Incognito

Effort is what I'm lacking right now. The damn effort to do something about it. But I'm lazy, tired, exhausted... and I simply don't have the willpower to do something. Where was I? Yeah, I was getting chased after Ruby for information and I gave her none.

Her interrogation, she called it, was to flash her cuteness of puppy eyes at me until I was willing to spill the beans- I mean, really? Seriously? Puppy eyes? Anyways, Blake's concern of lack of action of the White Fang and Torchwick was noticed by her team, and was put to action to kick every evil ass in sight.

Exaggerating much? This is me trying to skip long dialogues. "I left my board game at the library!" Ruby gasps, realising her mistake. Weiss facepalmed herself.

"We're doomed." She muttered.

"Not exactly true when I'm around..." I revealed the board game behind my blazer and handed to Ruby. Ruby's face showed welcoming surprise.

"Thanks, Mark!" "Just don't forget the damn thing while you're at it. I ain't your babysitter." I said, before walking towards the door. This was not left unnoticed when Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Where are you going? I thought you grabbed everything." She asked. I shrugged in response at her question.

"Not everything when you're missing the unofficial 6th member in the team." I said back leaving the girls to their thoughts. Soon, they realised who was missing from their team. Eevee!

...

I closed the door outside the dorms to meet... you guessed it. Cinder Fall. Emerald Sustrai, and Mercury Black. The three baddies of the whole volume throughout number 3.

"Huh, I haven't seen you guys around here. You guys new?" I faked my curiosity towards them. Emerald steps aside to reveal Cinder smiling.

"Visting from Haven, actually. And you are?" Cinder asked back. I blinked. Cinder wasn't the one to ask questions without any purpose, so I assumed my abilities had taken interest to her...

"Mark. Just Mark. And... I'm guessing you guys are here for the oncoming festival, right?" I asked, as she smiled in response.

"Yes. We're having some trouble figuring out our dorms. Could you help us where they are...?" Emerald asked, as I pointed east of the building.

"Right there. East side, and you'll see your building in there." I pointed their direction. Cinder simply smiles in thanks.

"Thanks. Maybe we'll see you around." They walk past me to their dorms, and no doubt Cinder had her sinster planning smirk on her face. For some reason, that bothered me.

"Yeah... maybe. Also, out of context: 'Watch out for flamethrowers!' those suckers do more damage than a knife!" I called out. Cinder stopped and continued to walk, no doubt my comment confusing her more.

"It's true... I did get hit by one." I muttered, recalling the memories of torched into KFC in my later days as Batman. I did not like that experience AT. ALL.

...

The night passed as I spent my days working on my pet project in my personal forge room or whatever people call it their- WORKSHOP! Now I remember... workshop, doin' workshop-py things~

Well I hacked into the Beacon Mainframe, now what? List of recorded Semblances... Nah. Nope. Eeh, it's close but isn't the one I'm looking for... Ooh, Onyx's Semblance. It's Reinforcement. No shit. Other than that, I have nothing. But pointless info.

It's funny that I managed to hack the Beacon Mainframe Data, which is significantly much harder to crack than the CCT, just by using a laptop that I luckily bought for a discount while Cindy needed a flashdrive to sneak herself into the CCT, knock out some guards, and risk herself from the prying eyes of Ironwood.

I'm just showing off my hacking skills, aren't I? Whoop-de-doo, I gotta kick Hush's ass and not get myself killed in the process. Oh hey, Vee.

'Damn Professors trying to take my coffee away... it took me awhile to send them away.' Espeon muttered. It took me all of my remaining self-control not to stare at Espeon.

"Oh great, you just revealed yourself that you have the mind of a child. Last time I heard, cats don't just sip coffee mugs." I grumbled, as Espeon huffed at my snark.

'Fuck off. You know I can't live without coffee in 24 hours. The stuff's basically apart of me!' He barked back, causing me to roll my eyes the thousandth time. Did he really not think of turning into Eevee?

'I forgot to mention that my powers are weakening. Wonder why it's doing that?' Espeon struggled to levitate multiple objects with some difficulty. I pressed my hand on my chin and hummed.

"Reality rules? Something something about you coming from another reality forced you to adapt to those changes. Basically in a sense, I figured that you're nerfed." I pointed at the cat. Espeon huffed.

'Fuck nerf. I relish the power of being broken when I fought God. It was easier then, being on the top of the world. Oh, I miss the days...' Espeon sighed. I didn't mention the fact he fought the avatar version of Arceus, so technically he didn't fight God...

"Yeah, it's a pile of shit." I cocked a round into the shotgun, alerting Espeon. Espeon gave me a look of skepticalism and sighed. SPAS-12, semi-automatic or pump-action. Never wondered why people use pump-action...

"Though I wonder if people had the thought of setting gun licenses in Remnant. A 15 year old is carrying a sniper around, so they must've thought 'fuck gun licenses because Grimm is everywhere' and let all of the people use guns. Isn't that the most American thing I ever heard..." I muttered in and about.

'Eeh, I doubt that.' Espeon countered. True. It wasn't the most American thing I ever heard. It doesn't relate to the bald eagles, guns, the american anthem, and basically America thing you ever heard of.

Why did I start talking about America again? United States aside, I got my guns. The shotgun and the side-arm. Lets kick some ass... Yay. Damn, I need some coffee.

'Make mine as well.' Espeon added in. I glared at him.

"You already fucking had yours!" I called back. Espeon stuck out a tongue and blew raspberries. Little shit.

'Ain't no better time for coffee! Gimme da coffeeee!' Espeon jumped towards me with star eyes and latched on my body, never letting go. I sighed.

...

Blah, blah blah- Skipping episode because lazy writing, I'm here inside RWBY's dorm room as they dress themselves and do their tasks. Weiss and Ruby go to the CCT, Blake goes to inflitrate the White Fang meeting, Yang goes to Junior's... and what about me?

I said no.

"Okay, then you're going to have to do your studies if you won't come." Weiss stated. Of course, I have my studies to catch up because I was missing out for three days, BS. That's just a bad excuse to leave me out of it. Lazy writing!

"Fair enough (it really wasn't). I guess I'll do something productive this time." I muttered and stretched myself. There we go, Sun and Neptune reveal themselves as comic relief as they join in the group of taking down Torchwick.

Aaaaaand I was left alone with Eevee cawing adorably. How cute. Whilst scratching the ears of Eevee, I was thinking about Hush. Onyx Smith. A Shade student transferred into Beacon with Yang's friends.

