Here we are and here we go. I liked writing the last chapter and this one will be much the same I would expect. More thinking, more action, and overall more stuff for our pal Marcus to undergo. Let's see how he handles it all.

Beta: CrowSkull

Destiny Fated Black

Chapter 9

Then… I started to remember… They started popping back in my head, and it tortured me.

Marcus twisted and turned as the dream haunted his mind. Sweat dripped off all over his body, and he was clutching the sheets as if for dear life. Cursing in his sleep as the memories came pouring in with no sign of stopping. Making him repent for the smallest of his crimes.

"Man," His partner Roman groaned as he stretched his arms up above his head, then winced and rubbed the bruise on his side. "That woman is really something else, it's like she isn't human at all. Damn monster."

"That's what you get for challenging Raven like a dumbass." The E of their team, Emma, berated her teammate. "There's a reason she and Summer are the two strongest girls of our year."

"Yeah? Well, we got the first strongest man on our team," Roman countered, impishly looking back toward his partner. "Ain't that right Mark?"

"Damn straight," Marcus spat to the side as he sharpened his knife.

"I don't know how that is, with that tiny knife of yours," Emma said, eying the blade. It wasn't exactly short by any means, being the length of a forearm or som, and some of the students in their years don't even use weapons, and others use some kinds of brass knuckles. Similar to that Taiyang guy, but none of them used a knife-like Marcus did, and he was so lethal with it. In the last few years he proved himself to be more lethal with a short knife like that than most students with their massive flashy weapons and dust explosions. The only other one, only other boy at least, who might be able to match him would be Maddox.

"Our Pa' told us that the flashy weapons that most hunters use just get in the way," Maddox said as he pat his leader on the back. "Us Blacks have a long history of being pretty lethal with knives and guns. It may seem simple, but the simplest of tricks sometimes manage to be the top dogs. In this case, my brother here mastered it."

"And he gave up and started using a sword like the rest of you idiots," Marcus said as he affectionally smacked his slightly older twin brother on the back of the head.

That's right… he had a twin brother. Had. The only physical difference between the two of them was that he had white hair, while his brother had a dark onyx silver that almost looked black. Maddox Black was his name. The B of Team MBTE. And Emma's partner.

"Didn't even start using a gun on top of that, when he told our dad he was so pissed. But it isn't like he's able to do anything about it at this point, we've surpassed him already." Marcus explained with a laugh and a smile.

"You surpassed your daddy?" Roman asked, surprised. "Isn't he some super lethal hunter?"

"Officially, anyway," Maddox said while making air quotes. "Our dad is… well, let's just say he's good at what he does."

"Very good," Marcus added.

"Well, that isn't ominous at all," Roman said as he stood up from his sitting position against the wall. "But whatever, I won't make you two talk about your daddy if you don't want to."

"What makes you think that he wasn't good to us?" Maddox asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If it makes you feel better," Roman went on, smirking the whole time. "My daddy and mommy left me all alone at the tender age of thirteen. So if anyone has parent issues that might understand yours, I'd know."

That was Roman's old way of showing that he cared, before he became what he is today anyway. Something happened, something happened that Marcus desperately tried to force back to the back of his mind. Something happened to their team, caused him and Roman to defect away from Beacon, which therefore lead to Summer coming after him and losing her life because of it. Memories could only be suppressed for so long, however.

"Hey!" Summer cheered as she hopped and wrapped her arms around Marcus' shoulders. The taller man stumbled and nearly fell, but caught himself and glared at the shorter young woman even as she smiled up at him. "Where do you think you're going? Training by yourself again?"

She knew. She always knew.

"It is what I do with most of my free time," Marcus freely admitted. It took many weeks to get used to being around people all the time. Marcus and his brother didn't have much of a childhood, being trained by a retired assassin who dedicated all his time to make them into the next generation of Black assassins. After most of their training was complete, the bitter old man named Mason Black sent them to Beacon so that they could see how hunters fought, so when they graduated and completed their assassin training with him, they would be nearly unstoppable. With Marcus' white hair and ability to lock away the semblances of others, he would be the pride and joy of the Black assassin bloodline. His name was already written in the history books.

