It's been three years since the Battle for Beacon. Nora Valkyrie is alone now when she suddenly teleported to a place called New York City. Nora has a lot of questions. Who is this spider-raccoon-Faunus-kid? How do these people not know what a Grimm is? What do they mean "there is no such thing as Atlas"? All this pales in comparison to the most important one of all: WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS GUY IS MY FATHER?

Chapter 1

Where am I? I away from the defeated Nevermore beneath my feet to the hundreds if not thousands of people taking out their Scrolls to take pictures of me, like they have never seen a huntress before. I grew up in a small village outside of the kingdom where they were scarce, and even there, Huntsmen never got the kind of attention I'm getting right now. The people are kind of noisy, and not in the "Let's have fun" way, more like the 'Oh my Gosh! what is that thing!?" kind of way. Everything here looks so weird, the buildings look equal part building and glass. A lot of them are a lot taller than even the Beacon Clock Tower. There was this one building that looked kind of interesting. It looked to have over seventy floors, and what looked like a rounded crown of steal and glass with several points topped with another slightly smaller one, and another, and another, and another before a long thin antenna stuck out of the top. It's weird, I think the shortest building around here looks to be about ten stories, and there are a lot of tall buildings around here. How do they get that tall? Where am I again? This can't be Vale; it is still trying to rebuild itself after the events of the Vytal Festival.

"EXCUSE ME!" I yell. That seemed to get everyone to be quiet. I have a million questions, but Ren isn't he- NO! Don't think about that! Just focus on a single question and don't bombard them with too many. "Where am I?" I ask.

Suddenly a guy in red and blue spandex came out of no where on a white chord of webbing? Is he some sort of Faunus? Why where the getup? If he is supposed to be a spider Faunus like the symbol on his chest and webbing on his outfit suggests, why the funny black-rimmed raccoon eyes? Why red and blue? Why boots in even a weird city like this one? I've seen some really diverse clothing before, but i have never seen someone where a mask. What is going on here? He then tried and was failing miserably at shooing away all of the picture takers that were surrounding me.

"Um, Mr. Spider Raccoon Guy, where am I?" I inquire once more.

He gives me a funny look and his raccoon eyes become thicker and raccoonier. "Oh, um- I'm so sorry miss! Most people can recognize the Chrysler Building. You're on Wall Street," he apologized sincerely yet awkwardly in a way that made me think of Jaune. NO! "I'm Spiderman, not a raccoon."

"Wall Street?" I look around as I shake my blonde teammate out of my head. "I don't see a wall, Mr. Spiderman, not a raccoon?" I looked at him confusedly. "Who names their baby 'Spiderman, not a raccoon;' it's not a very colorful name. It's kind of a weird name. Were your parents that far into denial about you being part raccoon?"

His eyes once again became racoonier. "You're not from around here, are you?" Spiderman, not a raccoon asked. That's right, there was a black and red swirly portal thingy of doom that must have transported me here, but once again, where am I?

I shook my head. "Is this Atlas, by any chance? It may not look like it does in some of the pictures I've seen, but there aren't a lot of places that look this nice anymore or have buildings that tall." Besides, any pictures of Atlas that I am familiar with would be from before the Battle for Beacon.

He shook his head. "No, I think you are reaaally far from home, Miss...?" How far could I be? I was only fighting Grimm a few miles east of- Oh! He wants my name!

"I'm Nora! Nice to meet you, Mr. Spiderman, not a raccoon!" I say excitedly causing him to jump back at my volume level. It's been a long time since anyone has done that. It's been a long time since anyone has been willing to have a conversation with me this long.

"My name is Spiderman! There is absolutely no mention of a raccoon in my name. Well, Nora, what are you doing here?" He asked and muttered something about being better than underoos as he looked eyed me more carefully before eyeing the dematerializing Nevermore beneath my feet. "And what the heck is that!?" he yelled pointing at it.

Okay, this is seriously weird. Even people from other countries have to know what a Grimm is. How sheltered is this Faunus? "Oh! I was on a bounty mission trying to clear out Salem's" I spat that name out like poison, which it might as well be, "forces out of this forest just east of the kingdom of Vacuo. They sicced a giant Nevermore on me and then when I was distracted this portal came out of no where and the birdie and I ended up wherever here is. Also, this is a Grimm, specifically a Nevermore. Haven't you ever seen one before, Spiderman, not a raccoon?"

He palms his face like Ren would sometimes. "I don't think you get how far from home you are. There is no city of Atlas on this planet nor any Vacuo. Come with me, please."

He then lifts me up into a fireman's carry before I can say a word or process what he just said, which is really impressive, given how fast I can start babbling. "What do you mean by that? I know things have gone crazy over the last three years, but there is no way you've never heard of Atlas or Vacuo. What's going on?" I demand as he swings over a bunch of those really tall buildings. I look at Spiderman, not a raccoon, but he seems to be arguing with himself.

"-told you not to call me that, Mr. Stark. She seems really confu- NO! She's not my girlfriend! She just came out of nowhere fighting this giant monster bird with a big hammer mentioning places that don't exist on earth. I don't know what to do with her, and I can't exactly take her home and explain this to Aunt May. I think she may be Asgardian or something. Just take her in for now!"

