"Well, congrats, Thor. Looks like now you've got a daughter and a niece." Tony said.
"Yang is not my daughter, Stark! And what do you mean I have a niece?" Thor said.
"That pink girl from the last episode, Neo. She does illusions and she seemed kind of full of herself. Who's that remind you of?" Hawkeye asked.
Thor sighed at this. "Loki..." He answered. "I assure you all, Loki has no such child." He assured them.
"Great, we're all relieved. Now let's get into this next episode." Widow said, starting the episode.
The scene opened to Pyrrha gearing up in a locker room. As she walked out of the locker room, we cut to her sparring with Cardin Winchester and back again. Eventually, the fight scene included the other members of Team CRDL.
"Whoa! She's taking on a whole team by herself?! We knew Pyrrha was awesome, but man! She's even more awesome than we thought." Peter said.
"Well, she's a four time champion of that Mistral regional tournament and team CRDL definitely isn't the best team." Cap said.
"In other words, they put the best fighter their against four guys who suck." Hawkeye said.
While she was still exiting toward the arena, the scene cut to her spar with Team CRDL.
Eventually, she launched her spear at Dove Bronzewing and then knocked Sky Lark to the ground. Cardin unleashed a short column of fire from the red Dust crystal in his mace before he and Sky attempted to double-team Pyrrha.
Pyrrha threw her shield, which hit Cardin in the face and bounced back to hit Sky as well. She then flipped backward through the air to land on Sky, incapacitating him. Dove and Russel Thrush rushed her together, but she was able to drive them back as Cardin leapt in to smash at her with his mace.
"Even if they are losers, fighting off two people at once is tough, yet she's still handling herself like a champ." Widow said.
"Yep. The girl's got talent. Almost wish she could be an Avenger." Tony said.
"Yeah!" Hulk agreed.
"Agreed!" Thor cheered.
Pyrrha opened fire with the rifle-form of Miló, but Russel defended Cardin, deflecting every shot with his daggers. He and Dove charged at Pyrrha, with Russel leaping into the air and performing a triple somersault. However, the attack was easily deflected. Russel and Dove proceeded to strike at Pyrrha together, demonstrating precision through their ability to avoid hitting one another during the attack. Cardin attempted to capitalize on the distraction, but was unable to keep up with Pyrrha. Russel ducked in under Cardin for a surprise attack, but also proved himself unable to wear her down.
Dove moved in after Russel was knocked to the ground. After a couple of deflected swipes, he fired on her with his sword, but she was able to bull right through using her shield. Although he was able to avoid her attack, Dove found himself knocked out of the fight by an errant swing from Cardin, who moved in for one final assault. Pyrrha knocked Cardin into the air and then leapt to slam him into the ground.
"YEAH!" The Avengers all cheered.
"That was awesome! They couldn't even get a single hit!" Peter said.
"Right. She definitely proved why she's a champion. I'm with you, Tony. She'd definitely make a great Avenger." Cap said.
"Heck, she'd probably even give us a run for our money." Clint said.
"I know right off the bat, I'm not fighting her." Tony said, not wanting to imagine her throwing him around in his armor with her semblance.
"I wouldn't mind learning some of those moves." Widow said.
"Indeed. I've fought with shield and spear before, but my skill is nothing next to hers." Thor said.
"And she's Kamala's age. Someone else she could talk to." Hulk said, thinking of their honorary teammate, Ms. Marvel.
Glynda approached from behind Cardin, who clutched his ribs. "And that's the match." Glynda declared.
"Lucky shot." Cardin snapped, before he collapsed.
"Suuure." All the Avengers said at once, clearly not buying it.
"You're lucky she didn't plant you in the ground." Peter said.
"Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament." Glynda praised the Spartan girl.
"Thank you, professor." Pyrrha said graciously.
Glynda began tapping her Scroll. "Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match." She announced and looked around at the observing students. "Any volunteers? Ms. Belladonna?" She asked, to which Blake slammed her book shut and stared wide-eyed at Glynda. "You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you -" She started to ask the faunus girl, before Mercury raises his hand.
"I'll do it." The silver-haired boy offered.
"Mercury." Cap growled.
"Why would that cur wish to participate in these sparring sessions?" Thor asked accusingly.
"I bet he's trying to take out a possible threat in the future of Cinder's mission." Hawkeye guessed.
"Or, he just likes hurting people. Either one works.
"Mercury, is it? Very well, let's find you an opponent." Glynda said.
"Actually, I wanna fight... her." Mercury said, pointing to Pyrrha.
"Me?" Pyrrha asked.
