"Ok so reconfiguring the output, along with adding some kind of choke to adjust its damage might actually make this more efficient, but may not allow for…"

Peter was currently in his corner of the dorm going over notes to try and perfect Onyx Avenger. He was having a hard time with him still not being entirely used to how dust functions in Remnant. It didn't help that his thoughts kept tracing back to what happened a few days ago when he apparently ran the White Fang out of town.

He still didn't believe they were completely gone. His instincts told him that the last fight was way too easy, especially since none of the prominent leaders were there. Not in his entire experience did a crime boss he royally ticked off would miss the chance to personally take him out of the populace. He just wished the police felt the same. No one has seen anything of the terrorists, so everyone was praising Spider-Man for being the one who took down the most dangerous criminal organization in Vale, with most of the cops not even trying to look for them, just being thankful for the break they had from overtime since the rise in dust robberies.

There was still the White Fang's competition to deal with, but they were mostly just common thugs, so they were nowhere near the threat their predecessors were.

"Come on Parker, focus on the task at hand!"

Ever since Onyx Avenger was found to have way too much of a dust output, Peter had been trying to find a way to make it so he could control the damage it dealt, with the little knowledge he had about dust mechanics. He was surprised he even got this far.

After letting out a groan he hears a voice coming from behind him.

"Uhh, you ok with that?"

Peter turns around to see his team leader standing behind looking a bit concerned. "You've been talking to yourself and looking irritated for an hour now."

"Thank you, it's been very distracting and annoying. I would've already gone to the library if it wasn't so crowded." Weiss complains.

"Sorry, it's just that it was a bit loud…" Ruby sheepishly apologizes.

Embarrassed that everyone could hear his muttering Peter replies, "Uh yeah, no worries, I'm just sorry that you all heard that, I'll um, work on the volume…"

Curious about what he'd been doing, Ruby asks, "What are you doing there anyway?"

"As you saw before, my piece has a really bad output that's way more than I intended, so I'm trying to find a way to make it adjustable, without messing it up."

With stars in her eyes Ruby excitedly shouts, "Why didn't you say so?! I totally could've helped you with that! Lemme see! Lemme see!"

Finding her outburst adorable, Peter happily hands her the notebook of his notes, only remembering after she takes it that his web-shooter blueprints for adding dust to them were there as well.

"Please don't turn the page, Please don't turn the page…"

"Is this all the pages you have on it?" Ruby asks.

"Yeah! Nothing else in there!" Peter states rather desperately.

Ruby fortunately doesn't notice his tone as she's engrossed in the mechanisms of Onyx Avenger.

"The overall design's good, especially with how efficient it looks to be with dust, not to mention the reloading system's genius! The rotating carousel for the dust on the wrist really makes reloading fast and lets you hold more of the stuff! All it really needs is an adjustable choke for the output! And maybe some upgraded internals so it doesn't end up backfiring!"

Blushing from the praise and that she was getting super excited over his weapon, Peter only says, "I did have a bit of a tinkering hobby before coming here…"

Tired that her studying was still being disturbed, Weiss asks, "That's nice and all, but could you please take care of that somewhere else? I've been on the same page since I started, I'm getting nowhere!"

Not losing her spirit, Ruby continues, "She's right, we can fix this up in one of the workshops! Let's go!" She then grabs Peter's hand and leads him off before he can say anything as he turns red.

They get right up to the door of the workshop before Ruby realizes she's been holding Peter's hand.

"Oh, sorry. S-shall we get started?"

It had been two weeks since the supposed fall of the White Fang. Peter had been spending most of that time with Ruby, finally getting Onyx Avenger running the way Peter intended and adding more to it than it probably needed, but those additions still served a good function, like how they added dust output vents by the blade of the weapon to give it more cutting power when needed.

Witnessing how smart Ruby was at mechanical engineering was nothing short of impressive to Peter, who now was thinking of how it might be possible to get her input on adding dust to his web-shooters without blowing his cover.

He'd also been just enjoying her company in general, like how they'd sometimes get something to eat together.

Platonically of course, despite how pretty Peter thought she was, or with how absolutely adorable she was, but since spending so much time with her, Peter not only found someone to geek with, but also someone who really was admirable. In a way she reminded him of himself, having the same somewhat idyllic reasoning for wanting to be a hero that he had in his earlier days, which he still clung to a bit, despite all he'd been through. Besides that, he also saw the determination he shared to back up that reasoning. He also admired that she didn't need a deep personal tragedy of her own doing to have those values. In all, he couldn't help but admire her.

He even started to wonder if his feelings went beyond just platonic.

"So anyway I've been meaning to ask you… are you… ya know… gonna be going on a search for Spidey again?" Ruby asks, breaking Peter's train of thought.

Peter remembers how the day after he got back from the White Fang fight Yang confronted him about somehow getting off campus to go get pics of Spider-Man at lunch. They had all seen the newest article that revealed who the photographer was that got them in the photo credits, and naturally they were curious.

Peter just said that he needed to support himself, even being a student at Beacon, revealing to them that he was an orphan without parents to do so, but had a guardian he didn't want to burden.

