Author's Note:
Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter of Earth's Mightiest Huntsmen. But before we get into it, I want to clarify a few things about this story, as well as answer a few reviews.
First, this story does not take place in the MCU. While there may be a few influences that come from the MCU, think of this story taking place within the world of the comics overall rather than the universe set up by the movies.
Second, updates for this story are going to be pretty varying. The only reason these first two chapters, as well as potentially the next one or two, are being written so fast is because I've mostly planned out what I want to happen in them and I have a lot of time to actually write them. This probably won't be the case for chapters further down the stretch, but we'll see.
Third, I will not be taking requests for this story. This includes characters that should be added, character interactions that you want to see, and, of course, shipping requests. I'm just going to tell the story how I want to tell it. However, if you have any suggestions on how to write the characters better, I'll be more than happy to take any advice or suggestions. Constructive criticism like that helps me improve my writing, and thus improve the quality of the story.
And finally for the general housekeeping, this story will have multiple small arcs in it in which the characters have to battle various villains from across the Marvel Universe. This first arc, as you no doubt have guessed, focuses on Ruby. Later arcs will feature the remaining members of RWBY and JNPR on their own initial adventures. But always remember-Ultron is the big bad of the entire story. And while we won't be seeing him again for a while, just know that he's still out there.
And now, let's answer some reviews.
Noire12: Yeah, Age of Ultron really didn't do him much justice. You'll have to wait a few chapters before seeing where some of the other RWBY characters wound up, but I think you'll be happy with where they ended up and what Marvel characters will interact with them first. I'm especially excited for what Yang's going to be up to. And yes, I do have plans for Salem and her crew, though not for a while yet. Stay tuned!
VSX-2018: I can't really say where the rest of WBYJNPR are right now, but I will say that some are in better places than others. And some are going to be seriously put through the ringer based on where they're at.
: That is a very interesting question. As I said above in the general housekeeping, I do have plans for Salem and her crew, and I especially have plans for the Grimm. But again, those plans won't be revealed until later.
Thank you all for your support. Now, let's get back to the story.
Manhattan, New York
New York City was always a sight to behold in the early morning. Especially when you had the best view in the city—that is, to say, from the top of the Empire State Building.
Such was where a certain wall-crawling hero was sitting. His red mask was pulled up slightly to expose his mouth. In his hands was a sandwich. "Ah, nothing beats a beautiful morning with the world's most perfect sandwich," he said aloud, moving to take a bite of the sandwich. That was when a pigeon flew by and yanked the sandwich out of his grip.
"Hey!" he yelled, shaking his fist at the bird. "That's mine!" The bird, of course, paid him no heed, flying away with his prize.
The hero sighed. "Yep…that's just my luck."
A scream suddenly echoed from below. The hero looked down, spying an apparent mugging going on in a nearby alley. Even from up as high as he was, he could see three men in ski masks holding a woman at knife point.
"C'mon, lady, hand over that purse!" one of them shouted, trying to tug the purse out of her grip.
"No—please!" the woman cried, struggling to hold on.
The hero stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Welp, duty calls." He jumped off the ledge before launching twin webs from his web shooters, using them to swing between the buildings, heading right for the mugging in action.
When he was close enough, he swung down, kicking the man with the knife aside and landing in a fighting stance. "Mugging people in broad daylight?" he quipped. "Is that a new 9-5 job position opening in an alley near you or something?"
"Damnit! It's Spider-Man!" one of the thugs yelled.
"Aww, you know me. I'm touched," Spider-Man replied. The thug who had spoken took out his own knife and tried to stab him. The hero dodged effortlessly, grabbing the thug's hand and throwing him against the wall before webbing him up, trapping him to it.
The third thug turned around and tried to run, but Spider-Man flicked his wrist and another web shot out, wrapping around the man's legs and tripping him. He cried out and began crawling, trying to get away. Spider-Man ran over and picked him up, webbing him to the wall as well.
"Fu—" the thug tried to say, but the hero webbed his mouth shut before he could finish.
"Hey now, watch the language," Spider-Man scolded. The thug glared at him murderously.
His spider-sense suddenly tingled. Without even thinking, Spider-Man ducked, letting the fist of the first thug fly past his head. In the same fluid motion, he landed a kick into the man's stomach. As he stumbled back, wheezing, Spider-Man flipped over him and shoved him into the wall before webbing him there too.
With all three thugs accounted for, Spider-Man walked back to the woman. "You okay, ma'am?" he asked.
The woman shakily nodded. "Y-yeah. Thank you, Spider-Man."
