Path to Redemption Ch. 1: A Brawl That Ended Them

MALACHITE WINS! I believe that the final results were Malachite: 7, Black Knight: 5. Don't worry, I hope to eventually get around to the Black Knight. So this story takes place after the events of the yellow trailer, and it obviously follows the lovely twins, Melanie and Miltia.

It was a sad walk back. Both of them had lost, both of them had been humiliated, and both of them had been left alive. A fate that, at the time, seemed worse then death. For the twins, they were fully aware of what a loss such as this meant to their reputation. A loss like this meant that people would begin to doubt you, your prices would be lowered, if not not offered entirely.

Melanie and Miltia were two of the highest priced mercenaries, but it was a fair price for their purpose. Body guards, security, defense, etc. They were good at their job, which meant that they got paid a lot of money. Now, they had suffered one of the worst red marks that they possibly could of. A loss, a failure to protect that idiot Junior, and that probably meant a lowering in pay for every job to follow after.

They finally reached their shared home, and just unlocked it. There was never any concern about the people they beat coming after them, especially given that people only lost to them in hopes of getting to those that they were protecting. Melanie gently pulled off her bladed shoes, and put them up with her white shoe rack. Miltia twirled around her claws one more time, and hung them up on her rack for claws.

The two twins wordlessly sat down at the table, and just looked down at the files for job offers. They had to look at them, and select one to call about. Unfortunately, the odds that the price would remain the same were slim. Miltia opened one up, and saw offers to protect a small time, illegal dust dealer, and tossed it to the side. Dust was not something that the twins ever wished to work with. It caused too many issues.

Melanie took another file, and saw that it was an offer to join a large criminal operation. She threw that away as well. Her and Miltia simply don't join anything. Joining implies that you work for a pay, and that work means that they have to do something explicitly illegal. What they did wasn't technically illegal, since they could argue self-defense and that they were unaware of any illegal operations taking place within their employers operation. Simple, yet effective. But joining something, that just wasn't what they needed.

"This is pointless," Miltia said angrily. "We're going to throw out half of these files, and those that are left are going to be cut in pay."

"We still need a job," Melanie protested. "And it's not like we'll be good for much else." Miltia sighed, realizing that her sister was right. "Besides, if we can redeem ourselves our pay will go up."

"Redeem ourselves..." Miltia whispered. "Melanie, I think I know what we should do." Melanie looked over at her, and waited on her response. "Go after that blonde bitch." Melanie shook her head at her sister. The twins colors matched their personalities in many ways. Melanie was willing to think things through, while Miltia would act upon any instincts.

"Our job is about protection," Melanie argued. "Not revenge. I want to get her back, but how would we do that? She didn't even break a sweat going after us. Plus, we only know her as blondie." Miltia sighed, realizing that her sisters cooler head prevailed. "Hm," Melanie said softly.

"What?" Miltia asked. "Do we have a job offer?"

"One that I've never seen," Melanie replied. She slid the file over to Miltia, who looked over it confused.

"The hell?" She asked. "Why would they be interested in us?"

"I don't know," Melanie replied. "But look at the guaranteed pay." Miltia lowered her gaze, and choked loudly.

"This is per person?" She asked. Melanie nodded. She generally liked to look at all the specifics before deciding on whether or not to show her sister. "And this is not a specific request," Miltia said, excitement creeping into her voice. Once again, Melanie only replied with a slight nod. "We should go in for the interview."

"But are you sure about the place?" Melanie asked. She knew of the location, and knew of the employer. She also knew her sister, and wasn't sure as to whether or not she would approve.

"Who cares?" Miltia countered. "These are six figure numbers for our services. I think that I can live with dealing with them." Melanie nodded, and looked at their packed suitcases that had been sent ahead of them.

"Guess we're moving out," she stated. "Cause that's another requirement."

"At least we're already packed," Miltia countered. Both of the twins walked to the bedroom, and jumped down on their shared bed. They had made enough money to purchase another one, but they had shared a bed since birth. It wasn't all strange to them. They closed their eyes, and knew that either nightmares or pleasant dreams would greet them. It just depended on what their minds wanted to focus.

Next Morning

The two twins were eating their breakfast as fast as possible, trying to get done so they could call in. As soon as they did, Miltia picked up the phone.

"I should take this," Melanie said immediately. "I am the cooler head." Miltia sighed, and tossed the phone over to her sister. Melanie looked over the number, and dialed it in. She waited for an answer, and kept an eye on her excited sister.

