"So, the villains are rigging the fights. This can't be good." Cap said.
"Yeah, but Cinder put them against a couple a year older than them who made team RWBY look like a bunch of kids. Assuming Mercury and Emerald are around RWBY's level, I'm not liking their chances." Clint noted.
"Still, there has to be a reason Cinder picked them of all people. I doubt their plan is to lose, especially this early. She has to have a bigger game planned here." Tony countered.
"Still, rigging what should be a fair and random challenge. It's the cowards way!" Thor growled.
"Nothing we can do about it now." Hulk told him.
"The big guy's right. All we can do is watch." Peter said.
"Then let's get to watching." Widow agreed, playing the episode.
The Amity Colosseum was still floating high amid the cheers of an excited audience as the two opposing pairs of partners for the match, the grinning Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai against a confident Coco Adel and meditating Yatsuhashi Daichi, waited in the center of the stadium for the holographic roulette to pick the field.
"Emerald and Mercury of Haven, versus Coco and Yatsuhashi of Beacon!" Port declared over the broadcaster speakers.
"Good luck, you two!" Velvet called from up in the stands alongside Fox and Ruby.
"Since it's a rigged fight, they'll need it." Cap said.
"Emerald and Mercury are both speedy and agile from what we've seen, so Yatsuhashi will probably be at a disadvantage. I'd say their biggest issue would be not getting turned to Swiss cheese by Coco's minigun." Tony noted.
The Colosseum chose four fields to rise up from below in quarter sections: A patch of tall grassy plains which had a single tree and some rocks; the ruins of a city, complete with buildings holding shattered windows and rubble among the pavement; a hot spring containing geyser spots along a small river and some blue Dust crystal growths; and a familiar section of dense forest.
"Now I'm wondering if the environments were rigged as well." Widow wondered.
"That tall grass could hide them and those trees give great cover and places to hide." Hawkeye added.
Coco lowered her sunglasses as she eyed her opponents. "Hey! Love the outfit, kid!" She told Emerald.
"I'll try not to get blood on it." Emerald explained.
"I can't promise you'll leave without a scratch." Yatsuhashi warned, getting up as he removes Fulcrum from his back.
"I won't be the one bleeding." Emerald elaborated, stretching out her arm.
"You should be." Hulk growled.
"Indeed. One should their opponents fairly and with honor, not twist the battle in their own favor. They should be punished for foul play!" Thor snapped.
"Easy guys. I don't like it either, but maybe Coco and Yatsuhashi have this." Peter suggested.
"Ooh, I like her!" Coco said with a smirk.
"Three, two, one, begin!" Port announced along with the countdown behind the combatants.
Instead of charging forward, Mercury and Emerald slowly walked back into the tall grass and disappeared behind the leaves. Coco and Yatsuhashi smiled at each other before the leader popped out her Gatling gun and began mowing down the field as the crowds of sunglasses-wearing fans roared their approval, even when bullets nearly hit them from the other side of the forcefield. Coco let up as she and Yatsuhashi realized the two opponents weren't in the plains section anymore.
"No way! They should've been in there somewhere!" Peter cried out.
"They must've moved somewhere else." Cap said.
"Huh?" Coco asked in shock.
"Look out!" Blake cried out as she and the rest of Team RWBY looked on in shock.
Mercury dropped from the sky, aiming for Coco, but Yatsuhashi pushed her out of the way and blocked Talaria with his blade, pushing him back. Coco open fired at him again, though Mercury was able to outrun each shot.
"This is bad." Widow said.
"What? Why, what's wrong? Sure, Mercury's dodging their attacks, but it's two on one." Spider-Man said.
"Mercury put the focus on him to let Emerald do whatever she wants. So, what is she doing, then?" Clint wondered.
"Wow, it's crazy, until times like this, I always forget you're a super spy with military tactics." Tony stated.
"He's good!" Sun declared, also shown to be in the bleachers with SSSN.
"Yeah, but where's the girl?" Scarlet asked.
