Weiss settled into the backseat of the car, resigned to her fate. There was a plexiglass barrier separating the two halves of the vehicle with a few small holes in it to let sound through. It would seem that the criminal had learned from the last time they'd sat in a car together and modified his specifically for kidnapping people—the back doors also had no interior handles.

"Toss your scroll and the stick," said Torchwick as he rolled down her window.

"It's a crutch," Weiss said.

"I don't care. Lose it. The last thing I need right now is you with a weapon. Hurry up, we've got places to be."

She had no choice but to obey. Weiss pushed the crutch out through the open window, then reluctantly reached into her pocket. She felt not one, but two scrolls in there. She'd forgotten that she still had Ruby's from when she used it to call Blake. A small glimmer of hope blossomed inside her as she dropped just her own scroll outside, cringing slightly at the sound of it hitting the ground.

"The other one too," Torchwick said.

The feeling shattered. "W-what?"

"You got rid of one scroll, now get rid of the other," he said slowly, as if explaining something to a young child.

"How did—?"

"I'm a man of many talents, Snow White, but patience isn't one of them, so chop chop."

With a sinking feeling, Weiss did as commanded. Torchwick seemed satisfied. The window rolled back up and the vehicle began to move.

She didn't know what to think. Things just kept going from bad to worse. Wherever he was taking her, she didn't like her odds. There was no escaping this. Jaune was in jail and Ruby was in recovery. Even if they weren't, they wouldn't know how to find her. No one was coming to the rescue this time.

The fact that Torchwick decided to abduct her rather than immediately murder her was a small comfort. But perhaps he just wanted to take her somewhere where he could hide her body. It was either that or he wanted something from her; then he'd kill her after he'd gotten it.

Weiss thought about Ruby—about how the last time she'd ever see her, the girl hadn't even been conscious. Weiss would die without ever making reparations with Blake. She'd never get to have a proper relationship with her brother. She wouldn't get to see her mother's condition improve. She'd never see her sister again—her sister who was on her way to Vale right now and would tear the city apart in order to find her, but if she succeeded it'd probably be too late.

"I'm sure you have questions," Torchwick said conversationally, as if he was a professor addressing his students after a lecture.

"Fewer than you'd think," Weiss spat, surprised by her own nerve. But, if she was going to die anyway, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of playing the helpless damsel.

"Is that so? You think you've got me all figured out by now, huh? Well, I hate to break it to you, but you don't know a damn thing about me, Snow White."

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

He rolled his eyes at her through the rear-view mirror. "Now there's a question, albeit a stupid one. 'Skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony.' Really couldn't piece that together? A bit of lipstick and you'd be three for three."

"So you like fairy tales?"

"No need to sound so derisive—you might just hurt my feelings. And I like the original fairy tales—the ones where the evil stepsisters mutilate their feet to fit into the golden slipper and the wolf eats Little Red. Though, I'm not entirely fond of the first version of Sleeping Beauty."

"What, is it not dastardly enough for your liking?"

"Too dastardly, if you'd believe it. Everyone's got a line that they do not cross."

Weiss scoffed.

Torchwick's eyes narrowed at her through the mirror. "You know, I really should stop calling you Snow White. Your hair's not entirely black anymore, now that I've got a better look at you. I should use a better name, since you stopped dyeing it. Like—oh, I don't know—Weiss Schnee?"

"How did you—?"

"After you and your annoying little friend ruined a perfectly good base of operations, I decided to make a small pit stop before heading to the new one. Long story short, the Vale CAB headquarters has terrible security, and I now know what your semblance is."

Weiss said nothing. She wasn't going to admit to anything on the off chance that he was bluffing—doing so would forfeit her only leverage.

"There's more to it than just your little migraine fingers," Torchwick said. "So I've gotta know—what did you mean?"

"Excuse me?"

"You told Neo you were trying to help her. Why? What did you think was in her head that needed fixing?"

She refused to answer.

"You and little miss Ruby Rose broke into my warehouse for a reason. You didn't go after the money or the loot or even myself—instead, you gravitated toward the most dangerous person there, and I highly doubt it was because her innocent-looking face fooled you into thinking she was a hostage."

"She is a hostage!" Weiss couldn't keep quiet at that. "She was brainwashed into servitude and you exploited that for your own personal gain."

