Previously, on The Defenders of Remnant...
"I'm just being cautious, especially with those masked vigilantes of yours running around," Ironwood replied.
"As am I, hence the existence of those so-called 'vigilantes'. They are the face of justice and peace while we continue to train the best huntsman and huntresses we can."
"Believe me, I am," Ironwood assured Ozpin as he turned around and started for the door, before pausing and glancing back at his fellow headmaster. "But ask yourself this, do you honestly believe your children and your vigilantes can win a war?"
"I hope they never have to."
Cinder smirked. "It seems you gave dear Tuksen a makeover."
"Tuksen is no more, Miss Fall. All that he knows now… is Sabretooth," Tinkerer smiled with his hands behind his back.
"We're not ready," Weiss stopped her.
"We may never be ready!" Blake exclaimed. "Our enemies aren't going to just sit around and wait for graduation day! They're out there somewhere planning their next move, and we have no idea what it is, but it's coming! Whether we're ready or not."
"Blake's right," Peter agreed as he stepped into the room. They all turned to him. "It doesn't matter whether you're ready or not. Because the ones facing you down are counting on you not to be.
You can wait it out, hope it blows over; or you can show them why you're meant to be huntresses. It's your call."
"Okay," Ruby said, "All in favor of becoming the youngest huntresses to single handedly take down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale, say aye!"
"Right. Everyone remember their roles?" Ruby asked.
"You and I will head to the CCT to check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies," Weiss answered. "Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."
Next was Blake. "The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning."
Then Yang continued. "I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale."
"Penny?!" Ruby said.
"Uh…" Penny replied in a slight panic, realizing who she was now talking to.
"Where have you been? We haven't seen you since the night at the docks!"
"S-Sorry, I think you're confused!" Penny stuttered, before hiccuping and tossing Ruby's scroll back to her. "Uh, I've got to go!" She quickly turned around and rushed down the steps out of the plaza.
"What was that about?" Peter asked.
"I don't know… but I'm going to find out. You guys go make your call, I'll meet up with you later!" Ruby said before running after Penny.
Penny sighed and looked around the entire plaza, as if making sure they weren't being watched. She then stepped close to Ruby and whispered to her, "It isn't safe to talk here."
"So, our kingdom's greatest minds in combination with the Schnee Dust Company are proud to introduce, the Atlesian Paladin!" The hologram of Ironwood was replaced with a much larger one of a weaponized creation that looked far less human, and more like a tank mech. "Now we couldn't have them here for you today, but these mechanized battlesuits will be seen defending the borders of our kingdom within the year!"
"I've been watching your work carefully. You cross a line that the other masked men in this kingdom do not, which in this world is becoming even rarer during this time of peace," Ironwood replied.
"I don't know if you've noticed, General, but it doesn't seem like a 'time of peace' to me."
"No, it doesn't," Ironwood agreed, shaking his head. "Which is something the other kingdoms are failing to see. But not me, not Atlas. War is just on the horizon, and Remnant has to be ready."
"I'm not interested in joining the armed forces again. I've had enough of that shit," Castle waved him off and finally holstered his handgun.
"I understand your hesitance, Mr. Castle. Here," Ironwood pulls a small card out of his suit jacket and holds it out to Castle, "Contact me with that information if you are willing to consider the position, and we can negotiate more details if you're on board."
Penny took a moment and slowly opened her palms. "Ruby… I'm not a real girl…"
As they exited the alley back onto the main street, Castle leaned against the corner, watching as they went the opposite way, his attention more on Penny than the guards.
You have some explaining to do, General, he thought.
The Defenders of Remnant
Chapter 18: Painting the Town...
The sun had set by the time Yang pulled her motorcycle to a stop outside of Junior's, where she and Neptune could already hear the blasting music from inside. As she put out the kickstand, Yang took off her helmet and shook her hair out of her eyes and set the helmet on the handle. "C'mon, my friend's right in here!" She told Neptune as she got off, who was still gripping onto the bike, his hair messed up and goggles lopsided from the speed of the bike.
"Cool…" Neptune straightened his hair and his goggles before also stepping off the bike. "And where exactly is 'here'?"