Mercury reached the two and kicked away Coco's weapon while dodging Yatsuhashi's blade, then delivering a double blow to the giant warrior before jumping over Coco's continued barrage of bullets. He landed on the barrels and kicked her in the face, leaping over another of Yatsuhashi's swings, only to let himself be hit so he can get behind Coco and force her to press the muzzle up to her own teammate. Everyone stood still until Coco compressed her weapon back into its handbag form and tried to hit Mercury with Yatsuhashi, but he deftly jumped back and launched two blasts from his boots that the members of CFVY deflected.
"Oh, good. His boots are guns, too." Spider-Man groaned.
"At this point, I'd be more surprised if we saw a weapon that WASN'T a gun." Tony said.
Coco was unfazed by the one shot, but looked surprised at the dozens of them now spiraling around the handstand-spinning Mercury until he sent all of them at his enemies, a barrage of light and smoke surrounding them that provided the perfect cover for Mercury to appear behind the two. He grabbed the both of them by their arms and delivered a flurry of kicks that knocked them back, looking back as a chain came out from the forest trees to wrap around Coco and pulled her back.
"Coco!" Yatsuhashi cried out, reaching out to her in vain.
"'Tis like you said, Hawkeye! She's taking young Coco into the forest, where the trees provide both cover and hiding places from Coco's ammunition!" Thor declared.
"They've been watching and learning how all the kids fight in combat class. They must've figured out how to beat them there." Hulk realized.
Despite his cry, Coco disappeared into the trees and he has to endure a blow from Mercury before being able to grab and throw him into the hot spring area. He jumped high in the air as Mercury was still sliding back, but his blade only came down on his opponent's boots, the shockwave from this clash causing the water to fly back, the earth to crack underneath and multiple geysers to form around them.
"Whoa. That's getting close to an Iron Man suit with how much power they're putting out." Cap said.
"That's a bit generous, but you're not far off." Tony told him.
Mercury fired his boots and got out of the hold, aiming a swipe at Yatsuhashi's feet that missed, then ducking around each of his sword's swings. One of his kicks let loose some stones from the ground, which Mercury kicked into Yatsuhashi and left him at the mercy of another foot-happy assault. This left his head in a small super-heated geyser, erupting and causing him to scream in pain as he frantically got up, opening his eyes just in time to see Mercury coming at him.
Peter winced at this. "Yikes! That's brutal! Who designed these arenas that kids are fighting in?!" Spider-Man demanded.
"It's likely meant to test their adaptability to different areas. Dangerous, but smart. And remember, they have aura to heal wounds." Widow reminded him.
Meanwhile, Coco was still being dragged back into the forest until the chain made her collide with the trunk of a tree. She shook it off until she realized her sunglasses were lying shattered on the ground.
"I take it back; I don't like her." Coco growled, glaring angrily as she looked around.
Just as she said this, a green shot rapidly came at Coco, which she barely managed to jump back from as more came down on her from Emerald's position up in a tree above her. Coco unleashed her Gatling gun again and shot high in the branches, but Emerald jumped around, using Thief's Respite to fire back and changed them to sickle form so she could swing from each tree until she suddenly vanished behind one of them.
"She's putting her on edge. She could jump out from anywhere and keeps disappearing, so Coco can't possibly know where she's coming from." Clint noted.
"Coward! A true warrior should always stand and face their foe!" Thor declared.
"Damn!" Coco cursed, looking around for her lost opponent.
"Coco!" Yatsuhashi called, coming up from behind her, hand on his sword's hilt.
"No way! He's busy with Mercury!" Hulk shouted.
"Maybe he broke away to find her? Strength in numbers?" Peter suggested.
"No... Something else is going on here." Cap said.
"Watch out, she's in the trees!" Coco called back to him as she continued to glance around.
The buzzer sounded around the arena, Coco looking up to see the footage being shown. "Oh, and with that final blow, Yatsuhashi is eliminated!" Port declared.
"What!?" Coco said in disbelief, eyes widening in shock. She looked behind her, only to see no one there. Her hand was shaking on the handle of her gun, and she didn't even see the blur between the trees moving in for the kill.
"She's on edge and stressed out. She could be hallucinating. It's happened to me before." Tony said.
"That's one option... But it feels like something else is going on here." Natasha said.