He uses a shieldgun (no surprise), and that's that. I've got Jack the Ripper kidnapping blondies for no reason that relates to Yang, and I might know who it is. What to do... hmm, this is hard.

"Why don't I pay him a visit?" I lifted myself and left the dorm rooms, leaving Eevee into sleep from the cuddles. Dorms, dorms, dorms... where's the team where Onyx joins...?

KNOCK KNOCK

"Can I see Onyx for a bit? I'm a friend of Yang." I called out from the door and I got no answer. I scoffed, the inconvenience of meeting this guy was troubling. Ignoring the privacy rights, I whipped up my sonic.

"Mark?" I dropped my sonic in surprise when I heard Jaune's voice.

"I did nothing." I picked up my sonic on the ground with a flat face. Jaune sweatdropped at that. I hid my sonic in my blazer and faced Jaune.

"Okay... I won't ask what you're doing. Soooo... why are you wandering around other dorm rooms, doesn't it seem out of character for you...?" Jaune nervously suggested. I shrugged and searched my pockets.

"I find this Onyx individual suspicious. I want to meet him, and for some reason, his dorm room is locked." I explained and switched into lockpicking. Jaune tried to stop me.

"Okaaay...? Wait, why are you trying to lockpick the door?" Jaune called out, as I ignored him and unlocked the door. I gave him a deadpan and opened the door.

"To get in?" I ignored the cries of protest coming from the Arc and entered the dorm room. What I saw was definitely suspicious. A clean, tidy room. Almost empty, and it was too tidy for a room.

"What the heck are you doing?!" Jaune exclaimed. I was long gone, searching Onyx's desk for any clues. Mmm, no. Nothing. Not that... what the- *finds a condom* fuck that. Pencils... nothing.

"Would you believe me that I assume that Onyx might be a serial killer hunting underage blond girls for unknown reasons?" I threw a bone. Jaune did not like that answer.

"SERIAL KILLER?! Mark, I know that you're weird, but honestly Onyx isn't a murderer!" Jaune exclaimed loudly. I rolled my eyes. Onyx was definitely the murderer... does he even murder those girls? Wait, he tried to kill Jason with a C4.

"That's why I'm trying to get evidence to support that, but he's very careful not to leave any clues around..." I muttered. Jaune looked conflicted as he was so confused.

"What made you think he's a serial killer? He's an old friend to Yang and Ruby! Why are you doing this?" He demanded. I stopped. Why was I doing this? Oh yeah, make the world less chaotic as possible...

"You know the guy who's been running around stealing military prototypes from Atlas, messing the White Fang, and exposing the illegal cartel like a typical vilgilante in comics, right?" I asked. Jaune was unsure of the question, and I knew he liked comics containing superheroes.

"Yeah...? For some reason he dresses up as a bat. It kinda looks cool." Jaune commented as he recalled the news of the badass hero.

"Yeah, basically... I'm Batman." I casually revealed of my secret identity to Jaune. He got a snort, then started to chuckle.

"Batman? What kind of name is that? Really, why'd you call him... wait..." Jaune began to realise I wasn't joking around. He was silent, eyes widening as he processed what I just said.

"Told you." I replied to the dumbstruck Jaune.

"Wait, you're not joking... You're the Batman..." He checked. I nodded back. He started to hyperventilate as he clutched his chest.

"Yep. I'm trying to be sensible enough to make the world less chaotic as possible. This guy, has been kidnapping underage women, and the worst part is that I had the latest blondie's little sister crying because she misses her sister. Ain't that a bitch?" I let out a tired breath. Jaune's face showed shock and fear.

"Imagine one of your closest family members just... disappeared. And when you're put in a situation you know she didn't disappear, instead she was kidnapped, and... just have this feeling of hopelessness and guilt that a little girl will be still crying for her big sister to come back. But she doesn't. Unless someone does something about it." I leaned my back on the wall and explained. Jaune is someone I know very well that'll keep a secret. It's not like I didn't care for my identity to be revealed...

"I chose to give a shit because it's unfair. And believe me, I know unfairness than anyone else... So, Jaune. Will you keep your promise of not telling our friends of my secret 'part-time' job that I won't be handsomely paid...?" I raised an eyebrow. Jaune dropped his jaw.

"Wait, all this time... you've been gone for three days being Batman?!" He shouted. I chopped on Jaune's neck for good measure. He started to cough loudly.

"Maybe if you'll say it loud enough, somebody might hear you... then again, you didn't exactly said you would agree to my promise..." Jaune choked on his breath and glared.

"You're an ass... but you're not heartless." Jaune replied honestly. I shrugged casually.

"Eeh, something more of a Chaotic Neutral. Or Neutral." I defended myself. Jaune looked at me and let out a breath of tiredness. It was so sudden and unexpected.

"This is so much to take in... Mark, the person that you threatened me with... unique thoughts, and now you're saying you're the Batman. The Batman who's been running around the streets like a superhero." Jaune stated. I winced for a moment of thinking.

"Mmm, close enough." I waved an average motion of my hands.

"Why are you telling me this?" Jaune honestly wanted to know why I told him this information. Aah, question of the day. I haven't answered that part.

"Uh, most of my reasons is that you came here. I could've told anyone if they noticed me doing this. Honestly, you're the first person I know who would keep a secret." Jaune blinked at that. I pat his shoulders as we both leaned on the walls.

"You trust me that much?" He asked. Hooh boy.

"Eh, you didn't tell anyone when I was ranting about the moon. I figured that you can be trusted. Tell me, out of the people that we know of, is a weapons nut, the daughter of a multi-millionare businessman of the most useful energy source that we know of, a former cat terrorist, a blond bimbo who wrecks clubs, a hyperactive pancake-lover who smashes things with her grenade-launcher hammer, a somewhat calm person who accepts reality and deals with said pancake-lover in a daily basis (also noting that the two are in love with each other), a Mistralian champion who doesn't want popularity and just wants a normal life, and you've got Jaune Arc, who questions life itself as he forged his way into Beacon... while dealing the chaos of all above people and kept his sanity intact." I was pretty sure I was out of breath saying that. Jaune stared at me with wide eyes as I made a point.

"What I'm saying is that you're possibly the normal person out here in Beacon, Lie Ren being second." Jaune actually stopped and thought about that. I waited and saw the blank stare from his face as he processed that information.

"Wait..." He replied. He faced me and gave me a blank stare.

"Yep." I said back. Jaune stared at the floor and blinked repeatedly.

"Huh. Now that I think about it... wait, that doesn't explain everything..." Jaune skeptically glanced from his shoulders. I rolled my eyes.

