From the very night that The Shadow began making his war against crime everyone has been taking sides on his actions. Most people in Vale have deemed the vigilante's actions as condemnable given that he acted outside the law. Others said that some of the criminals deserved to be taken out given the rampage of crimes that no one seemed to be able to stop.

However, as all things appear to be, things mattered more in Beacon Academy.

Everyone in Beacon had their own opinion on The Shadow and his actions since they were of course they were the eventual 'protectors' of the world. Most if not all of the faculty thought of The Shadow as a criminal vigilante that had no business doing the things he did. Some of the students were convinced that the vigilante was awesome and that his actions were making a difference, while others called him a freak.

Amongst these different opinions was team RWBY. The all female team were currently watching a news interview of different people giving their own opinions as the few images of The Shadow appeared on the screen.

"He is a menace that goes against the values of our society." said one man

"I'm surprise that there aren't more people like him, people are tiered of waiting for Huntsmen to do something." said a teenager

"I used to feel like my street wasn't safe, but if this guy can stand up to crime then I can as well." said a woman holding a bat.

"These are just some of the opinions that the citizens of Vale have given about the mysterious vigilante and how he, or she, has affected everyday life. Sadly, we haven't been able to get much information about the vigilante's agenda and his ultimate goal. But the questions are still going through the heads of everyone: Who is The Shadow? Is he a friend or a foe? We will be back after these short messages." said Vicky the newswoman.

Upon that statement, team RWBY turned on their own discussion regarding the topic.

"See Yang? The guy we saw that night was The Shadow! We met a superhero!" said Ruby the ever enthusiastic leader.

"I remember him slamming into a poor biker dude that had just been blown up with a building. He has murdered several criminals in the last couple of weeks, so I wouldn't really call him a superhero, antihero fits better." said Yang the busty blond brawler.

"Let's not forget that he is also as dangerous as the criminals he fights. If only I had had my weapon that night I would've caught him, instead he made a joke and then disappeared." said Weiss with some annoyance.

"Was it a good joke?" asked Yang

"More like a clever observation, but that's not the point." replied Weiss

Blake the secret Faunus of the group had remained quiet as she wasn't quite sure on what to think of The Shadow. He was believed to be the one responsible for the massacre of the White Fang in their hideout. Sure they were misguided but they didn't deserve that kind of fate thought Blake. However, the police found a lot of weapons and dust that had been stolen from trains going to Vale which put Blake in a very compromising position. For one she didn't agree with his methods but he was only attacking criminals something that kept the dust heists at a minimum.

"Hey Blake." said Yang getting Blake out of her thoughts.

"Wha-" said Blake

"You were spacing out, thinking of the vigilante?" asked Yang

"A little." replied Blake "I just wonder what he may be doing at this very moment."


At that very moment, Lamont Cranston, The Shadow, was snoring on his desk. After pulling an all night patrol of the kingdom, stopping several dust robberies by the White Fang, some murder attempts, and a bank heist, Lamont was very tiered. And didn't care what people thought of him on the news.

Sadly, Lamont's rest was cut short by none other than Margo with several stacks of paper.

"Wha?" said Lamont as he rubbed his eyes awake.

"Sleep a little at night Lam, you'll live a little longer." said Margo

Lamont began looking over all the papers that Margo had given him, and they were all about different crimes on different locations. Locations and addresses that he recognized.

"What's all this?" asked Lamont

"Despite The Shadow's actions against the criminal underworld there have been some attacks in the same locations." said Margo

"Yeah, crimes seems to be just as high as it was before his arrival. These places aren't in the same neighborhood which means that these guys are hitting these places for some other reason." said Lamont

"Speaking of crime, the dust robberies have been getting more frequent and people all point to Roman Torchwick. Why so you think he's doing this? He is now one of the most wanted criminals in Vale considering that The Shadow has cut down the competition." said Margo

"We should keep an eye out on him, after all he has a history of stealing things to sell them to others in the Black Market. If he hasn't sold it yet then he could be looking for a buyer or he's planning on raising dust prices to then make a profit for himself or a partner." said Lamont

"Any other theories detective Cranston?" asked Margo

"I'll go talk to Pat and see if he knows something." said Lamont getting up from his desk.