"Damn!" She cursed again. Little did she know that Emerald was rising up from behind her, blades raised, turning around a second too late. The weapon descended with a ringing gunshot and Coco was seen flying out of the forest, landing all the way in the center of the stadium next to Yatsuhashi, also knocked unconscious. Emerald swung her sickles by their chains as Mercury looked over their defeated opponents.
"Dang, that's brutal." Clint said.
"I mean, what can you expect? They're the villains." Peter said.
"And with an amazing upset, Emerald and Mercury are victorious!" Oobleck announced in the announcer's spot with Port.
Velvet put her hand over her mouth as Fox shook his head. "Coco?" She asked.
Fox placed a reassuring hand on Velvet's shoulder as Ruby looked into the stadium at her "friends", no one noticing the smiling Cinder behind them, getting up from her seat and walking away amid the combined cheers and boos from the crowds.
"She must know something is up. They all know how good those two are. For younger kids to beat them, they had to be cheating." Hulk said.
"They said it in the beginning, only skill is being tested here. Age has nothing to do with it. Their age gave them an advantage, but even without it, Mercury was clearly skilled and effective against both of them and Emerald knew how to exploit her opponents." Thor analyzed.
In an elegant twilit pavilion area of ivy-covered pillars, rounded archways and lion-decorated fountains, Weiss and her elder sister Winter were sitting at a simple table with a plate full of croissants and strawberries. Winter was sipping from her teacup as Weiss repeated the news she was just told.
"You're... leaving?" Weiss asked.
"Wow, that didn't last long." Tony said.
"A shame. That wasn't long at all they got to spend together." Cap said sadly.
Winter set her cup down. "Yes. I was merely needed to oversee the transport of additional units to Vale. Our last shipment was lost to an ambush. I believe you had a run-in with its cargo, actually. It's fortunate those Paladins were in the prototype stage; otherwise your team may not have fared so well." She explained as Weiss sighed and looked down dejectedly.
"Those were only prototypes?! Dang, I don't think I wanna see the finished version." Peter shuddered.
"The fact they brought that up makes me think they aren't done with those Paladins yet." Natasha theorized.
Winter grabbed her sister's hand reassuringly. "Weiss, you've done... well, out here, on your own. You should be proud." She said, then smiled. "I'll be honest, it was quite amusing seeing Father's face the day you left for Beacon!" She admitted.
"I can't wait to show him what I learned!" Weiss declared proudly, straightening up and smiling now, arms crossed.
"Oh? Then what do you think you've learned?" Winter questioned with a smile.
"What do you mean? I'm getting better and better with my glyphs! I've even started Time Dilation!" Weiss listed her accomplishments while not directly looking at her sister.
"And what of your Summoning?" Winter asked suddenly, staring intently at her sibling.
"Weiss can do that, too?" Hulk asked.
"Incredible! The power of the Schnee lineage is truly a force to be reckoned with!" Thor praised.
Weiss was caught off-guard at this. "I..." She started, then sighed and looked away. "You know I can't." She said.
"Don't be ridiculous. Every Schnee has the ability to summon. We have for generations." Winter explained.
"I've tried! It's just... it's the one thing I've been having trouble with!" Weiss cried exasperatedly, splaying her hands.
"Well, practice makes perfect." Cap told her, despite the fact she couldn't hear him.
"If EVERY Schnee can do it, then it only makes sense Weiss can." Clint agreed.
"We Schnee's are unique. Unlike many, our Semblance is hereditary. But that doesn't mean it will come easily." Winter explained and lifted her hand to summon a small, elaborate glyph over her palm.
"Your Semblance is like a muscle. The more you practice with it, the stronger it will become. But if you only focus on one aspect of it..." Winter explained the intricacies of their shared ability as the glyph expanded suddenly in a bright flash, causing Weiss to turn away before looking back up in awe at the white-and-blue Beowolf now at her sister's side. "If you fail to test the limits of what you think is possible, then you'll never truly grow." She finished.
Weiss smiled at this display of power she hoped to achieve.
"Okay, that's cool. I won't lie." Peter admitted.