A look flashed in his eyes—the same angry look he'd had after Neo recoiled from the effect of Weiss's semblance. But it was fleeting and was gone almost as soon as it had arrived, to be replaced by smug amusement. "Yeah? Is that what you think? Like I said—you don't know a damn thing about me. I never exploited her—I saved her. She was a slave before I came along and would've died as such, but now she's not. She chooses to stand by me because I'm the only one who's ever actually cared for her."

Weiss didn't buy it. She'd seen the memory—she'd seen the hatred and fear Neo had had for the man when he approached her in her holding cell. She couldn't say that, of course. Torchwick only knew what the CAB knew, and the CAB still had no idea that she could see into people's pasts. But it didn't need to be stated to be true. There was no way Neo followed him by choice.

But then again, she'd been a lot younger in that memory. A lot could change in several years. The distress in Torchwick's voice when he'd seen her hurt by Weiss's semblance had sounded genuine. And then there was the other memory, too. Some things are important enough to make sacrifices for, he'd said.

Weiss buried that small inkling of doubt. Roman Torchwick was a liar—he'd admitted to that himself. Nothing he said could be trusted. If he was speaking the truth, then she and Ruby had put their necks on the line for a willing criminal and killer, and she just couldn't deal with that right now on top of everything else.

"What do you want from me?" Weiss said.

"You know," said Torchwick, "despite your claims, you're asking just as many questions as I thought you would."

"What," Weiss repeated, "do you want?"

"What I want is to leave this country and never look back."

Whatever answer Weiss had been expecting, it wasn't that. She glanced out the window as she decided how to respond, noticing a building she'd already seen a couple of minutes ago. "So why don't you? Surely you've stolen more money than you'll ever need by now."

"Not everyone would agree with you." He spoke the words with disdain. "But here's the good news—for me to get what I want, I need you to get what you want."

Weiss's brow furrowed. "I'm sorry?"

"You're going to finish the job."

"What job? Wait . . . you don't mean—?"

Torchwick sighed. "Yes. Obviously. I shouldn't have expected some former rich kid to actually have a brain."

"But why? If she's not brainwashed, then what's the point?"

"I was in retirement, Schnee, and I didn't come out of it willingly. Don't get me wrong—I chose this life because I love it and I'm good at it. But I was perfectly content settling down and leaving all that behind. Then this lusus naturae—" Weiss balled her fists at the slur "—waltzes into my home with a business proposition. She needed a shit-load of money, so who better to procure it for her than the guy that bested Vacuan Central? Didn't take too kindly to being turned down. And when Neo pulled her gun to persuade the bitch to leave, she found herself leveling it at me instead."

Weiss was confused, and it must have shown.

"Her semblance is mind control," he said impatiently. "If I don't play the good little master criminal, she can have Neo kill me and then herself at the drop of a dime."

The pieces were starting to click into place. It would explain how "one last heist" had proven to be just one of the first in a long line of bank robberies. Torchwick had no way of knowing she had seen into his past, yet his words weren't contradicting what she'd witnessed.

"So you're saying you've been extorted into terrorizing Vale?" said Weiss.

"That's exactly what I just said," said Torchwick.

Still—nothing that came out of that man's mouth could be taken at face value. He'd tried to kill Weiss just a few hours ago and hospitalized Ruby.

"Why should I believe you?" Weiss said.

"Do you think I give a shit whether or not you believe me? I told you all you need to know. All I care about is whether your semblance can counteract hers." There was unmistakable contempt in his voice as he uttered the last word.

"I don't know," Weiss said honestly. "I've never even heard of a mind-controlling semblance before. There's no way to know if I could reverse its effects."

"Well, you're going to have to try, because I have no reason to let you go until you do. So here's what's going to happen: We're going to arrive at my new hiding place. You'll keep your mouth shut and pretend this drive proceeded in silence. I'm going to chain you to a pole and you'll wait patiently like a good little girl, and you won't say a word to anyone—especially not Neo. As far as anyone's concerned, I kidnapped you to interrogate you. If Neo even gets the slightest bit suspicious that I'm plotting against the will of our boss, then she'll have no choice but to turn against me—that won't turn out very well for either you or me.

