AN: Hello everyone! I'm here throwing my hat in with the rest of the 'Arkham RWBY' crowd. Here are some adventures starring everybody's favorite pink berserker, Nora Valkyrie! Special thanks to my lovely beta, annbe11, as well as to Sai Kunai Blade for bringing me into this whole thing in the first place. With that, I hope you all enjoy The Hammer of the Bat.

Chapter 1 – You're Not in Remnant Anymore…

"Hey?" said a gruff voice. "Hey, kid? You alive?"

Nora groaned and raised one arm to bat away the questions.

"Five more minutes, Ren…" she said before snuggling back down onto her arm. "M'tired…"

"Okay, you're alive," the voice said again. "Just wanted to see if you could loot your corpse."

A statement like that managed to convince Nora that something was off and she needed to wake up to find out what it was. She gave a wide yawn as she struggled up to sit on her knees and she stretched her arms wide, wringing another yawn out of her.

She rubbed her eyes and looked around. After a moment, she rubbed her eyes and looked again.

No, she wasn't dreaming.

A moment ago, she and the rest of Team RNJR had been on an airship heading for Mistral. She had leaned against Ren and closed her eyes.

Now, things were different. Suddenly, she was in a weird city. Specifically, she was in an incredibly filthy alleyway with walls lined with overflowing trashcans and coated with peeling paint. The only other denizen of the alleyway was a scraggly bearded man wearing a threadbare coat.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," he said, giving her a gap-toothed smile. "You don't want to be hanging out in the open like that at this time of the night." He took a drink from something in a paper bag that he held. "However, with the amount of heat you're packin', I'd say that you have a better chance than most."

"Oh, thanks" Nora said, pushing herself to her feet and brushing off her skirt as well as dusting off Magnhild. "You like it? I made it myself. Took a lot of work."

"No foolin'? Wow. I'm impressed."

Nora beamed at the praise as she patted herself down. Not that she didn't trust the scruffy looking man that she had just met, but she wanted to make sure she had her all things. Scroll? Check. Wallet? Check. Compass? Check. Extra grenades? Check. Nora brushed a few more pieces of dirt off of Magnhild and strapped it to her back after giving the grip an affectionate pat. "Would you mind telling me where I am? I think I misplaced my team."

"Well, missy," said the bum, "you're in the one and only Gotham City, the very definition of the term 'shithole'."

"Kay…" Nora said, scratching the back of her head in confusion. "Well, if I'm here, they can't be too far."

But why would they leave her, she wondered. They had been heading to Mistral, but now they were in this 'Gotham City'. Nora hoped it was close to Mistral. Maybe she should check it out. No, wait, Ruby had the map. Jaune wasn't trusted with the map anymore and she had set the map on fire the last time she was asked to carry it. It totally wasn't her fault, though.

"I need to try and find Ren," she said. "He'll know what's going on."

The bum looked at her strangely.

"What's a 'ren'?" he asked.

"He's my best friend," she said, looking down both ends of the alleyway. "He's never far away from me. Have you seen a guy around wearing a green tunic and with long black hair?"

"Sorry, kid," the bum said with a shrug. "I ain't seen anyone like that."

A tiny hint of panic began to wiggle around in Nora's mind. She hadn't been separated from Ren since… since… she didn't even know how long! She clamped her eyes shut and stamped down on that thought. It was alright. Everything was fine. She could find Ren no problem. It would be just like hide and seek, or finding him during the Beacon Initiation. She would just use their signal. She forced a smile on her face and nodded to herself.

"I'll find him," she said, facing one wall with a fire escape and taking a few steps back.

"Just make sure you don't wander too much," the bum said. "A street gang called the Deacons are active this time of night and they really enjoy-"

He stopped when Nora took a few steps forward and leapt into the air, easily reaching the railing of the third floor landing. She swung herself onto the landing and looked down at the bum.

"…actually, I think you'll be fine," he finished.

"Thanks for your help, sir," she said. "I need to go find my friend. See you around." With that, she ascended the fire escape toward the rooftop. In moments, she was hopping across the rooftops of Gotham and shouting as loud as she could.

"Ren?!" Nora called. "Ren?! Where are you?! Kurrr-ah! Kurrr-ah!" She bound across the tops of buildings, looking all over the streets. This was weird. She was using the signal. Why wasn't he responding?

A bit of movement in the corner of her eye made her look to the right at a gothic-style building, and she saw someone who might be able to help her. She took a running start and leapt across the street dividing the two buildings. After a few seconds of flying through the air, she slammed into the concrete side of the building and dug her fingers into the stone carvings, not caring that a gargoyle was cracking under her hand.

Her sudden arrival startled a woman hanging upside-down in front of one of the windows. She wore a tight leather bodysuit and a headpiece decorated with cat ears. She had been in the middle of using a device to cut a hole in the glass when Nora had suddenly arrived.

