Time - Late Afternoon
Location - Zramore, Vacuo
Ever since shit hit the fan 20 years ago, Atlas decided it was the best opportunity to extend its influence outside its borders and across the kingdoms by playing hero while the rest of the world blamed Huntsmen for the Grimm problem.... well except in Vacuo apparently. Some say it was Vacuo's geographical location, being farther away from Atlas compared to its other neighbors that prevented Atlesian presence. Other said that Atlas saw Vacuo as nothing more than a wasteland and wasn't worth warranting an expansion into.
Whatever the case was, a certain blonde bar owner was glad this city wasn't in martial law. Sure there's crime all over the place but at the same time people were legally allowed to beat the crap out of other people for messing with them. Which brings us to Ael's current situation. Despite his clothes being dirtied and ruffled from what the random passer-by could presume as no ordinary little scuffle, an unnerving grin was present on his face. Such an expression prompted most people to steer clear of him... that and the fact that he was dragging two bloody men with him towards the hideout of a rather well known bunch of small-time thugs.
"Another bar fight I assume?" One of the citizens mused suggesting that this wasn't the first time they had seen something like this.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Three knocks started the conflict between the owner of the Sunshine Tavern and the Dusk Rats. When their gatekeeper was about to open the door of their hideout to check on their mysterious visitor, Ael had thrown one of the men he was dragging all across town through the door and into the gatekeeper knocking the wind out of his lungs.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be? Don't you know who our boss is? When Little Franky finds out what's going on-- "
Before the thug could finish the blonde bartender throws the thug's other buddy at him just in time for their boss to see the whole thing.
"Ael? Hold up, what the hell is all this? You come charging into my turf and beat my men for no good rea--- Ohh... they did that again at your place huh?" The man of small stature wearing a pinstripe suit felt only disappointment as he looked at his henchmen's beat-up and battered forms.
"Listen, Frank. You know me right? I don't discriminate between who comes and goes into my bar. Anyone who needs a drink gets it. I just have one rule for everyone... NO FIGHTING IN MY BAR! But it seems like you can't get that one simple fact into the heads of your boys here. That's why I'm here to collect AGAIN for the damages your men did to my tavern. "
An exasperated sigh left little Franky's lips when he heard what happened before looking the furious barkeep in the eye.
"And what if I say no? What if instead, I let you leave my turf alive in exchange as compensation for the trouble my men caused you despite you causing similar trouble for me." Little Franky replied in a condescending tone.
"Well I say we have a problem Franky. I don't accept courtesy as a form of payment."
It had seemed that the time for talk was over as five other henchmen arrived, guns drawn and aimed at Ael. They simultaneously opened fire at him with their sub-machineguns but Ael had already anticipated this outcome allowing him to use his sword to block the hail gunfire all the while charging towards the thugs. He managed to knock one of them through a wall when he collided with the unfortunate thug and another was quickly incapacitated after Ael slammed his unsheathed sword on the henchman's face with enough force to send him through another wall.
Three thugs remained and it seemed like they've just run out of ammo. Dusk rats must be falling on some pretty hard times then. Still it looked like they were still adamant in killing him as they each grabbed a melee weapon, a lead pipe, a machete, and a double-sided ax respectively, with a determined look in their eyes while their boss was trying to escape.
"I really don't have time for this so..."
Activating his semblance, Ael managed to to catch the pipe mid-swing when the tug tred it attack him. The pipe promptly melted when it came in contact with Ael's hand and he took advantage of that moment of confusion by delivering a crushing boot to the goon's torso.
After all that's happened, he couldn't let Franky escape so he ended up activating his semblance as he rushed the two men and used his enhanced strength to deliver a double choke slam with enough power to send them through the floor of the building. Rushing over to the balcony as he converted his weapon into its rifle form, he was relieved to find out that the pudgy crime boss was still within the range of his weapon. After loading ice dust bullets into his rifle, a single deafening shot could be heard and moments later the target hit its mark. The ice dust instantly froze on of Franky's legs making him writhe in agony.
A few minutes later, Ael arrived where he had downed the gang leader and was quite surprised to see that he still managed to crawl several feet from where the blonde had originally downed him.
"I think it's not too late to re-negotiate, Frank. Killing you won't pay for the damages to my bar so I say you cut me a deal here. In exchange for keeping you alive, you give me enough Lien to repair and replace all the damage your men caused then we can forget all of this ever happened. " Ael said enthusiastically.
"After everything you've done, you're still thinking about business? What about my men? You..."
"... beat the shit out of them. Everybody gets beat up in Vacuo at some point in their lives so that hardly is an issue. Relax, Frank. I'm not a murderer, I'm a businessman. But you see I can't really conduct business with a wrecked tavern... the tavern your boys wrecked when they had an argument about who has the best knockers among the gals in a certain brothel at the Red Light District." Ael cut in nonchalantly.
