A/N: I'm so sorry about the long wait. All I can say is that something happened in November of last year that just took away any shred of my motivation. All I can say is that I'm gonna try to update more often.

It took every piece of self control it had for Mercury to not laugh at the scene in front of him. Cinder was standing in front of Salem, looking like a kicked puppy, while the Arkham Knight was standing at attention off to the side like always. He always thought that he was the biggest slave, then he saw the way the Knight acted whenever Salem walked in. It was like the Knight only existed to serve her, and not in a funny way.

Unfortunately, the last thing Mercury needed was to have Salem's attention at a moment like this. Saying that she was displeased with Cinder was an understatement. Cinder and the Knight had argued constantly over whose plan would be more effective, and the Knight using Roman and Neo to pull off his heist after Cinder decided to not include them made Salem question her judgement.

The good news was that, to Mercury at least, a plan was a plan no matter who it came from, so he was perfectly willing to change leaders if it meant a better plan. The bad news was that he now had to deal with Roman and Neo smirking at him from across the room like he had been the one to dismiss them.

In his defense, he hadn't been ecstatic about having them along, but he also hadn't thought them worthless like Emerald had. Any idiot could see the two of them must have been strong if they'd gotten to the top of the underworld like they had. The only problem was that Mercury was better, and in his eyes that made them a liability.

He only worked with equals and superiors, just like his father had taught him. Now, though, the superior that he currently worked for was being questioned by her own superior.

"So you mean to tell me that, after deeming these two as unqualified, they were instead approached by the Knight and given the same offer you would have given them, only to become more successful in forwarding our plans than you have. Would you like to explain that to me?"

Cinder looked absolutely terrified, and even Mercury couldn't blame her. Salem never looked particularly happy, but now she looked downright pissed, and on that face, pissed was not a good look.

"Actually, I can explain it without you. Despite your orders to recruit as many people as possible, you got arrogant. You started to believe that your standards were far too great than they actually should be. As a result, you let two perfectly good assets walk away. I can only imagine how many others you overlooked."

Cinder once again looked away, and both Emerald and Mercury had to focus to keep their eyes on her instead of the looks Roman and Neo were giving them.

"Cinder, I've trusted you with very simple tasks. You did well with recruiting your two followers," she said, gesturing to Emerald and Mercury, "and you did well with defeating the Fall Maiden, even if she did escape. However, the fact that you let a man who has only been working with me for a short time overshadow you in this regard is troubling. He's even gotten more intel from two minutes on a bullhead than you have in your entire time in Haven academy."

Salem gestured to the Knight, still standing at attention in the back corner of the room. If Mercury had to guess, he had a smug smirk on his face, but considering he'd never even seen his face, he couldn't tell for sure.

"Thanks to his efforts, we now know the names of our biggest threats within Beacon. We even know their weak spots and emotional troubles that we can use to our advantage. I've advocated for your leadership multiple times, but you have shown me that you are not a true leader. Merely a follower. You are to follow the orders of the Arkham Knight from now on. Understand?"

Cinder nodded, hiding her disappointment behind a mask of apathy. Emerald, on the other hand, couldn't hide her disappointment and lowered her head.

"Prove to me that you're still useful, Cinder. You don't have any more chances."

Knowing that Salem had nothing else to say, Cinder knelt in front of her as she left the room. Mercury, Emerald, Roman, and Neo made sure to stay as far away from her as they possibly could as she left, not wanting to risk any sort of contact.

When she was gone, Cinder stood up and walked back to the Knight, still standing in the corner at attention. He didn't react to Cinder's presence in any way, to the point that Mercury honestly thought he was just asleep standing up.

"What have I done to you to deserve these personal attacks? To deserve any of the things you've done to me?"

Still keeping as still as a stone, the Knight replied. "You have done nothing to me, Cinder. However, your skills as a strategist need work. I respect your skills as a tactician, but not as a strategist."

Emerald whispered "what's the difference", clearly trying to lighten the mood, but the Knight somehow heard.

