Previously, on The Defenders of Remnant...
"You want to break the kingdom and Ozpin. You think I don't want to break them?
But the one who seems to always find a way to bring me down was Spider-Man. And believe me, sweetheart, when I say I'd like nothing more than to kill the little bastard. But seeing the life leave him at the end of a blade? That's so dull now, worthless. But what Norman Osborne did to him over a year ago? It made the little bug snap."
"That doesn't change the fact that that plan will ruin everything here, the only thing you have to work for here if you truly want to attain your goal."
"The sooner we get them out of the way-!"
"The sooner we'll have more attention on us!" Cinder snapped. "Listen, Anthony, I understand revenge very thoroughly, which is why I understand how hard it is for you to sit this out for now."
Y'know, I'd almost believe you if it weren't for one thing," Taskmaster replied. Cinder looked at him in confusion, then he pushed her off of him. "You called me Anthony." He then started to walk away.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You only use men's first names when you want them to believe you, and follow you like starry-eyed schoolboys. Well newsflash, princess: I'm not Roman Torchwick. I don't fall for the same thing twice."
"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."
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.
"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.
"HELP!" Sun cried. "Big robot! It's big! Really big! That Torchwick guy is in it!
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.
Torchwick got back to his feet and wiped his suit off. "Just got this thing cleaned…"
"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.
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.
The Defenders of Remnant
Chapter 19: Partners
Taskmaster sat in a chair alone in the corner, out cold asleep away from everyone else. However, that didn't stop Cinder from finding him in his own little world, out of sight. She stood before him with her arms crossed. "Taskmaster?" She said, trying to get his attention. No response from Taskmaster came. "Anthony!" She slightly raised her voice. The super criminal did not stir. "Hmph." She then leaned forward, her face close to his. The orange tint of his visor meant Cinder saw nothing on the other side, only her reflection off its surface. Then curiosity got the better of her, and she slowly raised her hand to the bottom of the mask, and started to lift it off Taskmaster's face.
Then the tip of a knife poked against her abdomen. "Try any further, and I kabob your ovaries," Taskmaster threatened.
"You can't fault me for being curious," Cinder replied, letting go of his mask.
"You obviously keep your secrets, so I'll keep mine if you don't mind," Taskmaster replied before sheathing his knife.
"Well, that just so happens to be what we need to talk about."
"What, you're wanting a heart to heart?"
"We're supposed to be partners after all, equal partners. And clearly, we've come to an impasse. This is something that we can't afford if we want to make Salem's will reality. So, we'll have dinner, and discuss everything necessary to ensure our partnership will not falter."
"So, let me get this straight," Taskmaster said as he stood up from the chair, "You want us to have a dinner date to talk out our problems? What are we, an old married couple?"
"Would you rather involve Salem herself? I'm sure she could settle this very quickly," Cinder threatened.
Taskmaster sighed and clenched his fists. "Fine. I'll take the date with the devil over arguing with her."
Cinder smirked. "See? I knew you would see things my way. We're working on things already."
"I wouldn't push it too far, Cinder," Taskmaster warned. Cinder just kept a smug smirk of superiority on her face. Then the lights flickered out and died.
"Hm? What was that?"
"Power must've gone out." The ground then shook below them, and sparks of electricity ran along every electrical wire, heading towards the center of the facility. "Or something worse…" The two then sprinted towards the main area of the hidden base, where dozens of White Fang members stumbled in confusion in the dark, and large electrical currents ran along the wires, circling the room in a ring of electricity, before bursting out and blasting towards the center, as if lightning was striking in the base. Quickly, the electricity created the pulsing yellow mold of a human man with bright blue eyes crouching down. The man rose to his full height as electricity sparked from his fingertips.
"Wait… Dillon?" Taskmaster questioned.
"Where is Wilson Fisk?!"
Cardin's head rung as he pulled it up from the cratered training room floor and the lights came back up to full brightness, as did his entire team, and Pyrrha sheathed her weapon with a proud smile on her face. "And that's the match," Goodwitch announced.
Lucky shot, Venom remarked in Cardin's head.
