Previously, on The Defenders of Remnant...

Raven was always complicated. But complicated or not, I've missed her these almost three years. It almost makes me wonder when she'll find out about Summer.'"

"Raven…" Marc said. "Raven… I've heard that name before.

Jessica started reading again, "'Today, Raven Branwen had an argument with Ozpin and her brother Qrow. I could hear the yelling from outside his office door... It's not my business what happens behind closed doors, especially those of Professor Ozpin's office, but even though Raven is temperamental, this was something altogether different.

I'm not sure why, but Raven Branwen has left her Huntress position and team STRQ."

"So Raven and Qrow Branwen know Ozpin's secrets." Marc then shut off his computer. "Thanks for the help, Jones."

"Wait, so you're gonna go out into the world and hunt down this Raven chick?" Jessica questioned.

"I don't know where her brother Qrow is. He's clearly not at the school, and Port's journal doesn't mention anything specific for him. And if Qrow's loyal to Ozpin, it wasn't going to. But Raven not only learned what Ozpin's hiding, but left because of it. If I find her tribe, I'll find her."

"Aren't you supposed to stay in Vale? We're here for Castle and Fisk, nothing else."

"I don't know about you, Jessica, but I'm done being lied to. I'm going to find out what I want to know, and Ozpin won't stop me," Marc said

"Alright, assholes, I'm gonna ask this one more time before I beat the shit outta the rest of you: Where is Raven Branwen?"

His vision became blurry, until enough blows smashed him into the ground. Then the ringleader stood in front of him, only his boots visible in the tipsy-turvy blurriness of Marc's vision.

"Wrap him up. He wants Raven? We'll take him to Raven," He said. The last thing Marc Spector saw before darkness was the bottom of the bandit's boot.

"So, uh, what does Blake think of all this?" Sun asked. "Is she still being all, you know, Blake-y?"

"Obviously," Weiss sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I still can't think of a way to change her mind…" Ruby said.

"Guys, trust me. Blake will be at the dance tomorrow," Yang assured the others.

"Peter, if you're going to tell me to stop, you may as well just save your breath," Blake said

"I don't want you to stop, I just want you to slow down," Peter replied.

"We don't have the luxury to slow down," Blake replied, arms crossed.

"It's not a luxury, it's a necessity."

"The 'necessity' is stopping Torchwick and Taskmaster."

"Blake. If Roman Torchwick, hell, if Taskmaster came through that door right now, what would you do?" Peter questioned while bearing down on her.

"I'd fight him, stop him!" Blake exclaimed,

"You'd lose!" Peter yelled, snapping and pushing her back into the desk, a bit too hard as she hit it enough to activate her aura. Blake's expression changed to a hur tone, while Peter's expression changed to shock. "I-I'm sorry, I…" He helped her back up, then gently held her by her arms. "You'd lose, Blake… and I don't want to lose anyone else…"

"Hey, if you do decide to head to the dance tomorrow night…" He glanced back at her. "I'll, uh, be saving you a dance…"

"W-Woah…" he muttered. Blake blushed and glanced away, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"You guys look great," She said.

"So do you!" Yang exclaimed. "You look gorgeous! Right, Pete?" Yang jabbed Peter's arm.

"S-So, I believe you owe me a dance?" She said.

"You, uh… you really do look beautiful, Blake…" Peter stumbled.

"Hey, Pete?" Ruby said, trying to get their attention. The other three turned around and looked outside to see a pillar of smoke in the distance, out in the city.

"No, I.. I just want one night-" Peter started to say.

"Peter," Blake cut him off. Peter turned to face the Faunus. "It's alright. We'll still be here when you get back. Now go save some lives."

Peter scowled and tried to push back against the two Faunus pinning him only for Taskmaster's blade to stab through his hand and pin it to the pavement, forcing another cry from the bottom of his lungs. Taskmaster then activated his comms. "Dillon, status?"

"Mission accomplished. Seed planted in the CCT."

"Good. Return to home."

The last image Peter saw before blacking out was the bottom of Taskmaster's boot.

The Defenders of Remnant

Chapter 21: Most Wanted

"Come on.. Pick up… pick up…" Blake mumbled as she called Peter for the eighth time since he left. The dance had come to an end, and students had begun to leave. While Yang, Weiss and Luke helped file people out, Blake was pacing back and forth as her scroll kept ringing and ringing, waiting for Peter to pick up. When the call went to voicemail, Blake growled out of frustration.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked as he approached her.

