"Yang, MIA. Nora, MIA. Sun, retired. Blake, gone rouge. Jaune…" Ruby Rose recounted to herself the state of the Avengers. "Sky, gone rogue. Ciel, crippled. Weiss, gone rouge. Penny, missing. And… That's it." Billionaire, playgirl, philanthropist, Iron Man. She was Earth's last Avenger.

There was no one less deserving.

"He told me things would be different, that I would be a part of something." For a while, Ironwood hadn't been lying. Ruby had spent six years of her life as an Avenger, and those six years proved to be both the best and worst years of her life. Even still, she wouldn't trade it for the world. "But I'm always destined to be alone in the end…"

The New Yorkers passing by her as she strolled through Central Park didn't even bat an eye at the superhero ramblings to herself. Ruby knew how the news portrayed her these days, 'off her rocker,' 'out of control.' Didn't they know that she was the only one keeping them from the brink of collapse?!

No, they didn't. The activities of the Avengers were public, yet it was a thankless job nonetheless. Those people- those innocent civilians on the sidelines- they took the protection as a given. Like the Avengers owed them something. What the hell did Ruby Rose owe the world that the world didn't already owe to her?!

"We fight to protect those who can't protect themselves because no one else will." She calmed herself with Jaune's words. He had betrayed her, and that… That wound still burned. But when they were side by side, he had been the paragon of virtue which she strived to emulate.

Before the Avenger's mental conundrum could continue any further, an orange portal opened before her and a blond witch walked through.

"Ruby Rose, I'm Doctor Glynda Goodwitch. I need you to come with me." Goodwitch requested.

"What are you, handing out tickets or something?" Ruby instantly responded with her classic snark, about ready to kick ass if necessary.

"We need your help. Look, it's not overselling it to say the fate of the universe is at stake." Glynda ignored the jab at her outfit.

"And who's we?"

"Hey, Ruby." Yang Xiao-Long greeted, coming out from behind the witch. Ruby's eyes widened.

"Yang… I- Uh- You okay?" She asked carefully. Yang had been the sister she never had. They went to the same prestigious school growing up, always having each other to confide in. When Ruby's mother died, she transferred to another school and they lost contact for a while. But when they reunited in the SHIELD Helicarrier, they lost no time rekindling the friendship they'd lost.

Yang didn't respond. Instead, she embraced Ruby in a desperate hug. One that Ruby was all too happy to return.


"At the dawn of the universe, there were the brothers and nothing else." Bolin explained to his audience back at the sanctuary. "Then, boom! The Big Bang caused by their quarrel sent six elemental crystals hurtling across the universe. These Infinity Relics each control an essential aspect of existence." The visual representation help Ruby understand things better, though she had to hold her tongue at the mention of the 'brothers.' Now was not the time to talk religion.

"Space, reality, power, soul, mind…" Doctor Goodwitch lit up the relics as they appeared in the illusion. "And time." As she said this, the amulet on her chest swirled open, revealing a green stone similar to the others.

"Tell me her name again." Ruby Rose requested, enraptured.

"Salem." Yang pressed, sending a shiver down the mechanized hero's spine. "She's a nightmare, Rubes. She invaded planets, takes what she wants, then kills half the population!" The matter of urgency in her voice was great now, as if the blond didn't think Ruby understood the stakes. "She sent Ren. The attack on New York, that's her." Rose sucked in a breath.

"This is it…" She said to herself, referring to the visions that had plagued her thoughts for the last six years. There was no time to think about the now, though. "What's our timeline?"

"There's no telling." Yang confessed. "She already has the Power and Space Relics. And that already makes her the strongest being in the universe. If she gets her hands on all six… Ruby…"

"She could destroy life on a scale previously unheard of."

"Right… It's time…" Ruby mumbled, leaning on a cauldron to stretch out her legs.

"Stop leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos." The Doctor ordered.

"Is that what this is...?" The Rose said offhandedly. Her stretching was interrupted by the good doctor's cloak, smacking her off the cauldron. Instantly, she turned to the magic user, a serious look on her face. "I'm going to allow that, but only because of the current situation. Now, if Salem needs all six, why don't we just throw this one in the garbage disposal?"

"The relic stays with me." Glynda put her foot down.

"Fine, you can go along with it." Ruby retorted. Bolin interceded.

"We swore an oath to protect the relic of time. Our oath cannot change." The monk explained, coming between the two powerful women.

"This Relic may be our best chance against Salem." Goodwitch continued.

"Yeah, and it may be her best chance against us." Ruby criticized.

"Guys, can we table this discussion for now?" Yang interceded. "The fact is, we have the relic. We know where it is. Penny is out there with the relic of mind, and we need to find him now."

"About that…" Ruby shifted, a conflicted look on her face.

"What? What is it?"

"Two weeks ago, Penny turned off her transponder. She's off the grid."

"Wait what?! Ruby, you lost another super bot?" The seven PhD holder balked.

