Previously, on The Defenders of Remnant...
"Remember when I said not far enough?" Matt said. "Well, now we're really not far enough." The entire group looked forward and saw the tunnel was barricaded ahead by a metal door.
"Everyone, get close!" Weiss exclaimed. Everybody quickly grouped themselves together. Weiss twirled around, pointed Myrtenaster down, and stabbed it downwards, creating a glyph that formed a thick barrier of ice around all of them, protecting them as the train collided with the barrier and burst through up to the surface.
It didn't take them long after to realize their situation: they were surrounded by a horde of Grimm ready to tear them to pieces in Vale's town square.
"These things look hungry," Jessica remarked.
Yang said, "We have to keep them here and away from the rest of the city."
"She's right," Matt agreed. "If we let them escape, they'll spread throughout the city, cause panic, and draw more. But as long as we keep them in the square, they're focused on us.
Y'know, I would've hoped you'd come with backup. We can handle ourselves, but this is a ridiculous amount of monsters," Marc remarked.
"See, that's the fun part about being a soldier again…" Castle said as he looked up. Marc, as well as everyone else in the square, also looked to the sky as Ironwood's main flagship filled the sky , and several smaller ships descended from the massive hulk of metal.
The smaller ships descended just a few dozen feet above the buildings and hovered there, lowering their ramps and allowing squads at a time of Atlesian Knights to drop to the ground and quickly behind dispatching Grimm, keeping them from getting too far from the town square.
"How are your injuries?" Weiss asked with a concerned tone.
"Not as bad as they could be," Peter answered.
"Try not to worry us like that again, okay?" Weiss said.
"It's not his fault," Blake said. "It was us who made him go out the other night."
"None of this is your fault. Yeah, I tried to stay at the dance, and you all convinced me to go. But if that danger had been real, if someone else was hurt and I actively ignored it… I wouldn't know what to think. I would blame myself just like you guys are now.
"He's right. It's no different than us Huntresses and Huntsmen. It's our duty to protect the people of our kingdom, our world," Weiss defended.
"And that's exactly what you all did, Blake," Peter said to the faunus, who glanced back up at him. "Y'know, you can blame yourself all you want, but in the end, you still did exactly what Huntresses do: you saved my life, you stopped the White Fang, you helped fight an army of Grimm, and you did it all without me. I don't make this team, you four do. And you showed the world that today. I know it, they know it, and you can be sure the bad guys know it."
Blake pondered this for a moment, then let out a sigh. "And you said I knew what to say…"
Peter smiled and let out a sound of relief. "Well, with all that behind us, what's the plan now?"
"We need to have a talk, teach," Luke said.
"About what, may I ask?" Ozpin questioned.
"The truth," Danny answered. "The one that you've been hiding from us from day one."
"I'm not sure what you mean," Ozpin replied, though an uneven feeling began filling stomach.
"Salem, the two Brothers, the Maidens, reincarnation, is any of this ringing a bell, Ozma?!" Marc moved to stand before the headmaster and placed his gloved hands on Ozpin's desk.
Ozpin looked at the five heroes staring him down. "If I were to tell the world about Salem, every human on the planet would go into a panic, lighting the fires of fear for the Grimm to follow. Humanity would be gone within days. The Huntsman academies were symbols of peace and stability. It made people feel calm. And then you all land on my doorstep. Believe me when I say, I still fully intend to send you all home when we have the ability, but ever since you've started protecting the kingdom of Vale, the entire world has watched. You give people hope in a way Huntsmen never could. You are symbols more powerful than I could ever hope to create. And if the entire world has hope and positivity, then that is a large victory over Salem and the Grimm."
"Here's a question for you, Professor: what do you intend to do once we're gone?" Matt asked.
"It's over, Willy. You've lost. You'll be arrested and held in jail until everyone else has been rounded up, and you'll have yourself a nice place in Ryker's back home." Fisk just looked down in defeat as blood still stained his face.
Then an unsteady red dot appeared on his face. Peter realized what was happening, just too late. "No-!" Then the gunshot echoed across the entirety of the docks, and a sniper round went right through Fisk's left eye. Fisk stumbled backwards before falling off the pier and into the rushing waters below.
"So… he's dead then," Cinder said.
"The Punisher hit him with a sniper round to the face. His body is at the bottom of the sea," Taskmaster said.
"Cinder was wanting a report on your current research, Mason," Mercury said.