"After a while, we'll chat. I'll ask you questions and Neo will lean on you. Don't let her looks fool you—she can be terrifying when she needs to. As soon as she gets close enough, you're going to use your semblance to break the spell. You'll get to escape with your life, Neo gets her freedom of will back, I regain control over my own life, and all the banks of this damnable city get to rest easy knowing the big bad wolf is gone for good. Everyone wins—except my boss, but who the hell cares what she wants?"

Weiss had several reservations about the proposed plan, but she withheld voicing them just yet. It was the last part of what he'd said that she latched onto. His "boss" was the real concern. Her killing Ruby's mother was what had started all of this. If anything that Torchwick had just said about her was true, it meant she was even more powerful and scary than they could've anticipated.

"Who is your boss?" Weiss demanded.

"Well I'm glad you asked, because I've been itching for a chance to spill all my most confidential secrets," said Torchwick, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "I've already risked more than I can afford by telling you everything you need to know. So do you agree to my terms or not?"

"Why should I do anything for you? You shot Ru— m-my friend! You're just going to kill me whether I do what you want or not."

"You can say her name, Schnee. I'm not exactly about to mistake her for one of the other short, teleporting girls in this city. And I don't want to kill you . . . anymore. We all gotta do what it takes to survive in this world and you were trespassing in my territory."

"That was my family's warehouse!"

"The keyword there is, 'was'. Do you Schnees even own anything anymore?"

Weiss opened her mouth to retort but wasn't given the chance.

"Rhetorical question," Torchwick interrupted. "Here's one that isn't—are you going to be smart and comply, or are you going to needlessly complicate matters for the both of us? Need I say it again? We can both get what we want here. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain."

"Even if I could trust a word you say, doing anything to help keep you out of prison is a loss. You've killed people!"

"And most of them deserved it. Don't give me that look! News flash, princess—good people don't often get expensive hits put on their heads. But I didn't go out of my way to kidnap you to discuss morality and ethics, so save your snarky response. Are you going to free Neo or do I have to further persuade you?"

"I don't know how you haven't been caught yet if you're honestly stupid enough to think you've 'persuaded' me at all."

She could see his grip tighten on the steering wheel as muttered beneath his breath. "Why did no one ever tell me that actually trying to be nice to someone would be this exhausting?"

Weiss was too dumbfounded by that statement to think of anything to say.

"Okay," Torchwick said, his impatience starting to crack his persona. "I'm going to spell it out nice and simple for you. You think I'm going to kill you even if you do what I want—I'm telling you that I won't. The smart thing to do is comply so that you at least get the chance to see whether I'm being honest. The stupid thing to do is to act like a stubborn child and piss me off, as that greatly reduces your odds of walking out of this alive . . . Sorry—limping out of this alive.

"And just because I'm feeling generous, I'll even sweeten the pot. I'll tell you the name of my boss once this is all over and done with. That's what you wanted, right? This all started because you went to the shadiest info broker in the city poking around about her."

Weiss said nothing.

"I'm getting tired of driving around in circles and my tank's getting low. You've got until we pass that pizzeria one more time to agree to my terms and then I'm bringing us to meet up with the others. If you don't, I'll have to start using less friendly bargaining chips. It's not just your life I can threaten—you do realize that, don't you?"

Weiss had realized that. He had a point. Without any way of fighting back, the only choice to make was to just shut up and do whatever he asked. It could quite possibly be the first sane decision she'd made since meeting Ruby. She should've already given in to his demands by now, but the idea of doing anything to make the man who put a bullet in her friend's—best friend's—shoulder happy made her stomach churn.

It took another two right turns before Weiss could bring herself to give up her pride. "I don't think your plan will even work."

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Torchwick.

"Even if we assume that my semblance can release Neo's mind from her control, I'm still not sure I could do it. My semblance doesn't work that way. If I try to use it on someone who isn't willing, their mind fights back. It's what happened with you and what happened with her."

"So she needs to consent, or else you're useless."

Weiss bit her tongue. "Essentially."

"Well, that's a bit of an issue."

Understatement of the year, Weiss thought. She had one thing keeping her alive, and she'd just admitted that it probably wouldn't be enough.

Torchwick looked deep in thought as he passed by the pizza place once more. When he came upon the intersection this time, he went straight instead of entering the turn lane. "And there's no way around that little hurdle?"

