Broken World, Broken Souls (RWBY)

[Master Rudy]

Now available for reading on Fanfiction.net!
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1182633...d-Broken-Souls

Ok. Been dying to get back into writing for a long time now. Just one problem.....
*glares at the RP forum*
I'm more of a role player and this place is dead. Highly doubt there's enough people to get something rolling and keep it active.

That being said I've been on a major RWBY kick as of late. Unfamiliar with the series? Get acquainted. I'll wait.....

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WebAnimation/RWBY
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...YlD9MHjvmT8IGK

Back yet? Ok then. Now fair warning: if you're into this series at all and have NOT been caught up to the end of Volume 3 I would highly suggest NOT PROCEEDING! While I do need feedback and proofreading on this the events of the most recent volume are best experienced firsthand. THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE SHOW UP TO AND INCLUDING THE FINALE OF VOLUME 3! If you don't care then by all means go on. Just don't be surprised if I spoil something big that may have happened.

*FINAL SPOILER WARNING*
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Ok then.....

I've had a few ideas floating in my head regarding a fic where the team essentially gets broken up and has to be put back together. Amazingly enough the conclusion of Volume 3 played right into this idea so as far as this fic is concerned it's within canon events up until this starts. Once I made a few adjustments I felt I had a halfway decent start. I do however need feedback and proofreading. I'm extremely rusty in regards to my writing and as I'm more accustomed to writing in the first person (mainly due to RPing) I'm sure some of this might read a bit awkwardly. If the feedback is decent enough I'll likely continue, get things cleaned up and possibly post it on FF.net (despite lack of feedback, this has been done)

Here we go. First chapter of my currently untitled RWBY fic.

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Chapter 1
"The Cyborg and the Barkeep"
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Six months. That's how long it had been since that awful night. The night that Beacon fell nearly taking the city of Vale with it.

It's also how long it's taken to get this damn club running again Junior thought to himself.

Hei Xiong seriously hoped the grand opening the coming weekend would go off without a hitch. This was the second time in less than a year he had to rebuild his club. The first time was because of that crazy huntress. What should have been a fairly simple matter quickly went sideways due to her bad temper. Then there was the Vytal Festival incident. One moment everything is fine then suddenly shit hit the fan. Multiple incidents essentially led to a Grimm invasion. The chaos was unprecedented. Out of seemingly nowhere there were airships falling out of the sky and Atlas forces apparently turning on the civilian population. Somehow the city itself managed to stand but the nearby Beacon Academy wasn't so lucky. Even now he wasn't sure what exactly had happened. Between the destruction of the CCTS and the lockdown on the fallen districts leading to Beacon the flow of information was minimal. The only people who seemed to have any idea what was going on were former students and the occasional hunter or huntress that came by. However many of them weren't talking. The few bits of info that did manage to come by was conflicting at best.

However those were the least of the concerns for the man better known as Junior. If something else happened to his club he wouldn't exactly be able to refer to himself as a "legitimate businessman" for much longer. Not that he truly was one to begin with mind you. Sure he DID have legit dealings such as his club. However the real money came from his status as an information broker and black market dealer. Services and men provided to the highest bidder. In the end there was no loyalty in his motives. While Junior wasn't actually one of the so-called "bad guys" that didn't make him one of the "good guys" either. At the end of the day Junior was just in business for himself. A man like him needed a business such as a bar or club. Without one what was he suppose to do? Open a stall in an outdoor market with a sign loudly proclaiming his side activities and services?

Junior however didn't get much more time to think about his current problems. As he was looking over the various invoices and bills for rebuilding his club he heard the front doors open. Without looking up from the table he simply said, "Sorry. Club is closed until the weekend. We've still got a few last things to do before we can officially open." A few seconds later a pair of brown boots came into view as he was looking down at the table. Before he could tell the owner of said boots to go away he heard a voice that stopped him in his tracks. "What about unofficially?" it asked. "This isn't exactly your main line of work after all."

Junior knew that voice. Granted it had an edge to it that he had never heard before but it was still unmistakable. Looking up he met the eyes of Yang Xiao Long. The very woman who had wrecked his club nearly a year ago. Junior was once again about to speak when he noticed just how different the girl was now. Clothing wise she now had a pair of jeans along with knee-high leather boots. While she still wore the same yellow shirt and orange scarf she had switched to a brown leather trench coat. Finally there was her face and hair. While her hair still had some obvious feminine length to it he did note that it was much shorter than before. Same general hairstyle but shoulder length as opposed to reaching her waist. She was wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses but despite that Junior could easily see something had hardened her. His best guess was that she was at Beacon when everything went down. With everything that happened that night he wasn't about to guess what exactly it was. It could have been any number of things.

All he knew was that the last thing he wanted to do was piss this woman off.