"Well, you can tell her that my further endeavors into genetic tinkering have proven fruitful. Take a look," Mason gestured to the cylinder. The two looked up into the cylinder to see the body had the face of Peter Parker.
"I-Is that…?" Emerald started to ask.
"No, my dear, it's not. Peter Parker himself is behind the walls of Beacon Academy now. But Taskmaster was kind enough to give me some of the boy's DNA while he tortured him. This, Emerald… this will be our newest enforcer. We lost the Lizard, but who better to replace him, than an exact clone of Spider-Man?" The three of them kept staring at the face that wasn't Peter Parker, and the clone remained unconscious, floating there as it was fed oxygen.
The Defenders of Remnant
Chapter 26: Recovery
Tony sipped the rest of the coffee in his mug as Reed and Strange were working with holographic assets projected from the table between them. The assets were of sphere's labeled Earth-1313 (Home) and Target World, and an image of Peter in his spider suit labeled A-15: Spider-Man was placed above Target World. "Almost four months…"
"What?" Reed asked Tony.
"Four months. That's how long we've been at this, hitting it from both science and… party tricks," Tony said, gesturing to Strange, who just rolled his eyes at the wisecrack. "But we haven't made a dent even after Peter's transponder came through."
"Tony, these things take time. If we want to cross worlds right, we need to not only reverse-engineer the Tinkerer's collider, but develop a targeting system to go specifically to that world. The machine was capable, but it clearly couldn't target exact universes," Reed replied.
"Besides, this isn't something you can butt your head against until you come up with the next revolutionary idea, Stark," Strange remarked, eyeing down the founding Avenger. "The Multiverse is a concept about which we know frighteningly little. Trying to blow a wider hole just to bring them all back will create unimaginable chaos that could destroy both worlds. So we take this slow and careful, or doom everyone."
"And here I thought I was pretentious," Tony simply replied, playing Strange's warning off and standing up from his seat and heading for the elevator. "I'm getting a nightcap from upstairs, you guys want something?"
"It's four in the morning," Reed said.
"Yeah, practically happy hour," Tony smirked before entering the elevator.
Taskmaster watched from a walkway above as their newest addition to the team proved himself more than a match for Emerald and Mercury. None of their attacks landed on him, and he ensured his were not the same. Before long, Cinder took Taskmaster's side and also began to observe. "It seems our newest addition is adapting well," She commented.
"Indeed. If we'd had this guy before, maybe those huntresses wouldn't have been as much of a problem," Taskmaster agreed.
"Everything still went to plan. Now all we have to do is wait for the right time, and Vale will fall."
"I'd say four months has been long enough," Taskmaster replied.
"Just hang on a little longer, and we will be completely victorious," Cinder assured him.
"In this kingdom. There are still three more."
"One step at a time." Cinder smiled a bit at Taskmaster, and he looked back at her.
Below, Emerald saw the two lock eyes, and growled under her breath. It didn't matter what Cinder said, Emerald still didn't like Taskmaster, and she liked moments like these between him and CInder even less. This momentary distraction was more than enough to leave her open. "Emerald!" Mercury called. Emerald snapped out of it and looked back forward just before the steel tip of a black combat boot connected with her jaw and sent her spinning away. She slammed into the wall and dropped to the ground, dropping her weapons just as her aura shattered. It was like being kicked with the force of a cannon. Even with just a kick to the jaw, it made her entire upper body sore, and the ringing in her ears was sharp. As she tried to push herself back up, she felt the rush of force in the air as Mercury was thrown over her and not only at the same wall, but through it, blasting a human-sized opening with the force. Mercury landed on the other side and groaned as his aura was shattered
Emerald glanced up at their attacker, the newest member of their sect: Black Tarantula. He was as tall as Mercury. He had a thinner but stocky build, clearly in top shape. He wore a black leather jacket over an unbuttoned white collared shirt, and under that he wore dark gray padded material meant to withstand Dust rounds. He wore black jeans and a black belt with a silver buckle. His shoes were steel-tipped combat boots. From his fists up to just short of his elbows he wore white armor that covered his knuckles, the back of his hand, and his forearms. Finally, over his face he wore a black cloth mask with white eyepieces, and down it's face was an upside-down white spider, not too different from that of Spider-Man's, aside from the color and position.
Black Tarantula looked down at Emerald, who gritted her teeth and glanced at her weapons not too far away. She was about to reach for them when Tarantula kicked them away from her.
