"Lex! I've got a job for you." Junior called out to the bar as he noticed one of his "Handymen" hanging around; His large stature and intimidating expression was very easy to make him heard by anyone if he wanted their attention.
Lex was a teen who looked like he had barely passed his 18th birthday at around 6 foot even and looking like an almost average teen on a basic glance, the only outlier to this was that the skin on his arms from hand to elbow looked segmented, a clear indicator that he was one among the thousands of people in Remnant who got "Chromed up" with cybernetics.
He was a slender looking boy who wore the standard fair for a freelancer in the business: A black leather jacket with sleeves cut off at the elbows, draped over what looked like a thin grey hoody and a pair of pistols holstered at his chest, along with what looked like skinny cargo pants and what looked like steel toecapped boots. His waist was covered by the bottom of his jacket but it looked like a collapsed rifle and a sword hilt dangled from his belt. "Come on, Junior…I just got here and I'm still needing to hand over the results of your last job, can't you give a guy a break..or at least let me get a drink?"
"No can do…I need this done asap." Junior remarked as he saw the disgruntled look from one of his handymen before sighing and then mixing up a drink for him. "Here…Silverhand for a welcome back." He grumbled before handing it over.
"Thanks…Now what's this big, important mission that you need me to cover so quickly?" Lex asked as he sipped his drink and heard the bell for one of Junior's cage fights.
"Simple; I've had a guy stop by hire some of my boys for help with a job he supposedly has lined up…Never told me why and paid up front: Now I don't trust that little weasel as far as I can throw him and I know you're one of the most subtle in this line of work." Junior explained as he tapped the side of his head and sent an image of the guy in question to Lex.
In his vision; Lex saw a weaselly looking redhead with eye makeup in a white suit and a bowler hat looking smug while a cigar hung from his lip, next to the picture was a linked police report outing him as Roman Torchwick along with his various felonies.
"Looks like a real stand up guy…I'm guessing that you're not gonna ask me to shake him down for a bar tab, right?" Lex asked as he blinked, turning the profile off so he could focus on the job at hand.
"You know better than anyone that I don't hire fixers for that…This guy's a notorious heist runner and I place a substantial amount of trust in my boys to follow a job through." Junior explained before glancing to a blonde girl swinging a powerful right hook into a man twice her height and several times her weight to lay him out. "If this guy plans on running a robbery this late at night, then by all means…But I want you to tail him and make sure that if they fail, you fry their circuits and make sure they can't squeal to the police if they get caught."
"You're gonna have to give me something to work with here, there's about a dozen shops open and petty criminals like that'd most likely hit any place at one time." Lex pointed out before tapping his finger on the table; "Making sure they have a hazy mind in the interrogation room's a cinch but what's the guy's target?"
"You'll have to figure that out on your own…Get that done and I'll pay you an express fee." Junior shrugged but then smirked as he saw the match called as the "Bombshellraiser" won another championship match and kept her belt. "But if you can make sure that the cops don't go knocking on my door, I'll slide you a cut of the Cage's earnings…Once I divvy up my share and Blondie's."
"Awesome." Lex grinned as he finished his drink and placed a card on the table under the empty glass; "Here's the data packet from that suit you wanted me to run down and here…" He said before placing a handful of what looked like computer chips on the table; "I managed to get a few for the road so I need you to launder."
"Ever the picksocket, how come you've never taken up my offer as an actual hire?" Junior remarked as he leafed through the pile of chips; "Under my payroll, you can earn more AND if play your cards right, I might even throw some matches your way if you want in on the ring."
"No thanks…Besides, I'm always more of a freelancer than a thug." Lex admitted as he made his way for the exit; "Gotta look out for number one, after all." He thought to himself as he reached the outside; Junior's bar wasn't exactly 5 stars but the drinks were good and there wasn't any judging if you came by to gamble.
Unfortunately the exterior was home to bums, disgruntled drunks and people who were more than willing to start a fight for looking wrong. "Hey buddy, you got a spare lien? I just need a little scratch to win the pot back inside." One particularly imposing man said as he tried to pressure Lex.
This particular man was built like a bulldozer as he had what looked like metal arms and part of his face had worn away to show the metal plate that housed a cycloptic visor, the only decency that he had was that he wore a dirty brown jacket and long black pants.
"Sorry pal, I don't carry cash and even if I did…You'd have better luck trying to mug someone than winning Junior's games." Lex said as he stared up at the larger man without much of a hint of worry.