"Ruby's going to freak out and immediately tell Yang about this, and Yang will most likely beat the shit out of me. Blake, most likely she didn't like the 'Batman' from the start, as what I assumed I had personal information against her, and Weiss wouldn't like me stealing Atlesian prototypes for 'nefarious' reasons that she couldn't trust me more since I was painted as a criminal in her eyes, Nora and Ren wouldn't care, also adding Pyrrha, and there's you." I explained. Jaune gave me a skeptical glare.

"Glad to know I'm known to be good at keeping secrets..." Jaune slumped. I pat his back for comfort. Hey, being the weakest member of the show sucks. Especially when you met your friend (Pyrrha) who confessed to you by kissing and right off the bat, just get killed off by a fire bitch added with Greater Plot Armor. The dude's got my sympathy.

"Hey, at least you're cool enough to keep a guy's secrets. NOW that sounded weird..." I was horrified of what I just said. Jaune laughed at my face, and I frowned in displeasure. That made him laugh harder.

"Stop. Stop, I said stop. Stop laughing Jaune. I said stop." Jaune kept his laughter by wisely closing his mouth. I still had my deadpan face on when I could still hear the chuckling.

"Heeh... so what now? Are you going to tell them you're Batman?" Jaune asked. I pondered about that. Eh, eventually they'll discover it sooner or later. I'm lazy enough to let them.

"Someday. But not today!" I lifted myself up and faced Jaune. Jaune blinked in confusion as to why I suddenly got up. Now, there was a reason why I did that...

"I need you to help me. On finding out where's the bastard hiding in Beacon." I stated, Jaune's face twisted into confusion.

"Now, I don't think it's Onyx being the serial killer, Mark. Aren't you being too agressive in your deductions...? Why do think he's in this school?" Jaune carefully asked, as much as he didn't like the guy who would make a little girl cry for her sister, he didn't want to involve someone that wasn't related to the mysterious kidnappings just by Mark's opinions.

"Think about it. The kidnapped women are blond, underaged, lilac eyes, somewhat decently faced, and all of them are questionably students. Yang is blond, underaged, has lilac eyes, somewhat decently faced, and she's a student in this school. Coincidence? I think not." Jaune widened his eyes at the fact.

"Why are you involving Yang into this?! I mean, she's... really powerful and strong, but what made you think that Onyx, her oldest friend from what I heard, is the serial killer?!" Jaune exclaimed. I sighed.

"Whatever it is, I think it involves Yang. I counted 5 or 6 people having the same features as Yang, and they could've kidnapped other girls who were blond. But they didn't. Why...?" I hummed in wonder. Jaune shifted his eyes hesitantly.

"Wait... how do you know that? Did you counted the girls...?!" Jaune's eyes widened in horror. I quickly calmed him down with by motion of my hand.

"No no no, I'm not a person who has unlimited time counting EVERY single women in Vale who has the same characteristics as Yang... I just hacked the Vale Police Department instead." I casually remarked that I hacked the police.

"Wait, WHAT?!" I quickly shut his mouth up and calmly explained.

"If you want to catch a murderer, you're going to need evidence. Besides, no one's going to know I just casually hacked the police and made a security breach to Vale's law enforcement. Those guys ain't catching this guy." I waited until Jaune calmed down.

"I can't believe you just hacked the police... let me guess, you hacked the school too?..." My mouth frowned. Jaune paused and stared at my expression. Then to shock and disbelief.

"I was joking about hacking the school- YOU HACKED THE SCHOOL?!" Jaune loudly exclaimed as I caught his mouth again to shut him up. He struggled to get my hands off his mouth.

I let go. "Oh my Oum... what did I get myself into...?" Jaune slumped as he questioned life as he planted his hands on his face. I gave him a sympathetic pat on the back.

"Let's just talk this somewhere else. Don't want any more people involving this..." I didn't sense anyone near us. That was good.

...

Both walking towards my personal forge room, Jaune watched my workshop. "Well... you've done a lot to this place..." He honestly replied the state of my room. Papers and burnt stuff everywhere. Go figure.

"Eh, I guess. Welcome to the club." I waved it off, and turned on my projecter and showed my holographic study system to Jaune. Jaune awed in wonder.

"5 weeks ago, a 15-year old blond girl was kidnapped without a trace in 28th Street. Currently found, and in a coma." I revealed the news to Jaune. Jaune just stared at the facts with disbelief.

"Gods..." Jaune replied in shock. Jaune wasn't a guy that knew the horrors of humanity. But now he knew.

"Yep. I recently discovered this guy, I'll call him Hush, tried to kidnap Eveline Sulfur if I didn't prevent it." I showed Eveline Sulfur's profile to the hologram. Jaune was confused.

"But... isn't she a faunus? Yang isn't a faunus, right...?" Jaune questioned. I shrugged as to why Hush would kidnap a faunus.

"But he did try to kidnap her. He has his Aura unlocked. His semblance? Phasing. Like, phasing through concrete walls like air. The perfect ability for invulnerability, if I had not used my own semblance against him." I explained. Jaune realised as he knew what my semblance did.

"Right, you could copy each other's semblances...! But why Onyx? Doesn't he have a defensive semblance?" Jaune asked, confused as it didn't match up. Yeah, that was a problem...

"Yeah, he does. I just got a gut feeling he might be either helping the guy, or I'm just trigger happy pointing fingers." Jaune deadpanned at that. He gave a skeptical glare.

"Seriously?" I averted my eyes away from Jaune.

"Hey, you try to wander around in a military prototype suit dressed up as a bat and find this guy. It's hard, impatient, and I want to get it over with! Add to that, I have to deal 3 days worth of homework while multitasking!" I retorted.

"Touche..." Jaune nodded in agreement.

"As to why I think he's a student in this Academy... Tell me, if this guy somehow knows Yang, how would he know? So far I know, Yang's been in Shade Academy. And that's that. I don't know if this guy has a personal vendetta against blondies, but the description matching with a certain blond bombshell's characteristics is WAY too suspicious to me." I shook my head in annoyance.

"Basically, this guy kidnaps blondies that look like Yang for unknown reasons. Let's assume this guy knows Yang. How would he know a simple girl soon to be huntress? Either Hush knows Yang in her early school years, or I don't even know." I blew my hands away in exhaustion.

"So you're saying this guy... somehow knows Yang because he joined with the same school as her? That's... just assuming a serial killer is a student. No evidence." Jaune was in disbelief.