"The fight's over," Black Tarantula replied, "Your aura's drained. Try again, and you'll lose." Emerald snarled and snapped up to her full height to attack again when Cinder called her off.
"Emerald!" Her voice made Emerald stop instantly and slowly back away from Tarantula. "That's enough."
"Y-Yes, ma-am," Emerald said.
"Mercury?" Cinder called.
"I think I'm just gonna lay here for a minute…" Mercury groaned from the other side. Tarantula rubbed his neck.
"Impressive, Tarantula. Your fighting skills have improved," Cinder noted.
"It's your control that needs some work," Taskmaster added.
Tarantula looked at his hands. "This strength… It's so overwhelming. It's hard to get used to."
"You'll adapt soon enough," Cinder assured him. "I think that's enough training for today."
"I can keep going," Tarantula insisted.
"But your test dummies clearly can't," Taskmaster said, earning a glare from Emerald.
"Then let me go hit my target," Tarantula demanded.
"Not yet," Taskmaster snapped.
"You will be able to fight Spider-Man soon enough," Cinder assured Tarantula, "But you must be patient."
"Yes, Cinder," Tarantula sighed.
Cinder smirked. "Get some rest and take it easy for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we will train again, and when you're ready, you will face him." Tarantula nodded and stretched out before leaving the room, and Emerald went over to help Mercury to his feet.
"So are we gonna talk about the other night?" Taskmaster asked Cinder.
"Not the time," Cinder replied.
"Yeah, because you're really professional normally," Taskmaster remarked.
Cinder turned on her heel to face him, her smirk replaced with an annoyed frown. "Not. Now."
"Why not? What's the big deal? You don't want the little kiddies hearin'?"
"We can talk about this later. Tonight. Right now, we have more important things to do. A city doesn't fall overnight."
"You've been particularly snappy today," Taskmaster said.
Cinder growled in frustration. "We will talk tonight. End of discussion." Cinder then turned away and left just as Tarantula had. Taskmaster looked after her as she did, but could also feel a pair of eyes on him as well.
"You really don't like me, do you?" He asked Emerald, who was eyeing the back of his head while she holstered her weapons behind her back.
"What gave you that idea?" Emerald asked insincerely.
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Taskmaster questioned as he turned to face her.
"No," Emerald admitted.
"You think I'm a threat. To you, To Salem, and most importantly, to Cinder. Am I close?" Emerald fidgeted a little, her arm twitching in expectation, in case she needed to draw her weapons.
"Y-Yes," She stammered.
"Well get over it," Taskmaster said. "I'm not going anywhere. And you're right: I am a threat. But not to you." He walked right up to Emerald and looked down at her. This startled her and she stepped back and gripped one of her weapons, a sudden panic washing over her. Even though the mask and visor hid his face, it felt like Taskmaster was locking eyes with her, staring right into her soul. "Unless you make me one."
Emerald felt the anxiety build up and couldn't hold it anymore. She gripped one of her weapons, but before she could even pull it out, one of Taskmaster's hands gripped her wrist while the other, with metal claws protruding from his fingertips, pressed against her stomach threateningly. A lump formed in her throat. She couldn't breathe. "This is both your assurance… and a warning." Taskmaster then pulls his hands away and leaves just as Cinder and Tarantula had done. Emerald finally took the chance to breathe and fell back against the wall behind her in her relief.
"This is completely unneeded, guys," Peter sighed.
"Nonsense," Weiss shook her head, "You are injured. We are helping nurse you back to health."
"Guys, I'm just a little banged up," Peter assured Team RWBY, who all stood around him while he laid in bed.
"A 'little' banged up?" Yang repeated in disbelief. "Pete, you were half-dead when we saved you. You need rest, and a lot of it."
"We don't want you to hurt yourself more than you already are," Blake said worryingly. "So just take it easy for at least a few days. No mask, no webs."
"Let the Defenders handle the city for a bit until you're back at full strength," Ruby added. "And so long as you take it easy, you might even be in good enough shape to walk around again when the Vytal Festival starts."
"We wouldn't want you missing our match after all," Weiss smirked.
"Won't the matches be televised?" Peter asked.
"It's not the same as seeing it in person!" Weiss replied. "The Vytal Festival is an important event! And the last thing we want is you missing it."
"You mean missing you showing the world the best huntresses around?" Peter smiled.