Junior straightened his tie while Gambit sat at the bar with him, and Luke and Danny were walking around the edge of the dance floor, simply trying to look intimidating as security. "Here's hoping for a busy night, right mon ami?" Gambit asked Junior.
"It's always a busy night, Remy. Especially when your fellow security guards are Iron Fist and the bulletproof man themselves! They can draw more people in than usual," Gambit replied.
"Eh, they're nothing special. Just a couple superheroes out of their element," Gambit waved them off.
"Hey, whatever makes money is good for business, and I'll take what I can get," Junior said. He then looked towards the entrance to see two of his men rushing in and closing the door quickly behind them.
"Hurry, close the door! She's coming!" One of them cried. Junior shook his head and left from behind the bar to go see what was going on.
"What are you two idiots doing?!" Junior snapped at them as he approached.
"Junior! Sh-She's back! The one with the-!" The guards were interrupted when the door blasted open in a burst of flame, and through the smoke stepped Yang with a large confident smirk on her face.
"Guess who's back!" She exclaimed. Within moments, every single one of Junior's men drew their guns and aimed at the huntress, while Luke and Danny stood off to the side. Yang furrowed her brow but kept her smirk, ready to fight if she needed to. The music in the background came to a stop as the DJ took off the record and hid behind his stand.
"Yeah, so could you define 'friend' for me?" Neptune asked Yang as he hid behind her.
"Stop, stop! Nobody shoot," Junior commanded. He pushed his way through his men to the front to face Yang himself. "Blondie, you're here. Why…?"
"You still owe me a drink," Yang answered, and she began pulling Junior by the arm back to his own bar. Once they reached it, Yang let go of Junior, who then put the bar between himself and Yang.
"Alright, what is it you want, Blondie?" Junior asked as he poured himself a drink.
"A while back, you lent a few guys to Roman Torchwick. We want to know where he is."
"I don't know," Junior said.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Yang questioned.
"I haven't talked to him. I haven't even seen him since the night you first came in here," Junior answered. "He paid up front, I lent him my men, and none of them ever came back." He finished speaking in a harsher tone, less afraid of Yang thanks to his three metahuman security guards.
"So where did they go?" Neptune asked. Junior slowly turned his head to Neptune, who leaned forward with hand on the countertop.
"What kind of stupid question is that? They never came back!" Junior snapped before turning back to Yang. "Who is this guy?"
"Don't worry about him," Yang replied, "Worry about me if I don't find out what I want!"
"Y'know, you're treading on thin ice, Blondie! You think you're tough, but I have three new security guards that can beat you around!" Junior threatened.
"Junior, we're not gonna beat up a teenage girl for you," Luke said.
"Why are you guys even here?" Yang asked.
"We've been working for Junior since we got here," Danny answered. "Needed money when we… showed up into town."
"Wait, you guys seriously aren't going to defend me?" Junior questioned.
"Jesus christ, Junior, she's a kid!" Luke replied.
"One clearly trying to do good," Danny added.
Junior shook his head then turned to Gambit. "Remy?"
"Sorry, mon ami, but I wouldn't dare hurt this fine lady right here. You're on your own," Gambit replied. Yang smirked at this.
"Ugh, so much for the hired help…" Junior groaned.
"So?" Yang said.
"Ugh, I've already told you everything! Torchwick hired my boys, and I guess he wasn't happy with them. Which is something I can relate to!" Junior yelled at his entire staff.
Yang scowled at Junior before turning around and walking away from the bar. "C'mon, Neptune."
"We get everything we need?" Neptune asked.
"Well, we got everything we can. Hopefully the rest of the team is having better luck."
"Hey, kid!" Luke called. Yang and Neptune stopped and turned around to face him and Danny. "Why are you guys searching for Torchwick, anyway?"
"We're, uh, running our own investigation?" Neptune answered.
"We're looking to find out everything we can about Torchwick and Taskmaster, along with their connection to the White Fang," Yang said.
"Need a few more hands?" Danny offered. "I think our time with Junior's about done."
Yang smiled a bit. "Sure. Though I don't know if we'll need it. But it'll be fun to hang out, at least."
Blake stopped at the entrance to the building her and Sun were investigating, running her hand along a white mark of three claw scratches. She peeked around the corner to see a handful of Faunus being handed masks and led further into the building quietly. Blake turned around to face Sun. "This is it."