"Hey, all in a day's work for your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." He gave her a comforting nod before running off, slinging his webs into the walls and swinging away.
He swung over several streets, feeling the rush of the wind hitting against his suit. Truth be told, his morning was going better than it usually did, aside from getting his sandwich stolen by a bird. He was ahead on his rent, there hadn't been any supervillain attacks in days, and his paycheck was on time for a change, something that J. Jonah Jameson rarely got around to. All in all, it was a good morning—which meant that it wouldn't be long before things got really, really bad.
As if on cue, a distant rumbling and a crackle of pinkish light in the distance caught Spider-Man's eyes. He stopped swinging, gripping onto the side of an office building and turning his head in the direction of the noise as a shape materialized in midair, being propelled onto the roof of a nearby apartment building.
"What was that?" Spider-Man wondered as he started swinging his way over to the building in question. Already his Spidey-sense was tingling, indicating that he should be on guard with whatever it was.
It took him only a minute to reach the rooftop, where he leaped into a flip and landed gracefully, scanning the roof for whatever had appeared. It didn't take him long to find what had appeared. But what he saw made his eyes widen in surprise.
Lying on the ground next to a cracked brick wall was a girl, and she looked like she was in rough shape. Her fair skin was covered in bruises and burns, her black blouse and skirt were in tatters, her dark hair was a mess, and there were several holes in the red cloak fastened around her neck. By her side lay what had to be the largest scythe that Spider-Man had ever seen.
"What the heck?" he said aloud, scratching his head. "Did Halloween come early and I just missed the memo?"
He quickly checked the girl for a pulse and was relieved to find that she was alive, although her breathing was clearly shallow. Someone had beaten this girl half to death. But that still begged the question as to who the girl was and where she came from—and what she was doing running around with a gigantic scythe.
"Hmm, let's see," Spider-Man said, beginning to pace. "She could be an alien. No, that can't be it, she looks too human to be an alien. Ooo, maybe she's a Skrull. No, they haven't been seen since their last takeover attempt. She could be some new hero that got beat up, but then that would mean the villain's still in the area, and I haven't heard any screaming or sounds of mayhem and destruction. Maybe—"
An engine suddenly roared next to him. Spider-Man startled, turning around to see the ship that was now hovering next to the roof. "Oh, it's you guys," he said, realizing exactly who it was.
The ramp of the Quinjet lowered, revealing several members of the Avengers. Captain America stepped out first, the sun reflecting off his shield. "Good to see you, Spider-Man," he said, shaking Spider-Man's head.
"Cap! Good to see you," Spider-Man answered. "Fancy meeting you on this random rooftop in the middle of the city."
"Vision detected a disturbance out here," Cap explained. "But it looks like you beat us to it. Did you find anything?"
Spider-Man jerked his thumb to where the girl was laying. "Just her."
Cap's eyes widened when he saw her. "My God," he breathed, running over to her side. "What happened to her?"
"Dunno. I found her like this."
"Tony! Call the mansion and tell Jarvis to prep the infirmary!" Cap ordered. "And get Dr. Foster on the line!"
"Hold on, Steve." This came from a slender woman with red hair as she exited the Quinjet. She spoke with just the slightest hint of a Russian accent. "We know nothing about this girl. She could be a threat."
"Come on, Widow, she's a kid," Cap argued. "She's barely a teenager even."
"And yet she looks like she's been in a war. That weapon only encourages that assumption."
Spider-Man picked up the scythe. "Why do people carry oversized weapons like this anyway? This thing's gotta be twice her size—" His fingers hit a button and the scythe suddenly shifted form, turning into an oversized red sniper rifle. He yelped, juggling the rifle and dropping it.
"No way! It's a scythe and a sniper rifle?! That's awesome. As long it's not used against me, of course."
Cap picked up the weapon. "I've never seen a weapon like this before."
"What, they didn't have sniper-scythes in the '40s, Cap?" a figure wearing a full red-gold armored suit asked as he descended from the Quinjet, his helmet unfolding to reveal his face.
"Not the time, Iron Man," Cap told him before handing him the weapon. "What do you make of this?"
Iron Man examined the sniper rifle closely. "Hmm. Bolt action rifle. Looks pretty powerful." He pulled out the magazine that was in the weapon and removed one of the bullets. "The ammo looks like your standard rifle ammo. But I'll need to take a closer look to know more."
"See what you can find out when we get back to the mansion," Cap ordered, gently picking the limp girl up in his arms. "But our priority is this girl and making sure she's okay." He looked at Spider-Man. "Spider-Man, you're coming with us. We need to know everything you saw."
"What, like how she appeared in a flash of pink light?" Spider-Man asked.
