"Incoming call from your sister, Miss Rose." Jarvis' voice cut through the silence that rang through Ruby's head.
"Answer it." She told the AI.
"As you wish."
"Ruby! Are you okay?!" Yang's worried and panicked voice replaced Jarvis', and Ruby smiled, just happy to hear the blonde's voice.
"Yeah, Yang, I'm fine. You? Not missing any limbs or anything?" She said.
"No. No. I'm fine. Weiss and Blake are good too."
"Good. Good. I need you three to stay inside or try to get out of here. This might get messy." Ruby began to lower both herself and captain towards Beacon's courtyard, which was filled with Grimm.
"We're not going to let you deal with this by yourself!" Weiss' voice suddenly joined in the conversation, and Ruby chuckled.
"I don't expect you to." Ruby told her. "But I'm not alone. Say 'hi', Steve!"
"Hello, ladies." Steve respectfully said, though it was lacking confidence.
"Girls, I'd like you to meet Captain America. He'll be helping me and the others today."
"Captain America?" Yang asked. "Others? Ruby, what is going on?"
"I'll explain later. I've got a little meeting right now."
Ruby suddenly hung up and dropped Steve, letting him fall the last few feet before she herself dropped, landing in a heroic pose just feet away from a black haired man in a lab coat being led away by a man with spiky brown hair and a bow, as well as a red haired woman in a tight spandex suit.
"Rose!" Banner said. "What is going on?!" He jerked away from the man and the woman.
"Grimm are invading the school." Steve said. "Doctor Banner, I'm going to need you to get angry." Ruby suddenly turned to Steve.
"What?!" She asked. "We can't release the Hulk in a civilian area!"
"I can control it." Banner told her. Ruby brought up her face plate and tilted her head to the side as she looked at the scientist.
"Since when?" She asked.
"Since before Culver." Banner told her. "I was acting in self defense there." Ruby just sighed and shook her head, dropping the faceplate.
"Just get angry, Banner." She defeatedly said. Banner shook his head.
"That's my secret. I'm always angry." His eyes turned green as he said this. Next came his skin, turning the same color as his eyes. His muscles began to grow as well, shredding his clothes. Bones popped and skin stretched as he continued the transformation. Once he was around eight feet tall, with muscles proportional to the rest of his body. Ruby slowly breathed through her mouth, trying to contain the fear she harbored towards the Hulk. The beast had nearly killed her just a few weeks prior, and now she was expected to work alongside it? She would have to have a word with Fury once this was over.
Hulk suddenly let out a mighty roar, causing the surrounding buildings to shake, and their windows to shatter.
[Shift]
WBY jumped when they heard the roar. They knew what it was, or more importantly, who it was.
"Please don't tell me The Hulk is loose on campus." Yang shakily sighed.
"Ruby can handle herself." Blake said. "Even more so with whoever it is she's with."
"Captain America." Yang told her, drifting over to the window of the airship. "I thought he was dead. But here he is, fighting alongside Rubes." She could faintly see the green monster among the piles of rubble and Grimm.
[Shift]
White Fang grunts, Atlesian Paladins and drones, as well as Grimm all rushed the Avengers, who stood in a circle just in front of the clock tower. Ruby and The Hulk focused on the Atlesian enemies, whilst Barton and Romanoff focused on the Grimm, and Steve fought off the White Fang.
"This is almost too—" Ruby was suddenly picked up by the Hulk. "Same team! Same team!" The Hulk stopped, and gently set her down, brushing her off as she jerked away from him. He grunted in a way that Ruby translated into an apology.
"Yeah, Yeah. Whatever."
"Miss Rose!" Ozpin's usually calm voice was replaced by that of panic as his voice echoed over her comms. "I need you in my office! Now!" Ruby looked over at Steve as he took a break in fighting the White Fang to make eye contact with her.
"Go!" He told her. "I'm sure Hulk has his side covered!" Ruby nodded and shot into the sky, landing in Ozpin's office within seconds.
"Follow me." The headmaster told her.
"What's going on?!" She asked. He gave her no response other than stepping into the elevator. Having no choice other than to follow, she did so. The elevator creaked at the weight of her armor, but Ozpin still, said nothing. He pressed the button for the lobby, and when the doors opened again, Jaune and Pyrrha stood on the other side. They just as equally surprised to see Ruby as she was them.