"Tactics are for the short term. They are what you use in a fight. Strategy, on the other hand, is the bigger picture. Planning out heists, or in our case, Grimm invasions. Strategists think about every possible variable, while tacticians focus on what's in front of them."

Mercury couldn't help but think "this guys senses are ridiculous."

The Knight turned back to Cinder. "You are a worthy tactician, possibly good enough even for Beacon if your life had worked out that way. I have to look no further than the fight with the Fall Maiden to see that. However, your long term strategy needs work. Mine doesn't. That makes me the better leader."

The Knight finally moved for the first time, stopping only to glare at Cinder to the side. Though, Mercury could only assume he was glaring, since that blue mask concealed his identity pretty much perfectly. "If it makes you feel any better, the mission was always better in my hands than it ever could've been in yours. I'll be sure to send Ozpin your regards."

Cinder stood still while the Knight walked towards Roman and Neo, still standing to the side with nearly identical smirks on their faces. He made sure to look at Cinder when he stood behind them and grabbed them on the shoulders. "I'll let you know when you're actually needed."

With the last word, he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke, taking Roman and Neo with him.

Even after the smoke cleared, Cinder remained in her spot in front of Salem's throne, not moving an inch. Emerald couldn't keep the worry out of her voice when she asked "Cinder, are you okay?"

Cinder turned around, still trying to keep a mask of apathy even though both of them could see the fury in her eyes. "I'm fine. If Salem believes that the Knight is best suited to run my operation, who am I to disagree?"

Neither of them missed how she called it her operation

Within the penthouse, the peaceful silence was once again destroyed by a cloud of black smoke appearing in the middle of the living room. From inside the smoke cloud came Roman Torchwick, the once composed criminal now racing towards the nearest trash can.

Next came Neo, who silently laughed at Roman's misfortune and took out her scroll to take as many pictures as her storage space would allow.

Lastly, the Arkham Knight walked out of the smoke as it started to dissipate, laughing in his almost demonic voice before taking off his helmet. The voice quickly morphed back into a normal human voice as Jaune Arc talked. "I thought I was the one that got motion sickness. What happened, Roman?"

In between bouts of vomiting, Roman responded. "Shut it, Arc. I don't understand how you can stand that. I mean, Neo's semblance feels instantaneous, but yours feels like you're being torn apart piece by piece and flown away. Neo, how are you okay?"

Neo shrugged, leaving Jaune to fill in the blanks. "Guess you're just not meant for teleporting after all, Roman."

He only shrugged in return, conceding. "I'm completely fine with that, to be honest. My semblance is good in its own way, I suppose."

Jaune figured that was the perfect moment to segue into important talks. "Speaking of which, me being in command means our plan is getting used. You ready for the performance of your life, Roman?"

He held his chest in mock indignation. "Such low confidence in me! What have I done to earn such doubt?"

Jaune held up his hands. "Just had to ask. Salem would have my head if I didn't. Did you send the police that anonymous tip?"

Roman smiled, glad at how that particular part of the mission had gone. "Yep. They fell for it hook, line, and sinker. They also grabbed those files you left on the table, just like you said they would."

Jaune shrugged in return, not knowing what to say to that.

Roman, however, continued. "I still don't understand why you would leave those, though. Now they know who you're targeting. Why is that a good thing?"

This time, Jaune smiled a genuine smile that betrayed the dark nature of the conversation. "Fear, Roman. They think I'm unstoppable. How would you feel if you knew you were being targeted by a merciless killer that can't be stopped?"

Roman let out a sarcastic sigh. "Good point. On a completely unrelated note, I solemnly swear to never piss you off ever again."

Neo put a hand on her heart, going along with the joke.

An uncharacteristic bout of laugher erupted from Jaune, finding it hard to imagine wanting to kill either of them. "You just make sure those White Fang recruits are all in, alright? The last thing we need is a mutiny."