"Ah!" she yelped in surprise, almost dropping her device. The woman turned and stared at a panting Nora. There was a short pause where they only blinked at each other.

"Hi!" said Nora, smiling at the woman. The woman blinked.

"Um... hello?" she managed to say.

"I was hoping you could help me," said Nora. "I'm looking for my friend. His name is Ren. He's pretty tall, good-looking, probably wearing green, and has long black hair with a streak of pink in it. Have you seen him anywhere around here?"

The cat-themed woman blinked at Nora for a few more moments.

"Sorry, but no. I haven't seen anyone like that tonight."

"Oh, okay," said Nora, visibly deflating. She drew herself up after a moment and nodded at the woman. "Thanks anyway. Have a good night." Nora planted her feet on the wall and kicked off, sending herself flying back across the street where she had come from so she could continue her search.

The woman hung there in front of the window for a few more moments before she shook herself and returned to what she was doing.

"I swear this town gets weirder by the day…" she muttered to herself as she finished cutting into the window.

Nora was sitting on the edge of a building and trying to puzzle this whole situation out. She had searched for over an hour and there was no sign of Ren or any of her friends. She needed to find them and find out how they got here and why they left her. At the moment, she was trying a breathing exercise that Ren had tried to teach her on a few occasions. She had never gotten much use out of it but now seemed like a good time to try it out. Unfortunately, the exercise eventually broke down and Nora just started hyperventilating. She had no idea where she was, almost nothing about this place was familiar, and worst of all, Ren was nowhere to be found. This… this was starting to feel wrong.

"Where are you, Ren?" she whispered to herself as she looked out over the city and listened to the sounds of the urban night.

Her musings were cut short by the rumbling of her stomach. She hadn't had anything to eat since before the fight with the Nuckelavee, so she'd have to find something soon. The thought of digging through dumpsters for food brought back a host of… unpleasant memories for her, but she needed food and water. That was Survival 101.

As she was climbing to her feet and making a mental list of a few restaurants she had seen during her search, she suddenly heard the sound of gunfire. She spun to face the direction it was coming from and saw two groups of youths shooting at each other in an empty lot, both sides taking cover behind various derelict cars.

Despite the dreary situation, she found herself in, a small smile crossed Nora's face. The Ren Method for stress relief had failed her. It was time to give the Nora Method a try…

"Eat lead, Deacon!" shouted a young member of the Dragon's Claw as he fired his pistol at a member of the Deacons and hit nothing but asphalt.

"Seriously, Shorty?" said one of his comrades. "'Eat lead'? Why not just say 'Ah'm a blow ya away, see?' It's dumb."

"Well, what are you gonna say?" Shorty snapped, taking cover again as a Deacon started firing vaguely in their direction. "You got some sort of Death Threat Dictionary or something?"

"Well as a matter of fact-"

THUD!

Everyone was silent as a small explosion was heard in the abandoned lot. Shorty slowly stood up and peeked over the hood of the bullet-riddled car.

There was now a small crater in the middle of the lot, and an orange-haired girl in a black jacket and pink skirt was kneeling in the middle of it. She slowly stood up and looked at all of them one by one, a terrifying smile on her face. She removed what looked like a grenade launcher from her back and spun it with a flourish. Before their eyes, the weapon changed form until it had transformed into a giant hammer.

"Okay boys…" she said before she began to spin the weapon around herself. She twirled it in circles, passed it from hand to hand, spun it around her neck and even tossed it up into the air like a drum major's baton before slamming it into the ground and making another crater. "Who's first?" she asked, still smiling that grin with too many teeth.

There were a few moments of silence.

"NOPE!" every gang member said at once before turning and fleeing as fast as they could. In seconds, Nora was the only person in the lot. Her shoulders slumped and her head drooped.

"Aw man…" she whined as she transformed Magnhild back to its transport form and putting it on her back. "The Nora Method is a failure."

The sound of sirens suddenly rang out through the lot as a police cruiser maneuvered its way through one of the alley entrances. Nora grinned and waved as the vehicle came to a stop.

"Hey officers!" she said. "Don't worry. I took care of this, I guess."

Nora was very confused when two men climbed out and pointed handguns at her. The officer on her left was a heavyset man wearing a blue overcoat, a fedora, and a scowling expression. He held his gun with practice, but something about him said he was itching for a fight. The other officer was an older man with short greying hair. He had horn-rimmed glasses and wore a grey vest over a white shirt. He stood tall and held his pistol still, looking perfectly at ease.

"Drop the weapon and put your hands on your head!" the large one shouted at her. She blinked in surprise.

