I took one of O-Ushi's cabs back to my little apartment and called Ozpin to report on how my week went. I told him about raiding the 24k Dragon's chop shop and pretended that I had just been too hung over to pick up the scroll. I can't help but wonder what he would have said if I told him the truth.
The next several days went by more or less how I expected. I did my collections, I helped Toshi out with our dvd pirating business and I occasionally was asked to provide extra security against the 24k Dragons.
Whatever message O-Ushi was hoping to send to the Dragons by smashing up their shop didn't exactly work. Instead the punks took it as an invitation to throw off the kid gloves and ramp up their attacks.
One of the businesses that paid for our protection had a few of the thugs come in and threaten to burn the place down. They almost tried but thankfully one of O-Ushi's guys was already there and they ran off the minute he pulled a gun out and threatened them.
Other places weren't so lucky. The cafe Toshi and I pirated DVDs out of had a brick thrown in through the window, it hit a barista and to keep good faith and keep the place in our protection O-Ushi paid for the damages and the hospital bills of that barista.
In a strange way Junior's Clan was a lot like a neighborhood watch, if anyone in Little Mistral saw trouble they called their local wiseguys to take care of it. People here trusted their local gangsters more than their local cops. Living above Hana's laundromat pretty much meant that I was always on the clock looking out for her and her business.
One night I woke to find her knocking on my door frantically and she sent me downstairs in my boxers where four of the fucking punks were smashing the place up and tagging it with graffiti. I managed to scare them off easy just by waving my gun at them. And then I stayed up trying to help her clean up the place.
"Has anything like this happened to you before?" I asked Hana as I scrubbed up a bit of graffiti they left on the floor.
She shook her head as she swept up some broken glass. "Not in a very long time, stuff like this used to happen before the Kuroi Kuma clan took power, before "Papa" Xiong," she sighed, "it's disgraceful, some of these young men used to play with my own children."
"Wow, that has to sting," I said, trying to imagine what she could possibly feel about all of this. "These fools have forgotten where they came from," she explained to me, "and it has led them to turn against their own people."
I could only wonder how long it would be before someone got killed over this. So far things had been rough and brutal and nobody had gotten killed. But between O-Ushi getting shot and the time they pulled guns on the twins I just knew that it was only a matter of time before somebody was dead in the streets. I had no doubt that the 24k Dragons would lose if it came to that, but I knew that these Atlesians I had yet to see were the real threat waiting in the shadows for a reason to strike.
But it wasn't like I was in any position to do anything serious about it. I was just a lowly associate with no real say in Clan politics. And it wasn't like I had any answers to this dilemma anyhow, I understood why Junior was trying to hold onto whatever peace he could, turning the other cheek to the 24k Dragons seemed preferable to letting the Atlesians do something much much worse. But how long the Clan would choose to endure this was anyone's guess, but even I could see that this wouldn't last forever.
The days passed normally enough till the night of Junior's birthday. I got him a bottle of his favorite single malt whiskey, Glengoolie 16 year. It was the same stuff I sipped on in his office the night I saved O-Ushi so I figured it would be good if nothing else. Thankfully the twins were happy to tell me Junior's favorite brand when I texted them for gift ideas.
I picked Melanie and Miltia up in my new car more than happy to let them slide in the single passenger seat as before. "Wow!" I said looking at the two of them dressed in red and white silk cocktail dresses as they opened the door of their apartment.
"Like what you see?" Melanie asked, striking a pose.
I nodded approvingly.
"See Melanie, I told you they'd be a hit," Miltia bragged.
"I suppose you were right Miltia, as always," Melanie relented to her twin and took hold of my arm to walk out.
We drove to the club and like before the street and sidewalk was crowded with people trying to get in so I decided to go down the street to park behind the club. But as I passed the sidewalk outside the club I did a double take at the crowd outside. I had spotted a strangely familiar pair of rabbit ears sticking up over everyone's heads, with a stylish brown haired girl in a beret sitting next to her faunus friend.
"Something wrong?" Miltia asked, noticing me staring.
"No," I told them looking away and focusing back on the road. I parked the car and the twins suggested we go in through the back so we entered in through the kitchen and straight up the stairs into the VIP section.
When we got in there were some decorations set up and a pile of gifts on the table. Junior was observing the show through a window that overlooked the club, his head was nodding along to the beat the DJ put down and wore a little smirk as he did so. "Enjoying the party?" both twins asked him as they released my arm.
"Hey girls!" Junior greeted opening his arms to the twins in greeting and giving them each a friendly pat on their shoulders. "Thanks for setting this up, this is perfect," he said motioning to the packed club outside, "how did you book this guy?"
"We had a talk with his manager," Melanie said vaguely.
Junior raised an eyebrow at the two of them.
"Not like that!" Miltia laughed, "we helped him with a few problems and he moved his schedule around," she explained, "he's even open to booking gigs in the future."
Junior smiled, "Good! Now go get a couple drinks and enjoy yourselves." He ordered them before looking over to me and stepping close.
"Happy birthday," I said to him, handing over the bottle of single malt with the little ribbon on it.
"My favorite," Junior observed looking at the bottle before looking back up at me, "thanks."
"It's good stuff," I told him, "I can see why you like it so much."
He set the bottle down on a table where other gifts waited for him. "O-Ushi tells me that you've been adapting well to the life," he said to me, "I heard you've been stepping up against the 24k Dragons."
I chucked and scratched the back of my head awkwardly, "well I'm just trying to fit in," I told him.
"Melanie and Miltia seem to think well of you too," he went on, "they wouldn't have invited you here if they didn't."
"Oh well… I mean they're great," I told him. I felt suddenly like I was a guy having a talk with my date's father, it was weird.
"You don't have to tell me that," he said, taking me by the shoulder and leading me to the bar, "and they tell me you're quite the gentleman."
"Really?" I asked him as he signaled for the bartender to bring us a couple of drinks.