"Miss Rose is here purely for security purposes." He told them. They quickly stepped on as well, and the elevator went down further. When the doors opened for the third time, they were in some kind of vault, with long, dark hallways illuminated only by the green torches that lined the wall. The flickering of the flames reflected onto the marble walls and floor that looked as though they had just been waxed.
Ozpin lead them down the hallway to a chamber where a young black woman with brown hair lay. Her face was covered in horrendous scars that made Ruby uneasy. The chamber next to the young woman was empty, but Ozpin soon motioned for Pyrrha to step inside.
"Miss Rose. Mister Arc. I need you to stand guard." Ozpin told the blonde and redhead.
"Jarvis." Ruby said. "Sentry mode." The back of the armor opened up and Ruby stepped out. Now, instead of a metal suit, she wore jeans and an athletic T-shirt, which her Arc Reactor strained against.
Ruby watched the whole ordeal with Pyrrha commence, power surging through the tubes that connected the two chambers. Pyrrha cried out in agony. It seemed to Ruby that the process was extremely painful for the redhead.
"Miss Rose!" Jarvis' voice split into her ear. "Incoming!" Ruby didn't have a chance to react before something sharp tore into her shoulder blade. Ruby cried out, and fell to the ground, belly down.
"Ruby!" Jaune tried to run to Ruby's aid, but Cinder's arrows were bombarding his shield. Jarvis was doing everything he could to stop the villain from hurting Ruby anymore, but this allowed Cinder to easily shoot the woman in the chamber, killing her. The energy that was surging into Pyrrha was suddenly redirected to Cinder, and Ozpin released Pyrrha from the chamber.
"Mister Arc. Miss Nikos," Ozpin began. "Grab Miss Rose and leave. I will handle this." Jaune looked at Ozpin, then at Ruby, whose blood was soaking through her shirt. It didn't take him long to reach a verdict. He and Pyrrha both rushed to Ruby's sides, each grabbing an arm and wrapping it around their shoulders. Ruby gasped in pain as they raised her to her feet.
"Jarvis." Ruby said, sound groggy and tired. "Stand down and follow." The weapons on the suit powered down and it followed the three out of the clock tower.
"Lay her down here." Pyrrha gently set Ruby back onto the ground, the girl's wounded back facing the sky. "We're going to have to take the arrow out. Is that okay, Ruby?" Ruby did not respond, and Jaune's hand went to her neck.
"She's unconscious." Jarvis told them. "Her heart rate is steady, but I fear that if you remove that arrow and fail to bandage it quickly, Miss Rose will bleed out." Jaune and Pyrrha made eye contact, each of them just realizing the gravity of this situation.
"What happened?!" Steve suddenly sprinted up to them, the rest of the Avengers not too far away. Once Barton saw the arrow, he turned to Romanoff.
"I didn't do that." He told her. She just rolled her eyes and continued towards Ruby.
"Barton." Steve said. "Do you know how to patch that up?"
"I might." Barton ran to Ruby's side and dug around in one of the pouches on his belt. It wasn't too long before his hand emerged, holding a roll of bandages. He turned to Pyrrha. "Magneto. I need you to pull out the arrow with your semblance."
"How did you—"
"You used it on live television. How could I have not seen it?" Pyrrha gave no response to this, she just began to tug on the arrow with her semblance. It slid out smoothly and Barton immediately began wrapping up the wound. "She should be fine." He turned to the others. "Given she gets to a hospital soon."
There was a sudden, loud noise coming from the clock tower, and Pyrrha stood.
"You're not going back in there, are you?" Jaune asked her.
"I have to." She told him.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Steve told her. "You should let us deal with Cinder." Pyrrha shook her head.
"No. It has to be me. And me alone." Pyrrha began to move towards the clock tower.
"Pyrrha—" Pyrrha held her hand out and stopped Jaune from talking.
"Take Ruby. Get her to a hospital. Go."
"Pyrrha! I can't, in good conscience—" Pyrrha cut the blonde boy off again, but this time with a deep and passionate kiss. Such actions caused The Avengers to all look away, pretending to have not seen such things. Jaune was shocked by the kiss but he didn't pull away. He couldn't. When Pyrrha finally pulled away, allowing the blonde boy to breath, he felt a pan of sadness. And as his blue eyes locked onto her emerald, he knew this would be the last time he ever saw her. And it was.