"Are you sure?" Sun asked. Blake gave him an annoyed glare in return. "Y'know, I'm just gonna take your word for it." Blake turned away from him and started walking to the entrance of the building while taking off and hiding her bow. As they were led in, they themselves were handed masks and ushered forward. "I don't get it," Sun said as he held his mask, "If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?"
"The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters," Blake answered.
"Grimm masks… that's, kinda dark."
"So's the guy who started it," Blake added before continuing down the hall.
"Always sunshines and rainbows with you," Sun muttered under his breath as he looked down at the mask in his hands. The two of them put on their masks and entered a large auditorium filled almost to the brim with the Faunus of Vale. On a large piece of cloth hung on the stage was the red symbol of the White Fang. And standing on the stage was none other than the man formerly known as Tuksen, Sabretooth.
"Thank you for coming!" He said to the crowd. "For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce you to a very special comrade of ours. I can assure you that he is the key to attaining what we've fought for for so long." As Sabretooth finished, stepping out onto the stage was none other than Roman Torchwick himself, with another woman tailing behind him. The woman had pale skin, and half-pink half-brown hair. She wore a white cropped wide, broad tailed jacket, brown pants, a brown corset under the jacket that curved, exposing her hips, several black-beaded necklaces, black and white high-heeled boots and black gloves.
Needless to say, the crowd erupted into an audible mess of anger and disappointment.
"Thank you! Thank you! Please, hold your applause," Torchwick said as he entered.
"What's a human doing here?!" A woman in the crowd exclaimed.
"I'm glad you asked, dearie," Torchwick smirked. "Now, I'll be the first to admit: humans are the worst. Case in point," he gestured to himself. "So I understand why you would love to see us all locked away, or better yet, killed!"
"So is he going somewhere with this, or…?" Sun mumbled to Blake.
"But, before the claws come out, I'd like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy: the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty rotten humans that run our kingdoms. Government, the military, even the schools; they're all to blame for your lot in life." Torchwick slowly began to win over the crowd, his influence growing every word he spoke. "And they're all pests that need to be dealt with. Fortunately… I'm the best exterminator around. No offense to any rodents in the room." Torchwick snapped his fingers, and the banner that was hung up quickly fell away to reveal a model of the Atlesian Paladin, earning cheers from the crowd. It had been painted a steel gray, with the White Fang symbol plastered on the left shoulder.
"Ooh… that's a big robot…" Sun nervously said.
"How did he get that..?" Blake questioned.
"As some of you may have heard, this right here," Torchwick continues as he raps his fist against the mech's metal leg, "Is Atlas's newest line of defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my employer, we've managed to snag a few before they, uh… hit the shelves. Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the Southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine, but if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?" By now, the entire auditorium was on Torchwick's side, raising their fists in the air and cheering for the criminal and the aide he was offering to the cause.
Blake turned to Sun. "We should get out of here."
Then Torchwick continued. "All new recruits, please come forward!" All of those who were not in White Fang uniform began to go to the front, pushing past Sun and Blake, who remained still.
"What are we gonna do?" Sun whispered.
"I'm thinking…" Blake replied. Torchwick was standing next to the woman, leaning against the right leg of the paladin and about to take a hit off his cigar when he paused, seeing Sun and Blake's stationary forms sticking out from the moving crowd like a sore thumb.
"He sees us…" Sun warned Blake. Torchwick tossed his cigar down and started to walk forward. Blake quickly looked around and saw an electricity panel next to the stage.
"He can't see in the dark!" Blake went to reach for Gambol Shroud when the lights flickered out on their own.
"Well that was quick," Sun remarked.
"That… wasn't me…" Blake said.
"Who cares? Let's book it!" Sun exclaimed.
"Don't let them get away!" Torchwick yelled.
"Sun, the window!" Blake called.
"Stop 'em!" Torchwick ordered. But Sun and Blake quickly leapt out of the window and began sprinting away from the building. After a few moments, though, the Paladin burst through the wall and began to give chase. The two faunus leapt from rooftop to rooftop while the mechanized menace followed at street level.
"So you wouldn't happen to have, oh I don't know, some form of backup?!" Sun called as they kept running.