"I wouldn't mind doing that if I could. Then again, I can summon the Armored Legion any time I want, so it evens out." Tony said.
Ruby was suddenly shown as red action lines appeared behind her with oriental battle music playing. "You'll never beat me, old man!" She declared.
"You're nothing but talk, kid!" Qrow taunted with similar blue lines behind him.
"You can do it, Ruby!" Yang called out her support as purple lines followed her.
Then the entire scene was revealed to be in team RWBY's dorm room at Beacon Academy and the screen of the video game Ruby and Qrow were playing was shown just as one of the pixelated ninjas decapitated the other. "SOARING NINJA WINS! TOTAL ANNIHILATION!" The announcer declared as Qrow grinned at his victory as Ruby lowered her head in shame.
The Avengers all chuckled at this. "Finally, we're back to the humor." Clint said.
"Too bad Qrow isn't real. We'd have someone else to play games with." Hulk said to Thor, who nodded.
"Ouch." Yang whispered.
"And by the way, don't ever call me old." Qrow said.
"My turn!" Yang declared as she suddenly jumped in, pushing her sibling out of her spot as she grabbed the spinning controller from the air.
"Now, where was I?" Qrow asked while the game began again with "NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES!"
"You were telling us about your last mission!" Ruby reminded him, popping up from behind the two players excitedly.
"Now it's getting interesting." Natasha said.
"But should he really be sharing these covert missions with his nieces?" Cap questioned.
"Right, right..." Qrow confirmed as everything flashed back to his story as the art style changed to reflect the dark setting and eerie neighborhood the blade-wielding warrior was walking through. "I'd come across a small village in the swamps west of Mistral. Right off the bat, I knew something wasn't right." He explained.
"What were you doing there?" Ruby asked, mystified.
"I needed information. Tired from battling Grimm along the way, I decided to start my search at the town's inn. The place was crawling with lowlifes and thugs, even a few Huntsmen that I could only assume had been hired by less-than reputable people for less-than respectable jobs. And that's when it happened." He told his nieces.
Qrow looked at something in the shady inn, wide-eyed at what he saw. "What happened?" Yang asked.
Qrow was shown kneeling in his flashback under a spotlight. "I was defeated... by the mere sight..." He explained, suddenly grinning at what he saw was revealed. "of the innkeeper's skirt length!" He declared with the vision of pink hearts, a beautiful maid with slightly-skimpy clothing and the very happy Qrow.
Everyone looked at Tony. "What?!" He demanded.
"You're totally Qrow." Everyone except Thor said.
"Take me to Beacon so I may adopt Nora, Stark!" Thor ordered.
"I can't take you to Beacon because I'm not Qrow!" Tony snapped.
This vision was interrupted by a thrown dog-head pillow, which Qrow deftly caught much to Yang's ire, not helped by the game announcer calling out once more "SOARING NINJA WINS! TOTAL ANNIHILATION!".
"You are the worst!" Yang snapped.
Qrow and Ruby laughed at Yang's anger. "Best two out of three?" He offered.
"So, Uncle Qrow, did you get in trouble with Ozpin?" Ruby asked as she seated herself on Weiss' bed.
"Nah, me and Oz go way back. We're cool." Qrow said, waving the question off.
"Yeah, they've just got a whole 'ozluminati' thing going on." Peter said.
That's actually a pretty clever name." Clint praised.
Yang scoffed. "Cool for an old guy." She countered.
"Not funny." Qrow said, looking mad now.
"So, what are you doing here anyway? I thought Dad said that you would be on a mission, for like... ever." Ruby asked.
Qrow got back into the game at the sound of "READY? FIGHT!" was heard. "Well, a professional Huntsman like myself is expected to get results, as soon as possible." He explained.
"Yeeeeaaaah, I get that." Ruby said with a laugh. "We're pretty much pros, too." She told him.
"Oh, really?" Qrow questioned.
"Psch, yeah! Read the news sometime. We totally saved Vale while you were gone." Yang backed up her sister's claim.
"But a train still smashed into it." Hulk said.
"Luckily, they have Glynda to fix everything. Wish we had someone like that." Natasha added.