"I didn't lose her. She's more than that, she's evolving." The genius inventor responded.

"Who can find Penny, then?" Glynda chimed in.

"…" Ruby's expression grew sour.

"Ruby, who?" Yang pushed.

"…Jaune. Jaune Arc would know."

"Damnit." The Doctor cursed.

"Alright. Call him." The former rage monster gave a simple solution. Ruby gave a pitiful chuckle, lacking any humor in it whatsoever. "What's wrong?"

"Cap and I… We broke up." The Leader of the Avengers revealed. Yang's eyes widened in shock at the news, but she gained a look of determination right afterwards.

"Look, Rubes, I'm sorry to hear that. Truly, I am. But Salem? She's threatening the entire universe! You can't let one break up get in the way of this." Ruby shook her head at Yang's naivety.

"God, it's been a while, hasn't it?" The genius said more to herself. "No, when I said we broke up, I mean we broke up. Fists swinging, lasers blasting. The Avengers? They're toast, done. Jaune and I… We're not on speaking terms, to say the least."

"Ruby, listen to me." Yang pleaded one last time. "Nora is gone. Salem is coming. It doesn't matter who you're talking to or not."

The words stuck to Ruby something fierce. Did Yang really think she didn't want to contact Jaune? No, she'd been playing with the flip phone he gave her ever since she received it in the mail. But… How would he respond? Disappoint at what she'd tried to do to Pyrrha? Happiness at the fact that she finally called him again? Ruby wasn't sure which was worse, but she knew she couldn't stand to hear either.

A faint rumbling stopped the inventor from having to make a choice. The Rose looked back over to her companions.

"Say, Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair magically, would you?" Ruby gestured the the sorcerer's flowing locks.

"Not at the moment, no." Glynda glanced at her own hair, which was indeed moving in the wind. Looking through the Hulk-sized hole in the ceiling, all four heroes noted the debris that flew past with the wind.

Without a word, Ruby Rose barged out the front door to an absolute commotion, quickly followed by the remaining three. Cars were already tangled along the road, most people deciding to abandon their vehicles altogether. A mass exodus of people came from further along, marking the direction Ruby herself would take.

"S.U.M.M.E.R., what am I looking at?" Ruby Rose asked her AI after helping some people along the way.

"Not sure, I'm working on it." The AI responded. It wasn't nearly as advanced as P.E.N.N.Y. had been, but it got the job done nonetheless.

"Hey, Doc! You might want to chuck that Time Relic now!" The billionaire shouted through the wind.

"Might want to use it." Glynda insisted anyway. A vicious hum grew louder as they approached the source of the chaos, finally coming to a culmination as the spotted a giant discus ship floating over the street.

No doubt about it. Those dreams that had been plaguing her, those visions and prophecies, they started here.

The beginning of the end.


Meanwhile, on a school bus headed out of the city, the hairs on a young boy's arm stood. Oscar Pine, also known as Spider-Man, instantly looked up and out the window the the current threat. The boy had already committed his life to being a hero. Now was his time to prove it.

"Ned, hey." He tapped his best friend and 'man in the chair.' "I need you to cause a distraction." At Oscar's prodding, Ned turned around and caught sight of the giant ship in the distance.

"Holy shit! We're all gonna die! There's a spaceship!" Ned yelled, scrambling to get a better look. Of course, the rest of the students quickly followed his lead, leaving Oscar open for business.

Jumping out the emergency exit window on the opposite end of the bus, Oscar Pine used his web slingers to propel himself through the air, suiting up in the process.

Today was the day he'd finally prove himself to Ms. Rose. He knew it.


"S.U.M.M.E.R., evacuate anyone south of 43rd Street, notify first responders." Ruby Rose ordered her AI helper.

"Will do." S.U.M.M.E.R. responded. At the same time Doctor Goodwitch summoned some purple magic glyphs, containing the wind caused by the spaceship. Despite herself, Ruby was impressed for a small moment.

A bright light beamed down from the ship above, and two humanoid figures made their entrance. The Ebony Maw, Arthur Watts, stood side by side with another f Salem's henchmen. The hulking monstrosity Cull Obsidian, once known as Hazel Reinhardt, a giant axe in hand. Like Arthur, Hazel's body had been morphed by the blackened blood that flowed through his veins, enlarging his muscles which were covered in a plate armour.

Instantly, the Maw began to speak.

"Hear me, and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Salem. Be thankful that your meaningless lives are finally contributing to-"

"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get out of here." Ruby cut in with her classic defiance. Watts tilted his head at her and turned to Glynda.

"Stonekeeper, does this chittering animal speak for you?" He asked the Doctor.

"I speak for myself, but her words ring true." Goodwitch confirmed, hands igniting with magical energy. "You are trespassing in this city and on this planet."

"It means get lost, goth-boy!" Rose added, never taking an insult lying down.