After that no one felt comfortable to ask about his side job, at least until Ruby just did.

"Well I got a deal with VNN to bring in at least like 3 pics a week, so I might be going out in a few days." Peter replied.

"It's just… I don't want you to have to sneak out for that. You could get expelled if Ozpin knew."

"If he wasn't outright helping." Peter thought.

He was surprised that Ruby was concerned for him like this. It wasn't out of character for her, it was just unexpected, though he thought he should've known that someone like Ruby would care enough about her teammates to inquire about their well being if she thought they were in trouble.

"Hey, if I can sneak around the bad guys well enough to stay out of the line of fire, I think I can avoid an old geezer! But I appreciate the concern"

"Well, I mean if you wouldn't mind, I could try and help… Plus getting to see Spidey is always cool…" Ruby sheepishly states with a red tinge on her face.

Peter just smiles and says, "Well, I was already planning on going back on the prowl this weekend if you wanna come!"

"REALLY?!" Ruby happily gasps.

"Oh dang, I just dug myself into a hole there." Peter thought. "How am I gonna get pics of myself now?!"

Peter then looks back at Ruby's smiling face with his own starting to heat up, thinking of how cute she looks. "Well yeah! It'd be nice not to always go by myself!"

"Not like I'd be able to say no to her…"

The next day at lunch, as Peter's overhearing Nora talk about a dream she apparently had been having for about a month, he notices Jaune looking down. He doesn't really blame him, Cardin just humiliated him in front of their whole class by whipping his butt in training.

Also seeing his somber mood, Pyrrha asks if he's okay.

Coming out of his stupor Jaune replies, "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little... not okay…" Ruby interjects.

Not wanting to worry his friends, Jaune attempts to dispel their concern. "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" He tries failingly to seem like he wasn't upset with a thumbs up. They could also clearly see the person responsible for Jaune's mood bullying a Faunus rabbit girl nearby.

Having been a long time sufferer of bullying, Peter hadn't taken kindly to the sight or really Cardin and his goons in general.

Pyrrha, also not appreciating how Cardin's been bullying her leader, reminds him, "Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!"

"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah... He just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!"

Ruby gives him a look. "He's a bully."

"Oh, please! Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

Everyone gives Jaune a look as if they don't need to give him the numerous examples.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask."

Peter then adds, "Ya gotta do something. Trust me on this man, guys like that don't stop unless something makes them."

Nora then suggests, "Ooooh! We'll break his legs! That'll stop him!"

Not wanting this kind of attention, Jaune goes, "Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

"Ow! That hurts! Please, stop!"

As if to confirm Jaune's statement, they see that Cardin is now tugging on the girl's rabbit ears.

Unknown to anyone, Peter, had already had enough of seeing another Flash Thompson, and quietly goes over to him.

"See, I told you it was real!" Cardin jeered.

"Ya know, I thought we all evolved from doing all that."

Cardin and his team stop what they are doing and look over to Peter.

"I mean sure, that was something the guys did in kindergarten when they saw a girl they liked, but let me tell ya, that really ain't gonna cut it now!"

"What?! You mean you think-?! You better get on out of here Parker, before you get hurt!"

"I appreciate the concern, but I think I can handle things like ear pulling and whatnot. Unless you're gonna bring back cooties too. That's not stuff ya mess around with!"

That last comment is enough to make Cardin forget about tormenting the girl and decides to teach Peter a lesson by throwing him a well aimed right cross.

"Alright smart-ass."

Unfortunately for him the fist never connected.

Cardin stands surprised that Peter so easily dodged the punch without even changing his expression.

"So, is this you trying to impress her now? I guess that's a step in the right direction."

Angered even further, Cardin repeatedly tries to land a hit on the brown-haired teen, but Peter just keeps booping him on the nose each time, causing Cardin to yell to his teammates, "Get him!"

Peter just smiles at the team and says, "Aw what? I'm only trying to help the guy here! He's clearly failing at confessing his feelings!"

But even the added numbers did nothing for them as team CRDL tries to even touch him, but Peter just casually continues dodging them.

"Whoops, looks like my shoe's untied!" He says, bending down causing a wild punch to miss, sending one of the kids tripping. "Oh wait, no it isn't! Oops!"

He then bends down to the downed bully. "Here lemme help with that!" Peter sticks his leg behind him as he bends, causing another teammate to trip. "Ah, gosh! I'm sorry! I'm just real clumsy right now!"

"Hold still damnit!"

"Maybe if you ask a little more nicely!~"

Adding more salt to the wound, Peter remarks, "Ya know if the huntsmen thing don't work out, you guys might have a decent shot at dancing! I mean it is 4 against 1 here, and you all haven't been able to do nothing! The moves aren't too bad though, just kinda slow! I'd even try and help you guys with the career change!"

"Shut up already!" Cardin yells as he throws a final punch. Peter of course dodges it, but it hits Russel Thrush who was behind him.

He immediately starts letting out a stifled scream of pain as he holds his bloody nose.

