The city was steeped in darkness, sparse city lights on this particular part of town left most of the night to be illuminated by the shattered moon. A faint orange glow faded in and out of brightness as Roman Torchwick took in deep drags off his cigar.

He walked purposefully down the alley, his subordinates at his back. He felt comfortable in the darkness, he felt power and security there. It was his element, his domain, and he knew that within it, he would always survive. He and his goons came to a stop at the end of the shady alley as the lights from a store window burned through the shadows, with a cocksure grin, he took a long, deep breath, fragrant smoke filling his lungs.

Finally. He thought to himself, growing hungry for some action. With a subtle gesture of his head he walked forward, signaling his goons to follow him into the store. A bell on the door chimed as they filed in with a confident swagger. The old guy manning the storefront looked uneasy, Roman could sense his fear, it gave him that thrill he'd been waiting for. Callously, he tapped the ashes onto the floor right in front of the old man.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?" He asked calmly. In the next moment, the hired goon beside him pulled a gun on the terrified man. He looked like he might just have a heart attack, forcing Roman to stifle a smile. No laughing now Roman, got to be professional.

"Grab the dust!" He commanded. His henchmen fanned out, grabbing as much dust and dust crystals as they could. He watched as they filled container after container. Good, this going perfectly, no cops, no Huntsman, no-

"Are you… robbing me?" A small soft voice came from the back of the store. It was that of a young girl. He didn't expect anyone else to be there.

I hope that kid keeps her mouth shut and doesn't try to call the police, I like when things go smoothly.

In the next moment his men were sent flying out the window followed closely by a red blur and… rose petals?

Roman moved behind his men looking out the shattered window at an incredible sight; A little girl in a red hood and cape standing confidently, ready to face them as her weapon was drawn, a massive scythe with what looked like a scope attached. The girl stuck a combat pose, glaring defiantly at them.

"Okay…" He looked impatiently at his men. "Get her!"

The goon rushed her, but they were no match for the girl in red, getting mowed down the the cannon fodder they were. He breathed a sigh of exasperation, throwing his cigar to the ground, snuffing it out with the end of his cane.

"You were worth every cent, truly you were." He shook his in disappointment. Alright Red, this, I didn't see coming. I'll give you that.

He pulled his cane up from the ground, ashes falling from it as he took his aim at the girl. A small lense with crosshairs popped up from it's tip and then he pulled the trigger. An explosion erupted from the ground just in front of the girl, throwing her backwards. She recovered quickly, falling into a flip and landing on her feet.

Bon voyage, Red! He chuckled to himself as he scurried up the side of a building, ascending the ladder that led to the roof as fast as he could. Okay, things didn't go exactly as planned, Cinder won't be thrilled, but at least-

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a powerful gun firing and then what sounded like something landing on the roof behind him. He came to a stop, his back to who he was sure was behind him.

"Persistent." Roman said bitterly. The air and building began to tremble as a jet ascended from behind it, keeping level and close enough to the building for Roman to get in. The door opened and he stepped inside. At least the escape is going more or less as planned, Red's intrusion aside. Speaking of which…

Roman turned around to face the girl in the red hood, his grin confident as sly. He pulled out a red Dust crystal and looked the girl right in the eyes.

"End of the line, Red!" He tossed the crystal right in front of her, he almost felt pity for the girl as she stared dumbly down at it, having no idea what was coming. Still, without hesitation he fire his cane, the already deadly explosion it released was amplified immensely as it struck the red crystal, the concussive blast made the build quake as the young girl was sent flying, her weapon skidding along the ground in a different direction, both coming to a hard stop as the slammed into the short wall that surrounded the roof.

The small girl laid crumpled up, her clothes singed and tattered and her body lying limp, curled up in an unconscious ball and her head only inches from the walls. Roman stared at her for a long moment as the booming echo from the explosion faded in the distance. Guess it wasn't your day Red…

Roman turned around ready to take off in the jet and disappear without a trace, as he always did… but something stopped him, a niggling feeling in his mind that gave him pause.

"Roman, what are you doing? We need to leave." A woman's voice hissed from the pilot's seat. He gritted his teeth, his fist clenching around his cane. Okay… that could work. Alright, fine Red, looks like your luck got even worse.

Without another moment of hesitation Torchwick dropped his cane onto the floor of the jet and jumped out of the door, running across the rooftop, avoiding the crater he created. There's no way that explosion didn't draw attention, gotta do this fast.

He came skidding to a stop, his heart pounding in his chest. Kneeling down beside the girl, he could see blood trickling down her face even in the low light. Still, he could hear her labored breathing; she was alive.

Carefully, he scooped her up, cradling her in his arms, her head resting limply in against his chest. The bleeding was pretty bad, he was surprised she survived it at all. Look where persistence gets you, Red.

As quickly as he could, Roman hurried back to the jet, leaping from the roof into the door, the extra weight nearly made him topple over.

"Alright, let's go!" Roman shouted to the woman in the pilot's seat as he casually dropped the small girl, her body landing hard against the metal floor of the jet. Even as she slammed onto the floor, she didn't stir or even move.

"What are you doing!?" The woman growled.

"She's a witness and now she's my hostage. I'll deal with her, we need to-" Torchwick was cut off as the jet began getting showered with large spikes of ice from above as they ripped into the metal. The girl's body rolled around as the craft destabilized from the impacts, coming to rest dangerously close to the door.

"We've got a Huntress!" Roman yelled as he ran up to the cockpit, taking to controls of the jet from the woman as she stepped up to the edge of the door.

Standing on the roof was a woman with glasses and blonde hair wielding magic. Roman knew he was out of his league. He chuckled to himself. But so is that huntress against her.

The battle ended after a quick exchange of fire, but just as Roman thought, Cinder managed to push the Huntress back, giving them room to escape.

As they flew away, the young girl lay in small pool of her own blood, her breaths getting softer and more shallow, having no awareness of what was happening to her.