts her head to his lap to relive some of the pain from her as he glared back at Cinder with hatred and disgust while she stares back at him with contempt and a bit of amusement.

"We're gonna have so much fun together Roman!"

Date: June 22, 2020

A/N: oh shit! Almost 2 months have passed since i last updated this story!? Fuck, i really have lost my touch. Sorry guys, i had a rough time picturing the fight between Roman and Neo vs Cinder and her gang. I hope i did well. Please leave a review about it. Tell me what i should improve on the fight scene. And leave a follow and favorite as well.

Anyway cya guys later Chow!