"She exhausts me." The Ebony Maw spoke to his companion.

"Indeed." Hazel concurred with a deep voice.

"Bring me the relic." The Maw then ordered.

"As you wish." Cull Obsidian began walking towards them, his giant axe dragging along the ground and bringing up the asphalt.

"You take big and I'll take ugly, yeah?" Ruby asked her pseudo-sister. Yang nodded her agreement and started concentrating on her transformation. She'd done it thousands of times before- most, not by her own will- but right now… It just wasn't coming to her. She got her neck to turn green, but the effort took too much out of her to go the full mile. "It's good to have you back, Yang." Ruby chimed in.

"I just… I need to concentrate for a second." The seven PhD holder flexed all her muscles and tried to get as angry as possible… But it just wasn't working! "Come on, come on!"

"What's happening, where's the Hulk?" Ruby chimed in a second time.

"I- I don't know. We've been having a 'thing' lately."

"Is this about the clothes thing again? Because I promise that your shirt always stays on when you go green… Somehow."

"No no, it's not the clothes thing. Let me try-" She cut herself off, grunting and making a face of extreme exertion, but to no avail. From the sidelines, Glynda looked to Ruby with disbelief.

"You're embarrassing me in front of the wizards." The billionaire hissed in a not quite serious tone, trying to hopefully get something out of Yang.

"I'm sorry, Rubes. Either I can't or he won't or-" Xiao-Long tried to make her excuses. Ruby just shook them off.

"That's alright, just stand down. I'll take care of this one." Looking to Bolin, who was also prepared with magic. "Could you keep an eye on her, thanks."

"I've got her." Bolin nodded.

"Damn it." Yang cursed to herself, feeling useless.

Stepping forward and ridding herself of the sunglasses she'd been wearing, Ruby Rose was able to finally suit up into her trademarked Iron Man armour.

And speaking of 'Iron Man,' Ruby didn't choose that name herself. That was all the media's doing. First of all, the suit was comprised of a Silver-Titanium Alloy, so she should really be called 'Silver Man.' And second of all, she was a woman, so 'Silver Woman' made the most sense of anything- Not that she could fault the media for thinking she was a man as the suit was rather masculine in design. She just wished she came out as a superhero before 'Iron Man' caught on.

Back to reality, she tightened the tracksuit around her and tapped the Arc Reactor- of course it was an 'Arc' reactor- in her chest. The nanoparticles being stored there spread out over her body, coating her in the all new Mark 50 Iron Man suit. After Jaune… Broke up with her, she really had nothing better to do than to focus on perfecting her tech. And the Mark 50 certainly was the ultimate perfection of Iron Man.

This claim was proven when Ruby formed two giant blasters on her hands with just a though, using her targeting system to lock on and fire at the approaching beast. Cull Obsidian was throw backwards toward the Maw, who made a gesture and deflected the alien into some cars, moving forward himself.

"Where did that come from?!" Yang questioned from behind.

"It's nano-tech. I've had some time on my-" The billionaire superhero was cut off when a spike of earth launched her into the air. Watts, who was behind this attack, continued the onslaught by throwing debris from the sidewalk- trees and postboxes and such- at the remaining heroes, though the attack was stopped by a shield from Bolin.

"Dr. Xiao-Long, if your green ego won't be joining us…" Doctor Goodwitch said. At the same time, she opened a portal right under the blond, dropping her and half of a nearby taxi into the park behind them.

Up above, Ruby rejoined the fight by throwing an entire car at the Maw. The alien simply cut the car in half, smirking as he did so.

"Get that stone out of here, now." Iron Man ordered the Sorceress Supreme.

"It stays with me." Glynda insisted.

"Fine then." Ruby dismissed, flying toward Ebony Maw until her flight was cut short by Hazel's Axe smashing her all the way to the park and into a tree. Conveniently, the hero right next to Yang.

"Rubes, are you okay? How are we doing, are we winning?" The shapeshifter interrogated rapidly.

"Yeah, we're winning. Really showing them what for." The inventor commented sarcastically. "Any luck with the Hulk?" She then asked, significantly less rude.

"I'm trying, but she won't come out."

"Axe!" The Rose responded, pushing her pseudo-sister out of the way of the incoming armament. Iron Man responded to the attack with an energy beam that Hazel easily deflected into a nearby tree, which was barely dodged by Yang.

"Come on, Hulk. Where are you? Come out, come out!" Yang climbed out from under the branches, slapping her face.

"No!" Yang's face partially transformed into her green counterpart and responded with vigor.

"What do you mean, 'no?!'" Xiao-Long shouted indignantly.

Meanwhile, the last Avenger wasn't doing too hot. Knocked to the ground by Cull Obsidian, Ruby raises her hand to try and block the decisive blow- Only for that blow to never come.

"Hey, what's up, Ms. Rose?" Oscar Pine, the Spider-Man, greeted, having caught the alien's axe with ease.

