Greetings everyone,

Welcome back to the eighteenth chapter of "The Arcful Dodger".

Now I know that it's been a while since I last left this story but let's just say that a combination of writer's block, burnout, and generally life's complications have prevented me from writing any of my stories.

But now I'm back in black and ready to rock.

I've decided on a one-chapter-bi-weekly release schedule for my stories. I just released a rewritten version of the 2nd chapter of the third sequel of my "Operation Trilogy" so be sure to check it out when you get the chance.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and that you all have a good one.

Till next time!

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Chapter Eighteen

Blood. A river of crimson that flowed through one's body. A stream of red that now pooled together beneath the severed head of Ms. Lancaster before spilling over the side and into the once pristine tub of Madame Rouge.

And all the while Dodger remained as still as stone, watching in disgust as the elderly woman sitting before him continued to smile sadistically at the sight before her while Mr. Hemlock stood off to the side with a carefree grin.

After a few more moments of waiting in silence, the blood flow from Ms. Lancaster's exposes neck ceased its motion and Dodger watched with a barely hidden disdain as Madame Rouge picked up the severed head before transitioning towards the fireplace where many similarly gorgeous females' severed heads were waiting in glass jars above the mantle. They watched as the Ms. Lancaster's severed head joined Madame Rouge's collection.

Silence continued onward as both Dodger and Neo waited for Madame Rouge to take her seat as Rosie turned to lay at feet of her mistress. Finally, it had came time for this meeting to get underway as Madame Rouge, gestured for the two of them to take a seat before her, a gesture they were sure to answer as quickly as humanly possible lest they, too, join her collection.

Again the same eerily disturbing grandmotherly smile returned to Madame Rouge's face as both Dodger and Neo took their places upon the velvety red couch set before her.

"Now, what was it you said before Mr. Dodger? Something about a look-a-like?" asked Madame Rouge.

"Yes, Madame." replied Dodger, pulling out several photos Neo had taken of his doppelgänger. "As of yet, I do not have any concrete information on this individual other than that he is in possession of a family heirloom; an ancient mecha-shift kite shield and longsword known as Crocea Mors."

"Ah, yes, the "Yellow Death"." said Madame Rouge, smiling sweetly. "The supposed legendary weapon of Albus Arc, the first Huntsman to rally mankind against the Grimm."

"Indeed." Dodger agreed. "But more than that he is daring to use MY family's name to further his own agenda. My best hypothesis is that he was hired by my adoptive father, Jacques, as a way to gain more political power much like he had with the Schnee family."

"I am well aware of Jacques' past. I am far more interested in your future." said Madame Rouge. "Now, what is it that you desire? What dark carnal wishes do you crave? What twisted goals do you seek to accomplish? Simply name it and I shall do everything in my power to make it so."

"I wish to know who this individual is and why he is in possession of my family's sword but more than that I wish to see his head severed from his body. He dared to drag my family's lineage through the mud and I WILL NOT rest until I see him brought to justice even if I have to make a deal with Devil, himself." said Dodger, clenching his palms into a tightly woven fist.

A smile graced Madame Rouge's face at the sight of crimson liquid dripping down Dodger's clenched fist, her tongue slowly licking her ruby red lips before making a snap with her fingers.

Suddenly, the bookshelves surrounding the room all began to turn, revealing numerous vials and bottles of mysterious liquids and various television screens each one projecting a different stilled image of Dodger's doppelgänger.

Both Dodger and Neo looked on at sight before them as Madame Rouge snapped her fingers once again and in an instance the screens changed to show an image of a chess piece, a black queen.

"What is this?" asked Dodger.

"A message." said Madame Rouge.

"What kind of message?" he asked again.

"As of yet, neither I nor the other crime families know. Not even my best information broker has any leads on what it could mean. But what we do know is that whoever your look-a-like is; they have no history whatsoever. Almost as if they simply materialized out of thin air."

"So you think he and this symbol are connected?" Dodger asked.