"Funny, because I heard Vale suffered a Grimm attack after you almost managed to stop a train." Qrow corrected, leaning over to rub it in his niece's face as she scowled at the repeated "SOARING NINJA WINS! TOTAL ANNIHILATION!". "But they don't give out medals for almost." He told her.
"They do and it's called silver!" Ruby declared resolutely.
They all laughed at this. "I mean, she's not wrong." Cap admitted.
"Ruby. Always looking on the positive side." Peter said with a smile.
"Well, we helped take down Roman Torchwick! He's locked up in Ironwood's ship and crime's been down ever since! That's basically a bounty mission!" Yang said.
"Sure, you may be acting like Huntresses, but you're not thinking like one. You really think four girls and their friends could end all crime in a Kingdom?" Qrow questioned.
"I mean, I did until you said that..." Ruby admitted, tapping her fingers together in embarrassment.
"Even we can't get rid of all the crime in our city and we've got these guys helping out." Clint said, pointing to Hulk and Thor.
"It matters not how many criminals we face, the mighty Thor shall defeat them all!" Thor declared.
Qrow sounded more serious now as he continued to speak. "Violence hasn't dropped since Roman got nabbed; it's stopped, completely. No White Fang activity anywhere around the city. You cut off the head of the King Taijitu, but now the second head 's calling the shots. That's what Ironwood can't get through that thick metal head of his." He told them.
Yang exchanged a look with Ruby. "You... know the General?" She asked.
Qrow went back to his usual joking demeanor. "Hey, I know everybody to some extent. Remember, you're talking to a member of the coolest team that graduated Beacon!" He declared and reached behind him into one of his pockets and pulled out a photo lined with stains and age of four figures - himself, Raven Branwen, Taiyang Xiao Long and Summer Rose - as Yang's eyes widen and he sighs in remembrance. "Hah, Team STRQ... That's where I met your parents. We were pretty well known back in the day." He told them.
"So, those are Ruby and Yang's parents." Cap noted.
"But take a look." Tony said, pointing to the woman beside Qrow. "Doesn't she look like the woman who saved Yang on the train?" Tony asked.
"Hey, yeah! But who is she?" Peter wondered.
"Well known for crummy fashion sense!" Ruby countered.
"Hey, we looked good! And I have a number of inappropriate stories to back that up!" He declared and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, but noticed Yang continuing to stare at the picture and put it away. "But, I'll save those for when you're older." He told them.
"Oh, gross!" Ruby groaned as she recoiled in disgust.
"Those are NOT stories you should be sharing." Natasha said, glaring at him.
"I don't care what you say, you're Qrow. Where are you hiding the cape and the sword?" Hulk asked, looking at Tony.
Qrow got up and started walking out. "Anyways, I'm too old to be hanging out with a bunch of kids. You're gonna cramp my style." He said, then paused in the doorway and sighed before addressing his family, Ruby and Yang looking up to him and Zwei sleeping on Blake's bed. "Look, just remember that you've still got a long way to go..." He told them, turning around and holding a finger up to express his seriousness. "And don't think for a second that graduating means you're done." He went on, hitching a thumb over his shoulder. "Every day out there is worth a week in this place. You two, you're gonna go far. But only if you keep learning; if you never stop moving forward." He finished.
With these immortal words of wisdom, Qrow exited down the hall.
The Avengers were shocked at this. "Such words of wisdom. I've rarely heard such a speech, even from my father." Thor said in awe.
"You really can hear the greatest things from the strangest places. Even from Tony- oh, sorry, I meant Qrow." Cap said, Tony growling at the veteran.
Back in the pavilion, a caterpillar was slowly inching around on the edge of a fountain at Weiss pointed her Myrtenaster at the ground, creating a rotating glyph made of blade symbols with Winter behind her, appraising the effort.
"Excellent form! Now think to your fallen foes! The ones who forced you to push past where you were, and become who you are now." Winter instructed as the glyph flickered in and out of existence and Weiss grimaced in concentration. "Think of them, and watch as they come to your side." She finished.
"Inspiring words." Thor praised.
"Yeah, but it doesn't seem to be working." Widow said, noticing Weiss' grimace.