"Kid, where you come from?" Ruby Rose asked her protégé. She had been the last Avenger, maybe, but certainly not the Earth's last hope. With her guidance- and even without it- Oscar was turning into a far better hero than she had ever been.

Of course, she would never say as such- Didn't want the compliments to go to his head. Arrogance was her vice, it didn't have to be his as well.

"I was going on a field trip to 'MoMA.'" Oscar explained quickly before Reinhardt threw him to the side to continue the fight. "What's this guy's problem, Ms. Rose?"

"Uh, he's from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a witch." Ruby tried to give the long and short of it without distracting herself from the fight at hand.


Said witch was currently dealing with Arthur Watts, who continued to be a nuisance. The space wizard lifted several of the scattered around bricks into the air and sharpened then to a point. The Maw then launched the spinning projectiles at the magical pair, who opened two portal in response.

In Bolin's portal and out of Glynda's, Arthur's creations were hurtled back at him with the same amount of force. Arthur brought a car up in front of him to be used as a shield, but one got through, cutting through the side of his head.

The Maw snarled at this and reached out with his magic behind both Earth Magicians. A fire hydrant was knocked loose, and the stream of water slammed into Bolin, sending into a building, unconscious.

Seeing her partner go down, Doctor Goodwitch stepped things up a notch, summoning a magical whip that she used to bind the alien's hands together. As she yanked him towards her, though, the Maw leaned into the attack, flying forward and slamming the Doctor against a building. Before she could respond, Arthur used the bricks of the building to trap her arms and legs, pinning her upside down against the wall.

"You powers are quaint. You must be popular with children." Ebony Maw jokes, grabbing the amulet which held the Relic of Time. Instantly, he had to let go as an enchantment of the amulet burnt his hand.

"A simple spell, but quite unbreakable." Glynda affirmed, making Arthur snarl.

"Then I'll take it if your corpse." Cables snaked their way around her throat by the Maw's guidance, and the Doctor began to choke.

"You'll find- removing a dead woman's spell- hrk- troublesome…" Ebony Maw smiled wickedly.

"You'll only wish you were dead." Using a part of the wall as a stretcher, the Maw started levitating Doctor Goodwitch back to his ship. That is- until the Cloak of Levitation pulled out from under the restraints, taking the unconscious sorceress with it. "No!"

Back at the park, Oscar and Ruby continued to fight Hazel. The battle seemed to be turning in their favor, but when the Doctor's unconscious body flew by, a change of plans was needed.

"That's the wizard, kid. Get on it."

"On it!" Spider-Man did his duty and started chasing after Watts, who was chasing after Goodwitch. The chase continued at a fairly even pace for a few moments, but things turned for the worse when the Maw was able to nail the Superhero chaser with a billboard.

He then telekinetically bent the streetlights on the road to finally snag the Cloak carrying Goodwitch. Her unconscious body flew in the air before finally being caught by Oscar just in the nick of time. Unfortunately, the spider hero wasn't fast enough to get away with the body. Instead, the body was caught in a ray of blue light emanating from the donut ship up above. Oscar tried to fight the beam pulling on him and his cargo by grabbing onto a pole, but Arthur simply uprooted the fixture, sending Glynda, her Cloak, and Oscar towards his ship.

"Uhh, Ms. Rose? I'm being beamed up!"

"Hang on, kid." Ruby responded over the transponder, still fighting Hazel back at the park. Distracted by the call for help, she was finally caught by one of the alien's axe blows, shorting out her suit and pinning her to the ground.

Cull Obsidian jumped towards her with the intent to end the battle once and for all, but instead jumped straight through a portal to a snowy landscape. Confused, Hazel quickly tried to make his way back through the portal, but in a quick motion, only his hand made it all the way through. Passing Bolin, who created the portal, and lading in front of Yang, who kicked it with disgust.

"Bolin, I'm gonna buy you a car." Iron Man promised the monk, ripping out the axe from her suit and flying towards the alien ship. "S.U.M.M.E.R., give me a little juice." She ordered, having her foot rockets join together into one giant jet engine, rocketing her towards the sky.

Back on his ship, Arthur Watts smirked victoriously while tending to the controls, having his prized Doctor and amulet right behind him.

"Unlock 17-A." The billionaire inventor commanded again, causing a pod to launch from the Avenger's headquarters in upstate New York and rocker towards their location. "Oscar, you gotta let go. I'm gonna catch you." She ordered with a much lighter tone.

"But you said- Save the witch!" The teenager gasped out, pulling off his mask. The boy was currently clutching the side of the spaceship, which was entering the upper atmosphere. "I can't breathe!" He noted.

"You're too high up, you're running out of air." She explained.

"Oh yeah, that makes sense." Spider-Man commented before instantly passing out and falling back down to earth. Before getting too far, the pod from the headquarters met with him in midair, unveiling the Iron Spider suit Ruby had once made for the kid. Now able to breath once more, Oscar awoke and landed on the bottom of the ship as heroically as possible.