"Yeah. Exactly like that," Iron Man answered, his helmet lowering over his face again. "Because if this is the start of an invasion of psycho kids with gun-swords, I want the Avengers to be ready for it."
Avengers Mansion
Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, watched from the observation room as the mysterious girl lay peacefully in the medical bed. Dr. Foster had arrived almost immediately and had gone straight to work checking over the girl for major injuries. The doctor was now putting together the finishing touches of her report.
Steve leaned against the window and sighed. He hated having to see kids hurt like this. It was painfully obvious that someone had been beating on the girl without mercy. The question was who, and why.
The observation room doors slid open, and a brunette woman walked in, holding a steaming mug in her hand. She wore a black and yellow dress with black leggings. "Coffee?" she offered.
Steve took the coffee from her. "Thanks, Jan."
Janet van Dyne, the Wasp, turned her attention to the girl in the infirmary. "Poor kid. Will she be okay?"
"That's up to Dr. Foster."
Janet put a hand on the glass. "I wonder where she came from…where her parents are."
"I don't think we'll get any answers until she wakes up," Steve admitted. "And that's if she wants to talk."
The doors opened again to let Dr. Foster in. "Well, I can say for certain that she's going to be fine," she reported, looking at her clipboard.
"How extensive are her injuries?" Steve asked.
"That's the thing," Dr. Foster said, "Her injuries seem to be healing all on their own."
"So she has a healing factor?" Janet asked. "Like Wolverine?"
"Whatever it is, it's helping her recover. But the biggest thing seems to be that she's showing multiple signs of severe fatigue. Almost as if she hasn't rested in days."
Steve thought about it for a moment. "Do you think she's been fighting without rest for a while then?"
"It certainly looks that way. But that's not the only thing I found." Dr. Foster paged through her notes. "Based on some scans I did with Tony's equipment, there's a pretty good chance that she has some sort of power."
"Superpowers?" Steve repeated. "Does she have the X-Gene?"
"I don't think so," Dr. Foster admitted. "In fact, I can say for certainly that this girl…she's not from Earth. She's an alien, Steve."
"But from where?" Steve asked. "Could she be from Spartax?"
"I'm still waiting for the bloodwork to come back," Dr. Foster told him. "But I wouldn't be surprised if she's not from anywhere we know. It's a big galaxy, after all."
Janet frowned slightly. "She's not a Skrull in disguise, is she?"
"No, she's not," Dr. Foster confirmed. "Don't worry, Janet—I checked."
"Do you know when she's going to wake up?" Steve asked.
"That could be at any time," Dr. Foster replied. "The main thing she needs is rest. However…I suggest someone be there for her when she wakes up. Probably someone like you, Steve. When she wakes up, she's going to be pretty spooked, being on a strange world that she doesn't know. It might help for you to be there to ease her into things."
"Thank you, Jane," Steve thanked her. "Let me know what you find out."
Dr. Foster nodded. "Give Thor my regards," she said as she left.
Steve turned his attention back to the girl in the infirmary. Questions were ringing around his head. Who was this girl? Where did she come from? And, most importantly, who did this to her?
"Come on, Tony, Jarvis made lunch." Clint Barton, the Avenger known as Hawkeye, leaned against the doorframe to the lab. "Are you done playing with the super scythe?"
Tony ignored him. He was busy examining the bullet found in the red cloaked girl's weapon. At the moment, he was carefully cutting into the back of the bullet casing to see what was inside of it. Initial scans indicated that it wasn't gunpowder, and it had piqued his curiosity.
He finished cutting through the back and dumped its contents out. To his surprise, it turned out to be some sort of red powder. "Well, this is interesting," he commented, picking a speck up with a pair of tweezers and placing it under a microscope.
"What? A bunch of sand?" Clint asked, moving to stand behind Tony.
"This isn't sand, Clint," Tony told him, looking through the microscope. "And it's not gunpowder either. It seems to be some sort of substance with powerful elemental capabilities."
Clint took a bite of the apple he was carrying. "So it's a gun that can shoot fireballs?"
"With this bullet, it seems. Or at least, it could. For whatever reason, this powder seems inert. Whatever power it once had is gone."
"What does that mean?"
Tony looked up at Clint. "My best guess right now is that whatever this stuff is, it only works in certain places or for certain people."
Clint frowned. "So, you're saying that Little Red Riding Hood could be using something like Thor's Hammer?"
"Maybe. But I won't know for sure until we get some answers from that girl—which won't be until she wakes up."
Clint took another bite from his apple. "What about the sniper-scythe?"