"Oh hush you," Weiss waved him off but smiled.
"He's not wrong, though. We've come a long way," Ruby said. "I mean, look at us at the start of the first semester. We were all a mess. We couldn't work as a team. But now? We've saved the city from hordes of Grimm and stopped supervillains! How can you top that?"
"She's right," Yang agreed. "We got nothing to worry about during the tournament."
"Which means you guys should take it easy too," Peter said. "Get some relaxation in before the big fights."
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea," Yang nodded.
"Team bonding is always good before a test of our abilities," Weiss agreed.
"Girls night?" Ruby suggested.
"Girls night," Yang nodded.
"We could go see if Nora and Pyrrha are free as well," Weiss suggested.
"C'mon, let's go now!" Ruby said excitedly. "Oh, bye Peter!"
"Have fun guys. I'll be swinging around again in no time."
"Get some rest, Peter," Weiss told him before stepping out.
"I'll, uh, catch up with you guys in a minute," Blake told her team.
"But we're supposed to be-" Ruby started to say, but her older sister covered her mouth and rushed her through the door.
"Don't worry, sis, Blake will catch up! C'mon, let's go!" Yang exclaimed as the three of them quickly left the room, closing the door behind them.
"What was that about?" Peter questioned.
"I'm… not sure," Blake replied in confusion.
"So what did you want to talk about?"
"It's about Taskmaster," Blake sighed.
"What, about how he let me go?"
"It's too suspicious. Why would he go to all the trouble of drawing you out and taking you only to give you back once the base was found? It doesn't make sense!"
"Not really, no," Peter agreed. "If I had to take a guess, it's because he doesn't want my suffering to be over. Taskmaster has been stopped by heroes like me for a long time, especially me. If he snapped on Fisk, god knows the amount of rage he has towards me. And now that he knows who I am, what I've done, he will not stop until I'm at my lowest."
"What stops him from telling the world who are? What happens when all of Remnant figures out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man?" Blake questioned.
"I don't think he'll do it. That's not his goal, otherwise he would've done it already. I don't think he cares if the world knows. All that matters is that he does."
"I don't like this, Peter," Blake admitted, a shiver going down her spine. She crossed and rubbed her arms. "There's so much going on we don't know about. We don't have any clue what their next move could be, and with the Festival only days away, we'll be the only ones looking out for them."
"Well, once I'm back on my feet, I'll be working overtime with everybody else. You're right, we just can't let them get away again."
"Right… I should let you rest. We'll check back in with you later." Blake went for the door and opened it. She glanced back over her shoulder. "Rest up. Don't need you missing our tournament match."
"You got it," Peter smiled. Blake smiled back before leaving and closing the door behind her.
When Team RWBY went to find Team JNPR for Nora and Pyrrha, only to discover that they were not in their dorm, they found themselves in the training arena, where they were with Danny, Jessica and Luke, training. Rather, Danny and Ren were meditating side-by-side clear of the arena, while center-stage were Pyrrha and Jaune against Luke and Jessica. "Well this should be interesting," Blake remarked.
"I think anyone against Luke is just unfair," Yang remarked.
"Well, who would be better: the unbreakable man or the untouchable girl?" Ruby questioned.
"I'm more worried about Jaune's chances than Pyrrha's," Weiss said. "He's not exactly the best fighter in the school."
"Don't count him out yet," Ozpin said as he approached them from behind before standing alongside them, looking down into the arena. "Mister Arc's improved greatly throughout the year, faster than almost any other student. He's tough and he's quick on his feet."
"I still don't like his odds, Professor," Weiss shook her head.
"This exercise isn't about them winning, it's about putting the odds of winning impossibly out of their reach, and what they do to hold the line against those odds. Victory is never a guarantee, Miss Schnee. But if we give in to our anxieties, our fears, and run from the duty before us, we don't only fail as Huntsmen, but we fail those who stand behind our swords and shields." The headmaster explained.
"It's not necessarily a test of their strength or fighting skills," Blake said, "But a test of their will."
"Precisely," Ozpin nodded.
Jaune and Pyrrha were side by side, facing down the two metahumans with their shields and weapons in hand.
"Alright kids, we'll try not to hit you too hard," Jessica remarked with a smirk.
"And we'll try to keep it slow for you," Jaune replied confidently.
"I like your guts, Jaune," Luke said before cracking his knuckles, "But I'm gonna lay you out."
