The Avengers returned from their latest mission, having employed several tactics and moves they saw from the last viewing of RWBY, with great success. Widow even mixed a bit of Yang and Neo's styles to make for an untouchable defense, paired with a devastating offense. "Honestly, finding the RWBY universe might be the greatest thing Loki has ever done." Natasha said.
"Definitely. Tony's been upgrading our weapons like crazy trying to make them more like the ones in the show." Clint agreed.
"And those weapons certainly saved the day on a number of our passed missions." Cap said.
"Yeah. Who know competing with teenage girls was so helpful." Hulk taunted.
"And let's not forget it's helping Spidey find a girlfriend and Thor find his long lost daughters." Tony teased as well.
"Oh, come on! Did you really have to bring that up!?" Spider-Man groaned.
"Indeed, Stark. You've quite effectively ruined the moment. And gotten on my nerves!" Thor snapped.
"It's a gift." Tony said.
Thor made his way towards Tony, but Natasha got between them. "Whoa there, boys. How about we just watch more of the show before you tear each other apart." She suggested.
"Sounds good to me." Tony agreed.
"Fair enough." Thor huffed, everyone gathering snacks and taking their seats before Widow started the show.
A view of the golden sun in an orange sky over the tall grass and autumn trees. In front of Summer's Gravestone was a young girl with a cloak billowing petals in the breeze. Hands clasped and hood up, Ruby stood over the white stone memorial.
"Her mother's grave..." Cap said sympathetically.
"No child that young should be without their mother." Thor said sadly.
Ruby lowered her hood, smiling sadly downward. "Hey, mom." She greeted the tombstone, looking down at the inscription: "Summer Rose – Thus Kindly I Scatter". "Sorry I haven't come by in a while. Things have been... well, things have been, pretty busy. Oh, Dad's here, too! He's, uh, you know... Dad." She said and shrugged. "He's still teaching at Signal. But he told me that he's going to be on some mission soon. I think he misses adventuring with you." She said, looking forlornly.
"I miss you too." She said, then paused. "Haven't gotten kicked out of Beacon yet! So that's cool. I think being on a team with Yang helps. Keep her in line... That was a joke. She's actually a really great fighter! You can tell she's learned a lot from Dad! Oh, so are Weiss and Blake. Oh! They're my teammates! Together, we form Team RWBY! And yes, before you ask, that does cause a lot of confusion." She said, a bit embarrassed.
The Avengers all chuckled at this. "I gotta admit, it was a little confusing at first." Peter admitted.
"Yeah and if you thought Ruby came up with the name, you'd probably think she was a spoiled brat." Hawkeye agreed.
"Anyways, I made a bunch of new friends, and then I met some... let's just say, uh, odd teachers. Oh! We've also stopped some bad guys, too! I guess it's like they say: 'like mother, like daughter'! I still wonder why Ozpin let me into the school early. But uh, I guess he'll tell me one day. You know how he is. It's funny, the more I get to know him, the more he's starting to sound like Uncle Qrow." She said. A bark alerted her to the ever-adorable Zwei and the sight of her father, Taiyang Xiao Long, in the trees behind her.
"She is a fine warrior! She has earned her spot at the academy!" Thor declared.
"The first thing he said was about her silver eyes. They gotta be important." Hulk theorized.
"Oh! Looks like Dad's back! I gotta go! He's dropping me off at Beacon for the tournament match before he goes on his next mission. Wish me luck!" She said and put the hood back on and started to walk away, but turned and delivered one final message to her mother: "It was good to talk." She added.
With that said, Ruby jogged back to her family as a group of crows flew into the sun.
"Hey, is it just me, or do those crows flying at the sun seem oddly familiar?" Tony asked.
"Yeah. It feels like we've seen a symbol like that before, but I can't put my finger on it. But... It gives me a warm feeling. Like a good memory." Natasha said with a small smile. [1]
A falling petal shifted the view from the sky and over the grassy mountains, where a stadium of epic proportions was seen. Crowds were cheering in the stands, visitors from all over the world. In the field of volcanic earth and icy glaciers below, Ruby fired and swung her Crescent Rose at an off-screen target as Blake exchanged blows with Reese Chloris, the blades of her Gambol Shroud colliding with the hoverboard of her opponent until she flipped away, readied herself and charged in again. Behind her, Weiss waved her Myrtenaster as the sound of her mystical power was heard and finally Yang dodged the explosive force of Arslan Altan's fist before returning fire with her own Ember Celica.