"You might wanna check on your dude there, he doesn't look good."

"JUST WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

"Uh oh." Peter thinks as his guardian has just arrived.

Without missing a beat, Peter answers, "Well it's either a lesson in picking up girls or dancing, not really sure at this point."

"Parker here just started attacking us for no reason!" Cardin lies.

"Is that why I'm the one with the bloody hand or nose?"

Knowing clearly who's at fault in this situation, Glynda just pinches her nose and says, "Mr. Winchester, please take your teammate to the nurse, I'll be there soon, and Mr. Parker, I'll be speaking with you after school today."

"Will do!" Peter replies as Cardin and the rest of his team take Russel to the infirmary.

"Thanks for your help there Peter." The Faunus girl says to him.

Peter then looks down at her. "Uh hey, no problem, Velvet, I just don't like bullies."

They exchange goodbyes to each other as Peter helps her up and goes back to his meal.

As Peter walks back to the table he notices that everyone's watching him as he sheepishly sits back down.

"That was so cool! You really weren't kidding about those reflexes!" Nora shouts.

"So you and Velvet know each other?" Blake asks

"Yeah, we met at VNN." Peter replies. "She was the only other photographer who could even get a glimpse of Spider-Man, so we naturally ran into each other a lot."

"They're just lucky you didn't hit back!" Ruby proudly states, remembering how strong Peter really is from the initiation.

Peter scratches the back of his head and replies, "I just don't like bullies is all. I've been on the receiving end plenty of times, and it's no fun I can tell you." Peter turns a bit pink in his face, having impressed his leader.

Blake, who feels like she's seen something like that before asks, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Well, that wasn't really fighting, more like avoiding it."

"No, that's not what I mean. We've all seen you fight."

"That's right, you did say you never went to any academy." Ruby adds

Peter told Ruby before that he was never enrolled anywhere before, but still wanted to help people with being a huntsman. But now, he had to think of something on the spot.

"Well you know they say experience is a great teacher! Not really being able to keep my nose out of trouble made me have to learn how to fight real quick."

Blake just gives him a questioning look. " So you learned all your skill, completely on your own?"

"Well no, I did pick up some pointers from some guys. Especially this one dude, who was a really big help in my early years."

"Ooh! Was he a huntsman?" Ruby excitedly asks.

"Uh… I think so, something like that. He was a real mysterious guy, who I guess didn't like letting some kid figure out how to fight on his own. Really though, he's the bravest person I've ever met. Like a man without fear." Peter says with a smile upon remembering one of the heroes he often got help from as Spider-man. Not to mention he was the first one he personally met.

"Who was he? It sounds like you really admire him." Ruby inquires.

"I never got his name, liked to keep his identity a secret. If you think I fight good, you should see him, he's like the devil in battle!"

"Huh. Seems like whoever he was he must've taught you well." Blake replies.

"Still not quite on his combat level though!" Peter modestly says.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Juane just stares dejected at his food, not engaging in the conversation.

The next day wasn't any better for Jaune.

Cardin still gave him a hard time, and now, thanks to his slipping history grade, he's gotta write a paper on a bunch of pages from the textbook!

At least his partner was trying to cheer him up, in a weird way being on the rooftop and all.

"Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not that depressed." Jaune said, making an attempt at some dark humor. "I can always be a farmer or something…"

Pyrrha doesn't find it too funny and replies, "N-n-no! That's not why I brought you up here! It's just, I know you're having a difficult time in class and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so... I want to help you!

"Wh-what?"

"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!" Pyrrha suggests cheerfully.

"You think I need help?" He sourly asks.

"N-no! No, that's not what I meant."

"But you just said it."

"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of! I don't mind helping, and besides if you want, we can even ask Peter for help too! I'm sure he wouldn't mind!"

Jaune gets an upset look and says, "Even if I did want help, it wouldn't be from him."

Pyrrha's surprised to hear him say that. "I thought you guys were friends."

"We are, it's just… Peter's a great guy and all but… You know, when I first came here, Peter was one of the first people I met and when I saw him, I thought he was just a nerdy guy who was just as uncomfortable as I was here, someone I could at least relate to a bit, just another guy who wasn't the most skilled huntsman out there. I felt he was just like me. Then I saw the weapon he made himself. Then there was how he apparently blocked a paper wad from hitting me while I was asleep without even looking at it. And you saw how strong he was back in the forest! And how he was in the cafeteria! He's got insane strength, reflexes, and is even self-taught!… He's everything I'm not. Like someone got another Jaune, but took out everything that would make for a bad huntsman. He's a living reminder that I'm way over my head and that I don't belong here."

"That's a terrible thing to say!" Pyrrha shouts. "Of course you do!"

"No, I don't! I wasn't really accepted into Beacon…" Jaune confesses.

"W-what do you mean?" Pyrrha asks, surprised at his revelation.

No longer able to keep the lie, Jaune decides the jig is up. "I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy! I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied!"

"Why did you do that?"

"Cause this is always what I've wanted to be!" Jaune angrily says. "My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too… I was just never good enough."