"It's the only one I've got! Christ, I don't even know what's going on. Hush hunts blondies, and he might go for Yang next. That's what I got." I groaned. Jaune sighed as he sat on a chair.

"My head hurts trying to think about this... Okay, this guy: 'Hush' is running around kidnapping blond girls that has the same eyes as Yang's. You don't know why he's doing this, and you think he's going to try to kidnap Yang next." I nodded in agreement.

"I think you're insane." Jaune stated. I frowned.

"That's quite rude." I crossed my arms in displeasure.

"Yeah, yeah... sorry. What I think you're trying to help Yang because she's your friend, right? I just think you're overthinking it. I don't think Hush is a student is this school, and him kidnapping blondies as you say it is... I don't think it's a coincidence too." Jaune replied honestly.

"I mean, he might be hunting Yang, but I don't think you're skilled enough to catch this guy. Why didn't you tell the Professors about this? Wouldn't they help to catch this guy? It's kind of their job to protect others..." Jaune suggested. I doubt it.

I let out a long sigh. "Listen... even if they catch him, they can't because his damn semblance. Phasing through everything. You can't catch a person you can't touch. But I can. Tell me, do you really think the professors will be happy about me stealing Atlesian military prototypes, blowing up buildings, disturbing the public order, and break almost every laws in Vale, including the fact that I hacked the Police department and Beacon?" Jaune was silent.

"I'm basically screwed, Jaune. If I don't give them a reason that'll not send me to the nearest mental asylum faster than I can call Dust, I might screw my whole life..." I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Jaune gulped.

"But... you're trying to do the right thing." It took all of my willpower not to physically cringe in disgust. Oh yes, the right thing to do. Justice and morality bullshit. I see self-affection and distorted personalities for selfish reasons.

Heroism thoughts aside. "Yeah..." I lied through my teeth. Let the lie sink in. I'm not a hero. I'm just a guy who has problems about the world and wants to change it. Less chaotic as possible.

"Mark... I haven't told this to you, but I have seven sisters. All of them made my life hard dealing with them. I'm the only boy in the family, and I love my sisters just as I love my parents. If I saw one of my sisters missing, I would risk my life trying to find them." I already know that. Get on with it.

"I think you're a good person. You're just... rough around the edges, that's all. But when I knew what you were doing... I decided I'm going to help you find that little girl's sister. No one, not even a little girl deserves their sister missing." Jaune clenched his fists determinedly. I was silent...

I was considered as a 'good person'. But not anymore...

"Yeah... wanna help me catch that son of a bitch?" I asked. Jaune nodded determinedly. Well, one Jaune into the batgroup. Yay.

"But... what can I do? I'm not exactly a fighter, or a thinker that I can help you." Jaune realised his worthlessness. To be fair... he wasn't exactly worthless.

"Well, there is one thing you could do..."

...

"I can't believe he just left... just like that." Ruby stared shocked at the message on her Scroll. After they fought Torchwick and his sidekick from the big mecha robot, they didn't thought it would get any worse. They were wrong.

" I quit being on the team. See ya, suckers. Don't look after me, because I'll be long gone in my private vacation.

- Mark "

"Why would he just leave like that?! We gave him a chance and our trust, and he just leaves without us noticing?!" Yang was furious. Mark was lower than trash to break their trusts and friendships, and he didn't even care about them.

"I feel betrayed. Why would he do something this...?!" Weiss gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, frustration and fury overwelming her as Mark broke their trust.

"..." Blake didn't know anything why would Mark leave them. He could've left without them looking, so why now? It was a heavy feeling on her heart as betrayal hurt.

...

After a day when Mark had left school, rumors were spreading of the reason that he left because he secretly liked Yang, and he didn't like Onyx. Yang was specifically angry of the fact Mark would do something like this, but she doubted Mark would even like her.

So why? Jaune was the last person to meet Mark, and what she got was that Mark said that he was feeling bad. Seriously?! What the hell?!

"You won't see him again. That guy shouldn't be in Beacon in the first place." Onyx clenched his fists. Yang raised an eyebrow. Onyx cared for her.

Onyx Smith was one of her closest friends at Shade. First met when she saved him from the bullies, and he considered her as one of his closest friends. He was the person who knew everything, but he didn't want to talk about his parents or his life. She didn't ask, because she knew he had bad parents. She knew what it felt to have parents that left her. He had helped her many times in her studies, and he was a dork. A cute one.

"Eh, it doesn't matter because he won't come back again. Chill dude!" Yang gave him a noogie as Onyx blushed from the closeness from her melons. Onyx was beet-red, fuming steam from his ears as he immediately apologised and left the room.

Though... she thought about Mark. As far as she could remember, he wasn't the one to bang someone. At first, she thought he was gay. She didn't want to know. She remembered that he was alright, just rough around the edges, knowing some puns, sort of weird, and he wasn't a person to be messed around.

He could also take a hit, considering that time when he got whacked by a frying pan and got second-degree burns on his face and recieved a wall-crushing hug from Eevee and still lived. And add to that, he didn't have his Aura unlocked!

Hell, he managed to somehow beat Weiss with a grilling fork! It was... strange to use a grilling fork in a spar with Weiss-cream. He also had this semblance that he could copy other semblances, and he did pretty well using Ice Queen's...

After getting beaten up into a pulp, he was going like nothing ever happened! Seriously, what was with this guy?! If he didn't cared for us, then why did he decided to cook a bunch of pancakes for us in breakfast? That was confusing...

Not to mention, from what she heard, he got his ass handed by a bunch of drunk dudes as he ditched school and went missing for three days according to Blake. He was out there, chilling in a faunus orphanage, and came back like nothing happened.

He also somehow won the food fight though. Also had the generosity of picking her up while she was falling (somehow he knew) without any harm. And it changed when Mark met... Onyx.

She wasn't blind that Mark didn't like Onyx. Sure, Onyx had some difficulties at first when she first met him. He was shy, anti-social like Rubes was, but it took him awhile to warm up to everyone. And the fact of Mark leaving school without a word (okay, but he didn't say it in person) caught her surprised.

Knowing Mark, there must've been a reason why he left. She mentally groaned, as it was getting frustrating what was in the mind of that blazer-wearing bastard. The first thing she was going to do, was that she was going to punch him to the jaw. And start asking questions why the hell he left the team...

...

Blake was in a bad mood today. After Mark left, she was turnmoil trying to study and be concerned about the White Fang. Bags were forming on her eyes from the lack of sleep. When Mark suddenly left the team, it was pushing it.