"Don't be so sore," Cardin muttered, looking around at all three of his teammates, who were also recovering. Pyrrha had taken them all on herself and won, to no surprise of many. He could feel the symbiote repairing the minimal damage in his body Pyrrha caused, though.
We could've done more.
"I'd rather not show the entire world that I'm the one wearing you as a super suit," Cardin replied, still keeping quiet. Pyrrha approached and put her hand out to Cardin, which he accepted, and Pyrrha pulled him to his feet.
"Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament," Glynda remarked.
"Thank you, Professor," Pyrrha nodded.
"Alright. Now, I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match," Goodwitch addressed the class as a whole. "Any volunteers?" She scanned her eyes over the students, eventually stopping her gaze on Blake, who was seemingly distracted, reading out of a notebook at her side. "Miss Belladonna?" This snapped Blake from her stupor and put her on the spot. "You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you-"
"I'll do it." Mercury raised his hand and volunteered himself. Goodwitch adjusted her spectacles as she turned her head to face the boy.
"Mercury, is it? Very well. Let's find you an opponent," Goodwitch said as she swipe don the large scroll in her hand.
"Actually," Mercury said, "I wanna fight her." Mercury pointed to Pyrrha, who was still standing next to Goodwitch as team CRDL filed out of the arena.
"Me?" Pyrrha questioned.
"I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished a match. I recommend you choose another partner," Goodwitch said sternly.
"No! It's fine!" Pyrrha quickly defended before looking up into the stands at Mercury with a smile. "I'd be happy to oblige."
So, Mercury entered the arena, opposite Pyrrha, and Goodwitch stood off to the side, scroll in hand. While most expected an outcome of Pyrrha winning, as per the norm, some sat forward on their seats, curious about Mercury's capabilities, especially Ruby, who leaned forward on the edge of her seat in anticipation. Mercury brought up his arms in a battle stance. Both he and Pyrrha narrowed their eyes at each other, the conflict on the precipice, then Mercury sprinted forward and jump kicked towards her. Pyrrha blocked the attack with her shield and swung her spear in an arc in front of her and hit Mercury's other foot, spinning him out and putting him flat on the ground. Mercury quickly recovered and backflipped out of her close range. Pyrrha then sprinted forward and attacked with a short flurry of slashes of her spear and bashes of her shield, however Mercury blocked and deflected each attack with defensive kicks. Pyrrha continued the assault until she saw an opening, then burst forward and charged into Mercury's torso shield-first, pushing him backwards and off the ground. Mercury quickly landed and skidded to a stop, kicking sparks up off the ground from the friction.
Ruby turned to face Emerald behind her. "Hey, your friend's doing pretty good!" She said before turning her attention back to the sparring match. Emerald put on a fake enthusiastic smile while Ruby faced her, but dropped it and rolled her eyes when the young huntress turned back around.
Mercury then smirked and performed three spinning kicks against Pyrrha's shield, pushing Pyrrha back and gaining more air on each kick. When Pyrrha caught a break, she switched her grip on Milo, her spear, in a backhanded stance. Mercury rushed her, leapt up, and bicycle kicked her shield, pushing her even further back, then kicked her sides three times; left, right, left. Pyrrha threw up Milo and blocked the second kick to her right with her forearm, then pushed away and quickly caught her weapon. She tried to attack at two points, once going low and another high, but Mercury was too quick. He parried the lower attack, then the high attack, and quickly kicked a third time, which sent the weapon flying out of her hand and stabbing into the floor far out of reach. Mercury's smirk only widened, then he quickly spun and started to deliver another kick coming from Pyrrha's high left, too quickly for her to block with her shield, so she only had one option. Pyrrha called upon her semblance, and with only the slightest hand movement, influenced Mercury's attack just enough to barely miss by pushing away the firearms attached to his boot. Mercury was put off balance and fell down to one knee, initially confused, but it wasn't long before his smirk returned, and he calmly returned to his full height. Pyrrha tried to shield rush him again, but he leapt up and blasted off her shield with both feet, flying upward and landing on the opposite side of the ring. Pyrrha picked Milo back up and then sprinted for Mercury, almost immediately closing the distance between them, but stumbled to a stop when Mercury turned to Goodwitch off in the corner and said, "I forfeit." It took Pyrrha a moment to retain her balance.