It wasn't like that stopped Summer Rose at all, however. She didn't know about the whole 'assassin' thing that Marcus and Maddox had a chance of becoming right after Beacon, and during those few weeks, after spotting Marcus' unique white hair and knife-wielding fighting style, she 'adopted' him into her friend group, as most people from their time would put it. It was clear that Marcus wanted nothing to do with her at first, for several months. But once his brother fell to her charms and became friends with Team STRQ, his heart slowly began to thaw, and he accepted the Rose as a friend. One of his only. Roman Torchwick may have been his partner, but Summer Rose was his best friend. Even if she practically forced him into the spot.

So at this point, besides the assassin thing, Marcus didn't even try to hide anything from her. "Just like every other day when you try to sneak up on me, one time that's going to get you killed you know?"

"Oh please, as if you'd ever hurt me." Summer giggled innocently.

How painfully ironic…

"Want me to come with this time?" Summer offered, as she always would. "Qrow is dealing with Raven again, trying to get her not to challenge you. What is the record between you and her again?"

Ah, him and Raven Branwen. Wasn't she such a charming woman? Their record currently was 324-324, that was the official count in combat class anyway when they sparred with each other. The first time they sparred, Marcus won a match over her, winning a friend in Qrow Branwen, which sparked Raven to challenge him again after grueling training sessions with her team, and she won the next one, albeit closely. Then Marcus did the same, training until he collapsed and defeated Raven in their next battle. On and on again, it would be, lasting years. That was including the out of class sparring sessions the two would share. The last time they sparred, Marcus won, so now it was Raven's turn on the sparring session train. They agreed that their next spar would be the ultimate tiebreaker, so this time around they were both training their hearts out. Sometimes Summer would help her own partner, and other times she would help Marcus. Apparently, this time Qrow decided to or was forced into helping his sister prepare while he drew the Summer straw. Seemed fitting, somehow.

"A lot," Marcus said with a snicker. "And even. It's strange, after all these years I only know Raven by name. I don't know if she even knows mine."

"Oh she does," Summer chuckled. "She only curses it all throughout training sessions to motivate herself."

"Oh? Should I be worried for my sweet innocent body?" Marcus asked in a teasing tone. "Does Raven want to ravage me that badly?"

"Ew, don't make me think about you naked in bed with Raven," Summer shuddered at the thought. "I don't ever think you two will ever get together. Ever."

"Maybe that's our tiebreaker," Marcus teased, making Summer's face go green. "First one to cum loses-"

"That's enough!" Summer slapped a hand over his mouth. "Training time, now!"

Heh, classic Summer. Marcus remembered that day well, it was in the morning where Summer and he trained together. While training, Marcus didn't like to speak, and classic Summer being Summer understood that right away. They sparred and sparred until sweat dripped from all over her body. Nobody would know until later, but Marcus and Summer were just as even with each other as Raven and he was, if not she had the advantage. She was just that great.

Was. Nothing good ever lasts.

"Emergency!" The headmaster's voice screamed over the intercom. Surprising Marcus and Summer out of their conversation as they sat on the floor recovering from their training. "Emergency in Mountain Glenn, I need all available huntsman, including those in training, to take the nearest Bullhead and head to Glenn immediately! This is not a drill, all hunters, including those in training, go to Glenn right now! It is being invaded by Grimm as we speak!"

Those words had Marcus and Summer packing their weapons and parting ways toward their respective teams in an obvious rush. Marcus barged into his dorm room and saw his own team already getting their gear on. Roman loaded his cudgel with more dust, and Emma took some practice swings with her mace-like weapons. His brother Maddox looked toward his brother with wide frantic eyes.

"I've heard that they're evacuating the city." He said, black eyes going wider. "Grimm, millions of them."

"And we'll kill every last one of them," Marcus said in a serious dark tone, surprising his frightened brother into shock. "Don't lose your shit now brother, we've been through tougher shit than this. Remember our plan?"

Maddox remembered, and he steeled himself with more resolve than Marcus had seen in any man, even up to the present he was in now.

"Yeah, I do," Maddox said, nodding his head and taking a deep breath. "Sorry, I got a little spooked is all."

"No worries," Marcus stepped past him and toward his bed. From under it, he drew out a box. Inside the box, was an arrangement of radios meant for being put in the ears. Surprised with the technology and wondering where he got it from, Team MBTE all installed the radios in their ears.

Maddox knew Marcus' biggest secret as soon as he saw those radios. Marcus Black the assassin was already doing work. These kinds of advanced scroll earpieces were exclusive to their organization.

"I'll explain later," Marcus told Maddox after noticing his shocked face. "I promise, let's just get through this day."