"Surprised?" he asked me, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm more surprised that I was worth mentioning," I admitted to him. I was just another boy-toy to them after all and I doubt that they gossiped with Junior about their friends with benefits.
Junior laughed at me, "Worth mentioning?" he said, "Kid, the last two months I've been hearing plenty about you and the work you've done," he explained to me as the bartender set out a couple of martinis for us.
I could practically hear Ozpin's praise as I reported to him that the clan's head honcho was apparently talking about me. Progress was progress after all.
"I didn't know my services were so noteworthy. I thought my contributions to the business would be beneath your notice," I explained to him, "I mean Mel and Mil said they'd tell you about the time we handled those Dragons dealing drugs down the street, but I figured that'd be a footnote in your day."
Junior chuckled a little before taking his first sip, "Kid listen to me because I have some wisdom for you. Believe it or not being at the top doesn't put you above what happens in the street, if anything it's the opposite. In this business shit rolls uphill, a problem in the streets quickly becomes my problem."
"I never thought about it like that," I said, taking my drink and having my first sip.
"Few do," he said, giving my shoulder a rough pat with his massive hand, "enjoy yourself kid, and keep up the good work."
I rejoined the twins and we looked out over the club with our drinks. "Have a good talk with Junior?" Miltia asked me as we watched the dancers on the floor moving it up.
"Yeah," I said to them as I scanned the crowd and saw the familiar set of rabbit ears. Sure enough I recognized my former upperclassmen Velvet Scarlatina and Coco Adel sitting at one of the tables talking about something over a couple of drinks, probably just soft drinks I thought. I had gotten so used to drinking despite being underage that I actually found it kind of funny.
"He wanted to thank me for my good work," I explained to them, "and he gave me some advice."
Melanie chuckled, "That's Junior for you," she said to me, turning back to the rest of the room, "he's always concerned with morale."
We continued on with our drinks and mingled with the other wiseguys that were coming in. Tonen and O-Ushi came in and they even introduced me to a couple of the other underbosses within the clan and I began to realize just how much I had been talked about.
"So this the white kid you've been bragging about O-Ushi!?" This one woman Iwa said looking me up and giving me a playful punch to the shoulder. "You better be paying him well or I'm going to steal him from you."
"I like my kneecaps too much to take your money," I casually joked to her, ribbing O-Ushi a little.
Everyone laughed and we continued on trading stories with one another and casually talked among one another. After getting acquainted with most of the guests and finishing my first drink Melanie and Miltia took my hand and started leading me out so we could hit the dance floor.
When we left the VIP room and got onto the main floor of the club I took a look over and saw Velvet sitting alone and watching the DJ. She was moving her head to the beat and her large rabbit ears flopped a bit with the movement. But I saw that something was wrong. Her rhythm was slightly off and she seemed rather vacant slouched in her chair and I couldn't help but wonder if maybe she was drunk.
We got to the floor and started dancing together. I saw that Coco had also taken to the floor with some pretty redhead clearly enjoying herself as the two of them moved together without a care in the world. But as much as I tried enjoying my dance with the twins I couldn't help but glance over to Velvet sitting all alone.
"Bunny girls huh?" Melanie asked me.
"Huh?" I said looking away from Velvet who almost looked drowsy in her seat and back to the girls I was dancing with.
"You keep staring at that faunus girl with the bunny ears," Milita explained cutting in.
"Yeah, you got a faunus fetish?" Melanie said, "I mean… she's certainly cute. I wonder if she has a little cotton-tail in her pants? You want us to find out Jaune?"
I blushed, "no it's not that," I stammered to them, "It's just…"
I looked back to the table and suddenly she was gone. I didn't really know Velvet well from my short time at Beacon but I got the feeling she wouldn't just ditch her teammate in a club like this. And even if she had been drinking she shouldn't have appeared so drunk, not unless she had been pounding them back. "Something's wrong," I said to the two of them and disengaged to head off the dance floor. They watched as I rushed away.
Part of me was trying to tell myself that I was paranoid, that maybe she had just gone to the bathroom. But I had a bad feeling in my gut and I listened to it. I stepped off the floor and moved around the club trying to spot her. There was a line for the women's room that she wasn't standing in so I moved and spotted her ears going right for the exit.
I moved across the club and shuffled through a crowd of people and went into the cool night where I saw her being led away by some guy with a hideous leopard print shirt with his arm draped over her leading her away.
"Hey!" I shouted at him as they turned down an alley. I broke into a sprint and rounded the alley to see him looking back at me. Before he could even make a move I closed the distance and clocked him across the jaw.
He went stumbling down to the ground and Velvet went with him. I took her hand and pulled her away. "Are you alright?" I asked her, giving the jerk on the ground a kick to the face.
Velvet mumbled something incoherently as she wobbled on her feet confirming my suspicions that she wasn't in her right mind. This guy was over twice her age and I'm sure that Coco wouldn't let her friend leave with a guy wearing an ugly shirt like that.
"Jaune what the fuck is going on!" I heard Melanie cry from behind me and I turned to see Miltia and a bouncer following close behind seeing me holding Velvet by her arm and the guy on the ground groaning in pain.
"This fucker attacked me!" The shithead protested trying to make himself seem as innocent as possible here.
"He drugged her," I explained to Melanie letting Velvet's unintelligible words make my point for me. Just a few incoherent mumbles from the poor girl made my point.
My word and Velvet's confused stupor was all that needed to be said for them to believe me. "Motherfucker!" Melanie said, giving the guy a kick right to the face and sending him down with a bleeding nose. "Get him inside now before I kill him!" Melanie growled to the bouncer, "take him in the back and wait for us, we'll be there soon to teach him some fucking manners."
I nodded as I watched the tall bouncer lift him up like a sack of potatoes and go down the alley towards the rear entrance with this guy kicking and screaming. I turned to Miltia and Melanie, "I'm going to find her friend," I told them handing Velvet's arm over to Miltia who didn't seem quite as scary save for the murderous glare she was giving the guy as the bouncer dragged him away. "We'll look after her," Melanie promised as I moved back into the club and made a beeline for the dance floor.
