Flashback; Saphron's home
J'onn J'onzz and Ruby Rose headed outside onto the backyard porch. Once outside, J'onn sat near a small table with a plat of fruit on it, while Ruby sat down on the porch, facing J'onn. "Let us begin with something simple and easy, Ms. Rose. Think of all the moments you have triggered your powers. What did those moments have in common?" The Martian asked.
Ruby rubbed her head. "Well, I... was scared, and stressed. So I guess it's emotional, like unlocking a Semblance."
"When you used your Silver Eyes against the Apathy, you indeed were in an emotional state... but also more focused." J'onn explained, recalling what he sensed in Ruby's mind when she unleashed the power of her Silver Eyes. "Think, Ms. Rose. What was it you truly wanted in those moments?"
Ruby clenched her hands as she looked down. "I wanted to protect my friends."
"It is as I thought, then." J'onn concluded. "You're strong desire to protect not only your friends, but also all other life, is the fuel for your Silver Eyes, Ms. Rose. Furthermore, when I read your mind, I saw the God of Light destroy all the Grimm in the Land of Darkness with his own pair of Silver Eyes. The Creatures of Grimm are a creation of the God of Darkness, but the Silver Eyes come from his brother... just as our telepathy comes from H'ronmeer."
At this point, Ruby realized what J'onn was getting at and stood back up. "Of course! The God of Light used his eyes to destroy the Grimm! Why didn't I think of that?"
J'onn nodded. "Now we begin the more serious training. Are you ready, Ms. Rose?"
"Yes!" Ruby eagerly said, feeling very anxious and excited.
"First, close your eyes." J'onn ordered, and Ruby did so. Once her eyes were closed, J'onn's own eyes glowed with a red color as he activated his telepathy.
...
Ruby opened her eyes... and found herself in the middle of a desolated city, ruined and on fire. The sky was a black and red color, while various forms of Grimm were running all over the city, killing any and all who stood in their way. A black tar-like substance filled the streets, with even more Grimm coming out of it. The young Huntress watched in horror as she saw a woman and her child fleeing from a Beowulf. Eventually, it cornered them in an alley way and pounced.
"Noooo!" Ruby cried out, which was followed by her eyes unleashing a bright and powerful glow that consumed the entire area in a light.
...
Returning to the real world, Ruby found herself sweating and breathing heavily at what she had just experienced. "What was that...?" She asked, looking over to J'onn.
"A telepathic simulation." J'onn answered. "The mind is capable of hundreds of states of consciousness, especially under life-threatening conditions. But I can put your mind in any of those states of consciousness without putting your physical body in any real danger."
"So it was like a dream, then?" Ruby asked.
"Indeed." J'onn nodded. "You have successfully activated your Silver Eyes when the Beowulf was about to kill those people. You must focus on creating a state of mind that you can tap into when you need it, Ms. Rose. Do not think of your power as a means of destroying evil. Instead, think of it as a way to protect the people of Remnant."
"I... I see." Ruby smiled. "Thank you for showing me how to do it."
"That said, it would appear that your Silver Eyes only activate in the presence of Grimm." J'onn went on.
However, Ruby became confused. "But... That can't be right."
J'onn looked at her in surprise.
"I used my power during our battle at Haven, and it reacted to Cinder." Ruby explained.
Hearing this, the Martian quirked an eyebrow in interest. "I see. Do you wish to try it again, then?"
"Yeah." Ruby said without hesitation and closed her eyes once more to repeat the simulation in her mind.
Present time; Argus
Just as the countless Manticores and Sphinxs were ready to descend down on the city of Argus and the Atlas military base, they were swiftly blown to pieces and reduced to ashes. Being faster than a speeding bullet and many times more powerful than a locomotive, J'onn effortlessly tore through the massive legion of Grimm in mere seconds. In as little as 5 seconds, roughly 40-60 Grimm were destroyed by the former Manhunter. Of course, since J'onn was invisible as he was doing this, to the people below it looked like the Grimm were spontaneously exploding. For all they knew, Atlas was probably using some kind of new super weapon that could destroy Grimm without physically touching them. With his incredible speed, J'onn made sure that not even a single Grimm will draw blood today.
Meanwhile, the Atlas airship that Weiss and Maria stole was flying near the massive Leviathan. Everyone was aboard the aircraft, having explained everything that happened at the relay tower. "I'm so sorry..." Blake softly said, feeling guilty for what happened.
"You're safe. That's all that matters." Ruby reassured her with a smile.