The problem was that not saying anything was beginning to have the very effect he wished to avoid. Letting out a sigh she said, "I haven't got all day Junior and I'm sure this lovely establishment can't afford another remodeling." His own anger now getting the better of him he responded, "Well that first time could have been easily avoided. With that said what exactly do you want? I really don't have the time or enough insurance money to deal with you again Blondie." Yang held back an annoyed chuckle. Considering the type of work Junior did was he really asking that? "Well you're an information broker. Figure it out."

Junior couldn't help but smirk now since he finally had one up on this girl. "No" was the simple one word reply Yang got. Junior expected her to blow up at him for that and while she likely held the fate of his club in her hands he wasn't going to budge this time. Not with everything he had at stake. Yet the most unexpected thing happened.

She remained calm.

If there was any sign that his words had made her angry he couldn't see it. Either she had suddenly developed the best poker face he had ever seen or her threats against his club held no true weight. Without waiting for her to ask why he simply stood up and started walking towards the bar. With Yang following behind he explained the situation.

"I'll give you credit. You didn't wreck the place last time. However there's a funny story that goes along with that. You know how I told you I hadn't seen Roman in months? Well a week after that him and a couple of his friends came in. They told me in no uncertain terms that if you or any of your team came within a mile of this place that the club would be the least of my worries. I have no doubt he's out there somewhere since the Beacon attack would have been the perfect time for him to escape." As he stepped behind the bar Junior grabbed a glass and one of his top shelf liquors and went to pour himself a shot. After downing it he looked Yang in the eyes and asked her, "Do you have any idea what it's like looking over your shoulders for six months? My biggest worry is that nutjob is going to think I had something to do with you eventually finding him and getting his ass tossed in jail."

As he poured himself another drink Yang simply laughed. "Six months? Remnant is falling apart and some of the kingdoms are on the brink of war. Yet your biggest fear is Roman Torchwick?" Letting out a sigh Junior shook his head as he regretted ever dealing with the man in the first place. Just as he was about to take another shot the next thing Yang said shocked him. "Well you don't have to worry about Roman anymore. I'm afraid he's going to be late to any and all meetings for the rest of our lives." Junior choked on his drink for a moment before doing the classiest thing he could.

He spit it out due to the pure shock of what Yang just said.

Regaining his composure Junior studied her face. Was she lying about Roman? Surely he was free and out there wasn't he? Junior however had a strong feeling that this particular huntress wouldn't lie to him about something as big as Roman Torchwick being out-of-the-way for good. "Well if that's the case I can only assume he's dead then" was the simple reply he gave. With a chuckle he grabbed another shot glass. Junior wasn't normally one to give freebies but he felt that if what Yang said was true then it deserved a little charity. Setting the empty glass down he asked Yang, "You of age yet Blondie? On the house if you are." Nodding she sat at a stool. "Sure why not. I'm not going to turn down the most expensive stuff you've got if it's free." Pouring the drink Junior set it down in front of her before getting his own glass to refill. "So what exactly happened?" he asked without looking over. "How did he die?" Yang went to pick up her glass as she replied. "Not well. He escaped and....." Suddenly out of nowhere Junior heard the sound of glass breaking. "DAMMIT!" was the only thing he heard her say. In the entirety of their meeting it was the first time she sounded angry. Junior himself was also angry now however. That crap is easily thirty lien a shot! he thought as he got ready to chew her out. He wasn't about to waste good booze on someone that couldn't be bothered to not drop a glass. However he stopped himself because the next thing he saw shocked him even more than the news that Roman was dead.

There was Yang Xiao Long sitting at his bar crying.

Junior wasn't sure what to make of this turn of events as he stood there watching Yang. That's when he noticed something he hadn't quite seen when she first came into the club. Yang normally wore a pair of fingerless gloves. This time however she was simply wearing a single brown glove on her right hand. Unlike her normal clothing it wasn't fingerless. Junior stood there dumbstruck as she wiped away tears and then proceeded to pull a bloodless shard of glass out of the glove. He'd be the first to admit he wasn't the smartest guy in the world. However he dealt with enough hunters and military types to have a pretty good idea what had happened. While he didn't really want to upset her his morbid curiosity got the better of him as he reached for a towel. "Hey Blondie you mind lifting up the sleeve of that coat and taking off the glove? I want to make sure you're not hurt." Honestly it was a lie on his part. He'd seen this sort of thing happen once or twice before and was fairly certain he knew what he was going to see. However he wanted to see for himself because if something could injure this girl so severely then he was starting to get the feeling that maybe Roman Torchwick really was the least of his problems. Yang hesitated for a moment before taking off the glove and rolling up her sleeve.