Coco was still dancing it up with the pretty redhead and I hated the fact that I was probably going to ruin her night. But I gathered what courage I could and moved to her and gave her a tap on the shoulder.
The first look she gave me was one of annoyance but after she took a moment to look me over a flash of recognition met her eyes. "Jaune… Jaune Arc?" She asked over the loud booming music. I was honestly surprised that she even knew my name. I hadn't talked to her in my entire time at Beacon.
"Sorry to interrupt you," I told her leaning in so she could hear me, "but there's been an incident with Velvet."
"What?" She said a little too loudly, looking horrified, "is she alright?"
I moved her out over the dance floor before I began explaining the situation to her. "She's safe," I said hoping that piece of news would at least ease her a little bit, "someone drugged her and tried to take her away, she's out of sorts."
"Fuck!" Coco cursed, "Where is she?"
"She's outside, I have a couple of friends looking after her at the moment," I explained to her, "I can call you a cab."
She nodded to me and took in a deep breath as we stepped outside. "Where's the son of bitch that did this?" was her next question.
"In the back," I explained to her as I used O-Ushi's app to call a cab for the two of them, "he's being taken care of by the bouncers."
"I want to see him," she growled to me clearly furious.
"That's not necessary," I assured her, stopping after I put in the order into the app, "trust me he's getting everything he deserves, right now Velvet needs you."
I watched her hard gaze soften and she released a sigh. "Fine… just make sure that he doesn't get away with this."
"I will," I promised her knowing that right now Junior's boys were probably making him regret a lot of things at the very moment. Calling the badges to take him away would have probably been a mercy.
We stepped into the alleyway where both Melanie and Miltia were waiting with Velvet who was currently sitting down with her back against the wall of the building. "This her friend?" Melanie asked me, dropping her half smoked cigarette and crushing it with her shoe.
"Yeah," I told them with a nod, "Thanks for watching her, I called them a cab."
Miltia nodded to me and snubbed out her own cigarette, "we'll be inside Jaune, when you're ready."
I took a deep breath of the cool night air and reached into my jacket for my cigarette case and lit one as I waited with them. Coco sat down next to Velvet who seemed to be unconscious at the moment.
"What are you doing here Jaune?" Coco asked me as she held onto Velvet protectively.
"It's a nightclub, I'm doing what people usually do in places like this," I said shrugging my shoulders, "drinks, dancing, girls, you get it."
She chuckled a little, "No I mean… What happened to you? Why aren't you at Beacon anymore?"
"I'm surprised you even noticed," I said to her taking a puff off my cigarette, "this is the first time we're even talking."
"Hey I watched the initiation the same as everyone," she explained to me, "plus the partner of a world class fighter is a little hard to ignore."
I chuckled seeing her logic, "How is Pyrrha?" I asked her genuinely wanting to know how she and the rest of my team was faring without me. I figured not having a fraud like me on their team was probably a plus for the three of them.
"I'm not exactly on talking terms with her," she answered me, "But I heard she got hurt, some asshole played a prank on her with some rapier wasps and she had an allergic reaction."
"Fuck," I said, shocked to hear that, "is she alright?"
"She's fine now," Coco assured me, "and I heard the guys responsible for it got expelled. But don't change the question on me Jaune, why aren't you in Beacon anymore?"
I sighed and took a long drag off my cigarette, "I wasn't huntsman material so I left and found a job," I lied to her.
"It must be a nice job if that suit is any indication," she said to me looking me up and down.
"It was a gift from my supervisor," I explained to her.
"Really, your supervisor? What kind of job is it?" she asked me.
I took a drag off my cigarette to think about it just a little bit, "I work for the club owner," I said figuring that it was true enough, "I'm like… an assistant, and since I work here they want me to dress nice."
She gave me a dubious look. She clearly wasn't buying it, it's not like the bouncers and bartenders wore anything this nice. But thankfully she just shrugged and dropped the subject. "You wear those threads well," she complimented to me, "I hope this new job works out for you."
"Me too," I told her with a smirk, "It wasn't what I expected, but it's working out for me. And it comes with more than a few perks."
"Like those two girls?" Coco asked me, jabbing me playfully with her elbow.
I chuckled bashfully, "no comment."
She raised an amused eyebrow at me, "You got their scroll numbers?" she asked with a predatory grin. "Care to help an old classmate out?"
"Get them yourself," I told her with a laugh.
"You know I could take it from you," she said to me.
I threw down my finished cigarette and stomped it out. "Well are you?" I asked her.
"Maybe later," she said, taking out her own scroll, "but beating you up for a couple of phone numbers would be a poor way to thank you. How about you give me your digits instead."
"What for?" I asked her.
"I owe you one for tonight," she said as I entered my number into her scroll, "you helped my friend out so I think I owe you at least one favor."
"I didn't do this for a favor," I told her handing the scroll back, "I would have done this for a complete stranger, hell before tonight you and Velvet were practically strangers to me."
"Well no good deed goes unrewarded in my book," she said to me watching as the cab pulled up and we helped Velvet get up and quietly walk over to get in,
"T-thank you," the fanus girl slurred to me and I just nodded to her as Coco buckled her in.
"Take them to the Bullhead station," I said to the cab driver handing him a wad of cash, "make sure they get their safety and soundly," I instructed, "and take it easy on the turns, the girl there isn't feeling well."
The driver nodded to me and I said my final goodbye to Coco and watched the cab drive off. When I got back inside to the club I moved back and was called over to a back room behind the kitchen where the scumbag I had caught was currently locked away in a walk in freezer.
"We found these on him," Miltia explained to me, showing a bag of pills as well as a knife and what I suspected was a vial of coke.
"We thought you should have the honor of teaching him some manners," Melanie told me motioning to the door, "just save a little for me Jaune, you can't have all the fun."