"Peter isn't answering his scroll! He went off into the city to help, but he hasn't come back, or even answered my calls. And it's been four hours!" Blake answered.

"Yeah, we saw that smoke too, gave the heads up to Jessica and Matt. They should be over there too. Let me call them-" Danny started to say when his scroll started ringing. "-up…" Danny retrieved his scroll and answered it, putting it on speaker so both he and Blake could hear the other end. "Jessica, what's going on over there? Blake says Peter went that way and hasn't come back. I was just about to call you."

"We have a problem," Jessica said. Danny and Blake traded glances, while Ruby stood nearby, overhearing the conversation.

"What kind of problem?" Blake questioned.

"The White Fang kind," Matt's voice came from the other end. "And they weren't alone."

"Taskmaster…" Ruby muttered.

"From what we can tell, there was a fake attack. They set the beacon just to ambush whoever showed up," Jessica said.

"And they were counting on it being Peter," Blake said.

"It was more than hoping for it. This was planned. They wouldn't risk drawing one of us out before they got him. They chose to do it during the dance for a reason," Matt deduced. "As new Beacon faculty, Luke, Danny and I would be occupied with business on the grounds, especially tonight, and Spector's out of town. That narrowed it down to him or Jessica, and they won the coin flip."

"Wait, so the White Fang and Taskmaster have Peter right now?" Ruby asked in worry.

"It seems that way," Matt sighed. "I tried tracking them, but their trail went cold. They took an airship, and what was left of their fumes was heading southeast. Couldn't get further than that."

"Southeast… at the rally we heard their base was somewhere in that region," Blake noted.

"So a base in the Southeast. That's a wide area, but… we can start scouring it at first light," Danny said.

"Are you crazy?! We have to go now!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Ruby," Blake stopped her, "We won't do any good by rushing in, especially in the middle of the night. Besides, we're worn out. Trust me, I hate having to wait to go after him too. But we have to have a clear head about this."

"Yeah. Right."

"You girls have your mission tomorrow. Leave Peter to us," Matt said.

"Like hell!" Yang exclaimed as she, Weiss and Luke joined the others, all the guests filed out. "We're not sitting this out!"

"You frankly don't have a choice, Yang-"

"Hey, Matt, they're his friends too! You can't just expect them to sit on the sidelines!" Danny defended them.

"That's exactly what I expect them to do. I'm sorry, girls, but if Peter really is in the hands of Taskmaster, then you all are going to be kept away from this search. It's too dangerous even for Huntresses of your skill. I promise we'll get him back safe. But until then, stay put."

"No, wait!" Ruby cried, but then the call ended. "Oh…"

"Don't worry. We'll talk to him," Luke assured the young huntress.

"It doesn't matter if you talk," Blake said, "We're going. One way or another."

"Yeah, we're not leaving Peter with those guys," Yang agreed.

"Peter's our friend," Ruby said, "We'll save him. We have to."

"We all will," Danny said. "And I might have an idea how."

"Which is?" Weiss asked.

"Give me until tomorrow. I'll call Yang when I have it figured out," Danny said before leaving the ballroom.

"But tomorrow's our mission…" Ruby whined.

"I trust Danny to figure things out," Yang said.

"When did you two start talking?" Weiss questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Since the other night with Torchwick. Him and Luke are pretty cool guys actually."

"It's our fault…" Blake said.

"What?" Weiss asked.

"It's our fault Peter was taken. He didn't want to go out, he just wanted to spend the night here with us. But we convinced him to go right out into a trap!"

"Blake, we couldn't have known-" Ruby started to say.

"That doesn't change the fact that it's our fault! We couldn't let him just be Peter for one night. We sent him out to be Spider-Man."

"Blake, where is this coming from? It's not that you're wrong, just… there's something else," Weiss said.

Blake sighed. "I just think we shouldn't have said anything." Blake then started for the exit. "I'll meet you guys back at the dorm. I just need a minute."