"Why would he leave...? Why then?" Blake muttered in confusion. He could've left in any time while they weren't looking. So why now? There must've been a reason why.

Argh, it was frustrating trying to think why Mark left when they fought Torchwich and the White Fang. There could've been a possibility he was a spy for the enemy, but something inside her mind doubted someone like Mark would be related to terrorists.

He would rather work alone than to join terrorists...

She let out a long sigh. Studies and constant overseeing White Fang activities were frustrating, when you add one blazer-wearing boy missing. Regardless, she hadn't talked too much with him, other than few requests for cooking fish dishes...

#Flashback Starts#

It was at this time Blake would reside herself in quiet places to read her 'intense-romance' novels in secret, away from Yang and her team.

She chose the student kitchen, as she sat on a far away bench so she could have time to hide her secret. If anyone, especially Yang, would likely tease about this and annoy her further.

"Out of all the places you could quietly read your smut novels, you chose the kitchen?"

"EEP!" Blake physically recoiled when Mark was suddenly inside the room without her notice. He was suddenly there, raising his eyebrow at her.

Where did he come from?! She hadn't sensed him coming inside or heard him! Even though her faunus features were better than the average human ears, she didn't even heard the footsteps coming here!

"Jesus, at least bring a spare book to hide the other one. Looks as if you were actually studying or whatnot." That... she didn't know to be surprised when the piece of advice came from Mark. And who was Jesus?

Before she was going to ask any more questions, a familar fresh scent of joy seeped into her nose. Fish?!

"You can cook fish?" She asked to the mysterious rehab student in question, holding a salmon pack on his hands. She got a late answer from him as he peeled the plastic wrappings off the pack.

"Sometimes. It's the type of food I have trouble cooking them. I thought it would be a good idea to cosume some proteins and vitamins." He answered, but Blake's eyes were glued to the salmon. Her stomach silently growled as she didn't have any lunch.

"What are you making?" Her mouth was faster than her thoughts. Mark grunted and opened the table drawers. With a flick of his hands, he sharpened his knife like a professional chef that made Blake surprised at the show of skill.

"Salmon Steak. Simple, and it's the easiest one I can cook. And the rest I'll just make them into sashimi." As he finished, he sprung into action.

TTTSSSS!!

The hot non-sticking pan cooked the raw salmon meat as Mark spread the additional seasonings into the fish. Far away in the benches, Blake put her book down and moved closer towards Mark's table.

Blake's mouth watered as salmon was her favourite food, second to tuna cans. Also, how in the world Mark got salmon?!

Salmon in Vale were a very hard fish to catch, due to their rareness to be found in rivers, especially in the deeper parts of the Forever Fall. It made them very expensive to buy, which also questioned how the hell did Mark got his hands on precious ingredients?!

Blake's thoughts were cut off when a well-grilled smell of salmon hit her senses like a sledgehammer. Blake covered her mouth with her hand to hide the salivating watery liquid coming from her mouth.

It was... beyond perfect in a plate. The golden browning on the salmon was so beautiful that Mark could've been lying when he was having trouble cooking fish. But that didn't matter! He even used garlic, butter, herbs, and seasoning that urged her to eat the fish.

'Must... eat... fish...' Blake slowly and silently neared her hands on the plate with glimmering excited eyes, just like a cat.

"I would appreciate if you didn't eat my lunch." "EEP!" Again, he surprised her as if he came out of knowhere. But he was there, and she must've forgotten he was there in the first place. Something told her Mark was easily forgotten...

Mark sat comfortably without a care, fork and knife in hand, and sliced a portion of greasy, delicious salmon meat. Blake's mouth watered but she was mentally crying. Why?! Why did the Gods torture her by doing this?! It was almost painful to watch!

As if sensing Blake's despair and suffering, he paused when he glanced up to see Blake hiding her shameful expression covered by a book. He blinked, before cutting a piece and stabbing it with a fork.

"I don't want to die from food poisoning, sooo..." Mark sheepishly pointed his fork at Blake. There was a grilled piece of fish steak hovering in front of her eyes, and without a second thought, she quickly nabbed the steak.

It was as if dancing on her tongue. She could feel the rivers, the fishy taste, texture, and the delicious seasoning overfeeling her tastebuds. It was sooooo delicious...

"Not bad, I guess." Mark's muffled voice called from her thoughts. Mark was there eating his lunch comfortably as Blake watched in pain as she couldn't eat it again. When she tasted it, she wanted moar... Oh gods.

Growl~

Blake immediately blushed behind her book. Mark deadpanned. "I can hear your stomach growling, Blake. Just letting you know, I'm not going to eat the second half. Just wait patiently and I'll give your lunch." Blake's face brightened like a beacon of hope, as she would eat her righteous salmon once more.

"Thank you..." Although she did not see it, a smile grew into her face from the kindness recieved from Mark. She steeled herself by resisting the urge to eat Mark's lunch and wait patiently. Honestly, this was much harder than doing stealth operations in the White Fang. You had to wait for hours...

Finally, he finished his lunch. It was time... the salmon was hers! Mark acted with a swift stroke, he sliced the salmon into even thin portions first. Blake watched with joy as her meal was quickly made.

"Fresh salmon sashimi." He stated, as he gave a pair of chopsticks to Blake. She took them with no hesitance, and digged in. As soon as the raw texture of salmon entered her mouth, it was beautiful.

The seasoned herbed scent was gone, only the raw salmon remained. The taste was increased to a hundred, the raw fishy tastes fit her tongue VERY well. She prefered raw rather than cooked, anyways...

"Okay, why are you purring." Mark nervously stepped back, Blake realising she was actually purring in front of Mark. Oh no. She blanched in horror, as Yang would have a field day of blackmail and getting teased as a cat. Even though Mark had cooked this almost masterpiece, her honor was at stake!

"Don't. Tell. Anyone." She threated with a menacingly gleaming knife on her hands. Mark gave a blank stare, (or a deadpan, who knows) and rolled his eyes. It wasn't a yes or a no.

"Well, I don't wanna get stabbed by a cat..." Mark averted his eyes nervously as Blake sighed and let the knife sit on the table. She continued eating her nicely done sashimi.

After she finished her meal, a question needed to be answered. "Mind if I ask, Mark... where'd you get the salmon?" She asked, genuinely curious as to how Mark got his hands on the salmon. Mark hummed, as if he was thinking about it.

"A 'friend' of sorts... got me the salmon freshly caught. I found it lying around the kitchen yesterday, along with a note from said 'friend'. Although I never actually met the guy..." Mark lent a note from the pack. She read the note's contexts.