"You… don't even want to try?" Pyrrha asked.
"What's the point?" Mercury replied with a shrug. "You're a world renowned fighter, we're obviously leagues apart." Pyrrha didn't know how to respond, and didn't entirely like Mercury's sudden surrender. She sheathed Milo, raised a questioning eyebrow, and put her hand on her hip.
Goodwitch then stepped back in. "In that case, Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match again." Mercury looked up at Emerald with his devious smirk, one Emerald returned, while Pyrrha slightly looked down. "Next time, you may want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent," Goodwitch said disapprovingly to Mercury.
"I'll be sure to do that," Mercury replied dismissively before leaving the arena, followed by the sound of the bell.
"That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on Monday! I will not accept any excuses!"
Team RWBY filed out of the hall and out onto campus, with Blake trailing behind the others. "Ah, that match was so cool! I wish Peter was here to see it!" Ruby exclaimed.
"That Mercury guy definitely has some skill, but he was no match for Pyrrha," Yang said.
"Hey, where is Peter anyway?" Weiss asked.
"He said he'd be working the information we got the other night so we can figure out exactly where the White Fang is. 'Southeast' isn't exactly a ton of help if we don't know how far Southeast," Yang answered.
Blake kept reading out of the notebook, ignoring her surroundings. That is, until Sun rushed up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Blake! You doing ok?" He asked.
"I'm fine," Blake replied, bags under her eyes.
Sun then nervously cleared his throat. "So, I hear there's this dance thing going on this weekend. Sounds pretty lame, but, you and me, I'm thinking not as lame, huh?"
"What?" Blake asked.
"The dance this weekend! Do you wanna go, or what?" Sun repeated.
"I don't have time for a stupid dance," Blake shook her head before walking away, leaving both Sun and her teammates behind. Ruby had a saddened look on her face, looking after her teammate, then looking the other way at the dejected Sun, who let out a sigh before rejoining his team back the way he came.
"You what?!" Blake exclaimed. It was nighttime now, and the team was in their dorm.
"We want you to go to the dance," Ruby said.
"That's ridiculous!" Blake replied with crossed arms.
"Blake, we're worried about you," Yang said. "This investigation is starting to mess with you're head."
"You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and to be honest, your grades have been suffering," Weiss counted on her fingers.
"You think I care about grades?! People's lives are at stake!" Blake threw her arms up in frustration, but Yang gently pulled them down.
"We know, and we're all still trying to figure out what Torchwick and the others are up to. Peter's at his lab working on it as we speak," She assured her.
"Thanks to you and Sun, we know they're operating somewhere outside of Southeast Vale," Ruby added.
"And the Schnee company records singled out Vale as the primary target for Dust robberies over the last few months," Weiss added.
"Don't forget about their missing military tech too," Yang also added.
"But there are still unanswered questions!" Blake cried.
"Blake, you won't be able to find anything if you can't even keep your eyes open," Ruby replied.
"All we're asking is that you take it easy for one day," Yang stressed.
"And it'll be fun! Yang and I will make sure of it," Weiss assured her.
"Yeah!" Yang agreed excitedly "We're planning the whole event!"
"Excuse me?" Blake questioned.
"Team CFVY's away mission lasted longer than expected," Weiss said.
"So Weiss and I were asked to pick up where they left off. And now we can make sure you have the perfect night!" Yang added.
"And then we'll return to our search, rested and ready," Weiss continued.
"So what do you think?" Ruby asked.
Blake was quiet for a painfully long moment before responding. "I think this is a colossal waste of time." The faunus then sat up and went for the door, opening it before looking at her teammates one last time. "I'll be in the library." She then left and closed the door behind her, filling the air with failure for the rest of her team.
"Great…" Yang sighed.
"She can't keep going like this," Weiss said. Then there was a knock at the door, which caused all three of them to perk up. Weiss then got up and opened the door only to see Jaune on his knees strumming an acoustic guitar.