Pyrrha, now determined, tells him, "Then let me help you!

"No, I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!"

"Jaune-"

Jaune doesn't let her finish as he continues his tirade. "I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives! Or the guy who's just a worse version of his friend! Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own, like Peter miraculously did... then what good am I?"

Pyrrha tries to reach out to him, only for him to lean away.

"I just wanna be left alone right now. Okay?"

"If that's what you want…" Pyrrha says as she sadly takes her leave.

Unfortunately, without the knowledge of either of them, Cardin Winchester listened in on the whole conversation.

"UHHHHGGG! Why does Peter get a head start?!" Ruby whines.

"Sorry little sis! Pete's got a contract to deliver photos to the news, you don't!" Yang reminds her.

Ruby was really looking forward to finally being able to accompany Peter on his hunt for photos, only for one of the professors to announce a test on Monday, forcing her and the rest of the team to have to study a bit before they headed out to the city for the weekend, while Peter already left a long time ago.

Peter got a pass though, being legally bound to get photos, which he was already behind in, so he already let them know he wouldn't be back till late.

"Wait, Peter was gonna take you with him to get pictures?" Weiss asks.

"Yeah, was."

"Why didn't he ask me?! I haven't even seen Spider-Man yet!" Weiss complains.

"I think he just wanted some alone time with Ruby!" Yang coily says.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Ruby nervously asks.

"Oh, please, it's obvious he likes you!"

"What?! H-he-"

"Come on sis, have you seen the way he always looks at you, and all that time you spend together? I doubt that attraction's one sided either!"

Madly blushing now, Ruby just stammers, "L-lets just go study already…"

"Alright, let's see if I can get all my pics taken care of tonight!" Spider-Man thought as he swings through the air.

It was finally the weekend, and now he was able to have a whole day dedicated to patrolling Vale.

He hadn't had a lot of time to spend as Spidey, between all the time he's been spending with Ruby and keeping Glynda's curfew on school nights. Not that he minded being with Ruby. Even Glynda didn't mind as she encouraged him to gain a better understanding of dust mechanics and socialize with his peers. She also told him that they needed to talk about something when he got back from patrol, but didn't say what it was.

But right now his mind kept going back to his growing feelings for Ruby. Thankfully he thought that he managed to keep them well hidden, but he didn't really know what to do with them besides to try and ignore them, even if it really wasn't working.

"Come on Parker, no girl who looks like that is gonna settle for someone way below her! But I guess Ruby probably doesn't care about things like a social totem pole. Still, you remember what happened with the last girl you almost got serious with."

While Peter acknowledged that he really did have feelings for Ruby, every time he was seriously thinking about the two of them getting together, he was reminded of that event.

Suddenly, he noticed a patrol car engaged in a high speed chase with an obviously stolen armored dust truck. He was thankful for something to take his mind off the inner turmoil.

"Alright, already getting some action!"

Soon after, the spider-sense went off, with one of the robbers managing a direct hit with a rocket launcher at the squad car.

Acting quickly, Spider-Man shoots a web behind them, and grabs each police officer and throws them onto the web for safety.

"Don't worry guys, I got this!"

Managing to hop aboard the roof of the truck, Spider-Man taps on the window in a friendly manner. "You know, I'm pretty sure we just passed by some school zones, ya might wanna slow down, someone's gonna get hurt. Namely you!"

Unfortunately, the criminals refuse to listen, with one sticking himself out the window, ready to fire upon the hero.

Only for him to get surprised when he saw that the shooter was in a White Fang Mask.

"You guys again? I knew you were still somewhere around! That or you missed me and my beatings, so you all came back! Sorry but the feeling's not mutual!" Spidey babbles as he dodges the dust bullets.

Secretly in the truck, the driver speaks into a walkie. "Get ready, he's here and we're coming in."

Soon after the shooter is thrown out, then webbed up and stuck to a streetlight, the truck speeds into a warehouse, crashing in with Spider-Man jumping off.

"So this the little hidey-hole you guys have been hanging out in? I knew I should've checked more warehouses! That kind of your guy's thing."

Feeling the spider-sense's warning, he looks up to see multiples of heavily armed White Fang soldiers aiming their weapons on him, each equipped with a silencer.

"So I guess you all were waiting for me?"

As soon as the words left his mouth everyone started shooting. As expected, Spider-Man expertly dodged them, then shot a webline at a grunt, only to kick him back with both feet towards his comrades.

Unfortunately for Spidey, the baddies had done their homework on him, and actually caught the guy, with no further damage.

Then everyone got their melee weapons and charged him for a dogpile.

Jumping up to avoid them, Spidey quips, "Come on guys, that tactic's never worked before!"

Before his jump reaches its full height, the spider sense goes off. There were White fang waiting for him in the rafters, with weapons ready.

Firing a webline to the ground, he narrowly avoids the baddies at the ceiling, only to sling himself into the waiting arms of the ones below.

He almost managed to leap horizontally away when he hit the ground, but a bunch of the operatives were able to grab him without him being able to avoid them.