Instead of flesh and blood she now had a prosthetic arm and hand that went to about where her elbow would have been. Design wise it was fairly simple. It was unpainted and there were no apparent weapons built into the thing. That told Junior that it was a recent surgery and that she was still getting used to having her arm replaced. As long as it was covered no one would have any clue that Yang had lost her arm.

Junior was slightly taken aback by the reveal. In his line of work he occasionally ran into hunters or other more shady customers with prosthetics. Atlas had made many advances in regards to that sort of technology. However seeing one on someone so young unnerved him. It certainly explained why she had switched to less revealing clothing. He had no doubt at this point that something very bad happened to her during the Battle of Beacon. Handing her the towel he came out from behind the bar and sat next to her as she cleaned up the spilled liquor and glass shards as best she could. Junior knew that on his best day he could be an asshole and that on his worst he could be a real scumbag. Looking at Yang like this however made him realize for the first time just how bad the state of the world must be. With the CCTS in Beacon down there wasn't much to go on other than unreliable information. It made him realize that Roman was involved in something bigger than he imagined. That in itself made him sick to his stomach. Once you set aside the legitimate part of his operations Junior was for all intents a petty thief and a dealer in black market goods. He didn't ask questions about what his clients planned to do with said information, tools or men. However for all his shortcomings as a human being he did have a code that he stood by and that he impressed upon his men. Despite the nature of his business they didn't kill anyone in cold blood. After all a trail of bodies was normally terrible for business. Sure there were times when someone had to be disposed of. On other occasions people had to be paid off. However even if a body would have made the job much easier Junior and his men wouldn't kill anyone unless they had no choice. At this point he couldn't get rid of the thought that just maybe he may have been partly responsible for what went down in Beacon. Quite a few people died that night. Junior tended to have people that knew his reputation for getting info come to him seeking people that had gone missing. While there still wasn't an official tally due to the various databases were crippled, everyone knew they number was going to be fairly high when it was all said and done.

By now Yang had managed to pull herself back together. It was Junior who broke the silence. "Don't tell me that smug little asshole did that to you." Shaking her head Yang reached for Junior's bottle with her good hand and then proceeded to grab a glass from behind the bar as well. Under normal circumstances he'd have protested but in light of everything he was going to let her have her way. Besides he still remembered what Yang did the first time they met back when she actually had a right hand. He sure as hell didn't want to experience that again with the additional aid of a robotic grip. Slamming back a drink Yang set the glass on the bar and said, "Roman? No. This was courtesy of Adam Taurus." For the third time in a span of about fifteen minutes Junior felt like he got punched in the gut. "The leader of the White Fang?" he asked her. "You're lucky to be alive." Yang didn't answer him but he could sense that she knew he spoke the truth. For those that did know of him Adam wasn't exactly the most stable of individuals. There weren't many people who could say they fought him and lived. Even fewer could say they fought him without being injured severely in some way. Adam took a sadistic pleasure in crippling human opponents. He wanted them to know they had lost before ending their lives. Junior himself had no qualms with the faunus. However all the stories he heard about Adam creeped him the hell out. It was almost as if he became more unhinged with each passing day. Had he known Roman Torchwick was working with Adam Taurus in some way Junior would have saved everyone the trouble and shot himself in the head right there.

That was however the part that didn't make sense to Junior. Roman was a known bigot and to say Adam was less than pleased about humans would be a major understatement. How the hell did those two manage to come together without killing each other? Despite everything in his head telling him to not get involved Junior had made up his mind. Deep down he knew that however indirect it may have been that he helped cause all this. Whether he liked it or not he had his fingers in whatever went down at Beacon. Plus there was the matter of Vale getting caught in the crossfire. Junior could have been killed that night had he been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It would have been suicide by proxy. Something has to be done he thought. I've got to do something to try to make things right.

Plus there was also the fact that he really didn't want to go down for aiding terrorists if he somehow got linked to everything.

The look upon his face was deadly serious as he finished off his bottle of Vacuo's finest rum. "Ok then Blondie" he said. "You want information? I can't make promises but I'll tell you whatever it is I know. If you need gear I'll make the calls. However you're going to need to tell me just what the hell happened at Beacon. I need to know what I'm getting involved in. Also you've got to tell me everything even if it may not seem important to you. Otherwise if I'm working off bad info it could get you killed. You understand?" Yang nodded as she put her glove back on. She wasn't sure what had sparked this sudden change in attitude and deep down she couldn't help but feel that maybe Junior saw this as more of a mutually beneficial arrangement. However she'd be damned if she wasn't going to take advantage of this.

She'd also be damned if she didn't at least get a little more of that rum.

"Everything eh? You might want to grab another bottle then Junior. This could take a while."
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There we go. Chapter 1 in the bag. Feedback and comments welcome.

EDIT: Second draft of the first chapter is up. Still need some proofreading and feedback. Have decided to go with the title "Broken World, Broken Souls" for this fic.