As It Turns Out 11

"Good morning brat! Or well... it's not really morning."

Elroy slowly opened his eyes. "Torchwick..." He tried moving his arms, but something strong was holding them together, and most importantly, it was restraining his Aura. "Bastard..." Did they knock him out?

Roman pouted. "Hey, I was not born out of wedlock. Probably. I don't actually know, mommy didn't fill me in before dropping me in a orphanage." He chuckled. "But enough about me, let's talk about you and..."

He motioned to a woman. "Your adorable little wife!" And that little comment definitely made sense. The girl was probably shorter than Ruby, even if she clearly looked older.

The unknown girl put her tongue out, and pointed at what could only be ber Mark.

Elroy's eye twitched. "Where's Blake?" He did not have time for their shenanigans.

Roman sighed. "Kitty cat is fine... she's right there." He pointed at a corner where Blake was slumped down. Much like Elroy, she had a weird pair of handcuffs on.

Roman continued. "You know, you should be thankful for us. People want to tear her limb for limb, but your wife went and saved her... and in exchange you ignore her for some pussy. Heh."

The unknown girl had the gall to start crying. The worst part is that it didn't even look fake at all.

Elroy let out a groan. "This is actually happening, isn't it?" He couldn't believe it, he ended up Soul Bonding with some insane criminal who worked for the White Fang.

What did that say about his soul? Probably nothing good.

Roman nodded. "Yep. Be happy though, you and little red will get their minds blown soon eno—." The unknown girl stepped on his foot. "Actually, it turns out your wife might not be down for threesomes. Sucks to be you."

The unknown girl... suddenly had a massive wooden sign on her hands. It read. "Down with the skanks!" Elroy did not even want to begin to think how she had done that.

Semblance? Maybe. Making wooden signs didn't sound like the greatest of Semblances though. It also didn't explain how she had previously appeared right in front of him when he tried to escape her.

Roman cleared his throat. "Jokes aside... let's introduce ourselves." He put a hand on his chest. "As I'm sure you're already know, I'm Roman Torchwick, thief extraordinary."

He motioned to the silent girl. "And this is Neopolitan, though her friends call her Neo... so basically just me. She is now..." He let out a long sigh. "Your wife. Legally speaking. Which normally we wouldn't care about, but I guess Neo now does."

The sign Neo was holding suddenly disappeared, breaking into pieces of glass... and so did her previous tears, as she made a heart symbol with her hands.

Definitely a Semblance.

Elroyn was not amused, nor flattered. "Right. Okay, I guess." He was not giving his name to these psychopaths.

Roman rolled his eyes. "Please don't be difficult. I know you are mad because I captured you and your buddy, but..." He frowned. "Right now Neo is being a cute loving wife, you don't want that to change to domestic abuse." It was clear he was trying to intimidate Elroy.

And he failed at it immediately, because Neo began furiously poking him. "Stop that! I'm just trying to scare him, I'm not gonna hurt your fuck boy!" Her poking became even more furious. "Is even scaring him beyond limits!?"

Neo nodded without hesitation, and finally stopped it.

Roman had learned his lesson. "Love sure does change a person." The thief didn't buy it for a second. Neo was probably just one of those gals who didn't like when her chew toy got chewed by others, that was all.

Elroy scowled. "Yeah, cute theatrics and all, I still ain't saying shit."

Roman pinched his nose. "Brats are such a pain nowadays!"

"I'm nineteen."

"Cool. Did not ask." He twirled his cane. "And since you have been kind enough to give out your age, how about also giving out your name as well?" At this point it was a matter of pride for the thief.

Elroy looked away, and remained silent. A name didn't seem like a big deal, but if Roman learned of it, he could search it online or something, and then discover a lot more about Elroy. Maybe even the place where he lived.

Roman had enough. "Okay then. I can't hurt you, so you can do that, but..." He pointed his cane at the dawned Blake. "I can hurt her. I can really, really hurt her." He wouldn't hurt her.