"Hello?" A female voice answered.

"Hi," Melanie replied. "We're calling about the job offer."

"We're?" The woman replied in an amused tone. "Who is this second person?"

"My sister, Miltia. I'm Melanie."

"Ah, well you're in luck. We had a cancellation earlier, so there is two spots available."

"Cancellation?" Melanie asked, giving a signal to her sister. Cancellations very rarely meant anything good.

"Yes, they had a family emergency." Melanie lowered her hand, and nodded to her sister. "You should have the location on the files, and we'll supply you with a scroll upon arrival. You will have a mandatory interview, but since you got the file I doubt that you won't get in."

"Thank you," Melanie said. "We'll see you soon." She heard silence on the other end, letting her know to hang up. Miltia was already out the door, her bullhead pass in hand. Melanie pointed over to the suitcases, forcing Miltia to come back. Neither of them were excited about anything other then the pay.

Job Location

The two girls stepped out of the bullhead. The bullhead that had been public transportation only took them so far. Luckily, whoever was running their job had arranged for a bullhead to pick them up at the spot that they had been dropped off at. Otherwise, it would of been a long walk.

They walked across the empty location, their nerves starting to build up. Miltia kept her claws poised, and Melanie's knees were tensed to swing. They reached the front at what felt like not soon enough, and opened up the large doors.

They saw a woman and a man waiting for them, both of them with expecting eyes.

"You must be the Malachite Twins," the man greeted. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"As it is a pleasure to meet you," Miltia said.

"But how had you heard of us?" Melanie followed up.

"Please, a pair of twins that are mercenaries are not exactly a common occurrence." Both girls just nodded, realizing that they were the only ones that they had seen. "Come with me to my office and we can discuss this more." Without waiting for an answer, he turned and started to walk. The woman gestured for them to follow, and walked off. Seeing no other option, the twins walked along with them.

Upon arrival at the office, they took two seats that had been setup before they had come in. The man and woman just watched them, and quickly sat down at their chairs.

"I'm not going to pretend that I am unaware of the people that you have worked for," the woman said. "Nor am I going to play along with your act that you know nothing about it. Neither of us will. But, we both know that this is the nature of mercenaries. And that is something that we are greatly interested in."

"Whatever," Miltia said. "We're just here for the job."

"And money," Melanie followed up. The woman and man smiled, and conferred quietly.

"This is why we look for mercenaries," the man finally said. "So long as you have an incentive of pay, you will work for us. Our jobs will not always be clean, nor will they always be easy. Are you two willing to do what we ask?"

"What do you mean by clean?" Miltia asked.

"We don't want to do anything directly against the law," Melanie added in.

"But that is where our position comes in," the woman added in. "Do not worry about the legality of our tasks. Not everyone, nor every business is clean." The twins looked at each other, and started to confer.

"I wasn't expecting this," Melanie whispered. "I don't know if I want to do this."

"But we know of them," Miltia countered. "I think they're telling the truth when they say don't worry about about the legality."

"If you say so," Melanie replied. "But if worst comes to worst, we can take the money and leave Vale."

"Deal," Miltia replied. They had already fled a neighboring kingdom, the law being unable to follow them to Vale. Leaving a newly damaged reputation in Vale should of have been fairly easy. The twins turned to face the others. Melanie crossed her legs, while Miltia crossed her claws on the table.

"We'll take it," Miltia said.

"But only if your promise rings true," Melanie added in.

"Wonderful," the woman said. "One question, how old are you two?"

"17," they said in unison.

"Hm," the man said. He placed his hand on his chin, and started to rub slowly. "How interesting." He slid over some paper work, and gestured for them to fill it out.

"You are required to finalize the deal so there's no payment issues," the woman explained. "We wouldn't want a big hassle, would we?"

"No ma'am," they replied in unison. They slid the papers back, and the two of them went over them.

"Wonderful," the man said. He stretched out his hand, and shook with the twins. "My name is Professor Ozpin, welcome to Beacon."

End: BOOM! Starting this off right. The way that I view the twins is exactly how I portrayed them here. Neither good nor bad, neither over the top nor subtle, and not really caring as to what they're doing or who they're working for. They will take the largest sum of money offered to them, and in a twist it happens to take them to being security for Beacon. I'm gonna take some flak for this idea, but I don't care. Questions, comments, follows, favorites, and feedback is appreciated.