"Um, I think there's been a misunderstanding, officers." Nora said, slowly raising her hands up. Ever since that one time when they were eleven, Ren had specifically told Nora to never fight with law enforcement. "You see, we're on the same side. I'm one of the good guys." She starting taking a few steps forward. She slowly reached for her pocket, making the movement obvious. "If you'd let me show you my-"

"I told you to drop the weapon and put your hands on your head! Now!" shouted the large policeman.

"Okay. Okay. I'm doing it," said Nora, watching the two men tense up as she slowly took Magnhild off of her back. She gently set her weapon on the ground and took a few steps away before putting her hands behind her head. The officer on her left hurried behind her and grabbed her hands before clicking handcuffs around her wrists. "Ow!" said Nora as the tight restraints closed on her.

"Holy hell, Gordon!" the arresting officer said, looking at Magnhild. "The kid's got a goddamn thump-gun!"

"My god…" the older man said as he holstered his gun and came closer. "What are you doing carrying artillery like this?"

"I have a permit for that," Nora said, not liking that her arms were being twisted at an uncomfortable angle.

"Bull crap," the larger man said as he dragged her toward the car. The other officer, an older man with greying hair and glasses, stepped forward to pick up Magnhild. Seeing her weapon in the hands of another person felt wrong, but she swallowed her apprehension.

"This thing is ridiculous," the older man, 'Gordon' she thought it was, said as he looked over the weapon. "This is leagues ahead of what we have. Even what the military has." He turned and gave her a hard stare. "You some private military contractor, kid? Are they recruiting out of high school now? Where did you get this?"

"I made it," said Nora, wrenching herself out of the other officer's grip so she could sit on the hood of the car. She stuck her tongue out at him, but he just growled at her.

"Easy, Harvey," Gordon said, putting a hand on the other man's shoulder. He turned his attention back to Nora. "What's your name kid?"

"Nora Valkyrie."

Harvey blinked at her.

"No, seriously," he said. She glared at him.

"My name is Nora Valkyrie," she said again.

"Alright then, Ms. Valkyrie," said Gordon, "mind telling us how you learned how to make this and where you got the materials?"

Harvey turned his gaze back to Gordon.

"Jim, you can't seriously think that-"

"Let the lady talk, Harvey," Gordon said, not taking his eyes off her.

"My friend Ren and I learned how to make weapons from a Huntsman in Mistral," she explained. "He was the one who recommended that we become Hunters and try to get into an Academy."

"So, what, you hunt animals with a goddamn grenade launcher?" Harvey asked.

"I hunt monsters," Nora corrected. "Y'know, the Grimm? The things trying to drive mankind to extinction."

"And of course she's a goddamn nutcase…" muttered Harvey. "On top of that, she carries a cannon around like it's a makeup kit."

"I told you guys that I have a permit for it. It's in my right coat pocket in my wallet." Nora angled her body toward them, inviting them to reach for the pocket. At a nod from Gordon, Harvey reached into the pocket and pulled out her wallet. He seemed confused by the lien cards in it before he flicked one of the plastic tabs to the side, showing her Huntress license and weapon's permit.

"'The holder of this card is entitled by the Kingdom of Vale to the carrying and use of an advanced Hunter's Weapon'? 'Combination grenade launcher/warhammer'? The hell is the crap?!" He tossed the wallet over his shoulder.

"No!" she cried, making to run after the wallet before Harvey pushed her back onto the car hood. "I worked hard to get that! That's important to me!"

"Bullock…" Gordon said, his voice almost a growl.

"C'mon Jim, you know that this-"

"Now," said Gordon. Harvey just threw his hands up in exasperation before turning around to retrieve the wallet. Gordon carried Magnhild in his right hand while he took hold of Nora's arm in his other hand in a firm, but careful grip. "We're going to take you down to the station to answer a couple questions."

"But I can't do that," Nora said, feeling a few more tinges of panic. "I need to find my friends. I need to find Ren. They're probably looking for me."

"If your story checks out and you make things easier on yourself, maybe we can help you with that," said Gordon. "Right now, I need you to get in the car and not make any fuss. Okay?"

"Okay," Nora sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Just promise me that you guys won't do anything to Magnhild." She pointed her elbow at the weapon in Gordon's hand. "I spent months planning and building that thing. It's got my blood, sweat, tears, and other fluids in it."

Gordon looked a little uncomfortable at that, but he didn't say anything. He opened the back door of the police car for her just as a muttering Harvey came up and roughly shoved the wallet back into her pocket. Harvey maneuvered her into the back seat as Gordon tossed Magnhild into the trunk. In moments, they were pulling out of the lot and driving down the dark Gotham streets.

I think I'm in trouble, thought Nora.

AN: And that's a wrap! Hope you guys liked it. Make sure to leave a review and tell me how I'm doing. Have a great day!