Now pinned both above and below, their dogpile tactic actually works. They're all on top of him, getting in some pretty good lumps.

Fortunately, Spider-Man's strength was greater than their combined might, so he throws off the stronger looking ones and starts kicking, punching, and webbing various soldiers away, enough to finally be free of them.

'Allright, I don't mind a bit of a challenge, but that won't happen again!"

Quickly webbing up and knocking out whoever he missed, Spider-Man thinks to himself that the White Fang were a lot more difficult than usual to fight.

Sure they were probably the biggest threat in Vale right now, but still easier than the ones he fought on a regular basis back home. He was hoping that it would be one aspect the Parker luck would leave alone here.

Finishing up the baddies, Spider-Man gets ready to move on by opening the giant doors to the next area of the warehouse.

"Ok, is this supposed to be some kind of rave or something? I know you're all here!"

This next area was pitch black, save for the light coming from the doors, with all the lights off, but the spider-sense warned the arachnid that there were plenty of threats in the darkness.

Suddenly, the doors closed behind him, leaving him truly in the dark.

"Oh goodie."

It was all he could do to avoid their attacks at the absolute last second.

Yeah, the spider-sense warned him of attacks and gave him an awareness of his surroundings, but he was still handicapped without really being able to see at all.

It was clear that whatever Faunus warriors were in the room with Spidey were ones that could see in the dark, so they had the advantage over him, but were still keeping their distance from him by firing dust at him, only stopping to launch hit and run attacks on him. He knew he couldn't keep this up forever.

Suddenly the Spider got an idea.

Focusing on the spider sense, he's able to tell that there's no one in the rafters. Guess they really didn't need anyone to surprise him up there with the baddies having the upper hand here.

So he jumps as high as he can and lands onto the rafters, really keening onto the spider sense as much as he could before they start firing again.

He knew it would only last a second, but that was all he needed.

He could sense where the baddies were attacking from.

As fast as he could, Spider-Man fires impact webbing all over the area he sensed, hoping he got everyone, but firing a giant web over it for good measure.

"Alright! Maybe take this time to get a good nap and think about what you've-"

The spider sense warns him of incoming enemies that he missed with the webbing.

"Woah! What, you didn't wanna join nap time?"

No one answered.

"I take the silence as a no."

Spidey then sensed a baddie coming at him, only to retreat again as soon as he dodges the attack.

"What, you shy?"

Again, another strike, but from a different angle comes at him, but this one doesn't fade away, he actually engages the wall-crawler.

Spidey narrowly dodges yet another attack from his backside, assuming it's coming from the earlier assailant. He was heavily relying on the spider-sense to feel out his surroundings, which made actually sensing attacks difficult.

Just then, a third one emerges and manages to land a good hit onto his ear.

"Gah! Ok, good shot." It was pretty painful and disorienting.

Seeing the webhead down, the three take it as an opportunity to clobber him.

Unfortunately, they didn't realize that meant they no longer had the element of surprise. He could much more easily sense where they were.

Wanting to finally end the battle, Spider-Man quickly grabs two of the grunts and throws them into the air, doing the same to the third with a swift kick to the back.

Right when they've reached the peak of their toss, the arachnid webs them to the rafters, finally moving onto what he hoped was the final area.

"This warehouse is huge! Feels like some kinda video game!"

"Oh this is just one of many we operate in!"

The teen looks over to the voice and sees Roman Torchwick himself looking as smug as ever, surrounded by White Fang soldiers, performing various tasks, mostly loading and unloading things onto trucks. For the most part they were getting ready to leave for more heists.

"Oh hey, Rome! What a nice little reunion, you saved me the trouble of finding you! So how was the clearly fake retreating? Brush up on any hobbies?"

"Oh that was never meant to actually fool you, bug. We were simply just doing some preparation!"

Spider-Man feels his spider-sense start to tingle, telling him that something big was going to happen very soon. "Getting ready for the dust robbery of the year? Someone's getting ambitious!"

Not losing his smugness, Roman continues, "Oh that's only part of it, we were mostly getting ready for some serious pest control."

As soon as he said that, 2 individuals stepped forward to make themselves known, two clearly being twins judging from their matching outfits.

"Oh wow! If I knew such fine ladies were gonna be here tonight, I would've dressed better! You think I could borrow a bowler hat?"

Roman only chortled in response. "Always the joker."

As if on que, the trio launches themselves at the hero, with Spider-Man getting into his signature stance to meet them.

Spidey had to admit, all of these guys were the most skilled assailants he'd faced here yet.

It was all the arachnid could do to dodge and counter them, only for another one to be ready to strike him at any angle.

Suddenly the spider sense warns him of someone who could nearly match his agility.

He manages to dodge it and sees a short dual haired girl, who looked like she should be at an ice cream themed tea party rather than a fight.

She was literally dancing around him, trying to land a hit, almost succeeding.

That didn't help his ego, though he was telling himself that had it been one on one instead, it'd be a different story.