"On it!" Blake yelled back as she finished replacing her bow atop her head. She then quickly reached for her scroll and called everyone else at once. "Everyone! If you can hear me, we need back-"
"HELP!" Sun cried. "Big robot! It's big! Really big! That Torchwick guy is in it! But not like - It didn't eat him! He's like controlling it or something!"
"Where are you guys?!" Yang asked, just before the Paladin ran by their street, with Sun and Blake sprinting for their lives.
"HURRY!" Sun exclaimed.
"I think that was them," Neptune said.
"Yeah, I got it," Yang replied before kicking up her bike's kickstand and driving off to follow the paladin, with Neptune struggling to keep on the vehicle. Luke and Danny trade glances before following as well, with Danny slipping on his Iron Fist mask.
Sun and Blake leapt up onto the freeway, jumping from car to car to escape their pursuer. However, Torchwick's paladin joined them on the road, charging like a bull towards the two faunus regardless of the vehicles in his way, with Yang and Neptune following suit as Yang drove alongside the mech. "We've gotta slow it down!" Yang exclaimed.
"Got it," Neptune replied as he pulled his goggles over his eyes and started to reach for his weapon on his back. Torchwick glared at them from inside the Paladin, and began sending an avalanche of the innocent cars behind him to throw them off.
"Hold on!' Yang told Neptune before speeding up even more.
"Uh oh!" Neptune cried as he tried to stay stable on the back of the bike. Yang zigzagged through the oncoming vehicles. Narrowly avoiding being struck or having Neptune knocked off the bike. However, soon enough the swarm stopped coming, and Neptune quickly drew his weapon off his back, a stocky silver rifle with an electric rod charging the barrel. The weapon charged up and Neptune began firing at the Paladin, nailing every shot as the large electric pulses put Torchwick off balance. Neptune transformed his weapon, changing it to a form of a glaive with a glowing blue blade, and leapt up off Yang's bike, somersaulting through the air and stabbing the weapon into the back of the mech's canopy Sun and Blake stopped leaping cars, and Torchwick starting spinning the mech's torso around, trying to shake off the blue-haired Huntsman.
"Neptune, hold on!" Sun called, while Neptune struggled to keep a hold of his weapon while being spun around. Sun then clapped his hands together, and two clones of himself made of yellow light rushed forward and crashed into the Paladin, followed by Sun himself drawing his staff and leaping forward to attack, only for Torchwick to send Neptune off of the machine and colliding with his teammate, sending both of them flying off the freeway. However, Peter, in his Spider-Man costume, swung in and caught them both.
"Careful, boys! This is why you don't play in traffic!" He quipped. Blake saw Peter catch the two huntsmen, breathing a sigh of relief before Weiss's voice chimed in on her scroll.
"Blake, I'm in position!" Weiss then leapt off of a higher freeway, landing gracefully on the one the Paladin was currently charging down, pulling Myrtenaster back and upwards with her left hand up to her right shoulder. Torchwick smirked as he saw the snow-colored huntress before him, and sped up even more to run her down. Weiss, however, furrowed her brow, spun, and dug her blade into the freeway. Instantly, the entire section of the road was covered in a sheet of ice, causing the Paladin to slip and slide out of control, going right off the side of the freeway and landing on its feet at ground level below all the roads, where Ruby stood waiting, Crescent Rose in hand. From there, all of Ruby's teammates leapt down and joined her in front of the mech, while Peter, Luke and Danny stood behind him. Torchwick sneered within the cockpit.
"Freezer Burn!" Ruby exclaimed, before she and Blake pulled back, and Weiss created another sheet of ice. Yang leapt high up, reeling her right fist back and loading a fire dust round, before plummeting back down and firing the dust into the frozen ground, dispersing a massive cloud of mist that impaired Torchwick's vision, causing him to lose track of his adversaries. The mech quickly emitted several laser sights tracking in various directions, and Torchwcik slowly moved forward, looking for any sign of the huntresses or the superheroes. While the Huntresses sped around through the mist, narrowly avoiding detection, Peter, Luke and Danny hid behind one of the pillars supporting the freeway.
"So what's the plan, Pete?" Luke asked. "Clearly you and that team of girls have somethin'."