Blake couldn't help but smile back at her leader before the two hugged each other. Ruby then looked at Yang, who was smiling proudly at her younger sister. While she didn't like it, Yang was forced to leave Bumblebee behind as there was no room for the motorcycle on the airship.
"I suppose I have to be the bad guy and say it: getting the lamp to Atlas is still our top priority, and right now we have the perfect opportunity to head straight for it." Maria said somewhat indifferently. "We may not get another chance like this."
The others looked at her in silence, seemingly stunned by her words. Yang quickly retorted "No way!"
"We can't leave, not like this." Weiss said.
"I'm sure our alien friend is more than strong enough to take down both the smaller Grimm and the Leviathan." Maria pointed out.
"That may be true, but a Huntress is supposed to protect others to the bitter end... just like you said." Blake reminded her.
Maria quietly looked at Ruby, who simply shrugged and smiled. Smiling back, the former Grimm Reaper relented and continued flying towards the gigantic Grimm.
"We need to get close enough to the Leviathan for me to use my eyes." Ruby said. With all the personnel in the Atlas base put to sleep, this meant that they will have no support from the other Atlas airships and the hard light shields cannot be deployed. "Yang, you and Nora will distract it, while Weiss is gonna use a Summon to take me closer."
"Ruby, that's crazy!" The former heiress exclaimed, already not liking this idea.
"I know, but aren't crazy things usually our go-to solutions?" Ruby smiled.
Hearing this, Weiss sighed and smiled back. "I just hope your training with J'onn paid off."
...
Back over to J'onn, the former Manhunter had already taken out over 160 Grimm and the numbers of the monstrosities were steadily decreasing. As he was ripping the Grimm to shreds using his super speed and super strength, he telepathically sensed that Ruby was ready to do what he trained her for. He could only hope that their training will pay off.
...
As the Leviathan continued approaching Argus, the aircraft carrying Ruby's group flew close to its head and opened up its hatch doors. "Eyes on us, ugly!" Nora exclaimed as she and Yang fired at the beast with their respective weapons. Their attacks managed to halt the Leviathan's advance and caused it to turn its attention toward them. Inside the aircraft, Weiss was maintaining a Glyph she activated — a Glyph connected to a Summon that her friend was now riding.
Ruby was riding on the back of Weiss' Queen Lancer summoning, flying dangerously close to the giant Grimm. "Okay, okay, you can do this... You have to do this!" Eventually, she stopped in front of the Leviathan's face, who was still distracted by Yang and Nora's attacks. Closing her eyes, Ruby began to concentrate, the noises all around her muting out.
"Ruby! Ruby, hurry, something—"
Annoyed, Ruby took out her earpiece and tossed it into the water below before closing her eyes again to concentrate. As she concentrated, she thought back on various memories:
She thought of her father and her sister, when Zwei first arrived at Team RWBY's dorm room, when she and her team started the food fight, and when they got noodles after their victory in the tournament. She then thought of Penny Polendina, then when she first met Jaune, Team JNPR, and Pyrrha...
Ruby suddenly frowned as bad memories began flooding her mind: the night when Jaune trained alone with a recording of Pyrrha, when she saw her friends wounded as Beacon was being evacuated, when Yang sank into depression over the loss of her arm. She whimpered upon remembering the deaths of both Pyrrha and Penny.
The young Huntress opened her eyes again... and saw that the Leviathan was now face-to-face with her, staring directly at her. "What?" Ruby muttered in shock.
"Why'd it turn away?!" Yang asked while continuing to fire at the beast in an effort to divert its attention.
It was then that Ruby remembered that she still had the Relic of Knowledge on her belt, which caused the Leviathan to now turn its attention on her, and her alone.
"No, no, no, no, no!"
The giant Grimm opened its maw and lunged towards Ruby, ready to devour her and obtain the Relic.
"Ruby!" Yang cried out her sister's name.
But right before the Leviathan could close its jaws on Ruby, an invisible, but extremely powerful force suddenly smashed into the beast's chest. Delivering enough force to cause the Leviathan to stagger back and roar in pain, saving Ruby in the process. Then, without seemingly any explanation, the Leviathan began thrashing and roaring wildly. Its arms appeared to be pressed against its chest, as if something invisible was restraining the giant Grimm.