"So assuming that you ladies would be willing to give up the crime life, I don't suppose you'd be interested in getting more acquainted? Spiders do tend to live lonely lives you know, and I'd like to change that!"

"You really weren't kidding about that motormouth." One of the color coordinated twins tells Roman.

"It helps to keep things casual!" Spidey quips back. "After all, the brooding, dark, silent hero trope is a bit overdone, don't you think?"

"I think that your blabbering was overdone long ago!" The other twin replied.

The hero then turns to the pink and brown haired girl and asks, "I don't know, what do you think? You haven't said anything yet."

Said girl just gets a creepy, yet somehow still cute smile on her face and dances away.

"Guess you're gonna stick to the trope."

"Do you ever run out of things to say?!" The red twin asks, now getting annoyed by the Spider.

"Hasn't happened yet actually if you can believe it! Though if it did, I guess I could make up new words to keep the thing flowing!"

Getting an idea after seeing an unoccupied gun and a decently sized nearby dust crate, Spider-Man shoots a web at the white dressed girl's foot and another at the firearm.

"Would you believe that you're all not the first cute chicks to try and kill me?"

After quickly shooting a webline to get the gun in his arms, Spidey then aims a shot at the crate.

Realizing what he was doing as soon as the arachnid picked it up, Roman could only shout, "NO!"

Now a loud explosion rocked the building, but thankfully did nothing to damage the structural integrity.

"Sorry Rome, but I thought the cops might want in on this party, so I decided to send them a little invite! A noise like that would be hard to notice!"

As soon as he said that, Spider-Man felt the spider-sense go off, only to catch a kick from the red twin, then another from her blue sister, while dodging a dust round from Roman. The trio were nearly overwhelming the arachnid, but he still managed to hold his own. Unfortunately Roman could tell the Spider was having a difficult time with simultaneously fighting 3 incredibly skilled opponents at once.

Right after getting cornered into an awkward position, Spidey was about to try and web them up, until he felt the spider sense go off and dodges an attack from red twin, right into something that gave him a small, but painful gash on his shoulder.

"Good job Neo, finally tagged that asshole."

He forgot about the parasol girl, who managed to use his distraction as an opportunity to land a lucky hit.

Thanks to dangerous threats from all around, along with trying to web up the criminals, the teen had a hard time focusing on the spider-sense's warning.

A rookie mistake he was going to pay the price for.

Suddenly Spider-Man started to feel dizzy and felt an even greater burning pain where Neo had nicked him. The hit even dazed him enough for one of the twins to nearly give him a new gash.

"Looks like you're a bit off your game right now!" Roman taunted. "We thought it would help to look into some biology for spiders. You probably already know this, but their only known predator is the scorpion. Unfortunately, it was thought by my employer in her infinite wisdom, that this operation was beneath him." Roman continued, clearly annoyed that the one individual he thought would be perfect for the job wasn't going to be allowed to help. "But at least we got some of his venom! It'll have to do!"

"The guy's name wouldn't be Mac would it?" Spidey said, trying to power through the growing pain.

"You won't live to find out." Roman sadistically grinned.

Again, the four criminals charged him all at once.

Ruby's evening was finally getting better.

She had finally studied enough to where she could finally find Peter and hopefully get another chance to meet her hero!

Weiss had insisted on accompanying her, which naturally led to the rest of the girls wanting to go with.

Peter unfortunately wasn't answering his scroll, so they just walked around Vale until something interesting happened that would hopefully warrant Spidey's attention.

During the whole time, it was hard to tell if Weiss or Ruby was more excited.

"Peter told me that he just uses some parkour tricks he picked up on to get onto rooftops and look around until he finds something Spidey would probably respond to, so maybe we should do that!"

"That's probably going to look suspicious if four teenagers are seen scrambling around like that." Weiss replied. "But if it works…"

"What about you, Yang? You looking forward to seeing Spidey?!"

"You're really going to insist on calling him that, aren't you?" Weiss deadpans

"I'm always up for seeing a muscular hero in action!" Yang grins. "And besides Weiss cream, Ruby and Spidey are kind of on a more personal basis now, she can have a pet name for him if she wants!"

Ruby couldn't help but blush again at the memory of Spider-Man calling her cute, causing her to get even more excited about seeing him again, while Weiss seemed to be a bit jealous of her leader.

Blake on the other hand remained silent as Yang took notice of that.

"You've been characteristically quiet, what do you think of Spider-Man?"

Blake thinks for a beat before she gives her answer.

"… I'm not sure."

"What?! What do you mean by that?! He's a hero, there's nothing more to it than that!" Weiss exclaims

"I agree he's done a lot of good," Blake replies. "But think about it. Out of nowhere, some guy in a costume comes along and strikes at criminals with an effectiveness that not even the entire police force is capable of matching. He's at the level of an experienced huntsman, but is apparently our age? Doesn't that seem at least a little odd?"

"How can you say that?!" Weiss argues. "He's probably saving lives right now or fighting criminals as we speak!"

"I'm just gonna be cautious about him, that's all. After all, he hides his identity. Few huntsmen would do that."