Just like before, this was an empty threat. Because killing the cat, would mean getting the brat's hatred. Which would mean a very sad Neo. Not a worthy trade for a name, but he wanted some respect.

Surprisingly for the thief, Elroy didn't seem intimidated at all. "You can go right ahead, but I'm Soul Bonded with her. Make a mistake, get her killed, and your partner goes down."

"Bullshit." There was no way.

Roman had already more or less accepted that the brat was Soul Bonded with little red, but to hear that he was Soul Bonded with the kitty too... Neo just had to have the worst taste in man imaginable.

Elroy struggled against his handcuffs, but managed to show them his open palm. "Here's the Mark. Blake's is on her back." There. He had more or less bought them some protection.

Roman muttered under his breath. "Fucking... soul casanovas..." What was he supposed to do now?

He pointed at Neo. "C'mon, are you gonna leave your wife hanging!? She desperately wants to know your name!" Also, Roman needed the brat to stop talking so calmly in this situation. He had somehow managed to lose all control.

Neo got on her knees, and exaggeratedly begged.

Elroy finally had to relent. "Fine... my name is Elroy Reyne." But he didn't relent because his will had been broken by his cute new wife or whatever.

Neo was cute, sure... but he didn't feel a thing for her. However, Neo and her partner were clearly acting as if that was supposed to be the case. Maybe Elroy could use that to his advantage somehow? Bring them to his side?

Roman slowly nodded. "Good, he learned how to say his name, now..." He took a deep breath, and started the harder questions. "Why are you here? Why do you have the Schnee brand Marked on your face? Why can you Mark multiple people?"

Neo conjured another wooden sign. "What's your favorite ice cream?"

Elroy glared at them. "Before I answer any of that, is little red supposed to be Ruby Rose? How do you know her?"

Roman shrugged. "She is supposed to be the petal brat who keeps stopping my plans like a cartoon character. I didn't actually know her name until now... I saw you using her Semblance though." He smiled. "See? Answering questions isn't that hard?"

Neo's sign changed. "You can do it! Go! Go! Go!" And so did her clothing, suddenly she was dressed like a cheerleader of all things.

Roman sent her a weirded out look. "Wow, you really going full in for this." She was definitely trying to impress the brat. "Stop wasting Aura though." Her Semblance didn't come for free.

Neo rolled her eyes... Roman, the forever alone loser that he was, just didn't get it.

He looked back at Elroy. "So... are you gonna answer or not?" He really wasn't good at interrogating someome when he couldn't torture or intimidate them.

That said, now that he thought more about it, it made sense that Neo's husband was so bullheaded. He would need to be if he was to stand a chance against her in any argument they could possibly have in the future.

Elroy sighed. "I guess I will." Some, at least. What would be safe to tell him...?

"First of all, I don't know how I can Soul Bond with multiple people. Is just a thing that happens to me, I guess." His soul was weird, and apparently attracted to criminals. "And about how I got here... I teleported." Somehow. He didn't even know if it was a Semblance or not.

He looked down. "And about the Schnee Mark..." Should he really talk about it? He was in White Fang territory.

There was a big chance these terrorists would tear him apart and send pieces of his body to Weiss or something. They definitely had done similar things in the past, or at least their more extreme groups had.

Roman leaned forward. "You're Soul Bonded to a Schnee, aren't you?" He wasn't an idiot, and Elroy's flinch at the accusation just confirmed his theory. "Don't worry, I don't care. And neither does Neo."

The girl has lien signs in her eyes. Literally.

Roman snorted. "Actually, she does care... I'm guessing she's gonna have a new best friend from now on." He didn't blame Neo. Hopefully some of that cash would fall on his hands.

Elroy raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you two working for the White Fang?"

Roman nodded. "With the White Fang." He was a subordinate to a completely different bitch. "And we don't believe in their stupid faunus supremacy garbage, we are literally humans. Anyways, to save your hide I've spun some sob story, so you're safe." It wasn't too hard to do.