The Mountain Glenn tragedy would be forever remembered as that, a tragedy. No one would really truly know what happened down there, but any stories you heard about it from surviving hunters were true and factual. If there was any visual representation of what hell might have looked like, it was the ruined city of Glenn fresh into the invasion of Grimm. Unfortunately enough, Marcus Black the huntsman in training, as well as his team, were only some of the huntsman that were sent on that day.

Only half of Team MBTE would escape the city when the tunnels collapsed.

Marcus felt a pain like never before. This pain was greater than any amount of training he did all put together, he was bleeding so much and couldn't walk, and despite only being half-conscious, he still screamed.

Not because of the pain.

He remembered what happened just before. After holding the line in the tunnels for as long as his team could, along with hundreds among thousands of huntsman who would give their lives that day to save the evacuating civilians. They were doing as well as they could, only slowly being pushed back as the unending tide of black fur, teeth, and claws kept trying to force their way through them and all the way to the main city of Vale. Team MBTE were all next to each other, fighting together with everything they had.

Until an explosion ignited right beneath their feet.

Marcus looked down and saw that his legs were missing, but that wasn't what he was screaming about. Before him, right before his eyes. He watched as his dead teammate Emma had her body torn apart by Grimm, a Beowolf tearing at her face while a creeper tore off one of her arms. Her guts and blood splattered everywhere, including Marcus' face, as an Ursa bit down on her belly and thrashed her around. If that wasn't enough, Marcus was forced to watch as his only brother was trapped under the tons of rock and concrete that fell from the ceiling of the tunnel. Despite the tunnels now being sealed off because of all the rock, there were still about a hundred Grimm on the other side with them.

Maddox was out of aura and could barely move, Marcus stared with tearing eyes as he looked into black eyes that mirrored his own. Maddox mouthed something to him through his tears, but Marcus couldn't understand it at that time. He was too busy screaming and trying to break out of the grip of the one pulling him back.

"Marcus, forget it!" Roman shouted at him. "It's over, Emma is dead, your brother is crippled and trapped. I'm sorry man, but we have to go, now!"

"No!" Marcus would scream as he watched the Grimm reach his brother.

His only hope was the red katana like sword and a blur of white that would attack the Grimm the moment they pounced on the downed Maddox. Summer and Raven, Marcus recognized even as he lost liters of blood. The two huntresses slew the Grimm and pulled Maddox out.

They didn't make it in time. His body was littered with holes, slashes, and his face was gashed beyond recognition. For the first time ever, he saw as even Raven felt the guilt and sorrow of not being able to save a person, while Summer bawled her eyes out.

It was at that moment that Marcus truly snapped.

Even though the painful memories, Marcus still refused to cry. Every time he cried, he would be punished for it. His father told him that those who cried were weak, and in many cases he was right.

Everything he did, and everything he was going to do after Beacon, was so that his brother could live the life that he wanted. Maddox may have been a Black, but he was terribly kind and friendly, even with the upbringing that he had as being a member of the Black family. He never would have laid a hand on an innocent life. Marcus was a different case, he had a different set of genes which made him not identical to his twin brother. His hair was white, his personality was darker. His empathy was nearly non-existent. Such was the way of the white-haired members of the Black family. They were genetically evolved to be killing machines. Until Marcus Black, however.

He still became a killing machine of course, but it wasn't for the reasons that his father would have liked.

While Marcus recovered from his injuries in a coma, Roman was the first to abandon his position at Beacon, even while being so close to graduation. The only thing he left his only surviving teammate was a note, which simply stated that he was sorry for leaving, and that he was going to find whoever made the order to close off the tunnels early. That was it.

After that, his father visited him with a long suitcase the size of legs. While the doctors were away, Mason Black surgically attached the robotic limbs to his unconscious son's stumps. By the time Marcus woke up, he wasn't just able to walk again, he was able to run.

Mason Black would take him away from Beacon, and not against his will. Marcus left a note behind as well, one that Summer Rose must have been the one to find soon after.

"I'm leaving," Said Marcus in his note. "I'm leaving and I am not coming back. My brother is dead, my team is dead. Don't try to find me. I'm an assassin, have been this entire time. And I am going back to where I belong. I have nowhere else to go. Thank you for making me feel human, my friends."

Marcus didn't know how his old friends would have reacted to the note, but at the time he didn't care. His father took him back to the Black household.