The same could not be said for Ruby, for she could see exactly what was attacking the Leviathan. A gigantic, serpentine creature vaguely resembling a snake had its long body wrapped tightly around the Leviathan's own body and was constricting it like an anaconda constricting a crocodile. It had asymmetrical horns on the sides of its head and dorsal spikes running across its long body, with webbing between each spike. Judging by its size alone, the sea serpent-like creature was at least 100 meters in length. However, its green skin and red eyes were an obvious indicator to the true nature of this creature.
"J'onn...?" Ruby mumbled, her faint voice was filled with awe at what she was seeing.
"Yes, it is I, Ms. Rose." She heard J'onn's voice in her head. "I am currently still invisible. What you are seeing with your own eyes is a telepathic projection of the form I am currently in and what I am physically doing at the moment."
On the aircraft, Ruby's friends, who were also seeing this, heard J'onn's telepathic voice. "Please deal with the reaming Manticores and Sphinxs, while I help Ms. Rose deal with the Leviathan." Turning around, the heroes were astonished to see what was previously a massive legion of Grimm was now reduced to no more than 15 of them.
"Fine," Qrow muttered before turning to Maria and signaling her to fly over to the remaining Grimm. Nodding, the former Grimm Reaper complied.
"Keep my sister safe, J'onn." Yang quietly said as she and the others flew off to face the lesser Grimm.
"Do not worry. I will." The Martian replied, maintaining his hold on the struggling Leviathan. "Do it now, Ruby Rose."
The Leviathan continued to roar and struggle violently, desperately trying to break free from J'onn's hold. But the transformed Martian's strength was proving too much to overcome, even for this giant Grimm.
Smiling in appreciation, Ruby nodded. She closed her eyes again and began to concentrate once more. She began thinking back to when Team RWBY decorated their dorm room, when Weiss gave her coffee, when Blake cheered for Weiss in Professor Port's class, when Yang was training her before she left for Beacon, when Team RWBY celebrated their victory after saving Vale. Ruby smiled as she thought back to the Beacon Dance and Team JNPR again, and then to when Qrow arrived at Beacon, to talking with Oscar. Her smile widened as she thought back to when J'onn saved them from the Apathy at the farm, and later when J'onn transformed into a serpentine dragon and gave them a ride on his back. And finally, when J'onn was teaching her how to use her Silver Eyes at Saphron's backyard...
As final push, Ruby thought back to her mother, Summer Rose. Her white cloak blowing in the wind as she was overlooking a cliff, watching the sunset. She then turned around, offering a warm smile, her own Silver Eyes reflecting back to her daughter's...
With those final thoughts in her mind, Ruby opened her eyes and they shined brighter than they have ever been. A massive white light suddenly engulfed the entire area, including the Leviathan that was being restrained and held in place by J'onn in his giant serpent form. Once the light died down and disappeared, the gigantic Grimm was now a gigantic stone statue of its former self. The citizens of Argus, including Saphron, Terra, and Adrian, began cheering loudly as the Grimm threat has been nullified.
As the light retracted back into Ruby's eyes, she looked at the stoned-turned Leviathan in awe and sighed in relief.
"Well done, Ruby Rose."
The young Huntress smiled as she heard the Martian's telepathic voice in her head. J'onn, still in his giant serpent form, tightened his coils on the stone-turned Grimm and squeezed hard until the petrified Leviathan shattered into pieces, which fell into the water below with large splashes.
But it wasn't just the Leviathan that was turned to stone, the remaining Sphinxs and Manticores were also petrified and fell to into the water. On the aircraft, Ruby's friends gave her proud smiles. Ruby herself smiled as watched J'onn shrink down and revert to his humanoid form.
"Go with your friends, Ruby." He telepathically said. "I have some unfinished business to take care of." With that, the Martian turned and flew off, much to the young Huntress' confusion.
Back inside the Atlas military base, Cordovin and her men were starting to wake up, having no memory or recollection of what happened prior to the induction of their unconsciousness. "W-What happened?" Cordovin asked dazedly, placing a hand on her head.
Just then, another men entered the room. "Miss Cordovin, there is someone outside who wishes to see you. And... he has brought someone."
Cordovin quirks an eyebrow in confusion. Someone outside who wants to see her and had brought something worthy of her attention?
...
The gates of the Atlasian military base opened, followed by Cordovin and a few of her guards arriving. Much to their surprise and even disbelief, they saw Mike Benson, one of the people that was with Team RWBY and Maria, standing near the entrance of the gate... and next to him was Adam Taurus, laying unconsciously on the ground and tied up with rope.
"Greetings, Ms. Cordovin!" Mike waved at them. "I found this man in the woods. He attacked a friend of mine, but I was able to subdue him."