I took a breath and removed my jacket before opening the door to a mostly empty room with only a few boxes stacked in the corner. The guy glared at me as I stepped and clenched his fists. "You're gonna be fucking sorry for this cocksucker!" He shouted, taking a swing at me. I let his fist connect with my aura and listened as he screamed in pain and cradled his hand. Then I gave him a right hook and sent him to the ground.
I don't consider myself to be a violent man. But I won't deny that smacking around this asshole felt good, really good. I just tried to imagine what kind of twisted evil Velvet could have endured and it guided my fist. I thought about the fact that he had probably done this kind of thing to other women and it helped me put power into my kicks. And the fact that he kept cursing me and telling me that I was going to regret this only fueled my anger and fury at him. I am not a cruel person, but watching him spit out his bloody teeth was undeniably satisfying. Had this been any other guy I might have taken it easy on him, or at least felt guilty for taking justice into my own hands like this. But that night I didn't have much mercy. That night I was more than happy to let my first teach him a lesson.
I was panting after maybe a good twenty minutes of roughing him up. "Your turn!" I told Melanie, tagging her in after my fists were sore and a little bruised from beating the shit out of him.
"Junior will be here soon," Miltia told me handing over a towel so I could clean the blood off my hands and face.
"What's gonna happen to him?" I asked her knowing full well that the Clan never handled their business by calling the police. I looked over the few possessions the bouncers had confiscated from him and saw a matchbook with the title Caboose on it with an old fashioned train caboose on it along with an address.
"Junior will decide that," Miltia explained coldly, "but he doesn't have a lot of tolerance for scum like this, this fucker will be lucky if he leaves with his ball let alone his life."
"Fuck!" We heard Melanie curse on the other end of the door and we threw it open to find her staring at the guy who was panting on the ground. His hideous leopard print shirt was torn up and I looked to see that his chest was marked by numerous crude tattoos.
I was getting used to seeing plenty of clan members sporting ink. They usually had arm or even body sleeves that were beautiful works of art depicting everything from old Mistrali samurai to tigers and great mythical beasts. But these tattoos were not elegant or pretty, they were just simple black lines across the body.
"Fuck," Miltia said mirroring her sister as she knelt down to look at the marking even closer.
"What is it?" I asked her having no idea what these ugly tattoos could mean.
"These are Atlesian prison tats," Melanie said pointing at one tattoo over his heart of a skull wearing a crown. "See that crown? It means this asshole is a made man for the Atlesians, and it means he killed someone in prison to become one."
"How do you know it was in prison?" I asked them.
"Because that's the only place Atesians get made," Miltia said, "but that's not the problem… if he's a made member then no one is supposed to even raise a hand to him without consequences."
As my mind began processing that I heard the guy laugh despite his broken nose and teeth. "That's right," he hissed coughing up a mouthful of blood, "I doubt you Clan bitches will get more than than a slap on the wrist," he hissed looking right at me, "but you blondie are gonna have your head on a silver fucking platter!"
I froze hearing that, I was the first person to touch him and even though Melanie and Miltia had raised their hands to him they were Clan members and doubtlessly Junior would protect them. But me? I was just an associate, I wasn't even Mistrali.
"You're pretty stupid, aren't you?" I turned and saw Junior standing in the doorway and stepping right past me to pick the guy up off the ground. He looked at a chain tattooed onto his shoulder and scowled. "You come here to my fucking club to poach girls!?" He growled before delivering a punch into his stomach making him double over. "You come into my club so you can traffic flesh!" He yelled at him before smashing him into the wall and letting him drop.
"I'm one of Michail's boys!" The guy cried to him, "he's going to hear about this!"
"Oh I know he will!" Junior growled at him, "and what the fuck do you think he's gonna do when I tell him that you crossed the line? I could kill you right now for this, I should kill you. But what do you think is going to happen when I demand justice from Nicky?"
The guy spat blood onto Junior's shoes, "he wouldn't dare," he growled before Junior put his size thirteen shoe into his face.
"We'll see," Junior said to him, "but if you think I'm going to give up this gentleman for raising a hand to a sex trafficking piece of shit like you then you clearly have underestimated me and the lengths I will go for my people!"
We turned to leave and I noticed that O-Ushi, Tonen and Kaiu along with others had come to see the show. The door closed behind us all and Junior turned right to me.
"Jaune!?" he said looking right into my eyes.
"Y-yeah?" I replied feeling a little shaken after watching him beat that guy down. Drops of blood still speckled on his face.
Both of his hands reached out touching my face, I felt like he could have crushed my skull with his bare hands, he was so big and imposing. He gripped me tightly and pulled me in kissing the top of my head. "Excellent work!" He said, still holding my face in his hands. He grinned triumphantly at me. "I owe you for this!"
I was stunned and confused trying to process what he was saying. "W-what?" I stuttered.
"You caught one of Michail's boys crossing a very serious line tonight," Junior explained, keeping an arm around my shoulder as we walked back to the VIP room. "This is much worse than a street gang dealing their drugs on our turf, this is a serious offence."
I quietly processed just how such a violation could possibly be a good thing and was stumped but decided I could ask him once we had reached wherever he was taking me. We got back into the VIP room and Junior grabbed the bottle of whiskey I had gifted to him and proceeded to uncork it, "A glass for me and this gentleman right here," he said to the bartender, flashing me a grin and patting my shoulder with his massive hand. The bartender gave him two empty glasses and Junior filled them with the smokey amber drink practically shoving the glass in my hand and clinking them together as if to toast.
"So what?" I asked him, "What happens now? What happens to that guy?"
"I'm going to let him crawl back to his boss Michail" Junior explained to me, "He's the one that's been supplying the 24k Dragons with their drugs and making my life difficult. I'm going to demand justice for this, Michail should pay the price for this, it was his man after all."
"So that guy just goes free?" I asked him.
Junior smirked, "I doubt it," he said, "the Atlesians don't take failure well. I would have killed him with a bullet to the head but I doubt his superiors will be so merciful. Michail can punish his own guy however he wants, I want Michail to be held responsible for what has happened."