"We didn't exactly have a plan for a giant robot," Peter replied. "We're working on the fly right now. Okay, I might have an idea."
Torchwick saw the huntresses speeding around and started firing energy blasts at the slightest movement. Now that he saw them, he kept track of them, and fired a shot that managed to send both Blake and Yang off their feet, only for the action to be immediately followed by Ruby flying up and hitting the cockpit with Crescent Rose, an impact that merely made Ruby bounce off the machine. Peter swung up and stuck himself to Torchwick's viewport, blocking the criminal's line of sight. "Hey! I didn't know the Clockwork Orange convention was in town! Your costume looks great, by the way!" Torchwick growled and hit a switch that sent electricity across the hull of the Paladin, electrocuting Peter and causing him to fall to the ground. Torchwick looked down at Peter and raised a mechanical foot to stomp down on him, and brought it down only for Luke and Yang to both rush in and hold the foot's force back with their bare hands, although it was tough even for both of them.
"Hey, Red Riding Hood! Any time now would be great!" Luke exclaimed.
Ruby nodded and turned to Weiss and Blake. "Checkmate!" Her two teammates rushed forward and each let out a flurry of attacks on the machine's legs, forcing Torchwick back and taking its weight off of Luke and Yang, which they both gave a sigh of relief for. Weiss leapt up and sent one forward strike into a hinge at the right knee, then jumped backwards off of one of her glyphs. Blake fell back from her attack and looked upward to see the other metallic foot come bearing down on her, but Peter shot her with a strand of web and pulled her out of the way just before Torchwick demolished the concrete where she was standing. Torchwick growled, and then a storm of missiles shot from two payloads on the Paladin's back towards Blake and Weiss, which the two narrowly escaped thanks to their acrobatic ability. However, Torchwick blasted Weiss while she was in the air, sending her flying backwards. Torchwick was about to unleash another wave of missiles when Danny snuck up behind the mech, leapt up, and struck one of the payloads with his fully charged Iron Fist, obliterating it in a single strike and pushing Torchwick forward.
"Black Widow!" Ruby commanded. Peter and Blake looked to each other and nodded before splitting up with each rushing to one of Torchwick's flanks. Peter sprinted up one of the columns supporting the freeway before leaping off and landing on the mech's back. He webbed the other missile payload closed and backflipped off as one of the mech's right arm tried to grab him and webbed that arm to its back before landing. Blake shot Gambol Shroud into the mech's left leg and quickly sprinted around while holding it's ribbon, wrapping it around its legs several times over. Before Torchwick could use the mech's free left arm to either grab Blake or tear off the webbing holding the right arm in place, Peter shot webbing with both hands onto that arm and pulled as hard as he could to restrict the limb. Once Blake finished tying up the machine's legs, she turned to Peter. He saw her gaze and nodded before looking at Luke.
"Hey, Luke, come take this!" Peter exclaimed. Luke Cage sprinted for Peter and took the webbing from him, pulling even harder to keep Torchwick from moving. Peter then swung further down the underside of the freeway before shooting two strands of webbing on two far apart columns and pulling even further to create tension. He backed up as far as he could, looking all the way down at the mech, before letting the strands slingshot him back towards the fight, speeding like a bullet back to the enemy. He put his feet outwards and delivered a double-kick that bent the back of the canopy inwards and sent the Paladin to its knees. Ruby then leapt up, sped forward, and cut the arm Luke was holding right off at the shoulder joint. With nothing left to pull, both Luke and Ruby backed away from the Paladin. Torchwick growled in anger and forced the controls harder. The mech's right arm tore free of the webbing that was keeping it in place, and the ribbon that was around its legs was ripped apart, allowing freedom of movement to the machine again.
Yang leapt up on top of the hull as the machine was still getting to its feet and started firing more Dust rounds directly to the hull. This shook the cockpit violently, and Torchwich snarled at the young huntress. He looked forward to see Danny charging up the Iron Fist and leaping upwards towards the viewport, and then smirked. He turned the Paladin's torso around so that Danny's blow met not the suit, but Yang herself. The punch sent her shooting through the air and through one of the stone pillars, completely demolishing it. Torchwick then grabbed Danny, smashed him into the pavement, and tossed him back towards the others.