"Mmmm… maybe. Pyrrha, now!" Jaune commanded. In an instant, Jaune put his shield in front of himself and was launched towards Luke by Pyrrha's polarity. It happened so fast, Luke barely had a chance to react before the shield collided with his face, and the force of the attack sent Luke flying back and landing on his back away from Jessica. Jessica wasn't given much of a chance either before Pyrrha rushed towards her.
Jessica punched the ground at their feet, cracking it and sending a shockwave towards the young huntress. Pyrrha leapt up and faced her shield toward the wave as she went over it, riding the aftershock and landing safely on the ground before then throwing her shield towards Jessica, quickly sending her feet out from under her. Jessica slammed down on her side and Pyrrha took a position standing over her, pointing the tip of her lance down at Jessica.
"You are beaten," Pyrrha said.
"Smooth, kid," Jessica remarked. Right before she kicked Pyrrha's legs out from under her and rose back up and stretched her shoulders. "Just not smooth enough." Pyrrha spun back up into a combat stance and gripped her weapons tightly.
"I'm glad. I wouldn't want to disappoint you," Pyrrha replied.
Jaune recovered from the launch and brought his guard back up, all before Luke even hit the ground. "Who's flattened out now?" Jaune quipped, almost in surprise. "Wow, I actually just did that…"
"Ugh, not bad, kid," Luke groaned before standing back up. "Coulda set my jaw sideways."
"Well, just because we can't cut you doesn't mean we can't hit you," Jaune explained.
"Didn't let the bulletproof skin stop ya. I can respect that. Smart move going for the head, too. My ears are still ringing."
"Thanks," Jaune thanked Luke with a smile.
"Still gonna flatten you out though."
"Oh…" Jaune said, some of his gusto leaving him. Luke rushed towards him and Jaune readied his shield for the attack.
"You guys wanna take bets for how long Jaune lasts?" Yang asked her teammates, receiving her a slug in the arm by her little sister. "Ow!"
"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed.
"What?" Yang asked innocently.
"I say five minutes," Blake said.
"I say five seconds," Weiss added. Ruby just let out a defeated sound realizing her defense of Jaune is pointless.
Especially when Jaune flew into the wall beside them and dropped to the ground.
"Ow…" Jaune groaned.
"Told you," Weiss said.
Pyrrha blocked a punch from Jessica with her shield, creating a resounding metal ringing that echoed in the air. Pyrrha quickly followed by moving to an offensive strategy, kicking Jessica's arm away followed by her kicking her jaw, stunning her long enough for Pyrrha to follow up by winding a strike with her shield and swinging upwards against Jessica's jaw, launching her upwards. Jessica crashed back down and didn't immediately get back up. "Oh no!" Pyrrha cried before dropping her shield and rushing to help Jessica up. "I'm sorry!"
"Ugh…" Jessica groaned as she let Pyrrha help her up. "You rocked my shit, kid… nice work…"
"I didn't mean to attack you so fiercely," Pyrrha apologized.
"You got caught up in the fight, it's all good. I'm not as sturdy as the boys anyway," Jessica said.
"What do you mean?' Pyrrha asked.
"Luke's the obvious one, but the other guys can take a beating more than any normal human could. I just have the strength," Jessica explained.
"I'm sorry, if I would've known, I would've held back."
"Then it wouldn't be a test, right?" Jessica said before patting Pyrrha on the back. "You did alright. You may wanna check on your boyfriend though. I think Luke hit him too hard too."
Pyrrha slightly blushed at Jessica's remark, but didn't remark on it before looking up to see Team RWBY helping Jaune to his feet. "Oh, hello!" Pyrrha greeted cheerfully.
"Hey guys. We were looking to go out for a girls night," Yang replied. "You in?"
"That sounds grand!" Pyrrha said before turning to Jessica. "Would you like to come with?"
"Nah, thanks for the offer, though. I think I'm gonna take a break and give my jaw a chance to rest. Maybe check in on Pete afterwards," Jessica answered.
"If you change your mind, call us!' Ruby called down.
"Will do," Jessica replied.
"Sorry again for hitting you so hard," Pyrrha apologized.
"Get goin, you're keeping them waiting," Jessica said with a smile.
Pyrrha nodded and went over to Jaune and Team RWBY, meanwhile Luke joined Jessica. "She really does look like her, doesn't she?" Luke asked.
"I don't know how Peter keeps himself together even looking at her… Well, I'm gonna go out for a walk, maybe shake this pain off."