I shuddered to think what kind of punishment would make death seem merciful. "What can you demand from Michail?" I asked him wondering just how Junior planned to end up on top from tonight's incident.
"I can demand quite a lot for this," Junior explained to me. "I might even be able to demand that he cease his dealings with the 24k Dragons or at the very least try to pay for my appeasement. If Michail doesn't make this right then the Prince is going to have to get involved or risk war. The ball is in my court." He explained to me taking another sip of his Glengoolie.
"So letting this guy go means you have the right to demand a lot from his boss Michail?" I asked, trying to simplify it out loud. "And if he doesn't appease you then you have justification to strike back?"
"Now you're getting it," Junior told me. "You did a good thing tonight kid," he said, clapping me on the shoulder once more.
"I was just trying to help out a girl I saw in trouble," I explained to him, "I had no idea that guy was working for the Atleaisans."
Junior raised his glass to me, "you're a true gentleman kid."
We took our glasses from the bar and went back to mingle among the rest of the party guests. Junior was already calling for everyone to meet him later and discuss the latest development. My contribution tonight aside there was still some business that I was not allowed to listen in on.
The night went on. I drank and conversed with everyone until Junior went back with his underbosses to discuss business and the rest of the night's developments. The rest of the night went standard, I drank, I danced with Melanie and Miltia, and I even went back to their apartment again by the end of the night. "That is quite a story Mr. Arc," Ozpin mused to me the morning after I had spotted and stopped the Atlesian in the club trying to take Velvet.
"So what do you make of it?" I asked him, lighting a cigarette and looking out the window to the street outside my apartment. "The clan is getting ready to go to war with the Altesians if Nicky doesn't deliver justice to Junior."
Ozpin chuckled, "justice is a funny way to describe what he is going to ask for but yes, if this leads to a war then it could very well put a damper on Junior's other criminal enterprises."
"You mean the dust robberies," I said knowing that Ozpin cared about only one thing in regard to the Clan's so called criminal enterprises.
"Indeed I do Mr. Arc," Ozpin admitted to me.
"So you want the Clan to go to war?" I asked him, finding the thought a little disconcerting. If half of what O-Ushi had told me about the Altesians being at war was like it sounded like the last possible thing anyone could want. She had told me that nothing was held back or off limits to them, it would doubtlessly be bloody.
"Right now Mr. Arc the Atlesians are the enemy of my enemy, certainly not friends by any means, but a welcome thorn in both Junior's and Roman's sides. If it leads to war then I would be a fool not to take advantage of the situation." Ozpin explained to me.
I didn't say anything to that. So far I had nothing but hatred for the Atlesians and what they had done. "I found something on the guy I caught," I explained to him, "a matchbook for some bar on the west side of town near the railyards."
"That is one of the areas the Atlesian's have claimed as their territory," Ozpin mused, "what of it?"
"If they have control of the rail yard I was thinking it might be a part of their smuggling operations," I explained to him, "After what happened to Velvet I was wondering if maybe it would be worth checking out, it might even be a part of their human trafficking operations."
"I can certainly talk to my friends in the police department about looking further into it," Ozpin said. "What is the name of the bar?"
"The Caboose," I answered him feeling more than a little let down with his response, "I can look into it myself maybe, take a car and just get a look at the area."
"You are not a detective Mr. Arc, and that area would be very dangerous. The Atlesians probably have already heard of you and I have no doubt that they would take advantage of you sneaking around in their territory. Focus on your current task before setting your sights on the rest of the criminals in Vale. Leave it to the proper authorities." he told me.
I wanted to protest. I didn't have any real hope that the police would make any significant breakthroughs considering so many cops in the Vale Police Department were already on the payroll. Bribing cops and public officials to keep their noses out of criminal operations were par for the course in this kind of life. Even if Ozpin did have some trustworthy badges to send in I knew that the corrupt ones would do everything to slow them down. It could take months for anything to happen and by them the Atlesians's would have burned down their operations and changed to something else. Nothing would change the worst people would probably get away.
"Mr. Arc?" Ozpin asked, pulling me away from my thoughts.
"Yes?"
"How are you holding up?" he asked me in a serious but friendly tone.
The question took me by surprise, "What do you mean?"
"We usually have these calls much earlier in the day, but this time and the last you were rather late," he explained to me.
That was because both times I had slept over at the Malachite's apartment and wasn't able to get back in a timely manner. "I was just a little busy," I explained to him using a half truth, "I'm out all night with these people and when you drink like we do couch crashing is pretty normal."
"I understand that your situation must be difficult," Ozpin said to me, sounding sympathetic, "you're doing this with no friends and no allies and I would understand if you felt lonely and afraid undergoing all of this."
Lonely? Maybe only a little. But that was a loneliness I was accustomed to. Faking my way into Beacon and pretending that I was something I wasn't had been the same kind of lonely. It wasn't that I lacked company, it was that I couldn't be honest with those I was around. But afraid? My fear of these people had been slowly dissolving as I became more and more acquainted with the life. Hell Junior had even stood up for me last night after I had beaten that guy to a pulp.
"I'm fine," I assured him, lying through my teeth.
"Good, you're doing excellent work Mr. Arc so hold your course," he told me before he hung up.
I hid my scroll back inside the useless electrical outlet and dressed for my day to make collections wondering just what kind of course Ozpin had set me on. I felt like I was stumbling in the dark through this mission. Maybe I could have told him about everything, but the last thing I wanted was for him to pull the plug on my work and ruin my chances of becoming a huntsmen.
Around late afternoon that day I got lunch with Toshi after I had dropped my collections off at O-Ushi's. We stopped at one of the finest ramen houses in the entire city, I got my usual bowl of pork miso ramen.
"I was talking to Tonen earlier today," Tosi explained as I gathered the delicious noodles on my chopsticks, "he says he's going to suggest I officially be welcomed into the clan… as a full member."