"Whoa! That's quite the 180!" Hawkeye said, surprised.
"Indeed, but now we are treated to the glorious spectacle of combat!" Thor boomed.
"Yeah! right to the action!" Hulk cheered.
High above the action, two familiar teachers were sitting at a sportscaster's desk, with a microphone between them and the holographic image of the four kingdoms' symbols united as one.
"Hello! It seems that we have another astonishing bout ahead of us! Wouldn't you agree, Professor?" Port announced, turning to his cohost.
"Doctor." Oobleck corrected, annoyed, before brightening up excitedly again. "And yes Peter, I think it's safe to say this match may be the closest we've seen of the four-on-four round of the tournament!" He declared.
"For those of you just now joining us, welcome to the Vytal Festival Tournament, broadcast live from the Amity Colosseum!" He greeted and waved his arm to gesture at the entire event from his place on the gigantic screen over the crowds.
"Port and Oobleck, huh? I'd say they're a good fit for announcers." Widow said.
"A guy who loves to ham up all his stories and another who talks fast and loves to explain everything? Yeah, spot on. I don't watch a lot of sports, but the ones I've seen have announcers like that." Spider-Man agreed.
The Coliseum was shown in its full glory, as shuttle crafts transported people to and from the various floors while the entire structure hovered around the airspace of Beacon Academy. Explosions were seen throughout the battlefield, but the view shifted back to the announcers as they began speaking again.
"If this is your first time watching, allow us to break down the rules." Port started.
"The tournament is divided into three distinctive rounds; teams, doubles, and singles. Age and school year are irrelevant! In this tournament, your only attribute being tested... is skill." Oobleck explained as he held up the appropriate number of fingers for each of his explanations while a hologram to his side illustrated the rules.
"As it should be." Cap said with a nod.
"Yep. Even the older students with more experience can still lose if the younger kids got better game." Tony agreed.
Port nodded as another hologram popped up to give further examples of the professor's explanation. "Correct! The winners of this battle will elect two of their members to represent them in the doubles round, followed by the winners of that round choosing one member to advance once again. The remaining combatants will then fight their way through the final bracket in the hope of achieving victory for their kingdom!" He explained as the hologram disappeared with the image of a victorious figure, sword raised and wearing a crown.
"Interesting. So they'll have to learn to adapt their strategies as they advance into further rounds." Widow noted.
"Yeah. Can't rely on the same strategy over and over, teach the kids to think on their own. Nice." Clint agreed.
"And yes, Peter, these certainly are some spectacular spectacles on which to spectate on! I don't think anyone tuning in around the world is going to disagree with me on that!" Oobleck declared, pushing up his own spectacles as he said this. As this was said, the scene changed to their televised broadcasts all around the kingdoms, from a row of holographs above the patrons in the Mistral Distillery to an Atlas home with a group of friends seeing it together, a bar in Vale where everyone turned to view the screen and outside a mobile home in Vacuo being watched by a few Faunus on a projection.
The Avengers were impressed with the size of the viewing audiences.
"Ahh, and why would they? Now, let's get back to the match between Team RWBY of Beacon, and Team ABRN, of Haven." Port announced.
"Go, team RWBY! You can do it!" Peter cheered.
"Wishing your girlfriend the best of luck?" Hulk teased.
"Oh, knock it off!" Spider-Man snapped.
The announcements cut back to the action, as Reese steered her board through the ice. She twirled herself until the board got launched at Blake, but she was able to knock it away, only for Reese to direct it back at her opponent. Blake blocked it again, but the board rotated back to its wielder just in time to defend Reese as Blake delivered several slashes and kicks. Reese deflected each attack and spun her weapon around until she could flip away and ride it again, rushing towards a smirking Blake. She collided with the frozen shadow clone and Blake used this opportunity to slice the board in two, only for the halves to become dual katars that, in turn folded up into bayonet-bladed revolvers. Reese managed to fire off a few green rounds before her tailbone collided painfully on the cold ground. Blake winced with sympathy.
The Avengers all winced as well. "That's gotta hurt." Tony said.