Lamont hoped that his friend could give him some answers, on either the attacks or the White Fang's return, at least something that could keep him awake for some reason.


Roman Torchwick wasn't a happy man at the moment. The criminal wore his usual white jacket, black pants, and bowler hat as he paced and twirled his cane.

He had to work for a pyromaniac in her crazy plan to do something or another, then he had to work on some heists with the White Fang which had pretty bad results, but now he had a greater problem. That problem was that The Shadow was taking down almost all his heists. Last night would've been his last night if he hadn't been stuck in the bathroom all night.

"Ok, let's see. If I go out and steal the Dust, I'll most likely will get a bullet to the head. If I don't go out and steal the Dust, I'll be roasted by little miss fire fingers." said Roman to himself with a sigh. "This could not get any worse, at all."

"I hate to rub salt on the wound, but you do tend to pick the losing horse, Mr. Torchwick." called a voice from the darkness.

Torchwick yelped a little as he turned around to see none other than Shiwan Khan, stepping out of the shadows.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Torchwick aiming his cane at Khan.

"You know very well who I am, since you are using one of my warehouses as your employer's personal Dust storage room. I'll send you the bill for using it." said Shiwan not being phased with the weapon pointed at his face.

"Wait, you're Shiwan Khan? And what do you mean 'your warehouse' that thing is owned by Stillwater Co.? Last time I checked you only own Kahn Industries." said Torchwick

"But I also own several hollow corporations, including Stillwater Co., as well as own several stocks of other companies. But I haven't come here to discuss my well financial state. I've come here to offer you a job. A job that is right up your alley." said Shiwan

At that moment Roman began to laugh, almost as if he had been told the best joke in the world. Roman almost doubled down in laughter as Shiwan kept a straight face.

"I don't see the funny part." said Shiwan

"You do realize I have better things to do than work for you right? Big plans and whatnot." said Roman

"Roman, with all due respect; You have no imagination. All you do is out of necessity. Don't get me wrong, you do play the part of the suave criminal rather well but your accomplices and the grunts you surround yourself with have no real idea of what they're doing, which doesn't help you." said Shiwan

"Listen buddy, you're pushing your luck so you better shut it before I give you a flare up the nose." said Roman but Shiwan wasn't phased by it.

"Here's what you don't understand Roman, what you're doing will work in the short run but in the long run will be catastrophic. Putting the White Fang as your go to muscle has put them in a more compromising position than the one they already were in. Which will prompt humans and Faunus to start fighting, and fighting always leads to war. "And Wars do not decide who is right, only who is left"." said Shiwan

"Good thing I'm ambidextrous. Now you best give me a good reason not to waste you." said Torchwick aiming his cane.

Shiwan only pulled out a small mirror from his pocket and faced it towards Roman. Roman just put down his cane and grunted.

"Like I said, no imagination." said Shiwan as the mirror showed Roman being aimed at by ten different laser pointer guns.


Lamont had arrived at the police headquarters of Vale and immediately found Pat doing some paper work.

"Hello detective Finnegan. Taking care of the most dreadful things I see." said Lamont

"I wish I could find whoever invented paperwork and shot him. What can I do for you Lamont?" asked Pat looking up to see Lamont.

"I've come here to ask you about the attacks on the different locations throughout Vale. They've been happening for the last couple of months and their activity hasn't decreased." said Lamont

Pat rubbed his eyes in slight annoyance.

"The attacks have been relatively contained to some places, but even with the constant request of aid Beacon can't afford to send help. Honestly the crime in those places sure is messy considering that there are some good businesses." said Pat

"Thanks, I'll be in touch." said Lamont

"If you get anything on The Shadow let me know. I'd like to nail that guy for once. He has been making us look bad enough." said Pat as Lamont looked at him over his shoulder.

"I'll do that." replied Lamont

"And next time bring Margo with you." said Pat

"Like she said, she's not interested." said Lamont with a chuckle.