"That's awesome!" I said looking up from my steaming bowl, "congratulations my man, we should celebrate! Are you up for some karaoke tonight? Maybe get some drinks and meet a couple girls?"
"Let's save the celebrations for when it happens," he said unable to hide his grin, "I don't wanna get my hopes up."
I chuckled at him, "it looks to me like you already got your hopes up dude," I said to him with a grin, "otherwise you wouldn't be telling me."
"Ok... maybe a little," he admitted, "but you're the only person I've told so keep this to yourself."
"I will," I promised him, "but what are you planning on doing once it's official?"
He shrugged, "I talked about that a little bit with Tonen, he said he'd help me set up a used car dealership and sell some of his vehicles, then maybe I could look into starting some of my own businesses."
I chuckled, "before long I might be calling you boss."
"Don't get ahead of yourself," he grinned, "there's no way O-Ushi would even let go of a Gentleman like you."
I sighed, it had only been last night but already that name was starting to stick with everyone. "Word gets around fast," I said, scratching the back of my head with embarrassment.
"You mean about you beating some manners into that Atlesian?" He asked with a proud smile, "I doubt anyone in the clan hasn't heard about that yet."
I shrugged, "I just did what I could," I told him, "it was no big deal, I just got lucky."
"Well Gentleman I could sure use those fists of yours again today," he said, picking up his ramen bowl to drink the remaining broth. "I caught word that one of the stands selling our bootlegs has also been dealing with the 24k Dragons."
"You think they're selling drugs for them?" I asked, looking away from my own bowl. If one of our sellers was working under the table with the Dragons then it meant that Toshi and I could be held accountable.
"I wanna find out," Toshi told me, setting his empty bowl down on the table.
"Then let's go," I said, slipping down the broth of my ramen and leaving a generous tip. We took Toshi's car and sure enough we found one of the stands outside a shop that was selling our pirated dvds.
"Hey Jing," Toshi greeted looking over his table. The moves and video games and other cheap fake merchandise crowded the stand.
"Toshi, Jaune!" Jing greeted us with a grin, "I thought I already gave both of you your money this week. By the way I need more copies of Third Crusade, they've been selling very well."
"We'll keep that in mind," I told him, trying to be friendly and not accuse him outright. "And this isn't about the money, you're all paid up."
"We are here because Han told me you were making deals with the 24k Dragons," Toshi clarified. "Is that true Jing? Are you selling drugs for them?" Jing chuckled, "I don't know what Han is thinking... dudes… that's bullshit you have to believe me he's fucking lying."
"Then let's check your goods," I suggested, "there's no point in waiting, let's have a look at what's on you."
Jing stood up and pulled his coat open, "I got nothing on me!" he said, pulling his pockets out for us to see little more than lint and a pack of cigarettes.
"But you got a van right?" I said knowing that he had more than just this simple stand's worth of bootlegs on him. "Show us the van, if it's clean we're done here and we'll see about getting you copies of Third Crusade."
Jing nodded and led us down the alley. The fact that he didn't even ask anyone to watch his stand was already suspicious to me. We reached his van and he opened the back up for the both of us to inside. I pulled out a box filled with our bootleg movies and video games.
The next thing I heard was Jing sprinting down the alley away from us. We turned around and dropped the boxes to run after him, he barely made it fifty feet before Toshi caught him by his jacket and punched him across the face.
"Son of a bitch ! Why are you running!?" Toshi said, throwing him up against the wall and delivering several more smacks across his cheek.
"Fuck Toshi I'm sorry dude I'm fucking sorry," Jing stammered with blood and tears steaming down his face. Toshi punched him again in the stomach making him double over so he could bring his knee up.
"Why did you run!?" Toshi asked again, smashing Jiro's back into the wall once more.
I was already back to checking the van and was throwing open the boxes and pulling out our merchandise. Sure enough I found a bag full of pills near the back and I held it up for Toshi to see. "Yup, we got pills here," I told Toshi as he proceeded to treat Jing's face as a punching bag.
"I'm sorry," Jiro cried through a bloody nose, "It's just that stuff moves man, that bag alone is worth more than all those disks. It sells so well, do you know how much some of these gamers will pay just to stay up all night."
"So sell some fucking energy drinks! Not drugs you fucking rat!" I spat at him pulling more bags out of the van.
"Did the 24k Dragons sell it to you?" Toshi asked as I threw the bag onto the street and proceeded to crush the little white pills with my shoe till it was a powder.
"Yeah," Jiro said, sadly looking at the pills being destroyed right before him. "But I've been buying directly from a dealer."
"Where?" Toshi asked him, stepping away to let him whimper in pain.
"Jun's place on 86th," Jiro answered him as I poured the powdered pills out all over the alley, "He's been selling it out of his apartment for the Dragons."
Toshi gave him one final right hook to his chin and turned. "You don't work for us anymore, and you're lucky you're already paid up or we would be taking everything you got on you," Toshi told him while walking away with me.
"What am I supposed to do?" Jiro called after us. "If I don't pay the Dragons back for those pills they're gonna do something horrible to me."
"You think I give a fuck!?" Toshi called back to him.
"You got a van Jiro, I suggest you put this city in your fucking rear view mirror," I told him as I walked away with Toshi.
We got back to the car and I lit up a cigarette. "So what now?" I asked him.
"Let's pay Jun a visit," he said lighting his own smoke, "If he's gotten to one of our guys then he'll try to get some more so we nip this in the fucking bud before it becomes a real problem."
I nodded, our business was in trouble so we needed to step in and protect it. While we drove we talked about other measures we would have to take to make sure that none of our other employees were pushing drugs alongside our bootlegs. If the rest of the Clan found out we'd look like chumps or worse they might think we were using our little hustle to move drugs for the Dragons. That was unacceptable, especially with Toshi trying to get made.
We stopped on 86th street and looked over at his apartment. "So do you know this guy? Do you think he's home?" I asked him.