"Weiss!" He sang in an off key note, strumming the same chord for a few seconds before winking with a full grin. Weiss slammed the door on his face without a word said. Jaune rapped his fist on the door again. "Oh, come on… Open the door…." He whined. Weiss shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "I promise not to sing…" Weiss groaned and opened the door again, only to find Jaune standing upright and strumming his guitar again. "I lied!" Weiss just facepalmed, not believing she fell for this. "Weiss Schnee, will you accompany me to the dance on…!" Jaune awkwardly paused, having to remember the date of said occasion. "... Sunday?"
"Are you done?" Weiss asked in an exasperated tone.
"Yes…?"
"No." Weiss simply said before slamming the door shut again. She turned back around to see the two sisters staring at her. "What?"
"And that is why they call you the Ice Queen," Yang remarked.
"All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name," Weiss said. "Besides, I already have a date in mind."
"Date or no date," Ruby said, "None of this will matter if we can't get Blake to go."
"I'll go pay a visit to Pete, see if maybe he'll talk to her," Yang said.
Electro looked at himself and the new green containment suit the Tinkerer spent the day constructing for him. The base of the suit was a standard green, but the gloves, boots, and collar line were all a much darker shade. Two clear tubes wrapped around his upper torso along his ribcage, allowing the electricity within him, that he was now made of, to have a place to flow. "Max," Taskmaster said, "How are you alive?"
Electro scowled and looked up to face Taskmaster, Prowler, Torchwick and Cinder. "I don't know. One moment, Fisk's crushing my skull like he's popping a pimple. Next thing I know, I'm in Vale's power grid, pure energy. I don't know how long it took me to be conscious of it. I must've sat in there for weeks. But soon, I could move, I could feel the energy flowing through this damn place. But I wanted out. It took another few weeks, but I was finally able to become… this. Once I got my bearings I went looking for you guys. For Fisk. But it looks like I missed his farewell party."
"Castle did him in. Now he's rotting at the bottom of the bay," Prowler commented.
"Too bad. I would have fried him until his head popped."
"Well, we're glad to have you back, Max," Cinder said. "We'll bring you up to speed."
"Don't call me that. Max Dillon is dead. All that's left now… is Electro."
"Very well, Electro," Cinder said, "Prowler can bring you up to speed. Taskmaster and I have business to tend to." She and Taskmaster then stepped away from the group. She pulled out a small slip of paper and handed it to him. "Meet me at this address in an hour. I have to quickly reconvene with Emerald and Mercury at the school."
"You're playing it awfully risky, being that close to Ozpin and the Spider," Taskmaster remarked.
"I know what I'm doing. See you in an hour, Taskmaster," Cinder smirked.
Pyrrha and Jaune clashed swords, pressing against one another with sparks flying from the collision. Juane gave her a smile, and she smirked back just before sweeping her leg under him, sending him to the ground. Jaune groaned a bit from the landing, but Pyrrha laughed joyously and sheathed Milo on her back before putting a hand out to Jaune. "Well done! You're swordplay's improved immensely!" Jaune took her hand, got to his feet, and brushed himself off.
"Couldn't have done it without ya," He said.
"So, are you ready to move on to aura?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'm… actually thinking maybe we can skip aura tonight? Might go on a jog or something," Jaune nervously rubbed the back of his neck.
"Come on! I know you get frustrated, but you must keep trying! I'm sure we'll discover your semblance any day now," Pyrrha assured him.
"That's not it. It's just…" Jaune sighed. "It's dumb."
"What is it?" Pyrrha asked. Jaune didn't immediately give an answer, so Pyrrha approached closer and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, you know you can tell me anything."
"It's… Weiss…" Jaune answered.
Pyrrha paused and took her hand off his shoulder, a hurt expression coming across her face. She felt a pang of hurt from the answer, though she couldn't explain why. "Oh…" She quickly regained her composure, though, putting on a friendly smile again. "What about her?"