"UGH!... Fine. How much do I owe you?" Franky said in a defeated voice. With his leg still frozen, he looked like a depressed, partially melted miniature sculpture.
"I'm glad we're making progress, Frank! Well, I was really sure you won't believe me if I just say it to you outright so here's a complete list of things that need to be either repaired or replaced." Ael says endearingly as he hands a small piece of paper to the gang leader.
"... sixty thousand Lien?! Are you kidding me?"
"I'm afraid I'm quite serious, Franky. The boys really did a number on her so it led to those figures. If you want, I can take you to the bar now and you can have a look yourself."
Sighing once again, the gangster takes a wad of green Lien out of his wallet and grudgingly hands it to the barkeep.
"Save it, Ael. Take that money, unfreeze my leg then leave. I need to have a very long talk with my men after this."
Time - Evening
Location - Zramore, Vacuo - Sunshine Tavern
After receiving compensation from Franky, Ael was about to head back to the bar when he suddenly remembered something that could easily send him out of business in present-day Vacuo.
"I forgot lock the bar when I left!"
With a sudden sense of urgency, Ael began running towards the direction of the Sunshine Tavern. Knowing that with each passing second, the amount of fatigue he could feel increases as well until it reaches a proportionate amount of effort needed to compensate for his Semblance usage.
By the time the reached the bar, what had been a 5 minute minute jog felt like a 3-hour long marathon. His legs felt like lead and his body felt like it had been hit repeatedly by a couple of baseball bats so he was ready to collapse right then and there. However, he soldiered on through his fatigue in an effort to clean up the bar as much as he could since there was no way he could get some nice decent sleep with the thought of his pub being a mess.
As he was cleaning up, he noticed signs of someone arriving at the bar while he was gone. Seeing that nothing seemed out of place other than the stuff Franky's thugs had previously wrecked, the mystery person seemed like an ordinary customer who left the bar as soon as he/she realized that its proprietor wasn't around. It was a shame that he wasn't able to serve that customer properly and he could only blame himself since this wouldn't have happened if he didn't pursue the mob boss for damages.
In hindsight, the customer leaving may be a bit of blessing in disguise. At the current state he's in as well as that of the bar, he wouldn't have been able to serve that customer properly anyways. With that in mind, he decided to close up shop and retire for the night.
Time - Morning
Location - Zramore, Vacuo - Cafe Kyrie
As soon as the first rays of sunshine appeared in the skies of Zramore, Ael was up and about, feeling more refreshed than ever and ready to tackle the tasks for the day ahead. He had already gone to a trusted contact of his to haggle repair costs for his bar and the renovation's already well began since he had paid more than half of the costs up front. Time is an important, non-renewable resource after all, specially for businessmen like himself.
Once he had sorted everything needed for the bar's renovation, the blonde bar owner finally realized that he hadn't had a bite to eat since yesterday. Luckily, he was at a particular part of town that was brimming with restaurants and cafes so it was all a matter of choosing where he wanted to eat.
"That reminds me, I've mostly only eaten meals I've cooked for myself so I've rarely been to any restaurants in Zramore before. Maybe I should eat out a bit more often." He mused.
He finally picked a rather casual looking cafe to have his breakfast. Upon gently pushing the cafe's door open, he was greeted by the smell of freshly baked pastries and freshly brewed coffee that only stimulated his appetite even further. Upon taking a closer look of the cafe's interior, he noticed that the furniture and decor made the place look more homey than any conventional cafes he had been to in the past. So much so that a fleeting smile could be seen on his face since the cafe briefly reminded him of his bar.
Redirecting his attention to the counter, he came face to face with who he assumed to be the Cafe's proprietor seeing as there weren't any other employees present. The woman looked a bit older than Ael but was still beautiful nonetheless. With her dark blue hair, radiant red eyes, and a warm smile prepared to be given to any customer, she exhibited the aura of an older-sister figure that had just finished preparing breakfast for their younger siblings. If the cafe owner had coincidentally possessed sandy blonde hair and sky blue eyes, he would have mistook her for his own older sister but after a moment of clarity he finally realized why the woman seemed so familiar.
"Very nice place you've got here, Miss Chro. I forgot that you owned a cafe in this part of town though I must say, I love what you did with the place." Ael said with an earnest smile on his face.
That's right, this woman was Chro Leonhart a regular in his bar.
"Anyways, I'd like to order a couple of those delectable croissants and a fresh cup of coffee... of and I'd also like a slice of that apple pie."
With how hungry he was feeling, the barkeep would have ordered a lot more, but with his financial situation being not that favorable at the moment, he needed to do a bit of penny-pinching despite the tempting pastries sprawled out neatly before him.