"She should be wearing a helmet." Cap lightly lectured, despite knowing the girl couldn't hear him.
Meanwhile, Yang landed mere feet away from Arslan, who backed away before being pounded by a flurry of punches and kicks until she delivered her own hits, ending with the two smashing fists and creating a shockwave of force from the impact. Yang and Arslan were both thrown back, but Yang reached her and tried delivering more blows before Arslan used her rope dart to tangle up her blonde adversary and landed a kick of her own to send Yang skidding on the ground. While Yang tried to get her balance back on the slippery surface, Arslan rushed forward and knocked her back even further.
Nearby, Nadir Shiko tried aiming with his assault rifle at Yang before a sudden burst of frosty blue exploded behind him and left the whimpering gunner in a block of ice up to his thighs. (The Avengers chuckled at the boy's unfortunate situation.)
Ruby looked up from her sniper scope. "Got your back!" She told her sister.
"Wonderful, young Ruby! Excellent work defending your teammate!" Thor praised.
"They're sisters. They've got to have each other's backs." Widow said.
"But who's got yours?" Bolin questioned from behind her.
Ruby looked up behind her as Bolin twirled his staff, right when a black snowflake glyph appeared to his left and Weiss kicked him through it into a rock. "My BFF!" Ruby declared to herself.
Weiss deadpanned at this. "No." She said sternly, before she ran off.
Ruby whispered to herself, pumping her fist. "Yes."
"She knows she's Ruby's BFF." Spider-Man said.
"Yep. She's stealing your girlfriend from you, Spidey." Hawkeye teased, causing Peter to facepalm.
Bolin crouched with his weapon as he saw a white glyph appear in front of him. A second later, Weiss dashed by and slashed at him, then jumped up and attempted an aerial attack, which he was able to block. She readied her sword while preparing a glyph behind her and Ruby used it to launch herself straight up and come down spinning on Bolin, who manages to block the curved blade. Ruby grimaced and blasted herself away to Weiss' side and Bolin rushed at them, rolling away from the shards of ice that rain on him and jumping over Ruby's swing as he continues running.
"Whaaat!?" Ruby cried out in shock and annoyance.
Bolin managed to reach an orange crystal deposit and sliced off a shard, which he threw to Reese over in the icy half of the stadium. With Dust in hand, Reese fused it with her board, turning the aqua lights to a crimson shade. She winked at Blake, then used the board's heat to free Nadir from his icy snare.
"These kids aren't bad." Hulk said.
"I might have to make a board like that." Tony said.
She came back to Blake and slammed her board into her enemy's blade, but propelled herself backwards and knocked Blake through a frozen pillar. Reese attempted to use her board to slam her foe into the ground, but when she dodged that, she spun around in a flaming arc that Blake narrowly missed thanks to her shadows. Changing tactics, Blake launched the pistol part of Gambol Shroud at a nearby glacier and launched herself behind it, as Reese followed her and saw Blake with her back turned to her under an arch. Reese grinned before riding in to deliver a flaming spiral at the shadow clone, only to see the ribbon Blake was launching to trap her opponent a moment too late. She pulled tightly and caused Reese to slam body-first into the string, only to use a final kick to knock her out of the stage. Reese crashed into the wall of the stands before landing on the ground, defeated.
The Avengers flinched once again at this. "Solid tactic, Blake." Widow praised.
"I've used that once or twice." Peter agreed.
"Ooh, a double whammy! Reese Chloris is eliminated by ringout and Aura level!" Port announced as Reese's Aura level dropped in the team display until her image was crossed out and she angrily slammed her fist on the ground.
"Oh, she really should've worn a helmet!" Oobleck said.
"Thank you!" Steve cried loudly.
"We get it, Cap, you're all about safety and rules. Not all of us are. And she'll probably learn from that in the future." Clint said.
Back in the fight, Arslan used her rope to swing around and avoid Yang right behind her, using shotgun blasts to propel herself forward. Nadir came into the picture, aiming his rifle at Weiss as she summoned another glyph and launched Bolin at him. The two teammates were helpless as Weiss created a whirlwind from underneath them and slamming the two together until she formed a giant ice fist straight up from the ground to trap the two. It reformed itself into a ball that rolled around the field and when Arslan saw her team in this state, she rolled her eyes, annoyed, before changing direction and sliding into the path of the ball. She readied her stance and drove her hand into the sphere, which cracked under her power and freed her allies.