"I asked her to the dance, and she shot me down. Heh. Big surprise, right? Heh heh…"
"Well… I believe the saying goes, there's plenty of fish in the sea," Pyrrha nervously replied, trying to make Jaune feel better.
"That's easy for you to say. You probably have guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out," Jaune chuckled, a bit of his life coming back to him. Pyrrha started to feel the opposite.
"You'd be surprised…" She insincerely chuckled.
"Oh please, if you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress," Jaune said as he turned around and headed for the door back into the dorm building. Once he was gone, Pyrrha dropped her facade, and she looked down to the floor at her feet.
"And finally, Pyrrha Nikos," Emerald said as she finished reading names off a list.
"Ah, the 'invincible girl'," Cinder remarked. The trio of Cinder, Emerald and Mercury were set up in their student dorm, with Cinder sitting on the edge of one of the beds, while Emerald sat on the floor with Mercury laying on the ground next to her reading a comic book.
"She's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible," Mercury said.
"Do tell," Cinder said with a smirk.
"Her semblance is polarity, but you'd never know it just by watching," Emerald said. Mercury quickly sat up.
"After she made contact with boots, she was able to move them around however she wanted, but she only made slight adjustments," Mercury clarified.
"Just enough to make it look like she's untouchable. She doesn't broadcast her powers, so it puts her opponents at a disadvantage."
"Hmm… people assume she's fated for victory, when she's really taken fate into her own hands. Interesting… Add her to the list," Cinder said.
"You should be able to take her no problem," Mercury said.
"It's not about overpowering the enemy," Cinder replied, "It's about taking away what power they have. And we will, in time."
Mercury sighed and laid back down. "I hate waiting…"
"Don't worry, Mercury. We have a fun weekend ahead of us. Speaking of which, mine starts now." Cinder sat up from the bed and made for the door.
"Where are you off to?" Emerald asked.
"I promised Taskmaster a dinner. He's waiting at my personal suite in Vale right now. And much like Mercury, he doesn't like being kept waiting," Cinder answered.
"And we don't like him," Mercury said.
"We don't trust that guy, Cinder. He seems to have it out for you," Emerald added.
"All of our problems will be handled tonight. If you don't trust him, trust me. Anthony is a very valuable asset, one that can hopefully prove to be a loyal ally. Now get some rest, you two. We have a long weekend ahead of us." Cinder then left the dorm and started on her way to Taskmaster.
Cinder sipped her drink while Taskmaster sat quietly on the opposite side of the sofa from her. Next to them on a coffee table were two plates of steak and potatoes. Cinder's plate was half-eaten, while Taskmaster's platter was untouched, as was his own drink. He refused to take his mask off before Cinder, knowing full well the food was an excuse to try and see what lay beneath. "You haven't touched your dinner," Cinder said.
"I'm not taking off the mask. I didn't come here to eat, I came here to talk. So talk," Taskmaster replied.
"Y'know, you could kill the mood at a funeral if you tried hard enough," Cinder remarked.
"Hey, you wanted to build the bridges. Start building."
"Well, it's you with the trust issues. What do you want to know?" Cinder asked as she set her alcohol down.
"A good start would be about why I'm still being kept in the dark about some things," Taskmaster suggested.
"It's Salem who decides who knows what."
Taskmaster shook his head. "That's not gonna work for me. If I'm supposed to be part of this 'inner circle' of yours, then I need to know more."
"That's just it, you aren't part of the inner circle, not really. Not yet," Cinder said.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Salem sees your worth, but is purposely keeping you at arm's length until you've proven yourself by helping us finish the plan here. Think of it as a trial, and if you pass, you will truly become one of us."
"I thought proving myself was leaving Fisk out to die and helping you gather the Dust you needed," Taskmaster said.
"You proved your cunning and skill, as well as your capacity to betray. It does impress her, but it also worries her. But if you help us ruin Vale and Beacon, she will know your sincerity," Cinder replied.
"Okay, fair on that part," Taskmaster agreed. "But that doesn't answer the question about why you care what Salem thinks. Clearly, you already know I'm a man of word, and yet you sit waiting for Salem to say go, like you're some kind of lap dog."