Penny was returning to her guest dorm from the dance with two Atlas soldiers trailing her, when she looked ahead to see Ironwood and a man in Atlesian regalia she didn't recognize. He wore a white trench coat over a vest of Atlesian armor, which itself was over a gray t-shirt. Below the waist he wore the pants of an Atlesian officer and black combat boots. Strapped onto his back was an atlesian rifle, and two pistols holstered at his waistline. Painted onto the white armored vest in black was an intimidating skull. "Oh, Salutations, General Ironwood!" Penny cheerfully greeted. "What brings you here?"

"I just came back from the dance myself, actually. Did you enjoy yourself?" Ironwood asked.

"It was wonderful! I had never been around so many people 'my age' before!" Penny brightened. Castle glared at Ironwood as soon as Penny said, one the General noticed, but did not directly acknowledge. "And the music! Oh, it was fantastic!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Penny." Ironwood looked to the two soldiers. "You are dismissed." Penny's entourage quickly made themselves scarce, leaving only the General, Penny and the Punisher in the dorm hall, the latter of whom Penny finally addressed.

"And who may you be, sir?" She asked.

"Penny, this is Specialist Castle. He will be your new personal bodyguard for the rest of our time in Vale for the Vytal Festival."

"If you don't mind me asking, General, why the sudden change?" Penny asked.

"It… has come to my attention that perhaps, despite your newest freedoms, we are still restricting you more than we should. The Vytal Festival is a time to mingle with people from other kingdoms. So, we will be giving you more freedom to do what you want, under the condition that Specialist Castle accompanies you wherever you may go."

"But... what would my father think?"

"It was your old man who requested this," Castle lied. "When he heard about you and another girl running from Atlesian guards, it didn't take him long to figure out why."

"I see…" Penny said, slightly looking down.

"Don't take it so hard, Penny. If anything, you're doing exactly what the Vytal Festival encourages. We were just being cautious before," Ironwood said. "Your father loves you very much, which is why it was a tough decision for him to make this change. But I assured him you would be in good hands."

"So… what rules will be in place?"

"That will be up to Specialist Castle's discretion, much to my chagrin. He will be your authoritive figure if your father or I am not present."

"Yes, sir!" Penny stood at attention, which Castle didn't like one bit.

Kids shouldn't act like soldiers, he thought to himself.

"Well, it's an honor to meet you, Mr. Castle!" Penny smiled. "I do hope we can get along!"

"Yeah," Castle grunted, "Me too, kid."

"Now, we will take our leave for the night. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Penny. Have a good night."

"You as well, General! And you, Specialist Castle!" Penny waved. The two military men then left Penny, turning the corner at the end of the hall. Once they were gone, Penny entered her dorm and shut the door behind her. She took a breath before moving further into the room to change out of her dress, but then saw movement out the window, and quickly moved to it. She looked out the window and looked around, not seeing anything, until the tail end of a ribbon dropped just above her. She leaned further out the window and looked up to see Blake climbing up to a room two floors above Penny's own. "Blake? Is that you?"

"What?" Blake said aloud before looking down on the android. "Penny?"

"Hello, Blake! Um, what are you doing climbing the side of the guest dorm building?" Penny asked.

"N-Nothing, don't worry about it," Blake deflected before continuing to climb until she got to the window of her destination.

"I could be of some assistance if that's what you require," Penny suggested.

"I'm fine, Penny," Blake sighed as she gripped onto the windowsill, pulled Gambol Shroud from the wall and started to pry the window open with the weapon.

"Whose room are you trying to break into?"

Blake sighed again, trying to keep calm. "Peter's."

"Why are you breaking into Peter's room? Couldn't he just let you in?"

"He's not here, Penny." Blake was making no progress, so she frustratingly forced it as hard as she could, snapping the lock in half and causing the window to hinge outward and slam the wall, cracking the glass. "Dammit…" Blake then crawled into Peter's room and sheathed her weapon. She began to look around his room ,searching for something. She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration and turned back around to see Penny in the room with her, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Then where is he? I saw him leave the dance hours ago. Is he still out doing-" Penny paused, hesitating to finish the thought out loud. "His other work?"

"Right… I forgot you knew about that…"

"To be honest, it's hard to forget seeing someone so beaten up in a dockyard. How long was he in the medical ward for?" Penny asked.

"A week, not that he actually stayed there," Blake sighed.