"Your brother was weak," He said when Marcus told him about what happened to Maddox. "He abandoned our way of combat for a silly dream to become a huntsman, a foolish boy. I am ashamed he was my son, I'm glad he died the way he did. A pathetic man deserves a pathetic death."

Marcus already snapped before, but after hearing those words. Something went taut within him. He couldn't feel emotion, he couldn't feel remorse. All he felt was a desire to kill the man before him.

By the time he came to, Mason Black was dead with over four dozen stab wounds to his chest and face, and there was a reward sent to him through his scroll.

"AAAAAAGH!" Marcus screamed as he woke up suddenly. His eyes were bloodshot, and his body was slick with sweat. He brought a hand up to his face and it came back wet. He wasn't crying, his entire face was just wet.

He cursed and slumped back into his bed after making sure that he was alone. A dream like that hasn't come to him in years, he thought he was done with them after she came to bring him back to something he ran away from. Qrow, it was his fault. The damn drunkard ruined one of his recruitment runs and made him remember this things just by making him look at him, and what he said!

You could have been so much better!

"You could have been so much better Marcus," Summer cried to him, clutching his collar with tears in her eyes as she pulled him down to her level. "Why didn't you trust us? Why didn't you stay? I would have been there for you, for the rest of my life if that is what it took!"

Marcus punched himself so that he had something else to think about, and the memory from over a decade ago faded back into the inner depths of his mind.

Emotions, pain, memories of a forgotten past were something a man like Marcus couldn't allow himself to feel. The only one of those that were useful was pain, which told him when it was time to get serious. Emotion was only good every once in a while, and never for happiness. Happiness was useless. Happiness could only lead to sorrow and loss. A pain that trifles over all others. He killed his happiness a long time ago, and never again would he feel it. That was his vow after his mistake in allowing himself to gain friends and those he would care for. All it lead to was a fat lot of nothing.

He threw the covers off of his body and headed toward a washroom to clean himself. Cinder couldn't be allowed to see him like this in a state of vulnerability, no matter how much she might have liked the sight of his physique and the burn scar that now burned into his chest over his heart.

"Damn it…" He said to himself when he looked himself in the mirror. Emerald wasn't here, so for once he didn't need to hide how he really felt. For some reason, it wasn't nothing. But for the first time, he thought about all of this.

Was this attack on Vale and Beacon worth his freedom? Would that be something his brother would abide by?

As he went over the plan in his head again, the one that Cinder told him anyway, he found himself surprised as he clenched his fists with anger.

"Don't worry, we'll find her," Yang said to her concerned sister as they walked quickly throughout Vale. "It has only been a day after all, she couldn't have gotten far."

"She used to be a member of the White Fang, if she doesn't want to be found, she would make sure we wouldn't be able to find her," Ruby said, obviously in anguish as they came to a short stop under a bus stop. "What if that guy finds her first? The guy controlling the White Fang. If he's controlling them would he want to get to Blake?"

Yang blink. "You mean that white-haired guy from the news?" She laughed. "C'mon Ruby, why would a guy like him want to do with Blake?"

"Marcus Black is an assassin," Weiss pointed out with an angered huff. Yang and Ruby looked back at her in surprise. "He is responsible for the deaths of some of my friends and family members. I wouldn't be surprised if he really is the reason for everything happening in Vale right now."

"Weiss-cream…" Yang muttered underneath her breath. "Is that why you got so upset when I joked that you two were related somehow because of the white hair?"

Weiss huffed and looked away, answering her question with her body language rather than her voice. Yang felt a pang of guilt, but suppressed it in favor of returning to the issue of her missing partner.

"I don't think that guy would go after Blake still," Yang said, reassuring her sister. "If he is an assassin like Qrow and Weiss say, then unless Blake is a target, he wouldn't go after her, right? From the looks of it, Blake has been away from the White Fang for a long time now, if she really was as important to them as she made it seem, she wouldn't have lasted long enough to get into Beacon."

"I don't know…" Ruby looked down at her feet. "Even Qrow wasn't able to beat him…"

"That guy escaped, there's a difference between losing and letting an enemy escape." Yang laughed as she rubbed Ruby's hair. "They didn't even fight, remember what Qrow said? They just argued with each other and had a standoff, but the guy managed to escape before anything serious happened."

"Mm…" Ruby hummed, still not entirely convinced.

"Look, once we find Blake, we'll really rib into her for running away like this." Yang huffed and crossed her arms. "Seriously, talk about immature."