"I haven't the slightest clue," Weiss said. "I don't put a lot of thought into how to use my semblance on people who don't want me to—that's a felony if you didn't know."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to start putting thought into it, because I'm not letting you go until you figure it out."

Weiss thought about her sister, in a jet on her way to Vale at this very moment. Winter would get here just to have to eventually find Weiss's abandoned scroll and have to file a missing persons report. She'd search the entire city up and down for her, but it wouldn't matter. Then Weiss thought about Ruby. The girl would wake up to learn how serious the wound she'd suffered was, and that the person she'd made that sacrifice for had been abducted and likely killed anyway.

"We're here," Torchwick announced, pulling into the alley between two rundown commercial buildings.

In the break room of an old grocery store that couldn't have been touched in at least a decade, Weiss awoke from quite possibly the worst rest she'd ever experienced. Not only was she still bruised and battered from the events of the previous night, but she'd been forced to sleep on a metal folding chair with her right hand hovering over her head, chained to a support beam through a missing ceiling tile. Her sole comfort was a plump pillow, well-preserved by its plastic packaging—it'd either been left in there by chance or as some sort of attempt by her captor to prove that he really wasn't all that bad a guy after all.

Weiss let out a groan as the full scope of her predicament came back to her, the sound muffled by the metal restraint that covered her mouth. This was actually her life now, for however much longer it lasted. When she'd still been the dutiful heiress to her grandfather's company, it'd been so easy to picture her own death. She'd be elderly and surrounded by multiple children and grandchildren, her influential and well-respected husband by her side if he hadn't succumbed to old age first.

After she'd rejected that destiny and dropped out of business school to forge her own path, it'd become impossible to guess what her life would have looked like by the time she reached the end of it. She liked that—she liked not knowing all the milestones she'd reach and who would be there at her eventual deathbed. But despite the uncertainty, she never would've guessed it would come before she even reached her mid-twenties, and with no one she cared about there to see her off.

Weiss sat up straighter in her uncomfortable chair, looking around to find herself very much alone. She then carefully brought herself to a standing position, putting all her weight on her good foot and leaning on the wall for support. Her bound wrist was now below eye level. She would not be accepting this fate if there was anything she could do about it.

The chain was connected to an electronic and expensive-looking shackle bearing the STC logo—Torchwick had probably pilfered it from the warehouse. A small keypad was the only thing keeping it from opening. She had exactly one idea of what the combination could be—the same one she'd seen him use to unlock a younger Neo's semblance-inhibiting chamber.

"You won't have much luck guessing the code," Torchwick said behind her on her fourth attempt to remember it correctly. "I don't even know what it is."

Instantly deflating, Weiss gave up on the device and turned around to face the man she hadn't heard enter. He held a tupperware bowl of what looked like ramen noodles in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, his cane tucked beneath his armpit. She watched him with an indifferent gaze as he placed the two items at her feet.

"Sit down, Schnee," he said. "I've got a story to tell you."

Weiss did so, but only because her ankle was still torturing her. She glanced down at the water bottle, her dry throat begging to down it one gulp—she hadn't gotten around to drinking all that much over the past twelve or so hours. Even the noodles looked appetizing to her empty stomach. She crossed her legs to elevate the injured foot and stared at him expectantly.

Torchwick leaned against a table and pulled what looked like a scroll out of his pocket, but it had odd dimensions and bore a symbol on the back that didn't match any tech manufacturer that she knew of—an old-fashioned key with a skull in place of the bow. He played with it for a second, then her shackle suddenly opened and the muzzle fell off her face.

"Don't try anything stupid," he said as he pocketed the device. "You'll regret it."

"What is that?" she asked, finally able to separate her jaw again.

"Oh, just a little toy I found." He inserted a cigar into his mouth and lit it with a zippo lighter, not missing the chance to show off his fancy tricks as he did so. After one large puff, he removed it long enough to say, "Oh, I needed that. Neo wants me to quit, but she's not here right now."

After a momentary internal struggle, Weiss dove for the bottle and drank greedily, not caring enough to consider the slim possibility that it was poisoned. As soon as it was empty, she picked up the bowl and began forking noodles into her mouth without a shred of elegance or dignity. Torchwick just took another puff and watched her, seeming bored.

After swallowing her third mouthful, she paused and met his gaze. "What's this story? Don't tell me it's a fairy tale."