Roman chuckled, this time with a dark tone that wasn't often heard. Neo also looked more bloodthirsty than usual. "Oh, trust me. When my semblance is through with them, they won't be thinking about anything other than whatever I want. Neither the White Fang or the Beacon girls stand a chance."

It had been a stressful day for both Yang and Blake. First, Ozpin had needed a formal debrief on the incident at the docks and not just a story from a hospital bed. He took most of it in stride, but the fact that the Arkham Knight could copy semblances still noticeably shook him.

Uncle Qrow was nowhere to be found despite the fact that he'd been hanging out around Beacon more often than not lately. Ever since Team CRDL's disappearance, he'd practically joined the staff with how much they saw him around campus.

After the debrief, they both were required to go back to the infirmary just to make sure there were no issues. That led to more tests than were probably necessary (or at least Yang thought they were unnecessary) before they were sent back to their room.

Team PRN was missing through the entire exchange, apparently having been called to Ozpin's office immediately after Yang and Blake left. Whatever they were going to talk about, none of them looked happy.

Now, though, Ruby and Weiss had finally arrived so they could walk back to their room as a team. After the scare that was that hospital stay, Yang wanted nothing more than to jump on her bed and sleep for a day or two.

Any hope of that disappeared when they opened their door and Qrow was standing there. Ruby had just enough time to get excited before they all noticed the look on his face.

He was absolutely livid. The only time Yang had seen Qrow look that angry was after he saved her and Ruby in the woods all those years ago.

He spoke, clearly trying to stay calm. Whether it was for his sake or hers, she didn't know. "There better be a good reason why I got a call from Ozpin at three in the goddamn morning saying that you were in the hospital. That the Arkham Knight put you there."

All Yang could think was 'Oh shit'.

"I know that I personally can't think of a good reason why you decided to break an order from Ozpin himself and went without backup. I'm not even angry that you went after that shipment, but if you can't convince me that you made the right decision when you went without backup then you are both in a lot of trouble."

Ruby visibly deflated at being called out, leaving Yang to speak up. "It's not like we knew that this Arkham Knight guy would be there. We didn't even know the White Fang would be there. None of us expected or wanted a fight."

Qrow waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, I heard the story. That the cat over here lost control and decided to commit suicide and take you all with her."

Blake bit back as much rage as possible, but it was still audible when she said, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Qrow stared her in the eyes. "It means that you are a complete fucking moron if you think you could take these guys." Ruby cringed at the curse word, but Qrow was too angry to keep up his normal censorship. "You were given orders that if you encountered the Arkham Knight, you were to retreat and call for help. Instead, you almost got everyone around you killed. You almost gave him exactly what he wants."

Weiss took the moment to speak up, trying to retain her formality. "What do you mean he wants us killed?"

Qrow laughed, but the humorlessness in it genuinely scared all of them. "Think about it. This guy named himself after the village that the Arc kid died in. Ozpin's nervous that it might actually be a jab aimed at you guys, but even if it isn't, it's meant for the team across the hall and that makes you guilty by association. Congratulations. You all are most likely targets and we don't even know why."

The four of them were stunned into silence, but Qrow wasn't finished. "And kitty, the fact that you thought you could take on the Knight is downright hilarious. You wanna see what he did to your comrades?"

He took out his scroll, with a picture already selected, and tossed it to Blake. She caught it, but almost dropped it in disgust when she saw the picture of Cardin. Yang had enough time to see it to cover Ruby's eyes before she could look. Weiss didn't have any outward reaction, trying to keep up her usual demeanor, but on the inside it was taking everything not to gag.

"The best guess I can get is that Winchester there lost that fight in ten to fifteen seconds. It only took the Knight another minute to leave that for me to find before he vanished without a trace. Consider yourself lucky you're still alive, much less in one piece."

He took his scroll back, but Blake didn't move a muscle. Everything she saw in the White Fang, even all the horrors she watched Adam commit, paled in comparison to what that monster did to Cardin. She may have hated Cardin, but no one deserved that kind of death.