Lamont had gone back to his secret lair and began putting in the recordings of the different places these attacks were taking place. The computer lit up and it gave a green light.

"I knew it. These attacks are not unrelated, they are related. The same places that Shiwan Khan was planning on purchasing are all here." said Lamont "Time to get some answers."

The map in the screen lit up and showed some of the places that were going to be hit. These people were going to wish they never crossed The Shadow's path.


The night had fallen and the lights began to come alive. Roman Torchwick was sitting in a van filled with members of The Sons of Grimm and they were all looking at him like he was their next meal.

"So, I take it that this is you're all first time working with me, huh?" asked Roman "Should I introduce myself?"

"We know who you are. But you don't remember us, do you?" asked one of the bikers.

The man was skinny with a goat tee, shaggy hair, a mean attitude and wore a black leather jacket, red shirt, black pants and matching boots.

"Um, did I threatened you before?" asked Roman

"My name is Luther they call me Claw. You sold me and some of our guys some guns a few years back. And then forgot to tell us about the crappy workmanship. The damn things broke down and jammed after one use. Not to mention that you sold all the guns that we actually ordered to some other bastards at half the damn price." said Claw

"Oh yeah, I remember now...Oh." said Roman with a nervous chuckle.

"After the job's done, you'll meet my friends. They are big fans of medieval tools. Watch your ass." said Claw

Roman chuckled as some of the members of the Sons of Grimm cracked their knuckles. The van suddenly stopped and the bikers all grabbed their weapons and open the van door. Roman tried to sneak out of their sight but Claw grabs him by the shirt and drags him out along with the rest of the bikers.

"Alright, Torchwick, you know what to do." said Claw

"Put on a show. Well might as well be the ring master of this circus." said Roman like a rat on a trap.

The bikers and Roman walked out of the alley into the street across from a massive fortress of a Lien manufacturing plant. This place was one of the locations that the biker gang had been hitting under the orders of Shiwan Khan. This place was settled near the outskirts of the kingdom meaning that the police wouldn't get there easily. A nice place, more specifically, a nice location.

The Sons of Grimm wasted no time and headed towards the entrance while pushing Roman to be in front.

The Sons of Grimm quickly fired at the security cameras and any poor guard that came their way. Meanwhile, Roman was trying to put his best man in charge face.

"Alright boys, let's do what we came here to do. Claw, old buddy, what did we come here to do?" asked Roman acting like his usual self.

"We're here to hit this place hard." said Claw

"Ah, yes. Let's get to it." said Roman as he smacked a police officer in the face.

The ragtag group of bad guys made it to the bill processing machines and began firing at the workers making them flee in terror. Roman fired one flare at one of the machines causing a small fire.

"Now that was fun, now let's fill out our pockets." said Roman as he went to the machine and began filling the bags with money.

However, the Sons of Grimm kept their guns up towards the windows and looked up in case they received a visit from the thing that lived by night.

"Come on fellas, I would love to keep all this untraceable money but I can't carry it all on my own. This place is well lit, the nut job vigilante would be stupid to come here. Plus, we outnumber him. I honestly don't know why people are so afraid of him." said Roman oblivious to the Shadow's reputation.

Someone would say, famous last words.

Right after Roman said those words the lights of the building began to flicker causing everyone to look alert as the shadows of the room began to creep closer and closer to the people in room. Soon enough the floor and the walls were all completely covered in shadows and no lights from the outside could come into the building.

"Look alive boys! He's here!" said Claw

"Just what makes you say that?" asked Roman as from the darkness rose a pair of red eyes.

A pistol appeared beside Roman's ear and was fired at the Sons of Grimm. Roman fell down with a horrible ringing in his ear as the bullet shot one of the bikers in the shoulder.

At that moment all Hell broke loose as the Sons of Grimm began to open fire on The Shadow. The Shadow fired his grappling hook and flew high in the air dodging the bullets. The Shadow landed on one of the coin holding cranes and aimed both of his pistols at the bikers and began to fire upon them. The bikers scattered as the bullets struck two of their own.

"Light him up boys!" said Claw as he began firing at The Shadow.