"I'd watch your tone when you address Lady Salem as such. Or me."
"Why? What did Salem do for you to owe her such die hard allegiance? There's devotion and then there's everyone else in your inner circle. You're all on another level."
"I can't speak for everyone else, but Salem gave me a place, a purpose. She was the first person who seemed to actually care for what I wanted," Cinder answered.
"And what exactly do you want, Cinder? Clearly killing kids won't stop you from getting there. What is it you want so bad?"
"Control. Control over my life, and the power to keep it that way. And with the rest of the powers of the Fall Maiden, I will have just that."
"If you want to be free, then why live under Salem's thumb?" Taskmaster questioned.
"She doesn't control me. I willingly serve her to reach my goals."
"Why? What drove you to serve under the almost literal dark goddess of this world?"
"My, aren't we getting personal?" CInder replied with an edge to her voice, her usual confident smirk nowhere to be seen.
"Bridges go both ways. So to be fair, you tell me your story, and I'll tell you mine."
"Finally deciding to open up?"
"A bit of a hypocritical statement coming from you, based on your reaction a second ago," Taskmaster remarked. Cinder's scowl grew to full length, with her black brows furrowing to pair. "Case in point. So, spill, or I'm done here. You did want a heart-to-heart, after all."
"I don't like to even acknowledge my past. It's like you said, you obviously keep your secrets, so I'll keep mine."
"And as I recall you saying, 'We're supposed to be partners after all, equal partners. And clearly, we've come to an impasse. This is something that we can't afford if we want to make Salem's will reality. So, we'll have dinner, and discuss everything necessary to ensure our partnership will not falter.' And clearly, we're not getting anywhere by playing the professional game. So if you genuinely care about our partnership, which I highly doubt, you'll say anything to keep me around. I mean, you wouldn't want Salem to get involved, after all, right?"
Cinder scowled even more. "You push your luck, Anthony, and it'll run out at the worst time."
"And this isn't that time."
"Fine…" Cinder growled before slamming the rest of her drink. Taskmaster expected her to continue talking afterwards, but instead she poured another full glass of wine and quickly started chugging it down. "Well, they say liquor removes the filter."
"I would rather feel numb while saying everything I'm about to say," Cinder said as she finished the second glass.
"I wouldn't pour a third if you actually wanna get through what you want to say."
Cinder gave a heavy sigh and set the glass back down. "Fine." She then turned to fully face Taskmaster. He could see the instant anxiety and anger in her eyes, a storm behind her face. "I never knew my family. I spent my early years in an orphanage in Mistral, where I was constantly mistreated. I was bullied, overworked, and starved. I'm surprised I survived long enough to get out. One day, I was adopted by a woman and taken to Atlas. At first I thought I was free of the suffering, but in the end it was even worse.I didn't even get a bed, I slept on the floor in a storage room. I was made the social worker of that wretched woman's hotel, and I was continually abused by her and her two biological daughters. Same suffering, different kingdom. That woman even put a shock collar on me, and any time I stepped out of line, or failed a task, I would always feel the electricity running from my neck all the way into my skull."
"Jesus Christ…"
"The torture didn't stop at physical. Whenever she felt the need, she would make me repeat a phrase to her heart's content, or be shocked again, and again, again. And sometimes she would shock me anyway. 'Without you, I am nothing'. Those words have haunted my nightmares for sixteen years, and I fear they will until the day I die."
"I take it you killed them?" Taskmaster deduced.
Cinder broke eye contact with the superhuman. "Yes. All three of them. I cut the wench's daughters down, and then I snapped her neck with my bare hands. I considered burning them to death, but that was too good for them. I wanted it slow, and personal…" Cinder was clenching her fists, and they were even starting to slightly glow when she slowly calmed herself down. "I left Atlas and was left to wander. After a few more years, Salem found me, and took me in. She gave me home, she gave me purpose, and she gave me care. So I pay her back any way I can, because anything is better than what I've already gone through."
"I see…" Taskmaster simply said.
"Well, you can't get out of it now. You have to spill your secrets now."
"Well, I'm not as hateful as you, so i have no grievance for doing so."