"That's Adam Taurus!" Cordovin exclaimed in disbelief. "He is a wanted White Fang terrorist and criminal!" The guards behind her wasted no time in moving in and taking the unconscious Faunus terrorist with them. "I don't know how you did it, but I thank you for apprehending this criminal scum." Cordovin said with a smile before glancing at Adam with disdain as her guards carried him inside. "We will make sure that he is locked up for life."
"Are you certain that he will not be able to escape?" Mike asked.
"Please, this is Atlas you are talking about. There hasn't been a single criminal who has escaped from Atlas prison in history!" Cordovin boasted proudly. "I also presume you have no hard feelings for not allowing you and your friends to go to Atlas?"
"Do not worry, Ms. Cordovin. I perfectly understand you cause and respect your authority." Mike smiled before tuning around and leaving. "Farewell."
Several hours later, the airship Ruby and her friends were in was peacefully flying through the night sky, far away from the radar's reach.
"We have more than enough fuel to make it." Maria stated.
"Thanks, Miss Calavera." Ruby smiled.
Hey, Ruby." Qrow quietly said, turning his niece's attention to him. "You did great out there today, kid."
"Thanks, but J'onn's the one who did most of the work." Ruby said. "Without him, I'm not sure if we would even be here."
Qrow smiled and nodded. He was about to take a drink from his flask, but then decided not to, prompting Ruby to hug her uncle.
"I love you, too." Ruby smiled. Qrow smiled back at his niece as she walked away to join her friends.
In the back of the aircraft, Weiss, Blake and Yang were sitting together on one side, with Ren, Nora and Jaune sitting on the other. "I'm sorry you went through that nightmare. But, I'm glad J'onn came to save you in time." Weiss said.
"Yeah. I wish there was some way I could repay him, though." Blake smiled as Yang took the cat Faunus' hand and smiled along with her.
"Your safety and well-being is all I need, Ms. Belladonna." J'onn's voice suddenly rang in their heads, which slightly startled them, followed by the Martian rising out of the metal floor, his body reverting to its tangible state.
"J'onn!" Ruby happily exclaimed as she embraced the Green Martian. "You were awesome back there!"
"You were the one who defeated the Leviathan and the remaining Grimm, Ms. Rose." J'onn reminded her, smiling back at his friend.
"Yeah, but the way you turned into a giant snake to hold the Leviathan was incredible!" Ruby exclaimed, her eyes filled with stars.
"Thanks for saving Blake and Ruby, J'onn." Yang said to the Martian.
"You are most welcome, Ms. Xiao Long." J'onn nodded. "As we speak, Adam Taurus is currently locked up in Atlas' prison."
"Yeah, and you also erased that bastard's memories of Blake and us." Yang added.
"Again, I can't thank you enough for that, J'onn." Blake smiled at the former Manhunter. "None of us can."
The others all smiled at J'onn, grateful for everything he did to help them in their darkest hours. Now that everyone was safe and sound, Nora was the first to speak up about J'onn's new appearance. "So~... What's with the new form?" The hammer-wielder asked curiously.
"J'onn decided to become a superhero." Yang blurted out.
The others immediately looked at the Martian in surprise. "R-Really...?" Ruby asked. Her tone was filled with excitement and enthusiasm upon hearing this.
"I have noticed how you often like comparing me to the superheroes in your comics, Ms. Rose. So I decided to try and actually be one." J'onn explained with a light chuckle, making Ruby squeal with excitement.
"So what are you gonna call yourself?" Nora asked, causing everyone to turn to her. "What? No hero is complete without a superhero code name, after all!"
"Really, Nora?" Ren raised an eyebrow, but couldn't help but smirk.
"After careful consideration, I believe I have found a name for my alter ego," J'onn suddenly said. "You may call me... The Martian Manhunter."
"The Martian Manhunter?" Weiss raised an eyebrow. "No offense, J'onn, but I don't really like it. And I don't think having a superhero name is necessary."
"Well, I like it." Yang declared. "All those in favor of liking the name raise your hands!"
In an instant, she, Ruby, Nora, Jaune, Oscar, and even Ren and Blake raised their hands in the air, much to Weiss' surprise. "Count us in, too!" The teenagers turned and saw that Maria and Qrow also had their right hands raised in the air.
"Seriously!?" The former heiress cried out in bewilderment.
"Then it's settled. J'onn J'onzz is gonna be called the Martian Manhunter from now on!" Yang grinned.