Tony walked over to where the girl's weapon was laying on the table. "Not much to say about it. It's a high-caliber sniper rifle with the ability to turn into a scythe. Hank's getting a closer look at the weapon's structure now."
A flash suddenly came from the gun as something tiny leaped off it and began to grow. Moments later, a man in a red and black uniform with a silver helmet appeared, growing until he was full size.
"What did you find, Hank?" Tony asked. "Anything special?"
Hank Pym, better known as Ant-Man, took off his helmet and smoothed his curly light brown hair back. "The weapon appears to be made of standard metal components," he reported. "However, everything is constructed almost masterfully. I can't find a single thing wrong with anything here. Whoever built this weapon knew what they were doing. But I did find something interesting at the tip of the scythe."
"Is it made of something different?" Tony asked.
"No, it's still the same. But I found small, molecular traces of adamantium."
"Adamantium?" Clint repeated.
"Correct. But only the barest of traces. I can only assume that whoever or whatever this girl was fighting, they had adamantium."
"Wolverine maybe?"
"No, her injuries would've been far more severe and bloody if it was Logan," Tony argued.
Hank looked down. "I may have a theory…but you're not going to like it."
"Let's hear it, Hank."
Hank met his gaze, a grave look in his eyes. "The burns on the girl's body indicate that she was fighting someone with energy weapons. The fact that her weapon hit something with adamantium in it makes me think…that she may have been fighting Ultron."
Clint choked on his apple as the blood drained from Tony's face. "Ultron," he repeated. "Are you certain?"
Hank quietly nodded. "All the pieces line up. And we haven't heard from him since…"
"Since we kicked hiss robotic ass off Earth?" Clint finished.
"Yes. But it looks like he's back…and still up to his murderous ways."
Tony clenched a fist. Ultron. One of the Avengers' greatest failures, more so for Hank than any of the others. He was the one that built Ultron in the first place. That made him feel responsible for every single horrible thing the psychopathic robot had done.
"If this is Ultron, then it's a miracle this kid's still alive," Clint said after a moment. "Especially since she probably had no idea what exactly she was fighting."
"If Ultron's behind this, we need to know if he's going to be coming back here," Tony decided. "This could be the start of his ultimate revenge tour against us."
"Right, because nothing says revenge more than beating up a kid and sending her to New York," Clint commented with a hint of sarcasm.
"It doesn't matter what this is," Tony decided. "What matters is that we're ready in case Ultron comes knocking on the front door."
Clint finished off his apple. "I guess I'll warn the others what to expect. I don't suppose we should be expecting Thor anytime soon?"
"Not until Odin wakes up," Tony answered.
"Damn. If Ultron's really coming back, we could really use one of our heavy hitters ready to go."
Knowing how dangerous Ultron could be, Tony couldn't agree more.
"Cap, we got something."
Steve put a finger to his ear comm as he continued to monitor the girl from the observation room. "Go ahead, Tony."
"Hank found evidence on the girl's weapon. He thinks that she had a run in with Ultron."
Steve's face darkened. "How certain is he?"
"Very. We've already alerted the rest of the available Avengers. T'Challa's on his way here now. Unfortunately, Wanda and Pietro still out of contact."
"Keep me posted, Tony. And alert Fury know as well."
"Are you sure it's a good idea to get S.H.I.E.L.D. involved in all this?"
"We may have our differences, Tony, but Nick Fury's a good man. He wants the world safe as much as the rest of us."
"It's your call, Cap. But you know S.H.I.E.L.D. could try to take the kid away if they deem her a security risk."
"That's not going to happen."
"Because Fury won't let it happen? Or because you won't let them take her?"
Instead of answering, Steve told him, "Keep scanning for Ultron, Tony. If he gets anywhere near Earth, we need to find him and take him down for good."
"Believe me, we all want to see Ultron reduced to a pile of parts, but you know it's not going to be that easy."
"I know." Steve suddenly saw the girl stir slightly. "Hold on, Tony, I think she's waking up." He ended the call with Tony and contacted Dr. Foster. "Jane, I think the girl's waking up. I'm going to need you in case of an emergency." As he spoke, he made his way out the door and to the infirmary.
It was time to get some answers.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Top Secret Research Lab. Location: Classified.
Agent Warren let out a small yawn as he sat at his post at the front desk. He lazily checked the security monitors, once again finding them clear of anything remotely suspicious.
He let out a bored sigh. But he knew that boredom was good. It meant that there wasn't anyone trying to break in. There were a lot of dangerous research projects in the facility that, in the wrong hands, would be devastating.