"Just get it over with," Cinder snapped.
"Fine,' Taskmaster replied. "Well, to start with, I lived with my old man until I was thirteen. A real piece of work, he was. In a way, he wasn't so different from that madame of yours. At least in how he acted. I didn't live in a hotel. We lived in a torn up, filthy, run down apartment. I didn't have a bed either. Slept in the basement with no heat, not even a blanket. Upstairs wasn't any better. My dad couldn't keep up with most payments, mainly because he spent all the spare money on cable and alcohol. He'd throw shit at me when he was sober, and start swinging when drunk. He didn't exactly like the fact my mother gave up her life to bring me into the world. The only thing that kept him off my ass was that fucking TV and his old Western flicks. Sometimes he might even let me sit there with him and watch. Seeing those movies, I was a stupid kid who tried to repeat the same crap. Then I figured out I actually could do the same stuff. Trick shots, quickdraws, and any action I saw in those movies, I could do perfectly. Which came in handy when I got my hands on a real gun and my old man came at me with a knife. I splattered the bastard's brain over our kitchen wall and booked it. Got picked up by the cops, though, and after they let me off on self defense, I was run through orphanages and correctional facilities across the East Coast until I was eighteen. Then I was picked up by S.H.I.E.L.D, and worked as an operative for a decade. I was relatively better off, I was normal. Even had a wife of my own."
"If you have a wife, why stay here on Remnant?" Cinder asked. She was beginning to draw at least some parallels between herself and Taskmaster, if what he was telling her was true.
"Had a wife," Taskmaster corrected before sighing. "A drawback of my powers was that the mor people I copied, the more space it took up in my brain, pushing out other memories, starting with the important ones. Now? I couldn't tell you her face, her personality, not even her name. The only reason I even remember my old man is because of a daily reminder with the scars I got from him. But friends? My ex-wife? I couldn't remember them if I tried."
"You haven't seemed to have those problems in your three months here," Cinder said.
"Because when Fisk wanted to hire me on, and I heard he had the Tinkerer, my payment wasn't cash; it was an implant Mason put in my brain stem to store additional information, so that no matter how much I copied, it would go to the chip and not erase my memories. I didn't want to live my life only knowing a shitty childhood and the past two years at any time. Then it would never feel like a full life…"
"I see…" Cinder simply said, much like Taskmaster had before. The two sat in silence, both realizing that perhaps they were much more alike than they thought. Both came from miserable childhoods that scarred them for life, in more ways than one. Both had been led down a dark path by their traumas and issues. And now both had become partners to serve none other than Remnant's bane herself. "Perhaps we aren't so different after all…"
"I guess not…" Taskmaster said. A few more moments went in silence, then Taskmaster took off his hood and slowly started to pull his helmet off.
"You don't have to do that, Taskmaster…" Cinder said. This gave Taskmaster pause, but he still continued to take it off anyway. He set the headpiece on the table and faced the red-dressed woman. Whatever Cinder expected under the mask, it wasn't what she saw.
He had black hair, a five o'clock shadow and slightly tanned skin, with the most prominent feature being a scar going down the left side of his face, a wound of which whitened the iris of that eye, leaving only his right eye with his natural brown eye color. "Courtesy of the old man. His last act was a cut that almost blinded me. Almost. I can still see out of it just fine, but it's definitely not a pretty sight."
"I think it's a sign of strength," Cinder said. "You escaped your father's hold, much like I escaped that horrid woman's." Her voice lacked the edge it had before, as did Taskmaster's, as if a barrier between the two of them was broken.
"So… we good?"
Cinder gave a small nod. "I suppose so. I think we both understand each other now."
Taskmaster nodded, then picked up his still-full wine glass. "I guess one drink can't be too bad."
Cinder smirked a bit; not a devious, flirtatious, or confident smirk, but a genuine show of emotion. And for some reason, that didn't bother her. She filled her own glass again and held it out. "To partners, Taskmaster?"
Taskmaster clinked his glass against hers. "To partners." The two then sipped their drinks comfortably. "Also… just call me Anthony."