Weiss's glares softened as her arms tightened around her body slightly tighter. She didn't say it, but she felt bad for saying the things that she had said to her partner. She was just angry that she kept it a secret for so long. The White Fang were responsible for many of the deaths in her family, and this Marcus man was responsible for some as well. But Blake wasn't, she is much too young to be blamed for any of that.

"And I shall be willing to help!" That strange girl Penny exclaimed suddenly, somehow managing to cheer up Ruby as she engaged in a conversation with the ginger. She didn't know when this Penny girl joined their friend group, but she was here nevertheless. Ugh… how annoying.

Well, at least they had another pair of eyes looking for their missing teammate now. She wondered when they would be able to find her, because when they did, Blake had some apologizing and explaining to do.

After cleaning himself up and washing his clothes of the blood and sweat of the night before, Marcus finally exited his room. Emerald texted him that afternoon, telling him that she is okay and in Beacon's infirmary and that because of her 'encounter' with him she was going to be staying in Beacon for asylum now. At least that was how he interpreted her message. Because what she really said was "You fucking asshole, you didn't have to beat me that badly. Now I'm stuck here and I'm not allowed to leave, you better listen to Cinder and do everything she says!"

Classic Grass. At least she was still alive, and the beating she got was necessary so that the police didn't suspect her actually working with him. If anything, she should be grateful he didn't have to get rougher with her for them to believe the act they put up. She'd get over it, the whiny bitch that she is being right now. He felt sorry for whoever had to take care of her. If the little snot was being like this through text he could only imagine what the nurse could be going through.

The only thing about her being gone was that he was going to be working alone now, which isn't going to be a problem at all. For the last twenty years he has been working alone, and only for these past few weeks has he been stuck with a partner trailing him around. It wasn't that Cinder doubted his abilities, he more than proved them time and time again. The fact that he is able to defeat her when she isn't using her maiden powers is testament to that. But with Emerald gone and in Beacon much earlier than any of them planned, there was no one that Cinder trusted enough to keep an eye on Marcus. Which meant that maybe, unless Marcus impressed her a lot more than he originally thought, Cinder was going to keep a tighter leash on him. At least until he proved his loyalty somehow.

He was going to find out soon evidently. Cinder called for him earlier and he had to get dressed and ready. His recent success with Tenne and her Black Withers was enough for him not to get too worried about this next meeting. He made an impossible situation and molded it into a partial success after all, how many other people can do that? Not many, at least not many that are still alive today.

"You've come," Cinder smiled at him ever so seductively when she saw him come toward her in his usual confident strides.

"You called," Marcus countered, meeting her smirk with one of his own. "I'm ready to go after my next target on the list you gave me. Is that what this is about?"

"Partially," Cinder admitted freely, patting down on the empty spot next to her on a comfortable looking couch. Marcus took it with little hesitation, if Cinder wanted to be under the illusion that she held all the power here, then he would let her stay under said illusion. "You have served me well this past year Marcus Black. You've saved my life, helped me defeat the Fall Maiden, and have done everything I said to the letter. You are certainly an ideal ally, I feel ever blessed to have you in my circle."

Compliments within compliments yet still line with a suspicious threat. If Marcus was any younger, he might have preened under such praises. "I am just doing what I was trained to do; Listen to the contractor, no matter what it is they demand."

Cinder sought to test that immediately, Marcus immediately noticed as she looked at him with a certain amount of lust. "Anything they so desire?" She asked as she traced a hot finger down Marcus' exposed arm.

Despite being trained to resist such charms, not even Marcus could fully hide the way his body felt as Cinder let his eyes wander over the exposed skin that pierced through the openings of her dress. "We're not whores, if that's what you're thinking." He forced himself to look away from her skin and into her eyes, showing his seriousness.

Oh, some of them definitely tried, and they all got the punishment they deserved. There was only so much an assassin was willing to do for money. Selling their body along with killing was crossing a certain line, and although some didn't mind, most opted to keep what dignity and pride they had left.

Cinder chuckled and drew her hand back. "Of course not, even I would be a fool to believe so," She said, leaning back in spot of the sofa and leaning over the rest. Swinging her legs over Marcus' lap in the process.

She was being suspiciously seductive today, Marcus' eyes narrowed.

"Relax Mister Black," Cinder said softly to him as she crossed her arms. "I am not your enemy, nor shall I hope to ever be. You wish to know your next assignment, yes?"