Blake was a faunus, the kid was her friend, so the first thing he did was convince them that the kid was probably one too. After that, Roman decided to bring up how the Schnee's just love branding their cattle or whatever. So now the kid was safe... though they did want Blake's head.

Which would mean the brat losing his head. Which would mean Neo losing her head. And considering how useful she was, it would probably soon mean Roman losing his head. Dominoes were a pain.

"Woah, thanks." Elroy wasn't feeling particularly grateful.

Roman winked. "You're welcome, in exchange you can use your no doubt great political power to get Neo and I out of the mess we found ourselves in." It was time to strike a deal.

He had come to this little interrogation with three plans in mind.

The first was giving the brat a speech about joining the winning side. It would be hard to convince him, but Roman was pretty sure he would crack once Neo pulled his pants down and started... doing things. He would then hopefully convince the rest of his harem, which at that point in time he believed to be just little red.

The second option was letting the brat go. Neo would drop him in a safe location, and then he would leave up how to handle him to her. As long as he evacuated Vale before the big day, things would be fine.

And the third weapon... was joining the losing side, and hoping the brat had enough cards to win against Cinder... Which sounded ridiculous, but it was also the most realistic choice he currently had.

Elroy tilted his head. "What do you have in mind?" If nothing else, he was willing to listen.

Roman grinned. "Not denying the political power comment huh?" Of course he wouldn't.

The fact that the brat was Soul Bonded with multiple people already screamed power, Roman knew the government well enough to know they would like that. And now that he had confirmed that Elroy was Soul Bonded to a Schnee, he at least knew that if nothing else, Atlas could become a safe haven for him and Neo.

He didn't know what Schnee Elroy was tied to, but if Neo died, so did the little billionaire.

Roman raised a finger. "So here's the deal. I free you and kitty, together with your weapons, and then you two go towards your team, come back, and we bust this little White Fang operation together." He was assuming that they had a team in the first place of course.

If they hadn't... things would get complicated. Neo by herself was already absurdly strong, but there were many Paladins around. Not exactly the newest shining models, but they could cause some chaos.

Roman continued. "And in exchange you get Neo and I under witness protection or something... Naturally we will snitch on our employers. And trust me, you want me to snitch on my employers."

Neo excitedly nodded, following along with Roman's suggestion.

Elroy hummed. "That... doesn't sound like a bad idea." He squinted his eyes. "What guarantee do I have that this is not some plan to drag my team into a trap?" A team which he did not have, but whatever.

Team RWBY was probably around, with a fully trained, endorsed by Beacon, Huntsman. That would hopefully be enough.

Roman pointed at Neo. "Her."

The woman was sending Elroy little imaginary kisses. The message was simple, she wouldn't betray her husband. Naturally, she expected the same thing from Elroy, they were in love after all.

Elroy put a hand on his chin, and begun thinking.

Should he go with this? Probably. Worst case scenario he at least got Blake out of this mess. Best case scenario he stopped the White Fang, and Roman Torchwick. There was no reason why Elroy couldn't betray him later after all, he wasn't actually in love with Neo.

But... "Is it really okay for me to work witn a criminal?" He didn't actually care that much, at least not in this scenario, but would team RWBY accept it? What about their Huntsman?

Roman snorted. "Are you really saying that when you're married to pussy cat over there?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The answer came from Neo, who conjured a White Fang mask to her face.

Elroy looked down. "Ah." And suddenly that chainsaw guy screaming about a traitor who had to die made a lot more sense.

Had he missed signs? He knew Blake was an orphan, and that she was a faunus, but surely that was not enough to prove anything. She was pretty anti-estabelishment too, but that didn't mean terrorist.

Did he believe Neo and Torchwick?

In the end he decided that... he didn't care. This was seriously not the time for this. He could confront Blake later, when they weren't stuck in enemy territory, and when she wasn't passed out.

Roman chuckled. "Yeah, it seems you just attract awful people, congratulation—!" Neo elbowed his stomach. "Ouch...!?"

Neo gave Elroy a thumbs up.