"Ugh… that hurt…" Danny groaned.
"But what about Yang?" Blake asked worryingly.
"Don't worry, she's alright," Peter assured his faunus friend.
Ruby nodded in agreement. "With each hit she gets stronger, and she uses that energy to fight back. That's what makes her special."
Torchwick bore down on Yang, who had gotten back to her feet, with her hair now glowing a golden hue, and her eyes now a burning red shade. The Paladin pulled back its remaining arm and threw a punch, only for Yang to stop it dead with both of her hands, sending a shock wave past her that blew apart the area behind her. She looked up to meet Torchwick's eyes behind the viewport, then threw a left hook to the arm that obliterated it, sending parts flying everywhere. The Paladin stumbled back, but Torchwcik wasn't done yet, using the suit to kick Yang away sending her flying. Luke quickly leapt up and caught the huntress. "I gotcha, kid!" As he landed back down and helped Yang back to her feet, the entire group looked on at the disarmed but still towering Atlesian Paladin.
"We're breaking down on him, but if we keep this up for much longer, we'll end up taking the entire freeway with Torchwick," Danny said.
"I have a plan," Peter said, "But we need to slow him down first."
"And how exactly do you propose we do that?" Weiss asked impatiently.
Ruby smirked as her own idea came to mind. "Ice Flower!"
Torchwick tried to keep track of the damages and keep the suit together, getting more and more angry and impatient with the fight. I can't let these kids and freaks make a fool out of me! He then looked directly ahead to see Ruby with the blade of Crescent Rose dug into the ground, the gun barrel forward, with Weiss next to her and Myrtenaster also pointed forward. Then three of Weiss's glyphs appeared in a straight row before Crescent Rose's barrel, and Ruby fired her weapon through them. When the shots hit the Paladin, massive chunks of ice the size of boulders formed around the impact points, with each shot gradually restricting the Paladin's movement until it was finally immobilized.
Danny turned to Yang. "You go top, I go low?"
"You got it," Yang smirked.
"Alright, let's go!" Peter said. Peter then shot webs onto Yang's back, while Blake wrapped her ribbon around Danny. Peter and Blake then used their strength to spin the other two in a wide arc towards the Paladin. Danny and Yang boosted themselves forward, with the Iron Fist and gauntlets respectively, then delivered their strongest blows to their target, with Danny hitting the left knee of the mech suit while Yang's attack connected directly with the cockpit. Both blows sent shockwaves that shook the earth below their comrades, and then the Paladin was no more. It tore in half at it's waist do to the force of Yang's semblance-boosted strength and the raw power of the Iron Fist, sending Torchwick spinning out and hitting the ground, forcing all the air from his lungs, and turning even the already torn halves of the Atlesian mech suit into nothing but scraps.
"Hot damn!" Luke remarked.
"Well, that's one way to deal with it," Weiss added.
Torchwick got back to his feet and wiped his suit off. "Just got this thing cleaned…" He then looked back up to see all seven of his adversaries staring him down. Uh oh… Yang then pulled back and fired another Dust round towards Torchwick. However, the brown-and-pink-haired woman from the White Fang rally dropped in and blocked the shot with an open parasol she was now holding, then slung it over her shoulder with a smirk on her face, a smirk that also soon came to Torchwick's face. "Super freaks. Ladies. Ice Queen."
"Hey!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Always a pleasure." Torchwick then turned to the woman with him. "Neo? If you would." The woman, Neo, gracefully bowed to the other seven, as if taunting them. Danny and Yang both charged forward and brought strikes down, only for the forms of Neo and Torchwick to shatter into glass.
"What?!" Danny exclaimed, confused. They all all looked around until a nearby Bullhead ascended and took off, with the two criminals standing at the bay door, flying off into the night.
"So I guess he got a new henchman," Peter said.
"Yeah, I guess she really made our plans… fall apart?" Weiss attempted to quip.
"No. Just, no," Yang said.
"What? Hey, you and Peter do it!" Weiss whined.
"There's a time and a place for jokes," Yang said.
"And this wasn't it?" Weiss questioned.
"No, it just wasn't very good."
"Well at least I'm trying," Weiss said.
"I thought it was funny, Weiss," Danny told the heiress.