"Didn't you hear Jiro? He's working from home, he's probably in here all day," Toshi said opening the car door and marching right for the front door, "and if he isn't home then we'll let him know we dropped by," he said kicking it right open. "Jun!" he called stepping in, " Jun you fat fuck are you in here!?"
I stepped in behind Toshi as we stepped into a hall and sure enough we spotted him standing up from a chair with four other guys already in there from him. I spotted a number of the drugs on the table along with fat stacks of lien. For a second I thought I recognized the four others with him. I noticed that they were armed and a look at the mace hanging from the hip of the biggest guy made me suddenly recognize all of them.
"Cardin!?" I said feeling an icy chill go down my spine. He was wearing a cheap grey shit instead of his usual combat attire or uniform that I was accustomed to seeing him in but the minute I looked into his blue eyes I could see that it really was him.
"Jauney boy!?" Cardin said with a predatory grin, "what brings you here?"
"You know this guy?" Toshi asked, turning to me with a raised eyebrow.
"We were at Beacon together," I said to him before looking back to Cardin and the rest of Team CRDL. "What are you doing here?"
"Business," Cardin said, simply stepping close and staring me down. "What are you doing here Jauney boy?"
I didn't understand how this could possibly be happening right now but I knew we needed to get the fuck out of here right now. Toshi and I were outnumbered and I knew from personal experience that Cardin and his friends were no pushovers.
Toshi spoke immediately, "Jun here has been dealing drugs on Clan turf! This ends now!"
I put a hand on Toshi's shoulder to try to calm the guy down before this turned into a fight we couldn't win. "Keep away from our people," I told Jun trying to lay it down in a reasonable fashion, "we know you've been selling to Jiro so we're here to put our foot down."
"Or else things will get ugly Jun!" Toshi cut in.
I wanted to choke the son of a bitch. I don't know if it was because he was possibly going to be joining the Clan or if he really didn't understand how bad this situation was but he wouldn't shut up.
"Ugly?" Cardin said, stepping between Toshi and Jun with his imposing figure. "Are you threatening my boss's associate?"
"Damn straight!" Toshi growled at him. "This is Junior's neighborhood and-."
Toshi never finished the sentence before Cardin punched him right in the stomach, making him keel over in pain.
"Fuck!" I said seeing the situation deteriorate before my very eyes. I reached for my snub nose revolver. It was my only weapon. I barely managed to pull the little revolver free before Cardin caught my wrist and punched me across the face. My aura shielded me from the blow but the force of it still sent me stumbling backwards and crashing into the wall.
"Look at this little peashooter!" Cardin said holding up my revolver. "Looks like Jauney boy here upgraded his arsenal," he laughed, throwing the pistol down to my feet and stepping forward as Russel came forward and sent Toshi down with a swift kick and Dove did the same. Poor Toshi, he had aura but it meant little against the three of them. Meanwhile Cardin was giving me a painful reminder of what my short time in Beacon had been like.
"I must say Jauney boy, I never expected you to be the kind of guy to be working for Junior," he laughed, taking his bulky mace up and sending me crashing into the drywall with a mighty swing. "I didn't think you had it in you to do this kind of work. I'm actually a little impressed Jauney boy."
"What are you doing here Cardin?" I asked him, picking up a lamp and desperately swinging it at him only for it to shatter harmlessly against his aura.
"Same thing as you," Cardin said, smashing his mace against me making the dryway against my back crumble, "Beacon booted me out so I found a line of work that could use my services. And by the look of things I'm a lot better at it than you are."
He kicked me right in the sternum and sent me right through the cheap flimsy wall. I crashed into a bedroom and scrambled through the door and moved around back into my living room. I spotted my gun on the floor and leapt and grabbed it. Before I could even raise it Cardin's foot stomped down and pinned my hand.
His mace came crashing down on my back again and again, the floor beneath me cracked as my aura flared to protect me and eventually gave out, shattering into specks of white light. The mace dropped from his hand and he picked me up and proceeded to punch the snot out of me until I heard my nose break with a wet crunch and blood gushed out.
He dropped me down as I tried to struggle and I broke the coffee table scattering the drugs and money all over the floor. He then proceeded to kick me again and again in the ribs. It was agony, I couldn't breathe and even though I clutched my gun I hardly was able to use it.
"Cardin!" I heard someone shout at him and the kicking stopped. I looked up to see that it had been Sky who had spoken.
"Dude," he said, laying a hand on his shoulder, "that's enough, Michail said we can't kill any of Junior's guys, he's had enough."
Michail. That fucking Atlesian piece of shit. I hadn't even seen the guy but just hearing this name sent my blood boiling. That sex trafficking drug dealing son of a bitch was why he was here. I almost wanted to try shooting him but I knew it would be helpless, Cardin would probably cave in my skull before I could get a second shot off and his aura was definitely close to full.
"And you're trashing my apartment," Jun said to him. Jun must have been pretty fucking dumb to think that he could still live here once news about his little drug dealing gig got around.
Cardin grunted but sighed before lifting me up and leaning in close. "You and your friend better leave our dealers the fuck alone Jauney boy," he snarled in my ear, "this isn't Beacon Jauney boy, there's no teachers or anyone to hold me back so if you even think about threatening our dealers again… well next time I'll put you through a tougher wall. Now get the fuck out of here!"
I stumbled away tucking the gun back into my hoster before I grabbed Toshi so we could stumble outside and back into his car. We were bloody messes, Toshi's face looked like mincemeat and looking into the mirror side view mirror I saw that I was just as bad if not worse. I was black and blue from Cardin's beating and my broken nose was making this weird little whistle noise as I breathed. Everything hurt as I moved.
We didn't say anything as he drove away. We felt like a bunch of chumps running away with our tails tucked between our legs for the hospital. Toshi and I barely spoke to each other and by the time we left the hospital with bandages on our noses and ribs along with ice packs to bring down the swelling we were pretty tired so Toshi decided to take me home. "You know Jun is going to go after our people even harder now right?" I asked him finally to break the silence between us.