"What exactly do you think this is?" The man asked as several others started to come into view with knives and bats to try surrounding Lex, hoping this would make it clear that the only other way that he was walking out of this was in the back of an ambulance. "Now I'll ask again, hand over your money and maybe I'll let you walk away with a warning."
"You guys really sure that you want to ride this train?" Lex asked as he kept his gaze on everyone in front of him, Seeing a small notification in his peripheral vision that just said one word.
"READY"
The leader of the group pulled a sawn off shotgun from his back and pointed it at Lex's head; "Choo choo, fucker…" He growled warningly.
"Your funeral, choom." Lex sighed as his eyes then flickered from his standard blue into an orange colour as he cracked his knuckles.
"Boss, watch it! He's got-!" Was the cry from one of the minions before all of them were quickly hit with a shower of sparks from their various cybernetic parts; Guys with enhanced legs ended up collapsing to the ground like flipped turtles, the ones who had enhancements built into their arms quickly found the weapons in their hands drop out of limp fingers.
Lex quickly moved around and picked up one of the dropped metal bats; Within a few seconds of everyone's sudden spasms, he had delivered quick but still harsh swings to the head to stop them from getting back up.
The Boss on the other hand quickly felt the stinging of sparks at his visor before his entire line of sight went black and he began swinging wildly like an angry bear. "YOU LITTLE RAT! WHEN I GET MY HA-HA-HAnDS on YOOOOU…I'M GONNA-" He roared with an almost glitchy and distorted voice.
However it was quick for Lex to duck under a swing and brought the full brunt of his bat down on the Boss's head before it progressed further, after that it was a cakewalk to knock the rest until all of the attackers were finally conked out. "Yo, Junior…You might wanna call some of your security out and maybe a Med because I got several would be muggers and a potential CyberPsycho laid out on the ground outside." He sent through a message on his scroll to Junior before climbing into a nearby car.
This particular number was a navy blue Chevillon Thrax 388 Jefferson which he had affectionately dubbed "Jet" and quickly sped off out of the club to make his way out toward the Vale Promenade.
With the info that Junior gave him and a wide variety of places that Torchwick could hit, Lex was at a loss as he decided to try his luck with one of the biggest places that was the equivalent of a candy shop for a thief; The Biggest Dust shop on the block. "Alright, guess I've gotta do this the old fashioned way..." He muttered as he dipped into the store and headed over to the magazine aisle so he could blend in better.
The sound of pages turning and the muffled sound of music from headphones let him know that he wasn't entirely alone in this part of the store, though that didn't matter right now while he was technically on the job. "May as well get comfy and settle for a while." He thought as he flickered his eyes orange to take control of a nearby camera to keep surveillance while he flicked through a gun magazine.
"You-uh…You really like rifles, don't you?" A girl's voice peeped up as she snuck a look at what he was reading.
Lex nodded as he tried to keep himself low profile, "Yep…Can't beat having a long range option to snipe with." He remarked as he kept his eyes on the pages but when in reality: His eyes were wirelessly connected with the store's cameras.
"Yeah, I've actually got something like that for combat school…It's uh…It's a little weird with the combo I've got." The girl continued to talk while she noticed that his eyes were a peculiar colour. "You've got Cyber Optics? They're so cool! I've been bugging my dad for ages to let me get one for either my birthday or a graduation present!"
"Uh huh…But word of advise; Make sure you pick the one that fits you, not what seems cool." Lex suggested but then stopped when he heard the door jingle and saw a familiar white suited man surrounded by men in black suits. "That's him alright…" He thought as he moved away and around to the back of the store.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" Torchwick asked as one of the hired men pointed a gun at the clerk who very quickly started to try and negotiate. "A-bup-bup-bup, calm down…We're here for your Dust, not your money…" He said but then turned to the other guys who were standing beside him. "That…Would be your cue to start taking, gentlemen." He sighed with the realisation that he got the bargain bin best of Junior's men.
The minions then split off across the store to start siphoning Dust; One such man quickly noticed Lex standing in the corner and drew his gun to point at him. "Alright buddy…You know the drill: Hands in the air and put your valuables in front of you."
Lex simply ignored him and kept his eyes on the cameras where it was pointed at Torchwick. "Only Dust…Why take that and not the money?" He mentally quizzed as he surveyed the situation and kept priority.
"Hey, asshole!" The grunt barked as he poked the barrel of his gun against the back of Lex's head to both try intimidating the boy and to get his attention. "I said hand over your money or I'll put a bullet through your brain."