"He probably is just trying to protect those close to him! If the criminals knew who he was, they'd go after anyone who knew him!" Weiss continues.

Blake understands where Weiss is coming from, but her background taught her to be wary of strangers.

"I'm just being reasonably cautious is all."

Before Weiss can respond, an electronic billboard gives the latest VNN news.

"This just in, a waterfront warehouse, thought to be abandoned, has just been hit by an explosion. Police believe the White Fang to be responsible."

Weiss and Ruby have their eyes glued to the broadcast, hoping it would say something about Spider-Man responding to the situation.

"Witnesses have also reported Spider-Man being on the scene shortly before the incident, and is thought to still be inside confronting those responsible."

Having heard enough, Ruby, giddier than ever starts pulling at her sister's arm.

"Let's go! Let's go! We gotta get there before Spidey leaves!"

The four of them get into a sprint, hoping to meet the hero.

Even inhibited, Spider-Man was still an extremely difficult opponent to even hit, being more determined than ever to not make the same small slip up that cost him so dearly, but these were highly skilled combatants.

With the venom getting increasingly painful and dulling him further, most of their strikes were actually meeting their marks for once. Even the parasol lady was continuing to land poisoned strikes, who was apparently named Neo. The worst part was, the spider-sense was still working, but he could no longer move fast enough to react to it, and the pain was making it harder to focus.

Before it could get any worse, the sound of multiple police sirens could be heard, indicating a large number of law enforcement was outside.

Knowing that despite the deadly venom coursing through the masked hero was certainly making his job easier, Roman and his associates wouldn't be able to keep fighting the Spider and avoid unwanted police intervention at the same time.

"Well my insect friend, as much as I would absolutely love to see you suffer, I believe it's time we make our leave."

"Aw, are you sure? The night's still young, maybe I can tag along and continue the party!" Spidey clapped back, not about to let Roman slip through his sticky fingers again.

Right as he shot a web at the four baddies, they all shattered as if they were glass, leaving only him and the White Fang.

"Of course that just happened." Spider-Man said out loud.

Right after he voiced his thought, the spider-sense cut through the pain, informing him of an extreme danger right behind him.

Spider-Man looked to see a bomb evidently left by Roman, with only one second on the timer.

Reacting as fast as he could in his condition, the arachnid leapt, only for it to go off as soon as he left the ground.

The next thing he knows is that he's in even more pain, burned, and lying on the ground, with the warehouse burning all around him. Soon after he's able to see the White Fang are panicking, trying to lift giant industrial roof debris away from the exit.

He saw that the collapse of the support beams gave way to a hole in the roof that he could easily web towards, allowing him a safe retreat.

It would be a different story for the soldiers trapped inside still.

Knowing what he would do next, Spider-Man stands unsteadily and limps as quickly as he's able to the metal beams, and to the surprise of the Faunus, starts lifting them up by himself.

"WELL?! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! GET OUTTA HERE!"

Still looking at him in shock, none of the White Fang are moving yet.

Feeling himself starting to lose strength he shouts one last time, "I don't know how much longer I can hold this! Get moving!"

That was enough to snap them out of their stupor.

Soon after, everyone was out, except for Spider-Man, who was finally able to use the hole as an exit.

Unfortunately, he couldn't sling himself out anymore, so he just shoots a webline out the hole.

Going at a snail's pace, it was all he could do to climb out on the line, while trying not to pass out.

When he finally got to the top of the roof and could breathe much needed fresh air, he tried to jump and web swing to a safer location, but missed, tripped, and ended up falling onto a nearby apartment building before tumbling into an alley.

Feeling his consciousness slipping, Spider-Man takes off his burnt mask to try to breathe easier. He tried to take out his scroll to contact Glynda, only to see that it was now broken beyond repair by the blast.

Thinking the night couldn't get any worse he hears a familiar voice call out, "P-Peter?"

He looks over to see his team leader at the other end of the alley, with an incredibly worried expression on her face.

Finally succumbing to the venom and his wounds, Peter finally passes out.

Pain and blinding light greet Peter as he wakes up.

After getting used to the light he takes a look at his surroundings and see's he's in the infirmary again, like how he was when he first arrived on Remnant months ago.

Peter tries to get up, only for a hand on his shoulder to gently push him back down.

"You need to rest, Peter, you've attained some very serious injuries."

He almost thought it was Aunt May, but recognized the voice as Glynda.

"Everyone got out ok?" Peter asks "How long was I out for?"

"Yes, all of them are fine, and it's only been about 90 minutes." Glynda replies, still looking incredibly worried. "...What happened Peter, all we know is that the White Fang resurfaced and apparently blew up their own warehouse."

Glynda knew there had to be more to the story, as someone as skilled as Peter should've still been able to handle himself well against even an army of thugs, like he usually did.