"Ms. Rose, it smells like a new car in here!" He noted, ruining the moment.

"Happy trails, kid. S.U.M.M.E.R., send him home." Ruby Rose stated.

"On it." The AI agreed, remotely deploying Spider-Man's parachute, causing him to hurtle back towards Earth.

"Oh come on!" Oscar yelled indignantly.

Latching onto the ship, Iron Man cut a hole through it and entered. The entrance sealed right behind her and she ringed her helmet.

No one called for her. She was alone…

But not as alone as she might've thought.

Back outside the ship, Oscar managed to use his web slingers to climb back on board, hiding out in one of the many closing entrances in the side.

"I should have stayed on the bus…" he noted prophetically as Watts engaged the ship's engines, rocketing them all of into hyperspace.


Back in Earth, Yang was seen rummaging around the wreckage when she spotted something she recognized. Ruby's flip-phone, the one she would have called Jaune with. The Doctor of gamma radiation picked up the device as Bolin started entering a portal to her left.

"Where are you going?" The blond wondered.

"The Relic of Time has been taken and the Sanctum remains unguarded. I must do my duty now. What will you do?" The monk answered.

"I'm… gonna make a call." The monk nodded in understanding and Yang made her way through the menus to Jaune's number.

On the other side of the world, the phone rang.


Scene from: Captain America: Civil War


The calm Siberian wastes we're suddenly disturbed by the landing of a Quinjet into the ice. This had not been the first vehicle to disrupt the peace, judging by the caterpillar truck that the jet had landed beside.

Before the occupants got off board, Pyrrha Nikos, the Winter Soldier, armed herself with one of the jet's many stores light machine guns.

"You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?" Jaune Arc, The Captain America, joked with his long time friend and war companion.

"Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?" Pyrrha tried to recollect the situation as they made their way down the exit ramp. Her enhanced metal arm shone in the Siberian sun.

"You blew three bucks trying to win a stuffed bear for me. That, and I think you overheard some jerks saying that you couldn't do it." Jaune corrected. For a moment, he was able to think back, before the war. Back to a much simpler time when they were dating and didn't have any superpowers.

Of course, both of them were dead set on fighting the Nazis, so it could have never lasted.

"Those idiots have got to be a hundred years old right now." Jaune clasped her shoulder in understanding.

"So are we, Pyr." With this, he equipped his helmet and arrived at their destination. Dig into sheer stone, the inconspicuous door was swinging openly in the breeze. "He can't have been here more than a few hours."

"Long enough to wake them up." Pyrrha warned. Her time as the Winter Soldier had been rough, but her memories of Hydra's new super soldiers were some of the worst. Just the thought that those monsters could be set out into the world, and she would be partially responsible for their creation, made her skin crawl with nerves.

She had never gotten nervous on a mission before. This was the first.

The pair traveled further into the Maxi bunker, past all the crazed experiments, until finally reaching the doors to the facility. Opening those revealed a slightly longer hallway with more heavy duty closed doors on the far side. Perfect for a trap.

Jaune and Pyrrha took up points on either side of hallway and crept down it, being sure to close the doors behind them for some more protection. The managed to reach the opposing doors without resistance, but were stopped short of opening them when the doors that they left from started banging.

Instantly, they each took up battle positions.

"You ready?" Jaune checked on his friend.

"Yeah." Pyrrha assured, finally suppressing her nerves to fight.

The metal doors continued to be banged upon until finally, they were forced open by a figure neither hero thought they would see. Iron Man. Jaune stared in surprise as Ruby Rose walked over to both World War Two veterans and retracted her helmet.

"Hey hun. Still with her, I see." Ruby greeted her boyfriend, giving Pyrrha a glare. Having a relationship with another super hero was tough- especially for the romantically inept Ruby Rose. But when your partner's former girlfriend came back from the grave as a brainwashed super soldier, having never formally broken up with him? Well, that made things a whole lot more complicated.

"Ruby, she's innocent. She didn't bomb the UN building and-" The Arc started, instantly playing right into his White Knight persona. Subconsciously, he Ren brought up his shield to stand in between the two women.

"I believe you." The billionaire responded simply, cutting him off. "You seem a little defensive." She joked.

"It's been a long day." Jaune replied with a small smile, appreciating the brief moment of levity. "So if your not here for Pyrrha, why are you here?" Ruby shrugged.

"Could be your super soldier story isn't so crazy. Maybe. But Port has no idea I'm here, and I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise, I have to arrest myself."

"Sounds like a lot of paperwork." The Captain quipped, lowering his shield. "I'm happy to see you, Ruby." He spoke as genuinely as he could.