"I heard you…But you really don't want to do this." Lex warned as he glanced back at the minion trying to threaten him; "Because your client AND your boss won't like what I'm gonna do if you pull that trigger."
The grunt eyed Lex and noticed the distinct tinge of metal plating on his body; "You're not gonna threaten me, Chrome-jockey…All I need to do is nail you between the eyes and you'll be out before you can hack anything." The grunt smirked as he cocked the gun like he was calling Lex's bluff. "I know you types, you need a little startup time to get the right hack and even then…I can shoot you faster like this." He said and then pulled the trigger, making a hollow click. "Huh?"
Click!
Click!
Click!
The series of clicks and the growing look of dread on the grunt's face made Lex smirk, turning on his heel and from under his sleeve; the entirety of his right arm started glowing at the fingers, which meant one thing that was coming for the grunt with the force of a speeding truck.
Gorilla Arms.
With the resounding sound of glass shattering when Ruby kicked a few men through a window, Roman was thrown for a loop when he saw a second minion get sent flying through a wooden shelf and then through the door to the outside. "Okaaay…" He processed as he walked to the outside with the still standing minions. "You know, odd concept…But now would be the time to get them."
The others looked to each other then started to rush at both Lex and the girl, each of them drawing a gun or a sword to try attacking but the ones around Ruby got kicked at or swung at by a scythe.
Lex on the other hand was quick to jump into bar brawl mode as he landed punches, knees to the gut and even headbutting people who got near him. His eyes constantly on the people in his vision up until he got the all-clear.
Run: /Syscollapse
The last thing that any of the henchmen that Torchwick paid for in that moment suddenly collapsed in a heap where they stood, twitching like they had been grabbed by the brainstem and shaken violently.
Torchwick watched with a mix of shock at seeing someone having the software to knock out several armed men without touching them and the un-surprise at seeing his money's worth going down the drain; "Worth every cent, thank you Junior…" He thought as he turned to the two, Ruby looked like she was ready to jump for him next while Lex was starting to look a little red around the metalwork in his arms. "Well, you two…I think it's fair to say that this was quite an eventful evening." He said and then dropped his cigar to put out under his shoe.
"Put your hands in the air, whoever you are!" Ruby said as she stared him down; "Because the police will be on their way to put you behind bars!"
Lex felt a little antsy when he heard that, only amplifying when he heard the sound of wailing sirens in the distance, if she could keep him occupied then he could avoid dealing with the cops. "Kid, are you even a licensed Huntress?"
"Does that matter right now?! He's a bad guy! We need to stop him before someone gets hurt." Ruby hush-yelled at him as she turned her gaze to Lex for the briefest of moments.
"Unfortunately, the only ones getting hurt right now are you two." Torchwick got their attention back as he pointed the bottom of his cane at the pair, popping the foot open and firing off an explosive shot that rang across the city like a firework.
Ruby jumped backwards and aimed her weapon at where Torchwick used to be and then saw that he had moved quick enough to be climbing up on a fire escape to the rooftops. "Dang it…You stay here in case those guys wake up, I'll go after him!" She said to Lex as she sprinted off to pursue.
"Hold on a-Damn it!" Lex yelled as he sighed in exasperation. "The cops are getting closer and I've already done my part…Maybe I can slip away befo-"
"FREEZE!" A police officer yelled as he drew his weapon and aimed it at Lex; "Drop any weapons and put your hands on your head!"
Lex watched as he saw the sudden attention drawn on him and raised his hands up; "Look, I didn't do anything…It was self defense." He said while stalling as he kept eye contact with the officer.
Run: /Ping
Luckily for Lex; The officer was currently holding on to a pistol and he didn't have any notable cybersoftware on him barring the rather impressive Stalker optics…This could've been chalked down to wanting to fast track his path up to police chief, a noble yet equally treacherous gamble because if there was one thing that every Cyberpunk knows when cornered.
"Go for the eyes…" Lex thought as he then noted any other points of exits before getting his plan together. "Just look the other way…I'm not involved in this and you don't want to escalate."
"I said get down on the ground and put your hands on your head!" The officer yelled as he kept his pistol trained on Lex, "All units, I have someone resisting arrest and potentially dangerous! Requesting double time on backup!"
"Okay, hard way it is…" Lex mentally grumbled as he decided to start pushing himself, he let his eyes flickered orange and then everything around him started to move in slow motion.
First he pushed off his left foot and made for a sprint towards the officer who made a very slow yet equally aggressive yell as he sluggishly pulled the trigger, Lex moved around the bullet and delivered a swift palm strike to his face so that he couldn't chase immediately after and then carried on in his mad dash past the officer and into the nearby alleyway.