"A gift from a friend... that's it? That's... kind of suspicious." Blake's suspicion took in, wondering if it was good to be true. Suddenly, Mark's stomach rumbled loudly. He clutched his stomach rather painfully, causing concern from the cat faunus.

"Mark? Are you alright?" She asked, as her response was a very loud rumble coming from Mark's stomach. He looked sickly green, looking very uncomfortable.

"I knew that fucking fish was good to be true...! SHITSHITSHIT-" A loud rumbling came from Mark's stomach as he ran off leaving Blake to her imaginations. Then, she realised as her eyes widened in horror. The fish was poisoned.

"Please don't make me throw up, please don't make throw up-" She begged, checking her Aura her stomach wasn't poisoned. But, what she felt was... comfort? Warmness? Fullness? The salmon tasted great, after all. It didn't felt like she was going to throw up.

"JESUS CHRIST!!!" Mark's eternal suffering screams called out from the whole dorm rooms, as Blake wondered what was going on. She picked up the empty pack and turned it over.

"Warning, one salmon might not be fresh, and the other is extra-fresh..." She couldn't keep it together as she bursted out a laugh. Wow, Mark had terrible luck!

"FUCK YOU!!! ARRRRRGH!!!" She almost felt bad for him. Almost. How unfortunate, as it seemed. Oh well, she needed to repay back the food Mark made for her. Mmm, maybe she could do it later, after finishing this last chapter of Ninjas of Love...

[AN: Ain't no special treatment for yo ass, boi!]

Rumble~

#Flashback Ends#

Other than the first dish he created, Blake had fun seeing Mark cook. For some reason, it was entertaining to see Mark getting caught up by unfortunate situations, as his rants were weird to often humorous.

"Why would you leave...?" She muttered, asking herself why would Mark suddenly leave. Or maybe... just maybe... He really didn't care for them. Or he really did leave them. She just hoped he left for a good enough reason.

...

Weiss had a heavy feeling in her heart. Always a ruffian, they stay as a ruffian. Mark was no charmer to chase after skirts or he had no interest in trying to join the wealthy Schnee family. He was clumsy, rantful, and cynical. All of his actions were due to all of his interests, not someone else's.

So it would be natural to leave the team while they weren't looking. He swore to never to leave the school, along with some odd reasons she could've understood. He was a person with a heavy past, and wished to start another life.

That angered her. The man had the audacity to run away from his past while some people, just like her, worked hard to escape their past lives. The thought of Mark making it so easy to run away was infuriating. She felt stupid letting him go.

"Weiss? I want to talk you about something..." Ruby, the team leader of RWBY and her partner looked like she had a deep concern on her face. She mentally sighed.

"Is there something wrong, Ruby?" She asked, helping her team leader as best as she could. She was trying her best to learn some humility, according to the professors.

"You know about Mark... do you think he would leave us for a reason...?" Ruby's eyes were sad, missing the unofficial 5th member of team RWBY. Weiss felt sympathy for her partner. It was regretful that Mark left the team, considering all the help he did trying to stabilize the team...

#Flashback Starts#

Weiss was annoyed. What was taking him so long? Mark had three days worth of studies to catch up, and it was worrying her that Mark's laziness and slacking off would affect the team.

Odd note, for some reason her undergarments kept disappearing for some reason. At first she thought it was the Arc or Mark. She dismissed the thought of Arc stealing her underwear, because as much as Jaune Arc was annoying, he wasn't a pervert. Mark literally had no sexual drive, and he wasn't one to steal underwear for any reason at all.

Odd thoughts aside, she got to the personal occupied study rooms in Beacon. It was the rooms for self-study and improvement, a room effective enough that students often use these to catch up their studies in a ditch. She expected Mark to use these.

"113... 116... 117." She stopped when she got to Mark's room, according to her seniors. She was caught off-guard when Velvet Scarlatina was a second-year senior in Beacon. As to why Velvet was in the first-year class sessions, she responded that although her combat skills were decent, her personal studies were lacking. All ever she could know, is that Mark could be like her in the future.

Back to the blazer-wearing boy in question, she rapped her knuckles at the wooden door. No answer. She frowned and once again tried to knock the door, but realised the door was slightly opened.

With a creak, she unknowingly entered the room with her growing curiousity as to how would Mark were to respond to his studies. She was... shocked to say at least.

Papers, papers, and papers were everywhere. All lined up and spread almost as if a spider-web. She saw Mark, humming and flickering his eyes on the paper while using... his glasses? She never seen those glasses, nevertheless seen Mark wore them.

"Why is it so freaking complicated that they didn't have the braincells to create a simple enough design...? I mean, you're joking me." He audibly muttered. Weiss snapped out of her thoughts as she respectfully coughed.

"Ahem..." She replied, as Mark waved his head around to turn his eyes to her. He blinked in surprise, as if he didn't notice her coming inside his room.

"Oh, it's you." That was it? Was that all, just 'oh, it's you'?! Mark not only he was disrespectful, his disinterest and absent-minded personality and tone had irked her ever since he entered the academy. She appreciated the honesty, but she wasn't one to be looked down upon.

"Yes, it's me, Mark. What are you doing?" She rolled her eyes and the bundle of papers that caught her eye. He glanced at his own work and faced her, pointing the web of papers.

"Studying. It's a mind-map for the simple-minded like me. Three days worth of studying ain't going to do itself." He replied with some self-sarcasm, rolling his eyes as he got back studying. She observed the unique method of studying, as it took her interest.

"Mind maps? Do you usually study like this?" She asked to the busy blazer-wearing boy. He simply hummed in response, flickering and spinning his pen on his fingers.

"Sometimes. It's easy to forget things if you're trying to set a mental step-by-step procedure or structure you may as well as call it, so why wouldn't you just set on hardcopy so you wouldn't forget?" He said, rapidly writing in a crude way of writing text. It was a good idea to have your notes ready and expanded, but... she couldn't understand his spelling.

She narrowed her eyes as she picked up a note. "Is this an 'A' or an 'E'? Mark, your spelling needs some work. I'm surprised that you could even understand this..." Due to her discipline and strict studying to be the best huntress, she always wrote in cursive and accurate texts, though it took little to understand her teammates' spelling style when they needed help for their studies.

But Mark? She couldn't understand a thing because it was too hard for her to even read it. It was in a mess, complicated, distorted, and very wrong. Longer words were even uncompleted, missing out a few letters that led her to wrong conclusions of the right word.