"You too, Jaune." The Rose replied, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. While she would have loved to fully embrace him in that moment, finally no longer on opposing sides of a legal battle, they had more important things to be attending to. Finally, Ruby deigned her attention back to Nikos, who continued to point a gun at her. "Hey, Manchurian Candidate, stop pointing that gun at me or I'll shove it up your-"

"We're good, Pyrrha. We've got bigger fish to fry." Jaune now came to Ruby's defense. Reluctantly, the Winter Soldier lowered her machine gun, and the three of them entered further into the Hydra facility.

As they cautiously walked along, none noticed Adam Taurus, the Black Panther, stalking them from the shadows. Iron Man reengaged her helmet to get some readings on the room thy were about to enter.

"I got heat signatures." Ruby warned.

"How many?" Jaune asked.

"Uh, only one." She responded, slightly surprised by the number herself.

As they entered the large testing chamber, the automatic lights came on. The many different capsules surrounding them drained of their yellow gas to reveal the 'super soldier threat' that the Captain and Pyrrha had been so fearful of. To each one of them, a bullet in their head.

"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep." Leonardo Lionheart, the true UN bomber and the one responsible for tearing the Avenger's apart, said through a loudspeaker. "Did you really think I wanted more of you?" He notes their shock.

"What the hell…?" Pyrrha was dumbfounded.

"I'm grateful for them, though. They brought you here." Lionheart showed his face through a control room window. Jaune instantly acted by chucking his circular shield, Crocea Mors, at him. The shield harmlessly bounced back off the window without so much as a scratch. "Please, Captain. The Soviet's built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."

"I could beat that." Ruby threatened, making Lionheart gain a dry smile.

"Oh, I'm sure you could, Ms. Rose. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came here."

"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" The valorous Jaune accused, sickened by the needless violence.

"I thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you, followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized… There's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw." Leonardo answered in kind.

"You're Sokovian. Is that what this is about?"

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No." Leo scoffed. "I'm here because I made a promise."

"You lost someone." The Captain instantly realized, making Lionheart sneer.

"I lost everyone. And so will you." With that, the bomber pushed a button from the control room, and a surveillance video of a street from December 16th, 1991 started playing. "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That is dead… forever." Ruby stared at the video, mesmerized.

"I know that road. What is this?" She demanded, anxiety in her voice.

She was given no answer but the video itself.

An all too familiar car crashed into a tree. Pyrrha Nikos with her dark red hair, shining in the lamp light like blood, drove up on a motorcycle soon after. Ruby was unable to divert her eyes as the Winter Soldier walked over to the left side of the car and killed the driver, then walked around over to the right side and…

Killed Summer Rose. Her mother.

Ruby had a complicated relationship with her mother, certainly. When Ruby was but a child, Summer had been the greatest mother in the world, always attentive as willing to indulge in her daughter's imagination. But as Ruby grew older, Summer started leaning away from her own child, instead focusing her time and effort on her work.

Only a few years ago, Ruby Rose had found a hidden video from her mother, explaining her actions. She had wanted Ruby to start off in life with a strong base- the profit's of Stark Industries tripled in the last years of Summer's life- but also… Summer never stopped loving her. And while Ruby still held a grudge at her mother for the poor parenting choices she made, she still loved Summer with all her heart.

And Pyrrha Nikos had killed her.

Instantly, Ruby lunged at Pyrrha, who was standing just father away, but she didn't go far before Jaune intercepted.

"Ruby, Ruby." He tried to calm his lover. The billionaire's head whipped over to Jaune, eyes filled with tears.

"Did you know?" The ultimate question. The question she didn't want the answer to, and yet the one she already knew. Jaune couldn't lie to her, ever.

"Yes."

Ruby stepped away from Jaune, breathing ragged. She twitched slightly and engaged her helmet once more. In a sudden move, Iron Man knocked Captain America to the ground and flew towards Pyrrha. The Soldier's shots were easily deflected by Ruby's armor and Pyrrha's light machine gun flew from her hand as the metal armour slammed her onto the floor.

Ruby charged up a hand beam, but before any serious damage could be done, Crocea Mors hit into Ruby, taking her off Pyrrha long enough for the Winter Soldier to get back up. Jaune continued the assault by slamming his lover backwards again, but Iron Man simply shouldered the soldier to the floor, sending out a mechanical contraption to shackle the Captain's ankles to be ground. When she turned around again, Pyrrha returned with a hard punch to the stomach, which Ruby took with effort.

Quickly putting a stop to the potential brawl, Iron Man flew the ex up and slammed her into a nearby machine. The inventor went for a punch to the face, but Pyrrha's enhanced arm caught the blow, finally showing some of her true strength to her opponent. Ruby responded just as soon with her arm rocket that Pyrrha only barely deflected into a cement column next to them. The column fell between them both just as Jaune was able to free his feet again. Ever the peacekeeper, the Captain tried his best to get between the two fighters while Ruby was still getting up.