"Blake, what's really happened to Peter?" Penny questioned.

"He's… He's been taken," Blake answered.

Penny gasped. "Taken?!"

Blake nodded. "By the same people you saw at the docks that night. We don't know exactly where he is, so I thought maybe if I find something that we can use to track his suit, then we can find him faster. His lab was locked up tight, and since it's a school room and not a dorm, I'd rather not set off the alarm trying to get in. And I didn't really want people watching me go into someone else's empty dorm, so that's why I climbed in from outside."

"I see…" Penny replied. "Well, I offer my assistance in your endeavor, Blake!"

"No, Penny, you should go back downstairs."

"Look, I don't know Peter very well, but he's a friend of yours, a friend of Ruby's. And any friend of Ruby's is a friend of mine. So please, let me help," Penny begged. Blake sighed again and gently nodded her head. "Okay. Just… don't go digging through everything. Even when we save him, he's not going to be happy that someone was going through his things."

"I understand," Penny nodded before aiding Blake in a search of Peter's dorm. For nearly ten minutes, the two scoured his room top to bottom, finding nothing and leaving only the area around his desk left. Penny saw his picture of MJ taped to the backboard of the desk, and turned to Blake. "Who is she?"

"Someone who was… close to Peter. She's what drives him everyday."

"I see," Penny said before glancing over the surface of the desk to look for anything important.

"I should've known he wouldn't keep anything we could need in his dorm. It would all be in the lab, and we don't exactly have free roam of it," Blake let out a frustrated growl. "Guess we'll be looking the old fashioned way tomorrow."

Penny saw a card stuck under a few papers, and pulled it out. It was a silver plastic card, like a credit card, and on it was a picture of Peter in his old spider-suit, with the name "Spider-Man" in bold below it. On the right side of the card in red, placed on a red circle that sat behind it, was a large capital A. "Any idea what this is? It is not an identification I recognize."

"Hm… I don't know. I don't recognize it either. But it's just a card, it's not gonna help us. Nothing here will."

"On the contrary, my sensors indicate a vast array of electronics within this card, including a tracker."

"Which doesn't help us if it's not with him," Blake replied. "I guess I came in here for nothing. Let's go, Penny." Blake started to walk away, then noticed Penny wasn't moving. "Penny?" The android's attention was still on the card. "Hey, remember what I said about digging around? That's Peter's. Let's go." Penny set the card back down on the desk and followed Blake back out the window. As they both left, neither noticed the card was now faintly pulsing blue on the A.

Tony was asleep against the edge of a central terminal in a large conference room, an empty mug and an empty wine glass next to him. He stayed asleep until he was shaken awake by someone behind him. "H-Hm?" Tony sat up and turned to see Steve Rogers next to him in a leather jacket, white t-shirt, jeans and boots. Steve had blonde hair, blue eyes, a fair complexion, and was built like a wall. "Oh, Steve. Hey," Tony rubbed his eyes and yawned. "I must've passed out…"

"You're still working the Kingpin dilemma," Steve said, less of a question and more as a matter of fact statement.

"Well, the way Strange explained it, we get them all back before they do too much damage, or we look at multiversal destruction. Don't exactly have much of a choice, do I?" Tony replied.

"Maybe, but it's been three months, Tony. You haven't made progress, and the world hasn't ended. Maybe Strange was wrong, and maybe you need sleep," Steve suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," Tony replied while looking down the emptiness of his coffee mug.

Steve smiles and helps Tony out of his chair. "C'mon back upstairs. T'Challa and Janet are cooking up some dinner for the team."

"Food does sound nice right now…" Tony smiled a bit as Steve started helping him towards the door, when a pulsating beeping sound echoed from the terminal. The two Avengers turned back around to see the holographic display change into a tracking system, beeping and blinking over and over again, alongside a hologram of Spider-Man's Avengers ID. "But it looks like my work just picked up again…" Tony sighed before returning to his chair.

"I didn't know Spider-Man was back on active duty," Steve remarked, returning to Tony's side.

"Based on the little bit of security cam footage before the blast, it looked like he came back the night of the collider explosion. He, Daredevil and Spector all turned up at the site at once. Based on the ID trackers, Luke and Danny met them there."

"Well, Spider-Man chose a hell of a night to return."