"Roman was there, and he wasn't alone." Peter painfully remembered. "He had new friends I've never seen before. Two were a pair of color coordinated twins, the other was a girl who had some kind of illusion semblance to do a disappearing act. She and Roman I think got a hold of some scorpion venom to use against me, but the way they talked about it, it sounds like it came from a Faunus. When it became clear that a big police presence was on its way, they decided to book it using the illusion girl's semblance. As a goodbye gift they left a bomb that imploded the warehouse. Managed to get myself and everyone else out, then I- OH WAIT! Ruby! She saw me with my mask off!"

Before Peter could get himself in a panic, Glynda started to calm him down.

"Don't worry about that Peter, Ozpin already told her to not tell anyone, she's even still here, she just went with him to get coffee, they'll be back soon... You'll also have to thank her. She started treating your wounds as soon as she found you, and refused to leave your side until we got you to Beacon."

Still uncomfortable about Ruby knowing one of his biggest secrets, Peter lays back down. But Glynda was right, he'd have to thank Ruby. It was so like her too, she was a very caring leader.

"What about the team, are they?..."

Reassuring him with a hand on his head, Glynda answers, "All they know is you got caught in the crossfire, with Ruby finding you as you passed out, and that you're in the infirmary still unconscious. They don't know anything else."

As Peter finally allows himself to relax, the door opens with Ozpin and Ruby having returned.

"He's awake!" Ruby shouts as she runs to his side. "Are you ok?!"

"Easy Miss Rose." Glynda says as she reels in the redhead. "He just regained consciousness, he doesn't need excitement right now."

"Though I would appreciate it if you could inform me on what happened Peter." Ozpin tells him.

Peter tells them the same thing he told Glynda, with the part of the scorpion venom particularly concerning him.

"I see." Ozpin replies. "It seems that their supposed retreat was only preparation in order to get rid of you once and for all. Not to mention they probably wanted you and the police to thin down their competition. They were well prepared for you."

"Yeah, we'll, they weren't the first to do that, nor the worst." Peter responds, remembering how Doc Ock created the Sinister Six for the exact same purpose a year ago.

Ruby seems to look a bit confused at that, not hearing about it happening before on the news, and she definitely kept track of everything Spider-Man related.

"Well, we'll leave you to rest Peter, in the meantime me and Miss Goodwitch need to discuss these events, Miss Rose, I believe you should return to your dorm."

"Are you sure, I can stay with Peter if you want…" She replies, hoping to get some questions answered if Peter was feeling up to it.

Ozpin, knowing what she was probably getting at, looks over to Peter, who was thinking the same, as he nods.

Ozpin figured he would. His crush on Miss Rose was obvious.

"Very well, though not for too long, he's still injured."

Glynda removes her hand and informs the two, "Well be in the next room if you need anything."

After they leave, Ruby and Peter just sit there for a bit, with increasingly growing awkwardness.

"So… you're Spider-Man…"

"Yeah."

"And you take pictures of yourself for a living?"

"It kinda sounds weird when you put it like that…"

"And Miss Goodwitch is your mom? … Or guardian?"

"Uh, unofficial guardian."

"So how'd you get into the whole superhero thing?" Ruby continues, not entirely over the fact that her celebrity crush and one of her first friends at Beacon were the same person.

Peter gets a look on his face and lets out a small sigh. "It's a long story."

"Oh." Ruby says looking a bit disappointed.

Seeing her look tugged at his heartstrings, so not being able to deny her, Peter continues, "But you pretty much know everything else if you want to know the rest."

She instantly perks up. "O-only if you want."

"Well it all started about a year ago…"

"I don't want him going out anymore. It's getting too dangerous." Glynda stated with motherly concern.

"From what he's told us, he's been through worse." Ozpin replied.

"I don't care. They probably already think Spider-Man is dead anyway. It wouldn't cause any suspicion on his whereabouts if he stopped his vigilantism. Not to mention his aura isn't functional."

Ozpin remembered. They had tried to unlock his aura before, and while it was there, it didn't protect him, which was why they made up the story that he was never properly trained to use his aura, so as a result, it was weak and not of much use to him.

Ozpin understood that Glynda wanted to keep Peter safe, but also knew Peter wouldn't be willing to give up his self imposed duty.

"Why can't he just be content with being a huntsman? He's already one of the highest performing individuals in all his classes, he doesn't need to be a vigilante. It's going to kill him sooner rather than later. It almost did tonight." Glynda continued, getting a bit emotional.

"Sooner than the grimm, or what's coming?"

Glynda only stands silently, not being sure what to think, knowing that the boy she's gotten fond of has chosen an extremely dangerous path to live on either way.

Deciding that it was best to table the subject for now, Ozpin glanced at a folder of paperwork on Glynda's desk, and asks, "You didn't want to tell him about those tonight?"

Sighing, Glynda responds, "Peter went through a lot today, I didn't want to ask him such an immense question after what happened."

"I understand. But you should ask him soon, he still needs more permanent residency papers."

Glynda then looks at the folder and puts it away in a drawer.

"Besides, I think he's become quite fond of you, I doubt he'll say no."

Glynda had been thinking about this decision for a good while now and thought tonight would be a good time to ask Peter what he thought about it. At least until the previous events happened.

She was finally going to ask Peter if he would agree for her to legally adopt him.