"As of right now, we are uncertain but it's much too convenient that when your look-a-like made his wondrous debut that many of Vale's criminal underworlds have had their agents mysteriously disappearing. Which is why I'll be having you investigate these matters and in return, I shall continue to monitor your doppelgänger and relay any valuable information I happen to find." said Madame Rouge, taking sadistic pleasure at the sight of Dodger's blood as it continued to spill onto her clean hardwood floor.

It wasn't long before Dodger pushes himself off of the couch before slowly making her way towards the exit with Neo in tow. His hand pressing against the door, ready to make his exit.

"I will investigate the matter of these disappearances personally. After all, who am I to deny a request from the Madame in Red?" asked Dodger as both he and Neo exited the red room just in time to avoid seeing Madame Rouge getting down on her hands and knees, licking the small pool of blood that had come together on her floor.

Several hours later after his meeting with the infamous matriarch of Vale's criminal underworld, Dodger, now in his civilian disguise, was waiting patiently in a quaint little coffee shop in downtown Vale. Sitting across from him, in her own little disguise was none other than Neo, who was currently devouring one of the coffee shop's delectable cakes with a cheerful smile.

Many thoughts were currently racing through Dodger's mind as he glanced down into the dark brown pool that was held with his cup. It had appeared that not even Madame Rouge had any idea who this individual was nor as to why he was posing as him.

A gentle sigh escaped between the small opening of his lips as he slowly lifted the coffee to his lips. The bitter taste of his coffee and the adorable child-like glee on his love's face as she ordered another cake were the only things that kept him calm as the thoughts of his doppelgänger continued to cause him strife.

Suddenly, Dodger felt a shift in the table he and Neo were sitting at, causing the two of the to turn and see the familiar face of Blake Belladonna and an unnamed boy with sunny blonde hair. Turning on his "persona" Dodger smiled at the two newcomers as he lowered his cup of coffee.

"Ah, Ms. Belladonna, what a surprise to see you. I trust you've been well?" he asked with a soft smile but received no answer from the raven haired girl.

It wasn't until the unnamed boy reached out with his own hand that Dodger shifted his attention onto him. "Don't take it personally dude. She's been doing that to me too. The name's Sun Wukong."

Smiling, Dodger took the young lad's hand in his own, shaking it. "Jon Quill and it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wukong. Now, what is wrong with Ms. Belladonna?"

"Eh, beats the heck out of me. For the past few days she's done nothing but be quiet and give me weird looks." said Sun as Blake turned to glare at him, causing him to smile. "Like that."

"I see." Dodger responded as he returned his attention onto Blake, who seemed to be avoiding his eyes. "Well, I trust that whatever it is you're up to that you-

"I need to see the Arcful Dodger." Blake interrupted, causing Sun's eyes to wide as his attention shifted between Blake and Dodger.

"Wait a second, THE Arcful Dodger?" asked Sun. "You're telling me this guy knows THE Arcful Dodger?"

"I'm more surprised someone from Vacuo knows about him." said Dodger.

"How'd you know I was from Vacuo?" asked Sun.

"The accent. It's hard to notice but it's still there." said Dodger, smiling as he sipped his coffee once more.

"Yeah, used to live in Vacuo but then the old man got transferred to Mistral and now I'm here for the tournament." said Sun.

"Ah, yes, I had forgotten about the Vytal Festival." said Dodger.

"How the heck did you forget about that?" asked Sun.

"Let's just say that I had been preoccupied with other things." said Dodger when suddenly Blake slammed both of her hand on the table sitting before them causing it shake and bringing a deafening silence around them.

At first, she said no word but slowly lifted her head up to gaze into his eyes. The two continued to stare at one another in silence before another sigh escaped his lips as he brought his cup of coffee away from his lips.

"Come back around midnight tonight, the Arcful Dodger will be waiting." said Dodger, placing a few lien as a tip for the waitress as both he and Neo got up from their chairs and made their exit, ignoring the look of confusing they were receiving from Sun, who kept looking back and forth between Blake, who was keeping her head down, and them.