The bikers began firing at where the Shadow was which forced the Shadow to drop the crane with him landing shortly after it. The crane made all the bikers jump back giving The Shadow a chance to strike.

Roman slowly got back up with his ear ringing and bleeding. The criminal looked up in shock as The Shadow faced off against the Sons of Grimm with skill and power that Huntsmen would kill for.

The Shadow ducked under some of the bullets and got close enough to punch the air out of Claw making him double down. The Shadow pulled one of his pistols and fired at another biker in the chest twice. One of the bikers rushed towards The Shadow but the vigilante blocked the rifle with his pistol and then gave the biker a haymaker to the face.

The Shadow fired his grappling hook once more at one of the boxes filled with paper and flung it at one of the bikers. The biker got a box to the face before The Shadow jumped in the air and slammed his elbow on the man's stomach before spinning and shooting the last biker in the face.

The Shadow walked towards Claw as he tried to punch the vigilante but missed. The Shadow gripped his arm and punched him in the elbow breaking it before slamming Claw onto the processing band and then activating the electric current of his pistol and struck Claw in the throat electrocuting him. The Shadow turned to face Roman who got out of his stupor and fired his cane at the vigilante.

The Shadow rolled out of the way as the flare went past him before he rushed towards Roman. Roman's face began to get drenched from the sweat as The Shadow effortlessly dodged and spun around the flares he fired. The vigilante appeared and disappeared as the flickering of the lights went crazy making it seem that the vigilante was a spirit of darkness that couldn't be touched.

"Stay away, stay away, stay away!" yelped Roman as he tried to flee but The Shadow appeared before him cutting him off.

The lowlife thief swung his cane in fear but The Shadow caught it and then kicked Roman in the stomach before snapping the cane across his face. Roman desperately threw punch after punch but The Shadow blocked and countered every single one.

The Shadow landed blow after blow on the thief's ribs cracking some of them before punching him in the jaw with an uppercut.

Roman tried to crawl away but The Shadow crushed his hand before pulling him up by the neck of his shirt.

"Roman Torchwick, you are the one that has been leading the Dust robberies for the last few weeks. What are you doing here?" asked The Shadow

"I was looking for some spare cash," said Roman causing the vigilante to slam him on one of the walls.

"You are not one of the Sons of Grimm, why were you leading them here? Who put you up to this?" asked The Shadow

"I'm a professional buddy, I won't tell you a thing," said Torchwick laughing trying to act tough.

The Shadow remained quiet for a moment, before he began chuckling alongside Roman. The chuckle slowly began to get louder and louder and then it turned into a hearty laugh. Roman's own laugh began to die down as The Shadow's laugh began to echo as in Roman's eyes he began to grow bigger.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

The Shadow now stood twice his size over Roman and his eyes were bright red casting down a light upon the criminal. Romans eyes shrunk in fear as the apparition before him actually appeared to have a jagged mouth with fire coming out through its teeth. The laughter continued to echo in Roman's mind almost as if it was the laughter of one of those demons that he had heard of when he was little.

"You will. I will make sure of that." said The Shadow looking straight into Roman's soul.

Before The Shadow could fully put the fear of god into Roman's heart the sounds of sirens broke through the door as Pat and some officers entered the room.

The untimely arrival of the police caused the illusion to break down, but the damage had been done as Roman shook where he stood.

"Shadow stop right there! You're surrounded!" said Pat

The Shadow saw how the officers and members of SWAT surrounded him. Just as he was about to cloud their minds, Roman pushed The Shadow away giving the officers to open fire at the vigilante. The vigilante fired a single shot nailing Roman in the back of his leg but he was grazed by one of the shots before throwing a smoke bomb and disappearing before the officer's eyes. The police continued to fire upon where the Shadow had been but he was long gone.

Roman tried to escape but Pat tackled him to the floor before putting the cuffs on him.

"Roman Torchwick, many people have been looking forward to meeting you downtown. You have the right to remain silent." said Pat as he pulled up Roman.

Outside the building, The Shadow looked at the patrol cars as Pat put Roman inside one of them. At least he knew.