I feel around looking for Magnhild before finding her secured to my back. Phew! I don't want to lose her after everything we've been through together. It's funny, but the only one capable of lifting her besides me was Pyrr- a friend. She's much too heavy for many people to try, Magnhild, not my friend, yet when she is in my hands or secured to me, people have no problem lifting us both. It's convenient when I don't want others touching her or on the odd occasions I was injured. I just don't get the physics behind it because I didn't design it to do so. It kind of reminds me of these legends my mom used to tell me about this warrior prince from As- "Wait a minute! What do you mean you think I may be Asgardian? They're myths, not real! I'm just a girl from a small village that used to lay outside the kingdoms," I explain. No wonder he doesn't know where Vacuo or Atlas are! He's completely delusional!

"Oooooooooookay, Mr. Spiderman, not a raccoon, I gotta get going. I have Grimm to fight and civilians to protect," I excuse before pushing myself out of his arms. Admittedly, it is a 300 foot drop from there, but I've had much worse, and I like free falling. Quickly, I did a somersault in midair as I positioned my limbs in the appropriate position. I angled both of my legs perpendicular from each other and bent both knees so one was parallel with the ground and the other perpendicular. My fist, where I focused a little of my strength, was extended just a little past my knees and poised to hit the ground. My head tilted downward to the ground, where I focused on the imaginary bull's eye where I wanted to land. As I hit the ground, admittedly, the concrete hurt my knees like hell, but compared to some of the things I've gone through in the past three years, this is nothing.

I pull myself up and run aimlessly through the streets, passing several blocks passing several high end stores that Weiss would probably visit were she here. There has got to be a way to get back to my mission in Vacuo from here. I need to get there and tear down that base. I can't let that witch get away with what she has done. I need to- suddenly my stomach growled like an Ursa that had been starved for weeks. I look around and see a small diner painted a cornflower blue with a red neon sign that says "Diner." Perfect.

I walk in and take a seat next to a tall, blonde man wearing a beige jacket that looks deliberately chosen to be nondescript, navy blue baseball cap, and thick black glasses as well as another man with shoulder-length brunette hair and stubble that reminded me of Ruby's Uncle Qrow. He was wearing a long-sleeved red Henley that appeared to be trying to hide a metal arm. Their posture and the way they seem to discreetly scan the room every time someone entered the room or sat down indicated either time in the military or as a huntsman. They give me a strange glance, and I know I look baby-faced and kind of short. I stopped aging about a year before I started attending Beacon and look to be about 16 despite being about 20. I ignored them for the moment and look at the menu looking for something I can buy for under 5 Lien. I can't afford to eat through my budget, especially if I need to catch a ship back to Vacuo. Oooooooh! They serve pancakes!

When the waitress comes, I place my order. "I'll take a stack of pancakes and some bacon, please." She rolled her eyes at me and asked what I would like to drink. "Strawberry milk, please," I request.

The blonde stares at me. "It's 7:32 in the evening!" he whisper-shouts to the man with the metal arm. He says this like it is the most bizarre thing in the world. It's just pancakes, and I haven't had them in what seems like a long, long time. I haven't had any since the morning before the fight with Team BRNZ. If he feels so uppity about what time I can eat pancakes, he can go home.

I look at the television screen above in the corner to see some form of game being played involving a bunch of men wearing a lot of padded armor fighting over an oblong object. Lame. Where are the fights? The news? something more interesting than a bunch of grown men fighting over a toy?

Soon after I turned my gaze away from the screen, the waitress came by with my strawberry milk and pancakes as well as the burgers the two veteran huntsmen next to me ordered. I look at the metal armed man since he was less judgmental about my choice in a meal. "By any chance, do you know where I can find someone willing to fly an airship to Vacuo?" I asked, a pancake comically dangling out of my mouth.

Both of them looked at me like I grew a second head. "Were there any countries called 'Vacuo' formed while I was on ice?" they both asked each other in unison before the blonde one gave me a "sorry, miss."

I forcefully cut into my pancakes, irritation showing. I'm not usually this grumpy, but I have been on this hunt for years and this is the first major clue I've had in months. "Look, I know travel between kingdoms has become dangerous since the events at Beacon, but I need a ship to Vacuo as soon as possible. You guys and that Spiderman, not a raccoon guy pretending it doesn't exist isn't funny at all!" I scream as the dinnerware broke.

The blonde gave me a placating look, not a scared one like many of the very few people who have seen me genuinely angry give me, but a remorseful one, as if he sincerely did not mean to play such a stupid prank on me. "Miss, calm down. We'll help you after dinner if you just calm down."

Mr. Metal Arm looked to his buddy and whispered, "Steve, are you sure this is a good idea to help this unhinged kid look for fantasyland?"

'Steve?' What is with the weird names here? Even if the naming convention of colorful names has faded since what happened three years ago, these two aren't young enough to escape it. Anyway, I ignore Mr. Metal Arm's question. This is far from the first time someone has made a comment on what they presume my mental status to be.