"Dang it didn't work." Hulk grumbled.
"But take a look at where they are." Tony pointed out, everyone realizing they were right at the edge of the ring.
"Yang!" Weiss called, Yang turning to look just as she created a large frozen slide-like shape. "NOW!" She instructed.
Knowing what to do, Yang blasted herself forward and skimmed over the wall of ice, catching Blake's pistol as her teammate used Ruby as a launch pad to jump off of towards the remaining members of ABRN. The three only had a second to look horrified as Blake whipped a screaming Yang around to land a devastating punch that sent the trio flying into their elimination.
"YEAH!" All the Avengers cheered at once.
"Man, that Bumblebee move's starting to look unbeatable." Peter said.
"We might have to come up with a way to use that ourselves." Cap said.
"Yes!" Yang cheered as the buzzer sounded and Ruby cheered "YAAAAAY!" in the background.
"And that's the match! Team RWBY is victorious!" Port declared.
"We... did it?" Weiss asked, looking around and sounding surprised.
"Indeed! Take pride in your victory, Team RWBY and prepare for your next battle, so you may gain further glories!" Thor cheered inspiringly. Only one problem...
"You know they can't hear you, right?" Hulk told him.
Ruby looked at her sister for confirmation, Yang nodding to assure her they indeed won. She smiled and jumped into the air. "WE DID IIIIII-" She began screaming...
Before a sudden transition to a grassy area had Ruby suddenly hunched over. " -...is anyone else starving?" She questioned in an almost pained tone.
"That was an intense fight. I wouldn't be surprised if they burnt a lot of calories and worked up an appetite." Widow said.
"Then hopefully aura doesn't come with super metabolism." Tony said. Because of their healing factors, Captain America, Spider-Man and Black Widow all ate quite a decent amount, especially after a workout. Their appetites had put a small dent in Tony's wallet.
Blake looked cool as ever, arms behind her head. "I may have worked up an appetite." She said, not seeming to care one way or the other, but the sudden growling of an angry beast from her stomach proved her statement, much to its owner embarrassment.
The Avengers all laughed at this.
"Gee, if only there was somewhere on campus to get food around here." Weiss began, sarcastically shrugging her arms. Suddenly, the view zoomed out to show a myriad of tents and small shops wreathed in colorful flags in a large forest clearing as people milled about to experience it all. "Oh, wait." She said.
"Well, at least they've got plenty of options." Clint said.
"Indeed. A warrior's options for sustenance should be endless!" Thor agreed.
"It's okay, Weiss, I forget about the fairgrounds, too." Ruby assured her partner, taking Weiss' shoulder.
"I was being facetious." Weiss told her, knocking Ruby's arm away.
"What?" Hulk asked.
"Flippant or sarcastic." Peter explained.
Ruby freaked out. "Gah! Well if you were hungry, why didn't you say so!?" She demanded.
"Come on! I know just the place." Yang told her teammates.
Team RWBY started to follow Yang, but Weiss suddenly stopped as she heard a ringtone on her Scroll. Pulling it out, she saw the caller ID labeled "FATHER" and glared at the device, putting it back from where she got it, unanswered.
"I guess she's still having issues with her father." Cap said sadly.
"Eh. He's probably trying to use her as advertising since she's in this big tournament." Tony said, remembering his own father's business mindset.
Off-screen, a dark-skinned hand held a red wallet filled with Lien. "Hey! Might be hard to eat without this." Emerald said.
Ruby recognized the wallet to be hers and frantically patted around her outfit. "No, no, no, no!" She said in a panic.
Emerald laughed at Ruby's behavior. "Good to see you, Ruby." She said in a supposedly happy tone.
"Emerald. She probably stole Ruby's wallet." Clint said, glaring a bit.
"Then why return it?" Thor questioned.
"She's likely trying to start a conversation so she can get information on them for Cinder." Natasha theorized.
Ruby took the wallet back from her "friend" and put it away. "Oh! Thanks, Emerald! Oh. Guess I dropped it. Girl pockets are the worst!" Ruby said gratefully, slouching as she said this.
"What's up, Em?" Yang asked.
"Just left the stadium after your amazing fight! You guys were awesome!" Emerald praised.