"Eh, I didn't say it would be read by anyone else. It's kind of my writing style for my personal studies." She didn't question it. If he could understood it, then it didn't matter. But honestly... how can he understand this?

She unknowningly groaned. "I doubt this would increase your studies, Mark..." She muttered in disbelief. She doubted Mark would increase his studies just by looking at his papers if his handwriting was terrible.

"Hmm. Say, how about yours? Are your studies going great?" He asked. Weiss blinked repeadily when Mark of all people would ask how her studies were fine. It was odd that a concerning question coming from the slightly cynical teammate.

That being said... "I'm not. The studies are going questionably harder, and Ruby's struggling with her studies. Could you help her?" She asked. Mark raised an eyebrow at that. She wanted to test if Mark wasn't always so self-centered...

"Why? Couldn't you at least help her since your studies are fine? Last time I heard, you were the one who got constant outstanding grades in your assessments... Why are you asking me?" Mark set his papers together as he asked. Weiss crossed her arms.

"I won't be always with Ruby. I know her studies are going well in the past, but this subject put her in a struggle. Yang and Blake won't be helping her because they're too busy doing their own, and you might be the only one who could help her." She said, only to test Mark's morality to help her teammates.

"..." He glanced at his papers. With a sigh, he took off his glasses and set his papers to her surprise.

"Okay, maybe I have some time helping with Ruby afterall. What's she struggling with?" He confidently straightened his blazer and faced Weiss. Weiss was taken back from the geniune rare support from Mark as he was ready to help.

"Uhh..." She had no words. Mark deadpanned at her.

As if sensing her disbelief, he quipped. "What? You really thought I wouldn't help her? I'm not going to be dragging the team down." He grumbled. That surprised Weiss, as a red tint formed on her face as she got her composure.

"It's just very odd seeing you of all people helping someone else." Weiss confessed. She might as well show her honesty as his teammate. Mark wisely nodded, agreeing with her statement.

"True..." He slowly agreed. Just then, a small purr came outside the door as both of them turned to the sound. Weiss mentally bursted into cuteness and love as she saw cute, fluffy, Eevee!

"Voi!" Eevee was carrying a small bag! It was sooo cute! Come here, you cinnamon roll! Although Mark had some points for coming up the name 'cinnamon roll', since Eevee was sweet, fluffy, and adorable!

"Who's a cute cinnamon roll? Yes, yes, yes you are~" Weiss snatched Eevee to her arms and immediately cuddled the boi. Eevee cawed and cooed like a baby fox as he enjoyed her cuddles. So cute~!

"Veveveve~" Awww, he was so adorable! She had half a mind to keep Eevee to herself, even sending a letter to her sister, Winter, as to how cute it was. Eevee was too adorable that must be shared~

"Ehem." Mark noticed the sight as Weiss took a moment and blushed. Showing emotions to others were foreign to her, especially when he was the only boy in the team.

"Vee, you got what I wanted?" He asked, as Eevee responded by cawing cutely. Hopping from her arms (to her displeasure), he sat on the table to recieve headpats from Mark as he rummaged the small backpack.

"You told Eevee to do chores? And he can understand you?" She asked curiously, discovering that Eevee could understand human speech and follow orders, like a good pet would- No, comparing Eevee to a pet was inaccurate.

Due to the fact Eevee could control the elements, move objects with his mind, and heal major injuries was bit of a stretch to say Eevee followed orders like a dog would. Then again, Eevee WAS a pet, but for some reason... she didn't like calling him one.

"Yep. I guess he's smart enough to understand our speech and he's willing to follow orders. No, it's more of a request than a demand..." Mark wandered off to his thoughts, whilst unconsciously continued cuddles to Eevee. Weiss sweatdropped at the scenery.

"Ah, there it is." Mark pulled out a metal thermos from the bag. Weiss watched as the thermos took her curiousity, wondering why would Mark ask Eevee to bring a thermos.

"Weiss, let me not proudly introduce to the Study Special Brew of Shit." He twisted the cap of the metal container without her notice, and all hell broke loose. Weiss immediately backed away from the stench coming from the thermos.

'WHAT WAS IN THAT THING?!' She was horrified to say at least. The smell was like someone put a thousand year old forest mixed with dirt and Grimm ash inside and blended the whole thing together! Simply, it was disgusting to the point that she couldn't hide her disgust.

"VEEE!!" Eevee was also disgusted as well, hopping to her arms in horror and terror as he shivered watching the dark green fog coming from the thermos. The shivering intensified as she as well shivered as well, both leaning on the door as they watched.

Mark also pinched his nose and shared his disgust. "Tis concation is a 'pecial 'rew taht I force meself to consume wit... It tastes like crocodile piss and Shrek's swamp bathwater..." He recklessly spilled in the contents on a cup and swiftly chucked the mixture to his mouth, to much to their absolute horror.

"God, it tastes awful. If I didn't test it, I wouldn't be too willing to force myself to drink this..." He coughed, showing no signs of pain from drinking that abomination of a liquid. Weiss watched in horror. Why would he drink something like this?!

"I can see it on your face as to why would I drink this. It's a special brand of bullshittery that I made that helps with my studies. It works well, I'll tell you. It would be wise to consume it, Weiss. Didn't you say you had trouble doing your studies as well? It DOES help you, after all..." Weiss paled and shook her head immediately when Mark nudged the evil brew near her. She rapidly cursed herself.

"I-I'm fine thank you! I won't be drinking this, AT. ALL!!!" Weiss immediately took Eevee and ran for the door. She tried to open it, but it was locked. Her anxiety went up when she felt a menacing prescence as she whimpered in fear.

"It would be rude to decline a person's kindness... don't you think, Weiss?" His bastardly voice came behind her back as she whimpered. Not in hell she would force herself to drink that! She would impale herself with Myrtenaster than to drink that!!

"NOOOO!!! HELP ME! PLEASE!! SOMEONE GET THIS EVIL MAN AWAY FROM ME!!" She cried and banged the door. Unbeknownst to her, Mark gently spilled the evil substance in a teacup, somewhat preferable to her elegant and noble tastes as he ignored Weiss' struggle to escape.

Mark sighed and came closer to Weiss. Weiss' muffled screams as she closed her mouth to restrict drinking. "It's all for your wellbeing, Weiss... just open your mouth and drink-" SLAP!

An odd silence washed over the room as Weiss royally f*cked up.

Mark's dark sadistic grin formed on his face. "SO I GUESS YOU WON'T EAT YOUR GREENS, WON'T YOU, WEISS?!" Weiss screamed as Mark's sadism side had terrified her to the core, as Eevee watched in horror as his partner turned into something beyond death-scary.