"Yeah. That's definitely a cool name!" Jaune agreed.
Yang then turned to him. "But that's not gonna stop us from calling you Vomit Boy, Vomit Boy." She said with a mischievous smile.
"Yeah, I figured." Jaune rolled his eyes, making the others laugh together.
As everyone was laughing, Qrow spoke up "Hey, if you've never seen Atlas in person before, you don't wanna miss this." Ruby, J'onn, and their friends stopped laughing and walked up to the cockpit window.
"Is it weird that I'm sorta nervous?" Ruby asked.
"No, I'll believe we've made it to Atlas when I see it." Yang replied.
"Well... believe it." Weiss said.
As their airship came out of the clouds, just up ahead, the floating city of Atlas could be seen coming into view. Everyone was amazed and awed at the sight of the floating city. Even J'onn was impressed by it. On Mars, there were also floating cities that the Martians built and inhabited, though much smaller in scale compared to Atlas. This sight alone reminded the Martian Manhunter just how alike Mars and Remnant were, and that this planet is worth saving from the Grimm and Salem.
"You know, you make the trip up to Atlas over and over, but you never get used to that view." Maria said with a smile. Her smiled disappeared when one of her prosthetic eyes started acting up. "Oh, come on!"
However, Weiss leaned forward and had a nervous look on her face — something that did not go unnoticed by Ruby and J'onn. "Weiss, what is it?" Ruby asked her friend in concern.
It was then that everyone else looked up, and noticed many Atlas Airships floating above the city of Atlas. "The Atlas air fleet... " Weiss muttered. "I knew all of our ships were called back, but..."
"They're set up like they're expecting an attack..." Qrow finished ominously.
Suddenly, the radio turned on and a female voice was heard.
"Manta 5-1, welcome home..."
"We may have more trouble on our hands than we thought." Martian Manhunter said, narrowing his eyes.
Land of Darkness
The Land of Darkness was a barren wasteland, filled with rocky terrain and enormous Gravity Dust crystals sprouting from the ground, and where the sky was a dark red. Pools of viscous, tar-like substance were present everywhere on the ground. And from these dark pools, all manner of Grimm were in the process of emerging, ranging from Beowulves, to Ursas, to Beringels, to even Goliaths and Deathstalkers, while Nevermores and Lancers dominated the sky.
In this dark place, the Evernight Castle, the base of operations for Salem, was present.
Inside the castle, in a large windowed room, at the center of which was a long purple, crystal table. Five people were sitting at the table with seven chairs — these five people were Tyrian Callows, Doctor Arthur Watts, Hazel Rainart, Emerald Sustrai, and Mercury Black. All the windows in this room were shattered due to Salem's earlier rage when she found out that the Relic of Knowledge was taken and that Ozpin had reincarnated into a new body.
Speaking of the immortal witch, Salem herself was quietly sitting in her respective crystal-made chair, her hands clasped together. What was particularly odd about the Grimm Queen today was that she seemed... unusually calm. "You are wondering why I am... less upset then I was before." Salem correctly deduced, making her subordinates slightly flinch, while others were curious to hear her reason. "It is because I have found a new ally quite recently. One who's usefulness has proven... particularly interesting."
As if one cue, a seemingly incorporeal being suddenly rose from the crystal table and hovered over them. With the exception of Salem, everyone in the room flinched. Some even got up from their chairs and backed away, staring up at the phantom-like being in shock and disbelief. Said being resembled a green-skinned man and wore a dark-blue cape that appeared to be torn, dark-blue pants, and tall, leather-like boots. It also wore a very high collar that covered the lower half of its face, allowing for only its red eyes and bald head to be seen. Finally, this being also had a countless number of chains slung all over its body.
"Greetings, Remnantians." The being spoke in a deep and calm voice. His crossed his arms as he hovered above them. "My name is Ma'alefa'ak J'onzz, but you can call me... Malefic."
Yup. Ma'alefa'ak has just joined Salem and her inner circle. For those wondering, Ma'alefa'ak in my story is a combination of how he looks in the 1998 comic and 2012 animated movie Justice League: Doom.
Martian Manhunter transforming into a giant sea serpent (while also being invisible) to restrain the Leviathan was a tribute to the movie Justice League: Crisis on Two Earth, where J'onn transformed into a sea serpent to defeat Red Arrow (the evil counterpart to Green Arrow) by constricting him.
Unfortunately, this story will be having something of a hiatus. I'm sorry to say that I won't be updating this story for a while. I hope you can understand.