"Oh, shut your stupid little face..." Ruby mumbled while blushing.
"Aww, she's still so socially awkward." Peter said with a smile.
"Just like you. That's why you make a good couple." Tony teased.
"I heard your team progressed to the next round too." Blake said over Ruby's incoherent gushing.
"You know, I feel that we haven't seen your other teammates." Weiss noted.
"How'd they do in the fight?" Yang asked.
Emerald tilted her head up in thought, remembering the fight.
Emerald blasted opponents with Thief's Respite, then slashed behind her as Mercury kicked out a shotgun blast with Talaria. Cinder did the same with her own target, landing the poor soul at the feet of their teammate, a mysterious black-haired girl who leaned over and stared down as the camera focused on how her green eyes blinked into a pair of pink and brown irises as she smirked while delivering a stomp on her victim's face into darkness.
The Avengers all flinched at this. "Ouch..." Peter said.
"Well, good to see Neo's vicious and crazy as ever." Tony noted sarcastically.
Emerald came back to reality, nodding. "Really well." She told them.
"That's great. Uh. Why don't we all go and get a victory food together?" Ruby offered.
"Oh, gosh, that's so nice of you, but my teammates are all kind of..." Emerald started, before looking back at Mercury as he sniffed the inside of a boot, looking perplexed after he did so. "...introverted. Really socially awkward." She explained.
Most of the Avengers grimaced at this. "Even I wouldn't do that." Hulk said, disgusted.
"Actually, there's a legitimate reason for doing that." Tony informed, everyone looking to him. "Imitation leather has a different smell than real leather, so if you sniff it, you can tell which is which so you don't get ripped off." He explained. "I mean, now there are better ways to tell, but maybe Remnant doesn't have those." He added.
"Ooh, yeah, I could see that." Yang agreed, nodding.
"Oh yeah, looks like Merc and I are going to move on to the doubles round. What about you guys?" Emerald asked.
"Well, as the leader of this team, I thought long and hard about this decision." Ruby explained, looking pretty proud of herself.
"We put it to a vote." Weiss popped in to remind her, straight-faced.
"Yes, so, but I decided that we should put it to a vote." Ruby nervously tried to backtrack.
This earned another laugh from the Avengers. "Now you know how I feel when one of you runs off and goes against the plan." Cap told them all.
"Sorry." The rest of them said.
"We voted for Weiss and Yang." Blake explained.
"I will happily represent Team RWBY." Weiss declared, curtsying.
"Yeah, we're going to kick some butt!" Yang said, pounding her fists together.
"Yes! Fight for the glory of your team!" Thor cheered.
"But now they know their team and can plan for it." Clint told the god of thunder.
Emerald laughed. "Well, if Mercury and I see you down the line, don't think we'll go easy on ya." She playfully warned with a smirk.
Yang and Weiss returned Emerald's confident smirk with their own. "Wouldn't have it any other way." Yang said.
"Alright, well we're going to catch some more fights." Emerald said as she turned and walked away from them as they did the same.
"Have fun!" Ruby called after her, waving her arm.
"See you later!" Emerald called back, cheerfully giving her own wave. She turned and walked away, at which point, she immediately dropped the act as she walked with Mercury and looked disgusted.
"I hate to admit it, but she's great at acting and putting on that friendly facade." Natasha said.
"I always hated people being able to lie like that at all." Peter added.
"So, how are the new friends?" Mercury asked teasingly.
Emerald scowled. "I hate them." She grumbled.
Mercury shrugged. "Orders are orders." He told her.
"I just... how can they be so happy all the time!?" Emerald demanded, mashing her fingers together angrily.
"Did you at least get what we want?" Mercury asked.
"It's the heiress and the bimbo." Emerald answered quickly, waving his question away.
"Well that's not nice. And you're showing about as much skin as Yang." Tony said.
"You gonna let her talk about your daughter like that, blondie?" Hulk teased Thor.
"She is not my daughter!" Thor snapped. "Although I will admit, it displeases me greatly to hear Emerald speak of her in such a way." The god of thunder admitted.
"Hmm, alright. At least we know who we're working with." Mercury said.
"So it was to get info on their next members. I have a bad feeling what might come next." Cap said, the others nodding in agreement.