"Yeah, you could say that. The tracker isn't blipping anywhere on the planet, but Avengers Mansion's receiver is still picking up the signal. Somehow, my tracker must be sending the signal between realities. Which is exactly what we need to find them."

"Tony-" Steve started to say.

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. Just ask Vision to bring down a couple plates, I need to call Reed and Strange over here, start cracking down on this. Just tell them I'm sorry."

"I understand," Steve nodded before leaving Tony behind in the conference room and taking the elevator back up to Avengers Mansion.

Tony rubbed his eyes and sighed before leaning back in his chair, looking at the digital beacon before him. "C'mon, kid, where are you?"

"Professor Ozpin," Matt said, "Give me the all clear, and my team and I will find the White Fang base and bring Peter back. We can handle ourselves, and it will put our enemy on the defensive."

"It's not that I don't recognize your argument, Professor Murdock. In many ways, I actually agree with it."

"Then why are you saying no?" Matt questioned.

"Because you still fail to see the bigger picture," Ozpin answered. "Mr. Parker is your friend, but you also see him as your responsibility." Ozpin chuckles a bit. "Responsibility. A word I find associated with that young man more every day."

"Get to your point, Professor," Matt said.

"My point, Mr. Murdock, is that you seem to think my students are incapable," Ozpin answered.

"Because to be brutally honest, when it comes to who we're dealing with, they are incapable, and very much so. Besides, as I recall, first-year huntsmen don't have any missions in the Southeast. Your rules are set in place."

"Yes, and you are so bound by rules and laws, aren't you, Mister Murdock? A defense attorney by day, it is important that you defend your client while still following every regulation under your legal system. That must also be why by night you take the appearance of the Devil himself to strike fear into criminals as a vigilante. Tell me, doesn't that violate your rules that are set in place?"

"It more bends them," Matt replied. "Sometimes an extra step must be taken to ensure those at fault are brought to justice, and those who are innocent are protected."

"And that's the line, isn't it, Mr. Murdock? Matthew Murdock protects the innocent, while Daredevil brings justice to the guilty?"

"I'd say that's a good summarization, Professor," Matt agreed.

"Well, then, you bend your rules. You must know the children will not sit by even if I myself ordered them to. Mr. Parker is their dear friend, and vice versa. So perhaps instead of waiting for them to break the rules, why don't we simply bend them?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

Ruby sat glumly on her bunk, head in her hands. She let out a heavy sigh. "I hope Peter's okay…"

"He'll be fine. He's a tough guy. Besides, you'll have no need to worry once we find and rescue him!" Weiss assured her leader.

Yang set a hand on her little sister's shoulder. "I'm sure everything will be alright, Ruby. Oh! I know what will cheer you up!" Yang then left her sister's side and approached the desk, and on it sat a tube wrapped up in mail packaging.

"What's that?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know yet, Dad sent it to us," Yang answered as she picked the tube up from the desktop. "I thought we could open it up together."

"Oooh, something from home!" Ruby squealed at a piercing pitch before speeding behind her sister, waiting for her to open it. The bottom of the tube popped open, and down dropped a roll of a furry-looking material. The roll of fur then hopped around until it unfurled into a short, chubby dog with black and white fur. It gave a small bark with a wide puppy smile, much to the surprise of the team. Ruby leapt up in joy. "Zwei!"

"He sent a dog?!" Blake questioned.

"In the mail?" Weiss added.

"Oh, he does stuff like this all the time," Yang assured their teammates as Ruby picked up Zwei, cuddling and fawning over the dog as it licked her face all over.

"Your father or the dog?" Blake asked, suddenly moved onto Ruby's top bunk suspended from the ceiling.

Weiss put her hands on her hips and glared at Zwei, who leaned his head back and looked back at Weiss with the same puppy grin. "Are you telling me that this mangy, drooling, mutt is…" Weiss then suddenly broke out with an endearing smile and wide eyes, and began speaking as if she were doing so to a baby. "Is going to wive with us forever? Oh, yes he is! Yes he is! Oh, isn't he adorable?"

"Please keep it away from our belongings…" Blake said, now on the opposite end of Ruby's bunk, against the wall.

Then Goodwitch's voice came over the intercom. "Would all first year students please report to the Ampitheatre?" Ruby set Zwei down, who immediately went over to the bunks and looked up to Blake, who tried to stay hidden from the canine.