"Get out of here!" Captain America yelled to Pyrrha, causing her to dash away just as an energy bolt missed her head. Jaune turned around and once more stood in between his girlfriend and her target. "It wasn't her, Ruby. Hydra had control I her mind!" He pleaded for reason as the giant silo door overhead started opening from Pyrrha's button mashing.

"Move!" Ruby yelled without any mind. All her focus had been placed in Pyrrha, and not even Jaune could change that now. She activated her boot jets and tried to fly past him, but the Captain wasn't having it.

"It wasn't her!" He cried again as he caught her ankle in mid air. The Arc smashed the rocket boot with Crocea Mors, causing his lover to tumble back down to the ground.

Iron Man got up from the ground and lasered the ceiling between them, causing the rubble to separate them once more. She didn't want to hurt him, but she wouldn't let him get in the way.

Wobbly, she flew into the air, recommitting to the chase. Pyrrha was above her, but not out of reach. She had to jump and climb from platform to platform to escape. All Ruby had to do was go up.

"Left boot jet failing. Flight systems compromised." S.U.M.M.E.R. informed her creator with perfect timing.

"Crap." Stuttering and jerking around, she slowly managed to rise to where Pyrrha was leaping, sending a sudden shuddered kick to her stomach to prevent further ascent.

The Winter Soldier, not seeing the Attack coming, dropped like a rock on the grated platform. Iron Man aimed her hand blaster for the finish, ignoring the hard look in the redhead's eyes. Ruby fired, but the shot was blocked in the nick of time by Crocea Mors. The energy blast bounded back into her armour, causing her to drop back down to a lower platform, while the shield returned to Jaune's hands.

"She's not gonna stop. Go!" The Captain urged his long time friend as she stopped to check on him. Pyrrha gave a solemn nod and continued her climb.

Like a raging bull, Ruby regained herself and yet again tried to fly up towards Pyrrha. Jaune, now being at a higher elevation, was ready for this maneuver, though. Unlatching a grappling device from his belt, the Captain shot it around his lover's neck, jumping down to the ground and pulling her along for the ride.

Iron Man, for a second time, landed on a grated platform as she ripped the rope off her neck, Jaune landing slightly below her. As she got up, he instinctively threw his shield to stop her, but she easily deflected the attack with a hand blast, causing Crocea Mors to tumble to the ground below.

Seeing that Pyrrha was far too close to escape for comfort, Ruby decided to switch up her tactics. She revealed a small missile on her arm and tried aim for the support structure holding the large cement slab up. After the amount of damage she had taken, though, that proved to be an issue.

"Come on, come on." Ruby chanted as she watched the enemy get closer and closer to freedom.

"The targeting system has failed." S.U.M.M.E.R. informed her creator.

"I'm eyeballing it." The inventor decided, retracting her helmet and shutting one eye. Firing the missile, her aim held true. Just before Pyrrha could crawl her way out from the facility, the hatch shut close, cutting off her escape route.

The Winter Soldier armed herself with a metal pipe that happened to be on her platform as her pursuer rose to meet her. Both swings of the pipe were blocked, and Pyrrha could do nothing as Ruby got through her defenses and wrapped an armoured arm around her neck.

"Do you even remember them?" Ruby accused through her helmet's voice modulator.

"I remember all of them." Pyrrha insisted, shoving herself off of the ledge and allowing their cumulative weight drag them down.

Half way down, Jaune, who had been climbing up as fast as he could, jumped into the pair, splitting them from each other. Pyrrha crashed onto a platform still above, while Jaune and Ruby tumbled to the hard concrete floor. To their right, the wall opened to the snow outside and off a cliff.

"This won't change what happened, Ruby." Jaune panted, begging one last time for peace as they stood.

"I don't care. She killed my mom." Ruby retorted with no regard for the person in front of her.

The super soldier and the armoured genius traded harsh blows, each with the capacity to kill a normal man twice over. In this moment, though, Ruby's untiring suit out the clash, allowing her to pin the Captain down. At the same time, Pyrrha reoriented herself with the world, spotting Jaune's shield and leaping down from her platform to help. Pyrrha's distraction brought Jaune back to his feet, and the two veterans double teamed the inventor.

Pyrrha came down with Crocea Mors on Ruby's right, hitting a nick in the Iron Man armour. Jaune followed this with a punch to the liver, but his lover managed to catch this punch in her hand. Crocea Mors passed over the billionaire's head as she turned to aim a blast at her target, but Pyrrha delivered a heavy punch to the face, making Ruby's step back.

Jaune caught the shield and used it to break his hand free from the Iron grip, and sent another hard punch to Ruby's face. Both veterans attempted to seize the advantage by striking again, but the billionaire had seen the move coming. Reorienting herself, she fired quick shots from her hand blasters at both enemy combatants. Jaune was able to respond with Crocea Mors, but Pyrrha was hit directly in the gut, falling to her knee.