"What?! Is he crazy?! He just saw her beat up four guys at once!" Spider-Man said.
"By fighting someone, you can observe their moves better than simply watching them. You can get a better understanding. Or, if Mercury's as good as we're led to believe, he may be able to push Pyrrha to use techniques she'd want to keep hidden. Or just find if she has any weaknesses." Widow explained.
"So he can figure out how to beat her in a REAL fight." Hulk finished.
"I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished the match. I recommend you choose another partner." Glynda denied.
"No, it's fine! I'd be happy to oblige." Pyrrha accepted.
"Good show, young Pyrrha! Show that cur the error of his ways!" Thor cheered.
"I wish we could all be as confident as you, Thor. But I don't like where this is going." Cap said.
Mercury strutted into the arena, visibly sizing up Pyrrha. Their spar began when he made the first attack and was knocked down. Recovering quickly, he deflected an attack and began trading blows with Pyrrha until she knocked him back with her shield.
Ruby turned toward Emerald, who was sitting behind her. "Hey, your friend's doing pretty good." Ruby told her, to which Emerald gave a fake smile and then rolled her eyes as Ruby turned her back.
"Wow, okay, rude." Tony said.
"She's not showing any interest in the match. This only confirms that Mercury isn't taking this seriously and he's probably looking for weaknesses or flaws in her or her style." Widow noted.
Mercury unleashed a series of powerful strikes. Pyrrha allowed his kick to slam against her forearm before Mercury managed to disarm her, a kick impaling her blade into the ground. Pyrrha used her Semblance to redirect the direction of Mercury's next kick. As she charged him with her shield, he shot off of it and turned his back to her. Pyrrha tried to rush him again.
"I forfeit." Mercury announced, nonchalantly.
"And there it is." Clint said.
"He's got all the information he needs. Or at least what he thinks he needs. Now there's no reason to continue." Cap said.
"Coward." Thor snapped.
Pyrrha almost stumbled as she stopped beside him. "You... don't even want to try?" She asked.
Mercury shrugged. "What's the point? You're a world-renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart." He said.
"In that case... Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match... again." Glynda declared off-screen.
Emerald smirked. Mercury sneered smugly. Pyrrha had a annoyed and disappointed look on her face and placed her left hand on her hip. The Aura displays for Pyrrha and Mercury were shown as Mercury's was changed from green to red, indicating his loss.
"Next time, you may want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent." Glynda instructed.
"Glynda should've been able to tell he was holding back. He didn't even look like he was pushing himself." Widow said.
"Everyone knows how skilled Pyrrha is. Forfeiting before she beats you makes sense to me." Peter said.
"I'll be sure to do that." Mercury agreed.
An alarm sounded which jolted Blake who had nodded off.
"Looks like Blake took a little cat nap." Tony said.
"She's probably not getting enough sleep, spending too much time worrying over this White Fang case. That's not good. She'll wreck at this rate." Cap said.
"That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend. But you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses." Glynda warned them off-screen.
As everyone left, Mercury stopped beside Emerald. "Learning is so much fun." He said to her.
The Avengers all silently glared at this.
Outside, SSSN were standing at the entrance as Team RWBY walked past. Sun noticed Blake and ran after her.
"Hey, Blake!" Sun called off-screen, before running up and grabbing Blake by her shoulder. "You uh, doing okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine." Blake said, shutting the book she was reading.
"So I hear there's this dance going on this weekend... ah, sounds pretty lame, but you and me, I'm thinking, not as lame, huh?" He asked.
"Smooth." Peter said.
"Ouch. When this kid says you've got no game, you're REALLY in trouble." Clint said.
"Hey!" The web-swinger snapped.
"What?" She asked back.
"The dance! This weekend! You wanna go, or what?" Sun offered.
"I don't have time for a stupid dance. I thought you of all people would get that." Blake told him and walked away past her team. Sun sank from his rejection.
"He doesn't have as big of a connection to the White Fang as her." Hulk said.
"Yes, but if they go through with it, it will only justify the negative attitude towards Faunus." Steve explained.
"Most troublesome indeed." Thor said.
"You what?" Blake demanded off-screen.
The scene shifted to team RWBY in their dorm room. Blake was sitting with her arms crossed.
"We want you to go to the dance." Ruby told her.
"That's ridiculous." Blake snapped.
"No, what's ridiculous is how worn out you look." Clint said.
"Reminded me of when I first started being Spider-Man. I hardly ever slept. And that came back to bite me." Peter said.