In real-time however the Officer only saw Lex for a brief moment before he vanished, by the time he had blinked: He had been knocked to the ground with his nose and mouth bleeding along with the throbbing pain. "A-All units, suspect has fled on foot and has disappeared into the streets! Be warned, he has Cyberware…Potentially a Sandy."
Lex hopped over a chain wire fence and collapsed to the ground when he tried to rest against a wall; He had been heavily panting and his skin was starting to redden, steam was rising from the spots in between his segmented arms. "Overheating…Shit…I probably have enough to fight off another cop or one more burst but I need to get to the car and haul ass." He thought as he staggered to his feet. His body shook and burned with the internal heat while his mind was already jumping between multiple scrambled thoughts, each one that shouted the loudest was one that he refused to entertain as it made him twitch and blur his sight.
"He went down this way!"
"He can't have gotten far."
"From the description we got, it might be HIM."
Lex reached behind his back and grabbed one of his TECH pistols from his holster and started to cautiously set it to Silencer, he had been chased by police before and he didn't want to take chances when his body started slowing down.
However there was a loud sound of metal hitting stone as a grenade bounced off of the wall and landed at the corner of the alleyway where Lex had stopped.
The Fixer felt everything go white as a stun grenade went off; Thankful that his Optics were able to diminish most of the effect but it still made for a painful sight as the bright flash knocked him off balance as he ran out into the street to see the police reinforcements arrive. "Shit…"
"Lex Sapphos! Put your hands on your head and surrender! We already have your cohorts in custody so make this easier on yourself and give up." One of the leading police officers yelled out to him before leaning over to his colleague and whispered something to them.
Lex looked to the numerous guns trained on him and realised that this was the worst case scenario for him; "I can't afford to go big…I need to break a hole through them and get to the car…" He thought before deciding to make his move.
However the police were prepared for the events of anything as they placed what looked like a grenade launcher on the bonnet of the front car, aimed it skyward and fired.
Lex barely had much of a chance to react as a baseball sized orb flew into the air at him with the speed of a rocket. By the time he saw what it was, it was too late…
The entire street had their power cut as everything from houses to street lamps went dark; Lights went out, cars immediately stopped and anyone with half of a brain and cybernetics donned their protective gear.
Lex however didn't have that choice or that kind of protection, his immediate reaction was anything but small as the sudden outage to his body hit him like a truck, he lurched forward and threw up violently as he felt everything in his body seize up.
"Get him before it wears off!" had been the last thing that Lex had heard before he finally blacked out and the sight of numerous officers rushing over to him.
By the time that Lex came to, he found himself waking up in a cell with gravity Dust enhanced cuffs on his wrists, a dark band around his neck which had a small blinking red light. "An Air Gap collar...Figures." Lex thought as he looked around his new captivity and started to contemplate his actions over the last day or so.
He had been placed in a cell that looked to be specially made for people with cybernetics or who were deemed too dangerous for a regular cell; The room had no electronics on his side of the room as it had plastic chairs and a table, wooden bunk to sleep in and a clear pane of what looked like glass with air holes to separate him from anyone confronting him.
The door to the room then opened up as he heard a conversation tailing in; "Remember, this is a highly dangerous criminal so I advise you not to open up his cell or take any gadgets in with you...Even with that collar on him, he is still dangerous to be in contact with."
"I can assure you officer, the talk I had with the police chief is more than sufficient." A silver haired man said as he didn't seem all that worried about potential danger. "Besides, I'm certain that this young man will be reasonable enough to listen." He said with an unusual amount of confidence, whether it was genuine belief or overconfidence was uncertain.
The officer shrugged as he opened the door wider to let the man in along with a stern faced blonde woman who followed behind. "Knock on the door when you wish to leave." He said as he shut the door behind him and leaving the three to talk between the barrier that served as Lex's cell.
Lex watched the two curiously but then decided to ignore them since he figured that this was most likely some kind of psychiatrist trick, mostly because he had been given plenty of talks from people who did try in the past to "redeem" him since he still looked like a kid.
"Good to see you are awake, Mr. Sapphos." The silver haired man said with a genial tone as he grabbed a wooden chair to sit down. "My name is Professor Ozpin and this is my colleague Glynda Goodwitch."
"Good for you...What do you want?" Lex grumbled as he took stock of the both of them, it hadn't been the first time that he got put in jail but he preferred the solitude to whatever this was.