Down a teammate for just a moment, Jaune was powerless to stop the full force of the Iron Man armour from smashing him into one of the pillars leading to the outside. He crumpled to the ground as Pyrrha slammed into Ruby as retaliation, pushing her into a wall. Instantly, the Winter Soldier delivered a blow to the head, disorienting the genius long enough to grasp onto the power core of the suit with her enhanced metal arm.

One arm pinned by Pyrrha, Ruby tried with all her might to tear the woman away from the core, but it was no use. The core glowed brighter as Pyrrha's finger's dug deeper. The redhead let out a yell of determination as she fought against the armour's strength. It was nearly all over.

The bright light of the core came to a head when a massive energy beam shot forth. Pyrrha was flung backwards and to her knee once again, this time, without a metal arm. Indeed, the enhanced limb had been blown away, and before Pyrrha could digest this information, Ruby sent out a hand blast, knocking her to the ground for good.

Finally, the Captain got up, jumping in to his friend's rescue. Crocea Mors met both of Ruby's hand blasters close on, shining the cement structure in a brilliant spectacle of energy. Jaune finally cut this off when he raised his shield and kicked into the genius from underneath. Ruby was sent back against the wall, and Jaune began the process of absolutely pummeling her.

"You can't beat him hand to hand!" S.U.M.M.E.R. warned in Ruby's ears as her head was constantly hit by Jaune's fists. Indeed, there was little Ruby was able to do in terms of fighting back… Nothing except her experimental program, created for just a situation like this.

"Analyze his fight pattern!" She ordered.

"Scanning!" The AI responded. The inventor was buffeted for a few more seconds, each blow seeming like a punch a from a god- Which Ruby could certainly gage. "Countermeasures ready." The Iron Man suit automatically caught one of the Captain's fists, and Ruby allowed herself to smile.

"Let's kick his ass." She ripped the vibranium shield out of his hand and shot a blast of energy to force re soldier to fall backwards.

Like the White Knight he was, Jaune rose to continue protecting Pyrrha, sending out a bunch- but it was no use. Ruby blocked the much weaker strike, once again blasting Jaune to his knees. The Captain panted, unyielding in front of Pyrrha's body.

"She's my friend, Ruby." He tried one final time to cease the senseless violence. Unfortunately, he had chosen the exact wrong thing to say. Ruby's cold heart hardened even further as she brought herself to utter a response.

"And what was I?" A sense of anger and despair was evident in her voice. Jaune tried to respond, but he was cut off by a punch from Ruby, who grabbed him and threw him against the opposing wall. "Stay down, final warning." She turned back around to finally deal with Pyrrha.

"No." Jaune responded with a much more echoey voice. Fear stung the inventor's nerves as she turned around again to face her former teammate. His eyes glowed bright white and all his previous wounds had been healed. He had finally been put over the edge- Now his Aura had kicked in.

Aura was what made Jaune so much more than every other super soldier. Well- there were plenty of attributes that made him so much more than everyone else, but in terms of combat, Aura was the key. The initial experiment done by Summer Rose on Jaune Arc in the forties, indeed created the world's first super soldier, but it also had an unexplainable side effect known as Aura. Plenty of scientists from all corners of the Earth and all walks of life had been able to inevitably crack the super soldier code in the wake of the formation of the Avengers, but none of those experiments ever gave the recipient the Aura Jaune had. Well, until the super soldiers in this very lab, that is- And to a lesser extent, Penny.

What exactly did Aura do? Well, Ruby was about to experience the effects first hand.

With completely renewed vigor, the Captain threw a right hook at the genius. She instinctively blocked the blow with her forearm, but was shocked to see the single punch had severely dented the Iron Man armour in that spot. With her nondented arm, she rapid fired her energy blasts to slow down the behemoth. Jaune simply tanked all the shots wove his fingers between hers as she fired. Clenching his hand, the billionaire's hand cannon was rendered completely inoperational. She had also most likely broken a few fingers in the attack as well.

Seeing no other option, Ruby activated her jet boots to give herself some advantage in this fight. The Captain wasn't having any of it, though. With the damage already sustained previously, Ruby was unable to fly out of Jaune's range fast enough. Instead, he grabbed her by the torso, effortlessly lifted her over his head, and slammed her onto the cement floor. His next move was to straddle her stomach so she couldn't lift herself back up, and to start punching.

The first punch was directly to the face, knocking the Iron Man helmet straight off Ruby's face. And the next punch was directly into her chest, obliterating the core that powered her suit.

And that was it. In two punches, Iron Man had been rendered completely and utterly useless. Ruby Rose had lost.

The white glow of his aura faded and Jaune pulled himself off of his former lover to help Pyrrha up instead. No words were exchanged as the Captain made his decision, leaving Ruby, Crocea Mors, and the Avengers behind.

Once they were gone, all Ruby could do was cry.


It has been too long! But I am finally back and ready to make some more chapters for you all.

I won't say anymore, as I really have nothing to say. I just hope this chapter speaks for itself and says something positive about my return.

Until next time,

-RMV