"Blake, we're worried about you. This investigation is starting to mess with your head." Yang said, concerned.
"You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and to be honest, your grades have been suffering." Weiss explained, counting the facts on her fingers.
"You think I care about grades?" Blake scoffed, shrugged and then gestured out the window. "People's lives are at stake!" She snapped.
"She should care. Oobleck already told Jaune and Cardin in the first volume. Beacon only accepts the best of the best. If her grades get too low, I doubt they'll continue to let her stay there." Natasha said.
"And, you know, the whole 'not eating and sleeping thing' isn't great for her, either." Tony added.
Yang put her hand on Blake's, lowering it. "We know, and we're all still trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to." She reassured her.
"Thanks to you and Sun, we know they're operating somewhere outside of southeast Vale." Ruby added.
"And, the Schnee company records singled out Vale as the primary target for Dust robberies over the last few months." Weiss threw in.
"Don't forget about their missing military tech too." Yang finished.
"An impressive amount of information!" Thor said.
"Yeah. We'd be lucky to find that much info in one night." Cap said.
"The kids are good." Hulk said.
"But there's still unanswered questions!" Blake snapped.
"Blake, you won't be able to find anything if you can't even keep your eyes open!" Ruby told her.
"All we're asking is that you take it easy for one day." Yang said.
"It will be fun! Yang and I will make sure of it." Weiss assured her.
"Yeah! We're planning the whole event!" Yang said and pumped her fists which caused the bed to bounce Blake.
"Wow. First years are almost never asked to plan big events for the school. Ozpin must really like Team RWBY." Spider-Man said.
"Any party Yang plans must be great." Clint said.
"Excuse me?" Blake demanded.
"Team CFVY's away mission lasted longer than expected." Weiss explained.
"So, Weiss and I were asked to pick up where they left off. And now we can make sure you have the perfect night." Yang added.
"That would explain it." Widow said.
"Still, impressive they're the next ones to be asked." Tony said.
"And once it's all over, we'll return for our search, rested and ready." Weiss finished.
"So what do ya think?" Ruby asked.
"I think this is a colossal waste of time." Blake snapped and walked away from the group and opened the dorm door. "I'll be in the library." She told them and walked out of the room.
"Great." Yang groaned.
"She can't keep going on like this." Weiss said. There was a knock at the door and Weiss approached and opened it. Jaune appeared at the door with a guitar.
"Oh, no..." The Avengers all groaned together, facepalming.
"Weiss!" Jaune sang. Weiss slammed the door in his face. "Oh, come on, open the door! I promise not to sing." Jaune whined off-screen. Weiss opened the door. "I lied! Weiss Schu-nee, will you accompany me, to the dance on... Sunday!?" He continued to sing.
"Are you done?" Weiss asked.
"Yes?" Jaune said unsurely, shrugging.
"No." She declined and shut the door in his face.
"Well, he was pretty decent on the guitar." Steve said.
"Don't encourage him." Hulk said.
Turning around, she saw the others staring at her. What?" She demanded.
Both girls were standing precariously. "And that is why they call you the Ice Queen." Yang said, before Ruby finally collapsed.
"All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name. Besides, I already have a date in mind." Weiss explained.
"I can relate to this. In my youth, many young Asgardian females wished to be with me for my status as future king." Thor said.
"Yep. College hotties were all over me, all after my money." Tony agreed, nodding.
"Date or no date, none of this will matter if we can't get Blake to go." Ruby said sadly.
"Sometimes pulling someone away from a mission they take personally can be the hardest thing in the world." Widow said.
"I think all of us have had a mission like that at one point or another. If anyone knows that, it's us." Clint said.
That night, Pyrrha and Jaune were sparring at their spot on the roof. Jaune appeared to gain the upper hand until Pyrrha swept his legs out from under him. Pyrrha laughed. "Well done! Your swordplay's improved immensely." She praised and helped Jaune to his feet.
"She's right. Compared to how he was in the beginning, he's gotten much better." Cap said approvingly.
"Cuz Pyrrha's a 4 time champion." Hulk said.
"Indeed. Few are more qualified to teach another student than young Pyrrha." Thor agreed.
"I couldn't have done it without you." He said.
"So, are you ready to move on to Aura?" She asked.
"I'm actually thinking maybe we just skip Aura for tonight? Might go on a jog or something." He said, clearly upset about something.
"Still sulking about Weiss." Clint said.
"Get over it, man. She was never into you and she never will be. You've got an awesome redhead practically and sometimes literally throwing herself at you." Tony said.