"Well, we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for a week," Weiss said.

Yang checked the tube again, dropping the other lid and pulling out a piece of parchment. "Look, there's a letter. 'Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days, so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang'. Yang then turned back to the tube and flipped it upside down, emptying an impossible amount of cans of dog food onto the floor of the dorm room.

"What is he supposed to do with that?" Weiss asked. Then a can opener fell out and bounced off Zwei's head. The dog was unphased. Yang then tossed the tube away.

"Welp, that settles it! C'mon, girls! Zwei will be here when we get back!" Yang then started to lead the team out the door. Weiss fawned over Zwei on her way out, promising she'll miss him and see him when they return, while Blake leapt off the bed onto the desk, then off the desk out the doorway. Ruby, however, stared down at her dog, who cluelessly stared back. An idea sparked in Ruby's head, causing her to smirk.

The team entered the auditorium packed to the brim with students, and Ozpin and Goodwitch on stage. "Quiet! Quiet, please!" Goodwitch commanded as the team set their bags down with those of the other students and joined the crowd, JNPR right behind them and CRDL in front of them. Cardin looked back at them, and Ruby gave a small wave. Cardin slightly smiled and waved back before returning his attention to the front. Part of Venom emerged from his back and also waved before retreating back into his host, causing Ruby to giggle. "Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin!" Goodwitch then stepped off to the side with Luke, who stood at the back exit of the room.

"Today we stand here together, united," Ozpin began. "Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The Four Kingdoms of Remnant. "On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression, a war that was about much more than where borders fel or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self expression, and as you're all well aware, that is something many could not stand for." Ozpin shook his head. "As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come, and it is a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united, but this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission. Some of you might be taken out of the kingdom for several days, others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best." THe headmaster gave the massive crowd of students a genuine smile before stepping off the stage, and all of the Huntsmen in training gave a roaring round of cheer and applause.

"This is perfect!" Ruby smiled. "All we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the Southeast!"

"Yeah! We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip at night!" Yang agreed.

"Well, that's one option," Ozpin said as both he and Matt approached them. "But I have the sneaking suspicion you'll defy orders no matter which job you choose."

"Whatever makes you say that?" Ruby asked with a nervous smile.

"Put yourselves at ease. I am not here to reprimand you for planning to break the rules for good reasons. I know Mr. Parker has been taken," Ozpin said.

"So he told you," Yang said, glaring at Matt.

"Did he also tell you he wanted to keep us out of it when Peter needed our help?" Blake asked the headmaster.

"I still do," Matt said, "But it's been taken out of my hands."

"While Professor Murdock's sentiment wasn't wrong, his expectations of you were. He concluded you'd sit on the sidelines while he conducted the mission himself. But I knew better. So I decided to bend the rules a little," Ozpin said.

"Bend how?" Weiss asked.

"You four will accompany the Defenders to the southeast region, locate the White Fang's base of operations, and rescue Peter before it is too late. This will be your first mission as huntresses."

Thank you, Professor Ozpin!" Ruby said with a smile. "We won't let you down!"

"While I appreciate the sentiment, it's not me you're doing this for."

"R-Right."

"Come on, girls," Matt ordered. "Danny and Jessica are already loading the bullhead." He started to lead them out of the auditorium and slightly paused, sniffing the air. "Why do I smell a dog?"

"Oh, Ruby and I's Dad sent our dog Zwei in for us to take care of while he's out on a mission," Yang answered. He stayed paused a bit longer.

"Huh." They then continued out to the ship.

When Marc started to come to, he realized his arms were tied behind his back with several layers of rope, with another thick rope wrapped tightly around his neck as a bandit held onto the other end like a leash, and another set of ropes around his torso. He was being dragged through the dirt as the bandits pulled him through a large wooden gate into a closed off compound, a large camp bordered off from the rest of the world by tall wooden walls. He struggled to keep his consciousness as he was pulled in front of and dropped in front of a tent slightly larger than the others. The bandits forcefully yanked him up onto his knees, and they kept his weapons drawn on him the whole time. The lead bandit from before, a scrawny punk with missing teeth and filthy shoulder-length dirty blonde hair approached the tent. "Raven! We have a trespasser!" A few moments passed before two women came out of the tent.