"Thank you," Weiss replied with a smile.
"Wait," Ruby said, "Where are Sun and Neptune?"
"Huh… yeah, that is weird," Peter said. "I grabbed them once they fell off the freeway, but they didn't join the fight with us. Where could they have gone?"
"They're probably fine, right?" Neptune asked Sun. Both Huntsman were dropped off by Peter far from where the battle was taking place, so they had decided to just sit it out, despite volunteering themselves for the mission, and were instead sitting on barstools at a small noodle house.
"Probably," Sun said as he ate his bowl of noodles. Neptune shrugged and turned back around to his food on the counter.
"Well, wherever they are, we beat Torchwick without them anyway," Weiss boasted.
"He got away," Blake said.
"He retreated," Danny corrected. "He brought the mech to fight, and lost, so he retreated. That is a victory, regardless of whether Torchwick himself escaped or not."
"Yeha, besides, that's one less of these things in the White Fang's hands. The small things, Blake, the small things," Peter said. He then turned to Luke and Danny. "Thanks for the help guys."
"Well, Firestarter over there invited us along," Luke said as he gestured to Yang. "Came bursting into our workplace, interrogating our, uh... probably former employer. When we heard it was about Torchwick, we offered our help and she brought us along."
"That said, aside from the heiress, I don't believe we've been formally introduced," Danny said as he took off his Iron Fist mask. He then put his hand out to Yang. "Danny Rand."
Yang gripped his hand and shook it. "Yang Xiao Long. That's our leader, my sister Ruby, and our teammate Blake," Yang gestured to her respective teammates then turned to Luke and shook his hand. "Big fan."
"So I've heard," Luke chuckled with a smile. "I hear your friend Nora is nuts too."
"That's not as abnormal a statement as one might wish," Weiss said.
"That was awesome!" Ruby exclaimed to Luke and Danny. "How did you get your powers? Are you really bulletproof? Why is it called Iron Fist?" Ruby started to fangirl over Luke and Danny, and Weiss and Yang tried to keep their energetic leader under control. Blake, however, was still staring out in the direction the Bullhead flew away. Peter walked over to her and stood next to her.
"You okay?" He asked her.
"I know we only came out here for information, but we were so close!" Blake replied. "We had him! And he got away!"
"Blake, like I said, focus on the small victories. We nearly had him, yeah, but we got the information we needed and took Atlas tech out of their circulation. That counts for something, right?"
"It's just frustrating…" Blake sighed.
"I know. Trust me, I know. But we'll get them. All of them. Together," Peter assured her.
"Right. Together…" Blake replied half heartedly. Peter was going to push further when Yang called to both of them.
"Hey, guys! C'mon, let's get back to our dorms for the night!"
"Coming!" Blake replied. The two then rejoined the others.
"Well, it was a pleasure working with you Mr. Rand, Mr. Cage," Weiss said.
"It's just Luke and Danny, alright? We're no different than you guys," Luke said.
"Well, except Weiss and Danny are filthy rich and the rest of us are deadbeat poor, right?" Peter joked. This received him a slug in the arm by Yang.
"Maybe we'll see you guys around," Yang said, "Considering our mutual mouther over her."
"We've come across each other before, reason stands it will happen again," Danny said.
"Have a good night, guys," Peter said as he and the team walked away. "Tell Jessica I said hi!"
Ironwood sat in a conference room aboard his flagship, sitting in that room alone other than Frank Castle across the table from him.
"I have to admit, Frank, I wasn't expecting your reply so soon," Ironwood said. "Does this mean you're interested?"
"It means I'm here to talk details. Then I'll consider it," Castle replied.
"Well, as I said before, you would be one of my few personal specialists in the Atlas military, along with the privileges and authority that entails. You'd have command over any forces aside from the other specialists and myself. As I said before, our arsenal would be open to you," Ironwood said.
"Like those Atlesian Paladins?" Castle raised an eyebrow.
"Indeed. You saw the showcase, then?" Ironwood asked.
"I did. Pretty impressive, I'll admit."
"Thank you. Our teams worked hard to develop it," Ironwood smirked.
"Oh yeah? And how hard did they work to develop a robot masking as a little girl?" Castle questioned. This gave Ironwood pause.