"Come on, I know you get frustrated, but you must keep trying. I'm sure you'll discover your Semblance any day now." She told him.
"That's not it. It's just..." He started, before hesitating. "It's dumb." He said.
"Oh, no! Don't do it!" Spider-Man said, horrified.
"What?! What is it?" Cap asked.
"He's going to admit his problems with Weiss, to the girl that likes him." Widow said, facepalming.
"What is it?" She asked as she approached Jaune and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, you know you can tell me." She assured him.
"It's... Weiss." He admitted.
"That's not my name." Clint said in sing-song as if that was meant for Pyrrha to say.
Pyrrha's face fell slightly. "Oh. What about her?" She asked.
"I asked her to the dance and she shot me down." He explained, giggling halfheartedly. "Big surprise, right?" He asked.
"Well, I believe the saying goes: There's... plenty of fish in the sea." Pyrrha said.
"Listen to her!" Peter screamed.
"For once in your life Jaune, take the hint!" Tony cried out, half-pleadingly, half-furiously at Jaune's ignorance. If that were him, he would've instantly picked up on it and picked up Pyrrha for a date later that night... if he was her age, of course!
"That's easy for you to say. You've probably got guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out." Jaune said.
"You'd be surprised." Pyrrha chuckled half-heartedly.
"Oh please. If you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress. Heh." Jaune dismissed the thought and walked away. Pyrrha dropped her smile and looked rather upset.
"PLEASE let her get a date." Hulk pleaded.
"Indeed. Male warriors should never be seen in a dress!" Thor agreed.
"And finally, Pyrrha Nikos." Emerald said off-screen.
"Wait, what?!" The Avengers all asked.
The scene shifted to Cinder in her dorm room, sewing a black dress as she sat on one of the beds. Emerald was sitting on the floor while looking at her Scroll and Mercury was lying on the ground and reading a comic book.
"Ah, the invincible girl." Cinder said.
"She's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible." Mercury corrected.
"Oh, no. They figured it out." Hawkeye said.
"Pyrrha can definitely fight without her semblance, but if she needs to go all out, them knowing about how she fights with it is a MASSIVE disadvantage for her." Widow said.
"Do tell." Cinder told them.
"Her Semblance is Polarity. But you'd never know just by watching." Emerald began.
"After she made contact with my boots, she was able to move them around however she wanted. But she only made slight adjustments." Mercury explained.
"Well, he's not right on the money. She doesn't have to make contact first. We saw that with Jaune's shield in Forever Falls and all those soda cans in the food fight." Peter said.
"Which, now that I think about it, shouldn't have worked. Soda cans are made out of aluminum. And that's not magnetic." Tony realized.
"Tony, you're losing focus." Steve warned.
"Just enough to make it look like she's untouchable. She doesn't broadcast her power, so it puts her opponent at a disadvantage." Emerald finished.
"Hmm... People assume that she's fated for victory, when she's really taking fate into her own hands. Interesting. Add her to the list." Cinder instructed.
"List?" Peter asked worriedly.
"It's either a list of potential allies... or a list of threats." Widow said.
"Pyrrha would never join them." Hulk said.
"So it's a list of threats. And threats need to be eliminated." Thor said with a growl.
"You should be able to take her no problem." Mercury explained.
"Definitely not a list of allies, then." Cap said.
"Suddenly, I wish all of these kids were wearing full suits or armor." Tony said, slightly worried for RWBY and JNPR.
"It's not about overpowering the enemy. It's about taking away what power they have. And we will, in time." Cinder explained.
"I hate waiting." Mercury complained.
"Don't worry, Mercury. We have a fun weekend ahead of us." Cinder told him, before everything went black.
"Well, that can't be good." Peter said.
"They mentioned a list and put Pyrrha on it. I definitely don't like the sound of that." Cap said.
"I'm hoping this isn't the case, but I'd be putting my money on 'hit list'." Tony said.
"We know Emerald and Mercury are willing to kill people that threaten Cinder. It's definitely a possibility." Widow agreed.
"Those fiends!" Thor snapped.
"I hope Yang smashes them all!" Hulk growled.
"Things are getting tense now. No way we're stopping here." Clint said, starting the next episode.
A/N: Thank you all for reading and let me know your thoughts in the reviews! I'm sorry this took so long. I've been having to take care of my visiting nephew, which has SERIOUSLY cut into my writing time, along with other daily distractions. Rest assured, I will continue updating as often as I can. But please, all I ask for is your impatience and to please stop constantly sending reviews asking for updates. It will happen, but you have to wait. Again, thank you and keep an eye out for the next chapter!