He did not know what it meant. He did not want to know it either. "Right... what are the White Fang doing in what I assume is Mountain Glenn anyways?" He could guess why team RWBY had come here at least.

Their mission must have sent them here to eliminate some Grimm.

Roman tilted his head. "You... from where did you teleport from?" The brat didn't even know where he was?

Elroy at first paled at having accidentally given out information, but then he shrugged. "From Beacon, I... accidentally teleported to Blake. Don't ask me how." A Semblance? Maybe. He genuinely didn't know.

Torchwick hummed. "I guess it doesn't matter." However... "That said, was Blake here with a team, or solo?" He had assumed team because of Elroy, if he was wrong, then maybe his plans would need to change.

Thankfully Elroy quickly clarified things. "A team. She was with them on a mission."

Roman sighed in relief. "Good." He could maybe pull with him, Neo, Elroy and Blake, but it was nice to know that wouldn't be needed. "And as for what the White Fang is doing here... Get ready for a scary story."



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"You think we can trust Torchwick?"

Blake immediately shook her head. "Not in a million years." He was the worst type of criminal. "But I don't think this is a matter of us trusting him. It's a matter of him trusting his... partner." But even the worst type of criminal could care about people.

Besides, at this point he had already let them go, so did it really matter? They knew the location of his operation, and they knew what he was planning. In the end it was already an absolute victory as far as she was concerned.

Elroy's face was filled with guilt. "Sorry about Soul Bonding with that woman." He had joined her life with possibly a crazy person.

Well, Blake may not be completely sane either, but he would bring up her past with the White Fang once they were back in Beacon.

She waved him off. "It's fine. You can't control that. It's me who needs to be thanking your for saving me... somehow." It almost made her feel like the princess that she supposedly was.

It put a smile on her face. "Now pay attention to the ground, you wouldn't want to trip and fall."

They were running back to the temporary camp team RWBY had established, but Blake was a trained Huntress. Naturally she far outsped Elroy, however, he could more or less use Ruby's Semblance to keep up. Blake's poor leader was most likely very confused on why her husband was suddenly using her Semblance.

Thankfully the camp wasn't too far away, so they arrived fairly quickly.

As soon as Blake showed up, Ruby jumped to her side. "Ah...! I was so worried, you dumb stupid! Where were you!?"

Blake blushed. "Being a failure of a Huntress, apparently." The way she went out was pretty embarassing.

She had tried to get some time for herself after enduring enough pestering from her teammates, but she ended up stumbling onto a few grunts of the White Fang. Since she was a dumb stupid as Ruby would say, she tried secretly following them. It didn't go well.

Weiss huffed. "You certainly are! We will probably get lower grades because of you!" Even as she spoke in an agressive tone, worry was clear in her voice. "I-I... am really glad you're okay!"

Yang nodded. "Seriously... Don't go disappearing on me again, partner..."

This nice reunion lasted until the Huntsman that was shadowing them, Oobleck interjected. "Indeed, it is good to see that you are safe young lady... however, who is that young man who you brought with you?"

Ruby tilted her head. "Young man...?"

Elroy waved at them. "Hello everyone!" Now how to tell his wives that he went and got married to a criminal...? And also a championship fighter.

Ruby's eyes widened. "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! I'm hallucinating...!" She began muttering to herself. "Nobody must know, or they will think I have gone crazy..." She had definitely gone crazy!

Weiss meanwhile, immediately paled. "Doctor Oobleck, I believe some kind of Grimm must have poisoned me..." Or perhaps this was a situation akin to a angler fish? She was being lured by something she loved so she could get killed?

And as for Yang... she just silently walked towards Elroy and hugged him. "Missed you..." She was intelligent enough to come up with a similar theory to Weiss's, but desperate enough to fall for it.

Elroy awkwardly hugged her back. "Missed you too...?" It wasn't too long ago since they had seen each other.

Blake wanted to die. "Sorry Doctor Oobleck. That's our husband, and my team is made out of idiots." Which meant even someone who was... dumb stupid like her was somehow the smartest in the team.

"I see! I have many questions!" Understandable.