"Now I'm glad you asked," he said. "But no. This tale is very far from the realm of fiction, as its protagonist is yours truly."

Weiss ate another forkful in silence.

"I learned at a young age that morality is arbitrary. This is a harsh world that didn't notice your birth and won't remember you when you're gone. In the end, all you can do is whatever it takes to survive as long as possible. Everyone dies at some point, but very few truly live. If all you do with your life is walk down the well-trodden path—graduate high school, go to college, get married, have kids who'll grow to despise you, work a dead-end job outside your field while waiting for that degree you worked so hard for to actually pay off, die full of regrets—then your mother should have saved herself the stretch marks."

"Do you have an actual point?"

"Yes, I have a point. That being, I wasn't about to let myself be railroaded into being no different than any of the other billions of people thrust onto this miserable planet. I decided to live my life unbound by the expectations of those who sought to keep me at the bottom of the barrel. If I wanted something, then I'd have it. I didn't wait until the government decided I was old enough to put some alcohol in my body. And I didn't work two straight weeks in a minimum wage job to be able to afford that lovely flat-screen TV—I took it. Laws were made to control those not lucky enough to be in a position to write them."

He stopped for a moment to take a pull from the cancer-inducing object. "But I had bigger dreams than shoplifting and underage drinking. Worldwide notoriety and wealth beyond what even your daddy could dream of was my destiny, and I'd slowly amassed the skills to get there. I began climbing that ladder and I loved every last second of it. When Neo came into the picture, it should've made my ascent all that much faster. She was a blessing in more ways than one. But, one day, shit changed."

He paused for dramatic effect, staring intently at Weiss as he brought the cigar back to his lips yet again. He probably expected her to have been on the edge of her seat, seconds away from begging him to hurry up and get to the big reveal. But her face remained impassive as she swallowed the last of her noodles.

Only briefly showing his annoyance, Torchwick continued. "Everyone knows you've gotta spend money to make money. We had big plans that required a bigger investment than we had. Luckily, the perfect opportunity presented itself in the form of a CIT—that stands for cash-in-transit, by the way. We were looking at at least a good ten million lien. We hatched a scheme, prepared, and set up our ambush. Everything went according to plan up until we were about to bust open the rear doors and claim the loot. The van's tires were gone thanks to some well-timed spikes, the driver and guards were taken care of—no, we didn't kill them—and the coast was clear.

"But someone dropped the ball. Some idiot redneck bystander decided to take things into his own hands and reaped the full benefits of the concealed carry law, getting a shot off before any of my men—who were supposed to be standing guard to prevent that exact situation—noticed him. The bullet came so close to Neo's head that it literally severed a strand of her hair. That guy I did kill, but surely you understand—he would've dropped dead on his own sooner or later from his brain frying itself trying to figure out what one plus one is, anyway."

Another drag. "But, yeah. That whole ordeal made me come to a realization. No matter how cunning, patient, and calculated my schemes were, there'd always be that risk. I was more willing to take it when it was just my own life on the line, but now I have something more important to worry about. So I decided to give it all up. I consider myself a gambling man, but only when I have a card hidden up my sleeve or a weighted pair of dice to swap out when no one's looking. The life I chose—the life I loved and thrived in—was too dangerous. So we pulled off one last job—a big score to set us up for the rest of our lives, and that was it. The end of my grand—albeit short-lived—adventure, and I welcomed it with open arms. You know everything that happened after that."

Weiss wrinkled her nose; the smoke was really getting to her now. The plastic bowl and empty water bottle were sitting discarded on the floor now so her arms were free to be folded over her chest. Half a minute passed and it became apparent that he had nothing more to add—he just sat there, continuing to work on his cigar as he tried to gauge her reaction.

"You really love to listen to yourself talk," she said finally.

"It is one of my many talents," he agreed. After a bit more silence, he added, "Is that really your only comment?"

"What's there to say? You had a rough childhood, found a love for taking things you haven't earned, and went into retirement, only to supposedly be coerced out of it. I don't see why you felt the need to tell me your life's story. Were you just trying to convince me that you're not secretly ecstatic to be given an excuse to become Vale's number one most wanted?"

"I actually had a very loving childhood—suffocatingly so. And you clearly haven't grasped the amount of effort and risk that goes into my line of work. I've earned a hell of a lot more than someone born into their wealth like you.