"I… am sorry, but I'm not sure I know what you're referring to," Ironwood lied.
"Oh, you don't? So the little ginger girl going around stopping trucks with her bare hands, and talking about being made by her father and a 'Mr. Ironwood', that's not you?" Ironwood scowled a little at the former soldier. "Yeah, I saw her and her little friend being chased by your guys for blocks, all the way from the showcase. Even hit one of those guys with a car. Clearly, Penny doesn't like being restricted like an animal in a cage."
"So this is what brought you here…"
"So you admit it's true?" Castle accused.
"No point in denying it. Yes, Penny was created by Dr. Pietro Polendina and myself, the first synthetic person capable of generating an aura. And we are so… strict with her to keep her both safe and away from any who might take advantage of her. As bad as it is to say, her privilege to wander the city at all is more freedom than she is used to, but we thought it would help her ease into the terrain and prepare for her spot in the Vytal Festival Tournament."
"She shouldn't have to prepare for what should be second fucking nature to anyone." Castle leaned forward on the table. "Tell me, General, do you have kids of your own?"
"No, I do not," Ironwood answered. "Not that I haven't considered it, but… I carry far too much responsibility to sit down and have a family."
"Well I did. So take it from someone who was a father, a real father, when I say you better give that girl more, or it'll blow up in your face."
"Is that a threat, Mr. Castle?" Ironwood raised an eyebrow.
"Let's call it Fatherly advice."
"Where are you going with this, Mr. Castle? Will you threaten to leak this to the public? You must know I won't let you leave this ship if that's the case," Ironwood replied.
"Tempting, but no," Castle answered. "I'll take your offer on one condition."
"That condition being…?"
"You lose the green grunts who don't know the safety from the mag release who follow her around. If she needs security, you put me on. I was a father, and a real soldier, I would know how to take care of her and protect her. I would also know when to lay off, because she isn't just a piece of military property, General. She's a kid, because you made her a kid. So let her be exactly that," Castle said. Ironwood folded his fingers in front of him, propping up his elbows on the table as he glared at Castle, thinking it over. "So, General, what's it gonna be?"
Ironwood let out a deep sigh. "That's not entirely my call. Penny is, after all, Pietro's daughter."
"And that's why you clicked your comm as soon as I brought the girl up, right? To broadcast our whole conversation to the two guards outside, and more importantly, the good doctor?" Castle asked. Ironwood was fuming, letting a deep sigh out through his nostrils. "I suppose I underestimated you just a little, Mr. Castle."
"So does that mean I have the job?" Castle asked again. Ironwood narrowed his eyes, just before his scroll went off. He kept an eye on Castle, but pulled it out of his pocket, set it on the table, and answered the call.
"Yes, Doctor Polendina?" Ironwood said.
"You truly are persistent, Mr. Castle," Pietro's voice came from the end of the call.
"You must be the girl's father," Castle said.
"I am. And while I do not entirely agree with your attitude or methods, Mr. Castle, your sentiment is another story. But you must understand, I will do anything necessary to protect my daughter, hence the extreme measures you have witnessed us go to."
"I think the fact that your daughter ran to begin with should tell you something. Besides, you two pride yourself on her being a synthetic, yet living girl. But is she really living if she's had to run away to make the friends she has? And the fact she has to hide said friends from your guys chasing her? I don't know about you, Doc, but that doesn't sound much like living to me." The room fell silent, neither Pietro nor Ironwood adding more to the conversation, and Castle waited for a reply.
"You raise a fair point. If you truly are a father-"
"Were," Castle corrected. "I'm not a father anymore."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Well, if you truly were a father, and you really are sincere about my daughter trying to really live, then perhaps I am willing to take the chance."
Castle looked back up to Ironwood. "What about you, General?"
Ironwood simply sighed. "I have no further objections. So you will enlist as a specialist under the terms that you will be the sole security officer of Penny Polendina, but will consider those duties null and void under individual circumstances?"
"I think that about covers it," Castle said. Ironwood sighed again and stood up from his chair, and Castle did the same. Ironwood stared him down, then hesitantly put his right hand out, which Castle looked down at before shaking.
"Frank Castle, Welcome to Atlas."
New Cast Member!
Neo Politan