"You think he'd dare?" Toshi asked him. "This is still Clan turf and he should be trying to keep his head down."
"I know Cardin," I explained to him. "He'll make sure that this brings me down."
"That's bad," Toshi said. "Maybe we should ask for some help from the Clan," I explained, "if Jun is buying drugs from Michail then that's violating the treaty."
"And?" Toshi said, grabbing a cigarette as he drove and letting me light it for him. "This is our business, if I can't keep it under control without going to Tonen then I'm going to look like a chump to the Clan."
"The Clan exists to help each other," I said to him. "And these aren't just some punks without aura, they were in Beacon, they know how to fight."
"I don't know Jaune," Toshi sighed as he pulled up by my apartment, "I just don't know right now… let's just sleep on this."
I nodded and said my goodbyes before getting out of the car and going up to my apartment.
"What happened to you!?" Hana asked me as I passed her on the stairs.
"The life," I said to her simply.
"Do you need anything?" She asked clearly, understanding my answer just fine.
"Just rest," I told her, wanting my aura to return soon so it could begin healing all the bruises and cracked bones.
When I got into my room and locked the door the first thing I did was pull the couch out and take out the hidden scroll and call Ozpin. He didn't pick up so I just waited and tried to think about what to do about Cardin.
I wanted to get help before the situation got worse but Toshi was clearly worried about what it would do to his image. I bet the fact that he was being considered for entering the clan was why he was hesitant to invite our bosses to help. And as much as I wanted to get other people to help with this I realized that it could very well reflect on my reputation with the clan as well.
I looked at my snub nose revolver sitting in its holster on the table in front of me. I hadn't even fired a shot as Cardin knocked me around and I couldn't help but think what would have happened if I had.
Sure a single round wouldn't have gone through Cardin's aura. But if a second or third shot did then what? It wasn't like Goodwitch would tell us to stop the fight, the bullet after that could have easily killed him. Big as Cardin was without his aura a bullet was still a bullet. As much as I despised Cardin I didn't want to kill him or any of his teammates.
Eventually I managed to get a call through to Ozpin. "Mr. Arc… I wasn't expecting to hear from you again so soon. Has there been a development?"
"I'll say," I told him, "it's name is Cardin fucking Winchester, he and the rest of Team CRDL are working for those fucking Atlesians rats. And he just beat the shit out of me and my friend Toshi."
Ozpin was quiet for a second. "I see," he said simply.
"You see!? You fucking see!?" I said to him. "How the hell did this happen?"
"Calm down Mr. Arc, there's no need for vulgarities. Mr. Winchester and his team were expelled a little over a month ago. They played a cruel prank on Miss Nikos during a field trip, they unleashed a number of rapier wasps on her and she suffered from a severe allergic reaction. They had to get a bullhead to airlift her to the hospital."
I remembered Coco's story from just last night and clenched my fist to think that Cardin had been the one to do that to Pyrrha. "So you expelled him and his team for that," I said, finding the idea satisfying save for the fact that I was in pain now because of his expulsion. "And now he and his goons are hired muscle for the Atlesians."
"It happens," Ozpin said, "sometimes when students fail initiation or are expelled they try finding employment that can make use of their combat capabilities."
"Like hired muscle," I said sourly.
"Yes," Ozpin agreed, "that happens from time to time."
I remembered how O-Ushi told me that I wasn't the first washout from Beacon and that suddenly made sense to me. "So what should I do?" I asked him. "Cardin was protecting this guy who's been recruiting some of my guys to sell drugs from him. He's going after my business and he made me look like a pushover. And that's not helpful to my mission."
"I understand that Mr. Arc but I fail to see what I can do about it." He said, "I cannot step in."
"I understand that," I told him. "But what should I do? I could really use some advice right about now."
"I am afraid I don't have any answers for you Mr. Arc," Ozpin told me, "Can't you call on Junior and O-Ushi for help in these matters? Isn't that what these criminals claim this Clan is all about?"
"I can," I told him bitterly.
"Then do that," Ozpin instructed me, "I'll be in touch."
The call ended and I was left alone with only my thoughts towards the problem. Ozpin didn't understand what he was asking for. Yes the Clan takes care of it's people but if you want to move up then you can't just go crying to your boss over every little thing. And the last thing I wanted to do was go behind Toshi's back and make him look weak. I tried justifying that with my mission, if Toshi was allowed into the Clan then I would have another friend in a position of power. But honestly a part of me just didn't want to do wrong by him. He was a good friend and I wasn't going to betray that friendship.
And what's more I wanted to get even with Cardin. My pride had been wounded as well and I started to think about how I would make this right.
I put the scroll back and moved to my closet searching the corner where I could find it. A short sawed off pump shotgun that I had taken from one of the 24k Dragons the night I met Mel and Mil. I had put it in the cab and later stowed in away since I had no idea what I was going to do with the thing. But right now I knew that if I was going to handle Cardin and his team I was going to need something more than my little .38 snub nose. I ejected the shells that had been in there since I first got it and looked at the little red plastic rounds considering my options. I wasn't going to kill anyone but I was going to make sure that the next time I faced off against Cardin that I was ready.
I remembered that night O-Ushi and her guys busted up that chop shop run by the dragons and I thought about Kaiu using rock salt in his shotgun rather effectively. I searched my wallet and found the card he had given me and called his indoor range.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Kaiu? This is Jaune… we uh met," I began.
"Oh I remember you," he said with a chuckle, "What can I do for a Gentleman such as yourself?"
"I got a problem and I need some firepower to deal with it," I explained to him.
"I see… how about you come on by first thing in the morning and I'll get you set up," he said with evident satisfaction in his voice.
"Thanks," I said to him before hanging up and looking through my contacts. I was going to get the Clan to help me, but I wasn't going to go to Junior or O-Ushi. I was going to get what friends I did have and make this right. I called Melanie and Miltia next knowing that they weren't the kind of girls to sit out a fight.
I didn't need any bosses to settle this. I had friends I could turn to. Dangerous friends.