"Or numb it with alcohol?" Danny suggested from across the room, he and Ren both finally coming out of their meditation.
"Not a bad idea. Maybe a visit to Junior's will help me out with this."
"Are you sure about that? I don't think he's been too happy since we quit on him," Luke said.
"He'll get over it. Besides, I'll be a paying customer," Jessica assured him.
"Whatever you say. Just be careful," Luke warned.
"Aren't I always?"
"I believe we have a problem," Tinkerer said, not turning to face Cinder, Taskmaster, Adam (who had returned to Vale the night of the attack), or Tarantula behind him.
"And that problem is…?" Cinder asked.
"This was the icon and status for our virus in the Atlas systems previously," Tinkerer said before displaying on the monitor above them a black queen chess piece against a red pulsing background.
"So?" Taskmaster questioned.
"This was the icon as of last night." Tinkerer changed the screen to show that the background had changed to white, and the Queen had changed to a different piece: a King.
"Has someone hacked into the virus?" Tarantula asked.
"I believe so, and when I tried to regain control of it, I found out who was responsible," Tinkerer said. "When I tried and failed to break in, this audio file transmitted and played itself."
An audio bar appeared on the screen, and with the press of a button, the recording began to play. "If you are listening, Mister Masters, Miss Fall, I'd like to let you know that I was wrong about a great many things."
The voice was unmistakable, one all too familiar to them. All but Tarantula, of course.
"Fisk?!" Taskmaster exclaimed. A well of anger filled up within him.
"How is this possible..?" Cinder questioned.
"I was wrong about trusting you two for example. The most talented assassin in the world, won over by a red witch with empty promises. I was also wrong in believing I could bide my time in order to construct a way back to our world while also playing the charade of a fair man, of the "good samaritan" as I had phrased it all those months ago. Despite my desire to bring my Vanessa back to me, I now realize that this wasn't possible with our previous arrangement.
I began to think it was because I, as the samaritan, was set upon by the ill-intended beings that were the two of you, snakes in the grass looking to cut my journey down the path short at the first clear opportunity, regardless of my pure intentions. And I thought you better, Mister Masters. A man who loses more pieces of his life the harder he fights to keep them. And I'm sure at one point your words to me were genuine, but it's funny, isn't it? How even the best of men can be… deceived by their true nature…"
Taskmaster could only see red as he watched the soundbars rising and falling with the gravelly low tones of Wilson Fisk's voice. "By that analogy, you would now be the travelers on a road you should not have been on, and I am the ill intent bearing down on you to reap your punishment." The audio file then came to a stop, and the room fell painfully silent. Cinder and Tinkerer both turned to Taskmaster.
"So, what do we-' Tinkerer started, but before the inventor even finished talking, Taskmaster's blade cleaved his head off his shoulders, only to reveal a mess of electrical wires and metal pieces inside, sparking at the cut body stumbled backwards before collapsing backwards on the ground.
"What the hell?!" Adam exclaimed.
"Who do you think got Fisk into our system?" Taskmaster questioned. "I should've known better, Mason would never want to stay here! He must've left while we were still at the docks, and left this LMD in his place!"
"So what do we do?" Tarantula asked. Taskmaster growled and retracted his sword's blade into its hilt and clipped it on his belt before turning to Cinder.
"Have we found Prowler yet?" Taskmaster asked.
"Emerald reported from her undercover position just before we were called here," Cinder answered. "He's hiding out at a club called Junior's downtown."
Taskmaster then wheeled onto Tarantula and pointed his finger towards him. "Then you and I are gonna start your first mission. We'll pay Junior's a visit, and capture Prowler. I wouldn't doubt Fisk has already contacted him."
"So capture Prowler, and then what?" Tarantula asked.
"Leave no witnesses," Taskmaster answered coldly before leaving the room. Tarantula followed suit. Cinder and Adam looked after them as they did.
"I'd admire his ruthlessness if that kind of action from humans wasn't what led to us creating the White Fang in the first place," Adam remarked.
"At least his is aimed against a common enemy," Cinder said.
"A common enemy that is now a roadblock to all of our plans," Adam said. "I will be waiting, but if Fisk somehow defeats Taskmaster and your underlings, do not expect me to stay to save the rest of you." Adam then also left, leaving Cinder to dwell on what had all just happened.
New Cast Member!
Black Tarantula