First there was Madame Rouge and now Ms. Belladonna, it seemed as if Dodger's night was going to be a lot more busy that he had first hoped. But perhaps this would prove to be a blessing in disguise and Dodger would gain some valuable information of some sort.

It wasn't long before the sun began to set over the horizon of Vale and the shattered remains of the moon began to rise over the city skyline and there standing above it all atop the coffee shop's roof was the Arcful Dodger.

Having recently decided on a wardrobe change, he had chosen to forgo his usual attire in exchange for a black twin-tail vest over a short-sleeved yellow dress shirt and black dress pants to match. His usual top hat was still with him as it rested atop his head and his weaponized cane, which he'd yet to name, stood proudly by his side. He'd even gotten a brand new face mask in the shape of a yellow crescent.

There he stood overlooking the night sky until he heard the soft landing of two sets of feet. His attention diverted towards the noise as his eyes landed on the newcomers.

Both Blake and Sun were now standing before him. A smile graced Dodger's face as he bowed ever so slightly towards the two Faunus. "Ah, Ms. Belladonna, a pleasure to see you again and I see you've brought a friend." said Dodger, turning towards Sun, who was staring at him with wide eyes. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced."

"Dude, you're the Arcful Dodger! Like THE Arcful Dodger!" shouted Sun, causing both Blake and Dodger to flinch at the sheer volume of it.

"I see my reputation precedes me once again. One would think I'd stop acting surprised at this but alas here we are." said Dodger, cracking a smirk with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Dude, you're like a freakin' legend back in Mistral!" said Sun before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a very well done drawing of himself in his early days as an up and coming thief.

"Mistral? I was unaware my reputation went that far." said Dodger.

"Are you kidding? Dude, you're like a super star back in Mistral. Literally, everyone loves how you steal from the bigwigs and give the lien to the little guys." said Sun. "Heck, you're like the unofficial mascot for Mistral too!"

"Well, I have to say I'm quite honored that the people of Mistral view me as such but one must remember that I am still a criminal even if I am a morally gray criminal." said Dodger before extending his hand towards Sun with a smile. "But while you may have heard of me but perhaps it's be best that I introduce myself personally."

"Heck yeah, the name's Sun Wukong." said Sun, grasping Dodger's hand with his own as a sunny smile began to spread on his lips.

"Well, its a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wukong. As you said before I am the infamous Arcful Dodger but I prefer my friends just call me Dodger." said Dodger, smiling when suddenly Blake stepped between the two with a tired and annoyed expression.

"Are you two done with the introductions?" she asked, causing Dodger to sigh.

"Yes, I believe we are." said Dodger. "Now, I do hope that whatever it is that you called me out here for is important."

"It is." Blake confirmed. "Do you have any information regarding the recent Dust shop robberies?"

"Dust shop robberies?" Dodger asked aloud as he tried to remember if he had heard anything about robbing Dust shops. Unfortunately, his attention had been so preoccupied with dealing with his doppelgänger that he hadn't noticed anything outside of it. "I am saddened to say that my attention has been elsewhere."

"Some people seem to think it might be the White Fang." said Blake, her body tensing at the word "some" which Dodger made sure to take a note of.

"And am I correct in assuming that you do not believe such rumors?" asked Dodger, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, the White Fang would never need THAT much dust. There has to be something else to the robberies." said Blake. "Sun said there was a Schnee Company freighter arriving at the docks around midnight."

"I see." said Dodger. "And what would my role be in this?"

"Well, we figured who better to have by our side when we catch these guys than THE Arcful Dodger?" asked Sun, smirking at Dodger.

"Hmm, very well." said Dodger. "I suppose I could use the workout but I must ask Ms. Belladonna. What do you plan to do if the White Fang is involved?"

"I'm a huntress. I'll do what is necessary." said Blake with a determined glare, causing Dodger to smirk in response.

"Well then, I believe we have a party to crash." said Dodger, tipping his top hat with a smirk. Perhaps beating on some would-be punks was the exact thing he needed after the ordeal he'd gone through.