At one of the unassuming huts set up in the fairgrounds stringed with paper lanterns with a sign overhead saying A Simple Wok, Team RWBY sat at the stools outside, ready to order.
"I'll have a bowl of the regular, please." Yang placed her order to someone off-screen, after which a large bowl of noodles was slid in front of her.
Everyone was shocked by the large portion. "Whoa! That's almost a big enough meal for Hulk!" Hawkeye chuckled.
"We gotta find Remnant." Hulk said, deadly serious.
Ruby stared at Yang's meal with interest. "Oohhh... I'll take the same." She ordered, a large bowl of noodles being slid in front of her as well, to which she clasped her hands in excitement.
Weiss, however, looked concerned at this massive portion of noodles. "Do you have anything with a low-salt...?" She started, before another large bowl of regular noodles was instantly slid in front of her instead. "Um... okay..." She said unsurely.
Instead of saying anything, Blake merely gave a nod and smile to the Shopkeep, who returned the gesture as he rushed through one door of his shop and came out the other to leave a large bowl of noodles topped with fish in front of her. Blake's eyes lit up as she drooled over her order.
"Man, Blake must come here all the time for her to just nod to get what she wants. I should know, I do the same at the places I go to like, twice a week." Peter said.
"She's not doing too good of a job hiding her cat instincts, though." Widow noted.
While Weiss looked strangely at her teammate, she gladly offered her Schnee Dust Company credit card to the Shopkeep. "Aw, Weiss! What's the occasion!?" Yang asked endearingly.
"Consider it thanks for sending me to the doubles round." Weiss told her team happily. Her joy was ruined, however, when the card was flung back at her and the annoyed Shopkeep pointed to his register as it beeped "DECLINED". "What?! How can my card be declined? I was barely into my monthly allowance!" Weiss asked in disbelief.
"What could've gone wrong?" Cap asked.
"I'm guessing dear old dad cut her off for not calling." Tony said. Again, this was a favorite tactic of his own father.
Blake looked around panicked, before she attempted to slowly slide her bowl closer to herself, but the Shopkeep disappeared with her food, causing the poor girl to slump over in defeat. "Nooo!" She cried out in despair.
"Maybe I could help?" A familiar voice asked off-screen. The girls of RWBY looked up to see Team JNPR approach the stand.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby cried out happily, flinging her arms wide in delight.
"Aw, you don't have to ..." Yang told Mistral's champion.
"But she could!" Blake interrupted desperately.
"Young Blake is truly desperate for this food." Thor said.
"Well, it's pretty clear she's obsessed with fish at this point." Hawkeye said.
"Well, I think you all earned it after that battle." Pyrrha told them.
"Mind if we join you?" Jaune asked.
Later on, the bowls were empty and each student was either content with their meal or holding their stomachs sickly. "Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asked Pyrrha.
"Definitely not a portion that big." Cap said.
"Oh, yeah. I remember I ate a triple burrito before battling taking on the Kraven. That wasn't fun." Peter said, holding his stomach.
"Of course! It will give us energy!" Pyrrha assured him as the Shopkeep quickly gathered the bowls and vanished.
Nora simply gave a hearty belch.
Jaune splayed himself over the counter. "If I barf, I'm blaming you." He told his partner sickly.
"Ooh!" Nora said excitedly. "Aim at the enemy!" She told him, grinning evilly.
"Maybe I should try that next time I'm sick." Hulk said.
"A cowardly, dishonorable tactic!" Thor snapped.
"Nora, that's disgusting. But if you feel the urge..." Ren first scolded his childhood friend, but then opened up to the idea.
"Got it." Jaune confirmed, giving a weak thumbs-up.
"Well, we should be off." Pyrrha said, standing up from her stool.
"So, you think you guys are ready?" Ruby asked.
"They should be fine. They've all been improving and they've got Pyrrha." Tony noted.
"Yeah, but you should never rely on one singular member of the team." Natasha reminded the billionaire.
"Of course! We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, one's basically ninja, I can bench five of me, Jaune, we trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh... Jaune!" Nora explained, gesturing to each of her teammates as she mentioned them.
"Are you gonna take that?"Ren asked his team leader.
"She's not wrong." Jaune admitted.
"You've been improving, Jaune. Give yourself more credit." Cap said.
"But he's still aware he's the weakest link of the team." Hawkeye told him.