"But you wanted to know why I told you all this. It's simple, really. I needed you to understand. I had it all. Every last thing I could dream of. The world was mine—all I had to do was take it. And yet, I gave it up. And I'd do it again—make a choice that the little punk I was in my youth would rather die than ever consider. If I can do that, then I don't think you could ever picture what else I might do for that girl—what I might do . . . to you. Neo's like a daughter to me, and I will see her freed one way or another."

The threat hung in the air for several seconds, and then Weiss laughed. The look of complete befuddlement on Torchwick's face only made her laugh harder. She couldn't help it. Her distaste for irony still hadn't changed, but even she couldn't ignore the humor in it. Her own father would throw all three of his kids under the bus if it got him out of prison. The idea that even Roman Torchwick could be a better father figure than Weiss's was too much to handle. The universe was laughing at her, and she along with it.

"Alright, I've threatened a lot of people and I've gotta say," Torchwick said, "this is new."

After her laughter died out, she explained nothing. She wiped her eyes, crossed her arms, and stared at him. As fleeting as it would be, she'd taken him down a peg. That bothered him, and he failed to hide it.

Torchwick took a long drag and blew the smoke toward her. "I'm just going to assume the point has sunk in. You've had time to brainstorm, and now's your time to tell me what you've come up with."

Weiss didn't answer right away. She had come up with one idea, but hadn't decided whether she wanted to tell it to him. She still loathed the man seated before her with every fiber of her being, but holding back wasn't exactly helping her situation any. And the more she pondered it, the more believable his claims became. Perhaps he actually was only terrorizing Vale because he was under duress.

If that's the case, then what did that say about Neo? Did she even deserve Weiss's help?

But Weiss couldn't forget the little girl who'd been orphaned, taken captive, abused, had her tongue cut out, and been forced to endure many other terrible things for years on end, all because of the great power she'd had the misfortune to be born with. The innocent woman Neo never got the chance to grow into would probably never exist. At the very least, Weiss had the chance to set the bar straight and reduce the number of slaves in the world by one. If Neo took the opportunity for repentance, then all the better.

"The only thing I can see possibly working," Weiss said, "is if I use my semblance on her while she's unconscious."

"Unconscious, eh?" Torchwick said around the cigar in his mouth.

"Yes. It's my hope that if the brain isn't fully active, then it'll be more malleable and unable to fight against me. I've never tried to use my semblance on someone who wasn't awake before, though, so I can't say for certain. But if it fails, at least she'll have no way of knowing I even attempted it and won't suspect anything."

"Hmm." He exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Yeah, I was afraid you'd suggest that."

Weiss's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Neo doesn't sleep."

"She . . . doesn't sleep?"

"Nope. Weird quirk of her speed—if she doesn't use it, she never gets tired. And she refrains from using it as much as possible."

"She's like . . ." Weiss trailed off in amazement.

"She's like what?"

Ruby. But Weiss didn't say it. Instead, she said, "Nevermind. Why can't you just ask her to use her semblance?"

"Because she knows I'd never do that without good reason. She only breaks out the superspeed when she needs to, so if I can't explain why, she's going to get suspicious and have to report it to my boss, and then it's the end of the line for both of us."

"So come up with an excuse."

"Brilliant! Gee, why hadn't I thought of that?" Torchwick rolled his eyes and put out the cigar on the table, stuffing what remained in his inner coat pocket for later. "I did think of it, and it's not ideal—I'm going to have to rob another bank."

"Oh, yeah. Because we both know how much you hate doing that."

He grinned as he took his cane in hand. "While I can't say this past year hasn't been enjoyable, I'd grown quite attached to the retired life. I want to get back to it. Robbing banks is an artform, Snow White, and takes preparation. So this unfortunately means that our time together, you and me, is going to have to last at least a few more days."

Weiss groaned at the thought.

"But don't worry," he said, halfway out of the room. "Once Neo gets back, we're moving base again. We'll get you some more comfortable accommodations there. For now, though, put your restraints back on."

Weiss looked down at the shackle and muzzle lying on the floor.

"I'll know if you don't," Torchwick said, waving the strange device with the skull key symbol before the door closed behind him.

A/N: Credit to my beta readers: 0neWhoWanders, Bardothren, and I Write Big. They're great writers who are a huge help with making this story as good as it can be.