"To talk, if you are open to it." Ozpin said as he decided to cut to the chase; "You are a very interesting case, Mr. Sapphos...Though it's even more surprising that a Fixer like yourself is so young or has such a wide variety of tools at his disposal."
"First rule of being a Fixer: Always be resourceful and use what you can." Lex said as he half listened to what Ozpin was saying. "Any minute now, he's going to break out the disappointed speech..."
"And you have indeed done that, though there is something that is still curious about you." Ozpin said as he peered at Lex over his glasses. "You have all these skills at such a young age yet you have only sought to use them selfishly for such short sighted ends to your means."
"You're right, I did make mistakes...Throughout my whole life and getting stuck in this cell, waiting for you to arrive had given me the time to think on my choices." Lex said as he sat a little up and looked the two in the eye; "I could've turned it all around, stayed in school and pursue my passions in coding...Thank you for opening my eyes, sir."
Goodwitch glowered at him since his tone was dripping with sarcasm and her mood was already irritable enough as it was, dealing with Ruby and taking her in to the police for her unlicensed actions certainly didn't help either. "Unless you want to spend the rest of your life looking through this window, I suggest you listen." She warned him as her green eyes never let up on her glare.
"Well, you do make a compelling case but I'm not exactly planning for a long term stay, thank you." Lex snarked back at her as he stared back at Glynda with no intention of blinking.
"That may not be up to you...Several cases of picksocketing, mugging, public violence and all manner of assorted crimes and ties to individuals who are less than savory." Ozpin stepped in as he decided to get the facts on the table. "Currently with things as they are: You are more likely to see prison for life than the outside at this rate...But your life doesn't have to follow that path, I have an alternative if you wish to hear it."
"I never once claimed to be a good person but if you think that you can offer me a deal to rat people out, then forget it." Lex said with a sharper tone in his voice, one thing he knew from experience was that once you are outed for spilling info, that stain is very hard to leave behind.
"If you'll listen then I can help you." Ozpin said with an even tone as he looked to Glynda who then pulled a tablet out and showed Lex's records. "As I have said: You have a long list of talents but you have a short sight when it comes to using them...If you stay here then you can risk a full time place in a prison cell and who knows what kind of people will recognise you in there..."
"I am aware."
Ozpin hummed softly before continuing; "You are better than this...You can offer more to your life and have the potential for more instead of just wandering aimlessly from job to job." He explained as he then showed a video of Lex fighting Torchwick's men. "Why not use that potential to help others?"
Lex looked like he was thinking over those words but he was still skeptical about the whole thing. "You mean like going straight and joining the police or something like that?"
Ozpin laughed a little then shook his head. "No, I mean about joining the Huntsman Academy that I run...There are plenty of people like yourself who have enhancements to their bodies so you don't need to worry about being outed." He explained and then took out a pamphlet for Beacon, sliding it between a small opening in the clear door to Lex's side. "You are welcome to apply and take the entrance exam, should you feel like taking a chance."
"I have to say, this is oddly generous of you...Offering a scumbag like me a place at a fancy school." Lex mentioned as he still wasn't sure if this was an olive branch or not. "Why? There are probably a dozen better people that you could give this to and more that don't come from a background like mine."
Glynda nodded as she watched him leaf through the pamphlet. "Everyone deserves a chance to do the right thing...In the same way that everyone deserves a second chance to turn their life around." She said with a less stern tone in her voice as she saw that he was legitimately confused and meant what he said.
"Gotta look out for number 1..." After what felt like minutes of silence, Lex came to a decision. "Alright...If the choice is school or prison then I guess I'd rather take the school..."
Ozpin nodded and smiled a little; "Alright then...Now onto our conditions for your application."
Lex blinked as he changed from resolute to confused at this new tidbit of information. "Conditions?"
"I have spoken to the police chief and he is willing to let you walk free, however this will mean that you will be under constant watch if you have successfully earned a place at Beacon." Ozpin explained as he started to lay down his terms. "You will obey all rules to the letter and expected to keep a good standard of grades, we are willing to give you a chance but you are to put in the effort to change."
Glynda then followed up as she read off a new list; "Beacon is open when it comes to cybernetics but if you do anything to step over the line with any software hacks or we find you trying to do anything that will put the school at risk...You will find yourself right back in this cell before you know it." She explained as she pulled out a pen and slipped it along with an application form through the cell door. "Say yes and clean up your act...And you can make a better life for yourself."
Lex read it through as he weighed his options, finally settling as he scribbled a signature on the bottom and handed it back to her. "Fine..."