"I'm kidding, he knows I'm kidding." Nora assured him, then began talking quickly. "Don't be so nervous! The worst that can happen is we lose, that is just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team Lose-iper!" She explained, the color slowly draining away as she got more worried, her mad laughter turning into sobs as she slammed her head on the counter.
"Nora and Ren don't have families?" Peter asked in surprise.
"It's a shame, but it happens." Natasha said sympathetically.
"So, yeah, we're feeling pretty good." Ren said, unperturbed.
"Don't fret. If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines, and not, well... murderers." Pyrrha told them.
"Yeah, don't sweat it, we've all faced way worse before." Yang said encouragingly.
"Let's see. Grimm invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath..." Blake counted off the threats on her fingers.
"And that's all while were still in training! Oh, imagine what it would be like to graduate!" Ruby said excitedly.
"It's quite impressive. They've taken on things similar to our biggest threats while they're still in high school." Tony praised.
"Yeah. And they schooled all of them!" Hulk laughed.
"Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal." Weiss sarcastically mumbled to herself.
The Avengers all chuckled at this.
"Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately!" Port's voice came crackling in over the intercom system.
"Yes! Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!" Oobleck added to Port's order.
"Well, it looks like this is it." Pyrrha said.
"Go get 'em!" Ruby cried out to Team JNPR as they walked away, Nora still depressed and Jaune looking queasy.
"Yes! Onto further battles and victory!" Thor cheered.
"As long as they don't throw up on the enemy, right?" Clint said with a smirk.
Team RWBY entered the Coliseum through one of its tunnels and headed to their seats as Emerald and Mercury were seen walking behind them to do the same. Down in the field below, the scorched ground and cold plains were no more and only a layer of white mechanics was left, with a central stage on which the two teams gathered.
"I wonder who's gonna win." Mercury wondered, having found his seat with Emerald and munching on a large tub of popcorn.
"How could they possibly know who will win?" Thor questioned.
"They've probably analyzed both teams thoroughly in case they had to go up against them." Widow theorized.
"Wait!" Peter said, getting all their attention. "The dance! Cinder uploaded a virus! They might have access to how the fights are set up!" He analyzed. This shocked everyone as they processed the information.
"So they're rigging the tournament. But that can't be all. They aren't in all this JUST to win some tournament. They're clearly trying to bring down Beacon somehow." Cap processed all the new information.
"Tch. As if we didn't already know." Emerald dismissed.
Cinder walked up behind them, showing off her new outfit of jeans, an orange jacket and sarashi bandages over her chest as she took an kernel that hadn't popped from Mercury's bucket. "Oh, come now. Even if you know how the story ends, that doesn't make it any less fun to watch." She told her underlings as her eyes glowed with her fingertips and the kernel finally popped, which she enjoyed while sitting down as Mercury and Emerald shared a devious smirk.
"Team JNPR of Beacon versus Team BRNZ of Shade!" Port announced over the cheering crowds.
As each team readied their poses, a circle of holographic roulettes started spinning frantically through various symbols and colors before finally landing on a green pine tree and gray thunderstruck mountain. With these random selections, half of the field opened to reveal a tree-filled forest, while the other raised a small rocky outcropping to filled in the circle. Jaune narrowed his eyes in concentration while Ruby let out a loud "WHOOO-HOOO!" from her seat.
"Three, two, one, begin!" Port declared.
As the match started, each team rushed forward at the other, ready to begin fighting just as everything went black.
"Wow, this is gonna be a Volume with a lot of action." Tony said.
"Right, but now we don't know how much of this action is manipulated by Cinder." Steve said.
"And what they're ultimate goal is. It must revolve around the festival somehow, so they must be getting close to putting their plan into action." Peter added.
"And it must be even bigger than the Breach. I can't imagine what it must be, then." Clint reminded them.
"This does not bode well for RWBY and their friends." Thor said, concerned.
"They'll beat them somehow. They have to." Hulk said.
"We'll find out soon enough." Natasha said, playing the next episode.
A/N: And done! Thank you so much for reading and enjoying my story. I'm sorry I hadn't updated in so long. I was having computer problems, but now those are fixed and updates will be back to a more regular schedule.
1: The crows flying to the sun is a reference to Monty's old video openings before he joined Rooster Teeth. R.I.P Monty.