Weiss tried her hardest to make the wobbling circle follow her will, but eventually dismissed it and stomped the ground angrily. "I can't!" She insisted.
Winter's hand immediately came down on Weiss' head in a slap. "Stop doubting yourself!" She snapped.
"Jeez! Harsh!" Spider-Man said.
"That's how the military is. Harsh, strict discipline to produce the best results." Cap explained.
"I'm trying!" Weiss snapped back, turning around to face her sister.
"If this is what you call trying, then you have no hope of winning the tournament, let alone succeeding as a Huntress!" Winter berated her sister, before suddenly smiling as if an idea had occurred to her. "Why don't you just move back home? I'm sure Father would give you a nice job as a receptionist!" She suggested.
"I don't need his charity!" Weiss refused, looking away.
"I'm starting to wonder if every single rich guy is a bad father." Tony said, thinking back to his own dad.
"If that's true, you shouldn't have a kid, either. But, we all already knew that." Hawkeye taunted.
"But you do need his money, don't you?" Winter questioned, leaning in.
"What!? How did you know about that!?" Weiss asked in surprise.
"Lucky guess. I may have been in a similar situation when I joined the military. So what have you done this time?" Winter straightened back up.
"Well, that's the thing: I'm really not sure! I went to pay for lunch the other day, but the card didn't work!" Weiss explained as Winter circled around her.
"So, he's aware he could be depriving his daughter of meals, right?" Peter asked.
"I doubt he cares. He's trying to make her crack." Hulk told the younger hero.
"How embarrassing." Winter said dramatically.
"I know!" Weiss cried out, then saw Winter shaking her head. "Well, it was! Why would he cut me off like that?" She asked.
"Perhaps so that you'd stop avoiding him and call home." Winter suggested.
Instead of answering, Weiss attempted once more to create a summoning glyph, gritting her teeth until Winter placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.
"Emotions can grant you strength. But you must never let them overpower you." Winter explained as the attempted glyph flickered and faded once more, though neither of them paid it any attention. "It sounds to me like you have two choices in front of you. You can either call him, beg for his money back and explain once more why you would want to study at Beacon over Atlas, or you could continue to explore Remnant, discovering more about the world and honestly, more about yourself." She gave her advice and allowed Weiss a moment to absorb this information.
The Avengers all smiled. "Looks like the ice queen's got a warm heart after all." Tony said.
"Maybe she's not an Ice Queen." Natasha corrected.
"It's time for me to go." She revealed and gave her sister a hug, which was returned.
Weiss broke off from the embrace. "It was really good to see you, Winter." She said.
Winter smiled sadly. "Until next time, sister." She gave her farewell.
The two Schnees walked out of the pavilion and went in opposite directions, neither of them noticing the caterpillar coming across a miniature, brightened version of a familiar-looking broadsword before disappearing into icy sparkles.
"She did it!" Peter cheered.
"She tried to summon that armor she fought in her trailer." Thor realized.
"It was a rough attempt, but if she keeps at it, I know she'll do it." Cap said.
Later at night, Weiss was in the school courtyard, waving goodbye at the airship carrying her sister. She stopped just as her Scroll started vibrating with an incoming call from "FATHER" and her finger hovered over the screen in uncertainty until she closed her eyes and forced herself to press it. Suddenly smiling at the sight of her closed Scroll and the setting of a new path in life, she put it away and walked back inside as everything went black.
All of the Avengers were smiling at Weiss' growth along with the love and support her sister showed her, some of them even shedding some tears. "She may be tough, but she really does care about Weiss." Cap noted with a smile.
"Yep. Probably all that military training. If it wasn't for that, she'd probably be a nice young woman I'd like to get to know a bit better." Tony said with a smirk.
"Man. I wish I had a sister like that... Although, maybe not as strict." Spider-Man said.
"Honestly, if someone could use a more strict person in their life, it's you." Widow taunted.
"She got you, Spidey!" Hulk laughed.
"Indeed. I remember when Loki and I were that close. Those were happier times." Thor added.
"Well, nothing much else to say, so let's keep it going." Hawkeye said, playing the next episode.