"Ozpin's officially decided to keep you all in Beacon. You are all to stay on campus and are not to leave it for any reason. If you need supplies, I can get them for you. But the fact is that if you go out there, we can't protect you, and you can't protect yourself against him. You're staying where it's safe. Understand?"

They all nodded, and his face softened a little. He walked to the group and put his hands on Ruby and Yang's shoulders. "I need you to stay safe, and wherever Ozpin is is where you'll be safest. I'm not gonna lie to you, girls. This guy genuinely scares me." They both looked at him, shocked. Neither of them thought anything could scare him. "The amount of abilities that he could have is terrifying. But I trust Ozpin. If Ozpin can't defeat him, than we're dead anyway."

He knelt down in front of Ruby. "I need you to stay here, okay? I've lost a lot already. Tai has too. I don't wanna think about what would happen if we lost you too."

Ruby couldn't take any more at that point and hugged Qrow as tightly as she possibly could. He hugged her just as tightly, rubbing her back as she cried into his shoulder. Yang didn't join the hug, but she grabbed her uncle's shoulder tightly, offering whatever support she could. Although he looked at her and nodded, his attention was mostly focused on Ruby.

The last remaining piece of Summer.

Ren knew when they were called into Ozpin's office that it wasn't going to be a positive conversation. After what had happened with Team RWBY at the docks, specifically the Arkham Knight's involvement, nothing the Headmaster had to say to them could be particularly happy.

However, to say that he expected Ozpin to be holding a bottle of whiskey when they walked in would be completely wrong.

Ozpin had lost any sense of the calm, collected, and charismatic headmaster that he usually was. Instead, he was showing the image of a broken man desperately trying to keep the pieces of his normal self together. It shocked all three of them, even Nora, into complete silence.

He didn't say a word at first, merely gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. PRN caught his meaning and sat down, waiting for him to pull himself together and speak.

After what felt like an eternity to them, he finally did. "I assume you remember the details of the incident at the docks?" They nodded. "Particularly the fact that the Arkham Knight can copy other people's semblances?" They nodded again. "Well, there's one more detail that we missed the first time the story was told."

Ozpin pulled out a picture from underneath his desk. It appeared to be a picture of a sword, though Ren couldn't identify the kind due to how close up the image was. It was as though it was taken at the angle of someone looking down with the blade at their throat. "Do you recognize this weapon?"

They all took the time to analyze the weapon, look for any identifying features, but at that close range, they found none. They shook their heads. "What if I told you that this weapon was Gambol Shroud, Ms. Belladonna's weapon?"

They all widened their eyes, feeling foolish for not being able to see the weapon they'd fought with so many times. "What if I also told you that the Arkham Knight was able to recognize both the weapon and the owner from this exact angle?"

That explained the weird angle in Ren's mind. He wanted to see if they had a chance of identifying it the same way the Knight had. It was then that he realized what the Headmaster was implying. "Are you saying that he's been studying Team RWBY?"

Pyrrha and Nora both caught on at that point. "It would make sense if he could identify the weapon that none of us could."

Ozpin put his head in his hands. "This is exactly what I was afraid of. Unfortunately, it's not just Team RWBY he's been studying." He reached underneath his desk again just as the door to his office opened. Professor Goodwitch stepped inside, followed by Team SSSN.

Sun took the lead. "You wanted to see us, sir?"

Ozpin found whatever he was looking for, a file of some sort, and put it on the table. He shook his head at Sun. "We have no time for formalities. Sit down."

The rough tone in his voice left no room for argument, and the team of boys sat down next to Team PRN. Sun and Pyrrha shared a worried glance, but no words were spoken. Ozpin took the opportunity to talk again.

"Today, the Vale Police Department received a tip on a possible safe house belonging to Roman Torchwick. Unfortunately, by the time they arrived, the safe house had been completely cleaned as though no one had ever been there. The only exception was this file, left out on the table. It was too obvious to have been left behind by mistake."

The someone wanted us to find this was left unsaid.

He opened the file and spread out all the papers inside. Everyone stared at the papers in fear.