Finally, some progress. "I do," He said, leaning back and relaxing ever so slightly in his seat.

"Give me the paper I gave you some time ago." Cinder said as she held out a hand.

Marcus reached into his pocket and took out the folded piece of paper, then quickly tossed it into Cinder's awaiting palm. The woman unfolded the paper slowly, staring into Marcus' black eyes the entire time, and the way his white hair shifted and shone in the white light shining from up above them was a sight truly to behold. She smiled at him as she took the paper, read it's contents and all of the names written on it, and grinned even wider at the ones that were crossed off with red ink, then ripped it apart.

Marcus watched the scene with great internal confusion. That paper was the thing that holds all the information on the location of the big gang leaders and their full names, and Cinder tore it apart right there in front of him. Sure, almost all of the names except for two were crossed out already, but there were still two more to go. He only managed to cross out three names since Cinder gave him and Emerald this task. There were two more that he has yet to seek out.

"I hope you have an explanation for that," Marcus said finally once all the little pieces of paper fell to the ground.

"I do," Cinder said with another seductive smirk. "The next name on that list, the one after Tenne Venen, was fake. I made it up."

This time, Marcus barely concealed his shock.

Cinder noticed, anyhow, and laughed. "The first three gangs on this list were preferable, but by no means were they needed. If anything, only Miss Venen will prove any amount of usefulness. Rox and his gunners are next to useless and Hei and his gang have already proven to be inefficient."

"So why did you have me go after them?" Marcus asked with seething anger. That meant that almost everything he has been doing these past couple of weeks for almost nothing. Up to a whole two-thirds of his work up to this point in Vale was just a waste of time.

"To test your loyalty, mostly." Cinder easily admitted. "You are not as intelligent as you might think, Marcus."

Damn it, Marcus cursed in his mind. This whole time he thought he has been stringing Cinder along, staying on her good side and doing what she said to make her think that he was truly her ally and on her side. Now he just found out that he has been the one being strung along this entire time. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but one he bore through with steadfast determination.

"However, you are much smarter than most I have had the pleasure and displeasure to work with." Cinder rose from her seat and seemed to slide across the sofa until she sat on his lap. Marcus was surprised by the gesture, and for once didn't know how to react. "I may have strung you along for a bit, I admit. But some things I may have said are not entirely without meaning." She said as she twisted herself in his lap, effectively straddling him. Marcus still refused to place his hands on her, opting to instead look up into her eyes instead, gauging her true feelings by looking into her soul itself.

"I know now that you are one of the greatest men I have ever seen," She continued, her voice getting more silent as she leaned down to whisper into his ear. "You are strong, skilled, and undeniably lethal," She dragged her forehead across his as she moved to whisper in his other ear. "Even more than I am, and that is oh so exciting~. If we didn't have our mission, I'd have taken you to bed already."

The idea didn't sound entirely unpleasant to Marcus' ears. But still, he wouldn't trust her with his life, much less to be in a room with her caught with his pants literally off.

"And you are oh so resilient," Cinder leaned back, smirking the whole time as she stepped off of him. Just in time as well, Marcus didn't know how long he would have been able to keep his primal instincts under control. He seemed to have passed some test however, for Cinder didn't seem bothered by his restraint at all. "All of these traits are exactly what I have been looking for in an ally, and believe you me, I have been speaking wonders of your progress to our Queen herself. She looks forward to speaking with you, but only after you complete one final test I have in store for you. And it will be your hardest yet."

"I've probably done harder." Marcus griped as he leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees with the express intent to block any further advancements from Cinder. This knowledge about Salem wanting to speak with him was both concerning and good to know, it gave him time to prepare.

"Most likely," Cinder shrugged in her agreement. "But hear me now. The next target I am giving you is required to be brought onto our side alive. Right now, he is already working with us, but his loyalty is obviously in question. However, with you among my ranks something I once thought impossible might just become possible."

"The next one on your list is Roman Torchwick."

Marcus widened his eyes.

"You will reunite with him as his partner, and you will personally ensure his loyalty. That is your final test."

Uh oh, final test stuff. Super anime, whoop whoop. Sorry for the shorter chapter, but as I said in The Blind Huntsman, there have been many things going on in my life that has been slowing me down. Please forgive me. Give me some time, and chapters will come out longer as usual.

Please review and let me know what you think of the story!

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