Suddenly the thermos that sat on the table immediately was in his hands. "OpEn wIdE, WeISs~! I SaId OpEEn WiiiddEEEE!!!" Mark's creepy grin had quivered both the unfortunate victims as they called for help. But it was too late. Too deep.

Weiss' breath blew in and out from her nostrils as she refused to open her mouth, not in hell. Mark tilted his head. "Oh? Now that's inconvenient, your mouth isn't opening?! I thought you loved hearing your proud, beautiful, angelic, voice, Weiss!" Weiss' head shivered as she was terrified to her core.

If there was one thing that could scare Weiss, that was locked from her father's clutches like a caged bird. Empty, and used as a tool. But Mark? HE WAS BEYOND TERRIFYING THAN DEATH ITSELF!!!

"Well, there are ways to open mouths... most of them have to use skin-contact, but you wouldn't like that, would you? I'll just have to... less touch you." He grinned omniously. She mentally cursed herself for letting her guard down. Mark was a sadist! A VERY SCARY SADIST!!

Two fingers pinched her nose as he air was restricted. "You won't be able to breath with your nose! So OPEN WIDE, IT'S GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH!!!" Mark bent her neck down while pinching her nose. It was getting harder to breath, and she would rather hold her breath than to drink that!

"Huh. I guess I'll take out the big guns. Weiss, I confess I was the one who stole your undergarments." He confessed with a blank stare.

"WHAT?!" Weiss' eyes widened in outrage, shock, and pure fury as Mark would be low enough to steal her undergarments! Then she realised she had f*cked up.

"No, I lied. I didn't steal your undergarments. Ruby did." He grabbed her jaw and forced a load of liquid deep inside her throat. His blank eyes turned into omnious sadistic glares as he laughed maniacally.

"DRINK IT, WEISS! TAKE IT ALL, WEISS!!!" Weiss' screams echoed from the sound-proof study rooms as Mark's mind thought his sentence was a bit too innuendo, but he ignored it anyways and continued the torture.

Weiss' blank eyes cried tears as she leaned on the door and slowly sat down on the floor, as darkness took her place...

#Flashback Ends#

"Weiss? Why are you grinning like you're going to torture someone and you'll enjoy it?..." Ruby's voice cut off from her thoughts as Mark had unknowingly sparked her own sadist side. Weiss hid her dark grin with a small smile, finally finding an excuse to torture Underwell even more.

"It's nothing, Ruby." She forgave Ruby for stealing her undergarments, since she was younger and made mistakes, so she understood. But Mark? She will put his head on a pike if she managed to find him... and she will enjoy every second of slowly piercing Myrnaster's blade into his stomach...

...

"I think I made Weiss into a sadist. Oh well." I had a chilling feel from my back and noticed Weiss had turned into a sadist. It was a bad thing. I'mma go back to work... doin... bat stuff.

...

"Again, you're making that grin, Weiss. It's creeping me out..." Ruby wisely stepped away from Weiss as she covered her grin. As much as she was furious that Mark had touched her and forced her to drink his 'abomination', but...

As she must've been hate to admit it, but his abomination actually helped. It was bitter medicine, not sweet, but it works effectively. Her studies and thinking were much clearer, more thoughtful, and more progressive.

If she was struggling with her studies, she would have coffee. If that didn't work, she would pull out the thermos and force herself to drink it. It tasted like shit. Again, the taste even made her to vulgarly curse, which was against her discipline.

But it helped with her studies, nonetheless. "I think Mark wouldn't leave Beacon with a reason, Ruby. As much as I don't like him, he helped the team in his own way." She answered. Ruby looked down.

"... Weiss, if you had the chance to get Mark back into the team again, would you do it?" Ruby asked. Weiss took a moment of silence to think about that. Mark was cynical, selfish, ignorant, annoying, sadistic, evil, and HAD NO MANNERS-

But he wasn't heartless. Even though he didn't show it, he did cared for his team. Some like Mark needed a second chance. But he ruined his chances. Either she was going to lob Myrnaster into Underwell's skull, or he had one VERY good excuse why he left.

"I don't know Ruby. But Mark better have an excuse why he left." She replied, Ruby beaming in delight as her partner would give a third chance (he had a second one, that being rehab) to the blazer-wearing idiot meanie boy. Don't know why Ruby had said that.

"I miss him..." Ruby silently muttered. As much as Ruby disliked Mark for leaving the team, she wanted to know why. Why he left the team. She became a huntress to help people. Mark needed help, and he left because his past was haunting him. She could help him.

...

It was the deadly night. Where fear and darkness would sink inside souls and torment them. The White Fang had gotten a score on their warehouses, this time more secretive and secure from the eyes of huntresses...

A white fang grunt, had a uncomfortable look on his face as he carried the cargo. Another experienced grunt noticed this, and chose to help his fellow brothers. "What is wrong, brother? Do you need help?" He asked to the new batch.

"It's nothing... hey, have you heard... of the Bat?" The veteran frowned, particularly not enjoying the subject of the Bat. He assured the newcomer by calming his fears.

"It is nothing but a legend. A fake, that humans made up to scare faunuskind. He does not exist." He assured him. That didn't work, as the newcomer hesistanted.

"I heard he's a Grimm. No Aura, no blood... I heard Gerald saw a monster. Way more scarier than a Grimm. He's scary, man. I don't wanna die..." The newbie clutched his head as he feared for his life. The veteran pat his back, assuring nothing could hurt them when nobody knew.

"Hey, can we get a medic here? Brother needs help!" The veteran called out. Silence. Both gulping, the veteran pulled out his gun for safe keeping. He walked forward, recalling the last grunt he saw was on the other side of the container.

He walked between the dark space with only a flashlight lighting his way. He froze, seeing a motionless body on the ground. He needed to tell them. He needed to-

"How can you claim a legend was a fake...? That is, if you refuse to believe the truth and continue fearing the lesser..." He whipped his gun towards his back and then suddenly, a enormous force knocked away the pistol from his hands.

Two dark hands gripped him by the collars as he was leaning on the walls, his feet dangling on air. He saw him. The Bat. He was beyond terrifying, always angry, and beyond fear. He was fear itself.

"People fear the unknown. And you don't know me... and I'll tell you who I am. And you're going to tell all of your friends who I am." His raspy dark voice called out to him as he squirmed.

"W-who are you?!" He finally called out.

"I'm Batman."