One was younger, with tan skin, short brown hair, and icy blue eyes. She had a tattoo of a bird rising from flowers on her left arm. She wore a light brown vest with dark brown panels on the top and a dark brown buckled strap on the back, over a torn white shirt that was partially unbuttoned revealing a black bra, alongside a collar that was slightly turned up behind her neck. She also wore maroon-colored jeans with the right side rolled up to her thigh revealing the dark pink lining alongside a brown belt with a pouch attached to the right side, dark brown calf guards with one having a garter styled strap that went under her rolled-up pant leg, a pair of beige and dark brown lace-up boots with folded over sides, showing over the white lining accompanied by a pair of maroon socks that partially covered her calf guards, dark brown fingerless gloves of different sizes, with the right being wrist length with a large cuff whilst the other was elbow length and covered with a dark brown vambrace. Lastly, she wore a narrow dark brown choker strap around her neck.

The second woman Marc recognized from pictures he had seen in the archive before leaving Vale: Raven Branwen herself, the leader of the Branwen tribe. She had pale white skin, long, slightly curly black locks, and blood red eyes. Her hair was tied back by a red bandana and loosely done up in a ponytail with the ends resembling black feathers, and there were slight age lines under her eyes. A small cowlick protruded from the top of her head as well. Raven's outfit consisted of a V neck black and red wrap style top with a black pleated skirt that has black shorts underneath, with a series of beaded necklaces around her neck. She also wore a red obi sash around her waist alongside a red tassel wrapped around her waist that carries her weapon's sheath. Attached to it was a long black object that is either fur or feathers, with a red and white bandana material hung from behind her. Her forearms bore red armored gauntlets that protruded outwards and black fingerless gloves. She wore black mid-thigh high boots that had armor plating with red splatter patterns and black heels.

"Where did you find this 'trespasser'?" Raven asked the bandit.

"A couple miles out," The bandit answered. "And he was looking for you."

"He was looking for me, and you actually brought him here?" Raven questioned in an angered tone, raising an eyebrow at the bandit. The bandit took a small step back and let out a nervous whine.

"Yeah," Marc said raspily, "They sure did. I'd say they took the long way with it though."

Raven scowled and came down the steps from her tent, and approached Marc, the other bandits clearing a way for her. Once she stopped right in front of Marc, she pushed his hood off and pulled the mask from his face, revealing the bloodied face of the ex-mercenary. "Who are you? And what do you want with me?"

"I'll be real copacetic when these ropes are taken off," Marc replied.

"That won't be happening. Now I will ask again, what do you want with me?"

"And I'll say it again: I'll talk when you get me out of these fucking ropes. Or I could break out myself and break the bones of even more of your punks." Raven scowled and drew her sword, a blood red blade that she pressed against his neck.

"I won't ask again."

I don't believe we're in the place to threaten, Marc, Steven warned.

Yeah, really wish Jake would come out of hiding about now, Marc replied. "Fine. I'm here for answers about Ozpin."

Raven didn't seem to expect this answer. "Ozpin?" She asked, as if checking if she heard him right.

"I didn't stutter, Branwen. I've done my research. You left Beacon and Team STRQ because of something between you and Ozpin, and much like you, I'm not on the 'Trust the Sketchy Headmaster' bandwagon. He's hiding something, and you probably know what it is, so I want to know."

"You… you must be one of those masked men of his, running around as 'protectors' of Vale," Raven deduced.

"Ozpin doesn't own me. No one does," Marc corrected.

Want to try that again? Khonshu remarked in the back of his head.

Not now, you dusty old bird, Marc snapped. "He's trying to hide things from us, important things. The others want to blindly trust him, but I refuse to, not when he's that shitty at keeping it hidden."

Raven smirked a bit and pulled her weapon away from Marc's throat. "It seems Ozpin just can't stop turning his allies away with his secrecy." She sheathed her blade.

"So does that mean I get these ropes off?" Marc asked.

"No," Raven simply replied. She then turned to the other bandits. "Lock him away. I'll deal with him later." Four of Raven's men started dragging Marc again, away from her tent.

"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be?" Marc remarked.

"You came to the wrong place for easy answers," Raven said. "When we're eventually done with you, I'll be sure to send Ozpin your remains."