Still, that didn't mean that it wasn't lonely. He was the only agent above ground. The rest of the security team was guarding the lab three floors below him, and radio chatter was restricted to emergencies only. And so far, in his five years of working at the lab, there had been no emergencies.
"Oh well," he thought. "At least things are quiet. I'd much rather be guarding a lab then having to go into the field all the time. It's much safer here than out there."
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an engine roaring. Spooked, Agent Warren looked at the monitors, seeing a large, white van driving straight for the entrance to the building. He let out a curse, darting for the alarm button. But before he could hit it, the door exploded, knocking the man out of his chair and into the wall.
Momentarily stunned, he struggled to get up as the van drove through the now doorless entrance. It skidded to the side, allowing for the van door to open facing him, revealing a squad of soldiers in green and yellow armor, all armed with rifles. He barely got out a scream before the soldiers shot him dead.
As Agent Warren's lifeless body slumped to the ground, the soldiers filed out, moving forward to secure the room. Behind the dozen green and yellow figures was a larger one. This one's uniform was black, with a white X emblazed on his chest. His black and white mask was painted in a way that it made his head look like a skull face.
The mercenary directed his men forward. "Get down into that lab. We need to get what we came for before S.H.I.E.L.D. sends reinforcements."
The soldiers moved forward, heading right for the elevator. The big mercenary brought up the rear, perfectly happy to let the foot soldiers take more bullets them him. The group piled into the elevator, and one of the soldiers pressed the button for the lab. The doors closed, and the elevator descended.
On the ride down, the soldiers reloaded their rifles, wanting to make sure they had full clips to finish off the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the building. By their intelligence, there were only a half a dozen more of them to go. And the mercenary was going to ensure that every last one of them died.
The elevator doors dinged open, revealing two of the remaining agents, having set up barricades down the narrow hallway. They immediately opened fire, and two of the mercenary's men fell to the ground, blood pooling from their wounds. The remaining soldiers returned fire. One of the agents fell back, a hole through his head. The other started to fall back, trying to retreat to a more defensible position. The mercenary drew a knife from his belt and hurled at the agent, planting it through the poor man's back.
"Move up!" he ordered, and the ten remaining soldiers obliged, carefully moving down the hallway and stepping over the two dead agents. As he passed the one he had killed, the mercenary grabbed his knife, clipping it back to his belt.
Outside the main doors to the lab was another agent, who was manning a mounted machine gun. When the first soldier turned the corner, he was instantly cut down by the hail of bullets. The rest of the soldiers pressed themselves against the wall, afraid to risk poking their heads out.
"Stand aside!" the mercenary ordered, marching confidently towards the corner and taking a grenade out. Without any hesitation, he threw the grenade down the hallway, smiling at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's panicked shout before it went off, sending a wave of fire down the hallway. The mercenary waited a few seconds, then nodded to his men, who continued down the now seriously scorched hallway.
Thanks to the grenade, the doors to the lab had blown open a few inches. The mercenary grabbed the doors and forced them open fully, allowing his men to enter. He instantly spied one of the agents—a newbie, by the look of pure terror on his face—shakily aiming his gun at him from behind an overturned lab table. He grunted in annoyance and leveled his shotgun at the table, pulling the trigger. The agent let out a shout and gurgle of pain before he collapsed.
The last two agents were at the other end of the lab, situated in front of several large crates, aiming their guns at the soldiers. But the soldiers were ready, firing their weapons quickly and accurately, killing the last two agents in the base.
"Secure the package," the mercenary ordered as he brought out his phone, putting a call to his employer. "Package secure," he reported as his men began dragging the crates away, heading back towards the elevator.
"And the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents?" the cold voice on the other end asked.
"The soldiers are dead. The scientists are probably holed up in a safe room. I can—"
"That won't be necessary, Crossbones," the cold voice told him. "All that matters is that you get me what I want."
"Of course." Crossbones watched as his men got the last of the crates out of the room, noting that each of the remaining crates had a large red X on them. "We're heading to the drop-off point with the package, Baron Zemo."
"See that you make it," Zemo warned. "The package is critical for my plans to succeed."
"You didn't pay me for failure, Zemo. You'll have what you came for."
"Yes, I will. Now, get moving. And remember…hail Hydra."
Well, it looks like Ruby's about to wake up. Boy, is she in for a shock when she realizes that she's alone on a strange world populated with costumed heroes.
Also, we get our first look at the first arc villains of the story: Hydra! But what could be in those crates? What horrible scheme could Baron Zemo be plotting? To find out, come back next time, where questions will be answered, realizations will be realized, and sinister plots will be continued. Until then, this is Guest 1138, signing off.