The papers were detailed reports on all of the members of Team SSSN, RWBY, and PRN: basic information such as race and age, all of their strengths and weaknesses, their weapons and how they worked, their semblances, and, even more frightening, a list of the people they were closest to.

They all read over their own reports, shocked by the level of detail that he seemed to have. He pointed out weaknesses and strengths that they didn't even think they had. The amount of time the Knight had to have been studying them made Ren nervous.

Sun was the only one able to talk. "Since when were we this guys targets?"

It was something that PRN didn't think about while they were nervous about themselves. Apparently, the Knight was targeting Team SSSN as well.

Ozpin chuckled, and the sound, sounding so similar to the Ozpin they knew before yet sounding so different at the same time, made Ren even more nervous. "That's not all. Go to the back of the files."

They all flipped over the papers, and were once again stunned into silence. On the back of the files was a candid picture of each of them. Ren even remembered where his picture was taken: a carnival had come to town two months after Jaune died, and Ren had spent the entire time chasing after Nora trying to stop her from eating all the cotton candy.

Over each of the pictures was a word. His word was 'liar', although he couldn't think of why. Pyrrha's word, though, confused him more, yet at the same time made sense when he thought of the origin of the Arkham Knight's name.

'Coward'. The exact same thing that she had called herself every day since she had been forced to leave Jaune behind.

"The earliest picture we can accurately date was taken a year ago. He hasn't just been studying you. He's been stalking you for at least a year."

If there was a way to describe absolute silence, it was what followed that sentence. The fact that this man had been following them for a year at minimum terrified them to the core. They had been studied like lab animals until he knew everything about them, even things they didn't know themselves.

"None of you are allowed off campus for any reason, understand? If you need supplies, you can send me a list and you'll get it, but if you go off campus I can no longer guarantee your safety. Please, for the love of whatever gods you believe in, stay here. I cannot lose anymore students."

They all nodded distractedly. Ozpin sighed, sad that he had to force this on his students. "I'm sorry that it's come to this. The threat of the Arkham Knight is very real. I just wish there was more I could do. But the reason why he's targeting you doesn't matter, only that he is. Stay in Beacon. Dismissed."

Ozpin didn't even make sure they left. He merely put his head down on the desk, trying to forget all the horrible things he'd just had to put his students through.

They left in waves. Team SSSN left as a group, with Sun not even bothering to hide the fact that he was grabbing one of Ozpin's whiskey bottles with his tail. To their surprise, Goodwitch and Ozpin didn't even try to stop them. Neptune grabbed his teams files, and they were gone.

Goodwitch left next without a word, merely giving a concerned glance to Ozpin's back as she grabbed Team RWBY's files before going down the elevator.

Pyrrha ran to the elevator immediately afterward, saying that she needed air, but Ren and Nora knew exactly where she was going: the grave.

Finally, Ren and Nora got up and walked to the elevator, holding hands and trying to find whatever comfort they could in each other. When the elevator doors closed, however, Nora lost any composure she had and held onto Ren as tightly as she could.

"Renny, what did we do to deserve this?"

Hearing Nora sound so broken when she said that broke Ren's heart. It was a spur of the moment decision he might not have made otherwise when he kissed the top of her head and held her close.

"I don't know, Nora, but we have to face it together. We've faced everything else together, after all."

Nora looked up at him, blushing the whole time. "Together-together?"

Ren sighed, but looked down at her with a smile. "If it works out that way, I certainly wouldn't mind."

Pyrrha was out of breath when she reached the grave, but she didn't care as she knelt on it.

"Where are you when I need you?! I keep thinking that you'll give us advice, or tell us we'll be alright, and then you're not there! Why did you do it, you idiot?! Did you think you weren't good enough?! Is that it?! You were the best of us!"

She finally broke down crying on top of the grave, all the emotions that had pent up since the Arkham Knight's first appearance coming out at once. "Please, Jaune. Come back to me."

Unknown to her, through a bug in the gravestone, the exact same boy she was crying to listened with a smirk on his face.