Author's Note:
Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter for Earth's Mightiest Huntsmen, and boy is it a long one! Technically, I probably could've broken this down into two chapters, but where the breakdown probably would've taken place wouldn't have made it as long as I'd like. So, y'all get a double length chapter to conclude the Mesmero arc! But first, let's answer some reviews!
SuperSaiyanFever: She's pretty much just an extra body to throw at Mesmero's enemies. After all, a supervillain like Mesmero wouldn't waste the opportunity to get someone else to do his bidding.
Blackmetalzane22: While she was in an episode of Wolverine and the X-Men, she was much more prominently shown in X-Men Evolution as one of members of the New Mutants: Magma. The others in the Danger Room were Cannonball, Warlock, and Armor, as sort of a nod to the New Mutants in the comics, with Armor thrown in simply because I like her character design. Plus, it appears she's going to be a main character in the Ultimate X-Men reboot.
SulliMike23: Oh, you have no idea. Just wait until the end of this chapter.
Guest: I don't enjoy it per say. But I did want to focus on the other RWBY characters since I couldn't really give them a time to shine in previous arcs.
Thank you all for your continued support. Now, let's get back to the action.
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters—October 25th
Weiss found herself wandering the basement floors of the school. She knew she should be heading to the hanger so they could leave for the mission. But she wasn't ready yet. She was still trying to come to terms with the fact that they would have to fight Ruby, who would be completely under Mesmero's control.
She didn't want to believe that they would have to fight her. But she knew deep down that they would. After everything she had seen, even as far back as when Ultron's invasion, she knew that the worlds outside Remnant were completely insane, filled with strange, powerful abilities that made the Semblances back home look like nothing.
So she would have to fight Ruby. She was confident that she could take her on in a fight…but she didn't really want to do it. She was her friend. She hated the idea of having to fight her. But she knew that she probably wouldn't have a choice. Not with everything going on.
Weiss passed by an open archway into another room and stopped to investigate. Inside, she found several large statues lining the walls, each one seeming to indicate a person. She slowly walked down the room, reading each name one by one.
John Proudstar. Betsy Braddock. Morph. Paige Guthrie. And then, the statue at the end of the room. Jean Grey.
"Our fallen." Weiss turned around to see Logan leaning in the archway. He was now dressed in a yellow and black outfit. "The ones that died fighting for the dream."
Weiss turned back around, staring at the statues. Logan soon joined her. "Something on your mind, kid?"
Weiss looked down. "I…don't like the idea of having to fight Ruby. Not after everything we've been through."
"Yeah…it's never easy, being forced to fight one of your friends," Logan agreed. "You and Ruby close?"
"I guess you could say that." Weiss smiled slightly. "She always called me her BFF. She would be annoying about it at times…but she almost always had a smile on her face, despite the line of work we were going into. Even tried to keep our spirits up when Ultron attacked."
She drew Myrtenaster and stared down at it, looking at her face in its reflection. "Everything that happened on Remnant…it was horrible. And now we're stuck on Earth, not knowing if our friends and family are dead or alive."
Weiss turned her head towards Logan. "Ruby's been trying to integrate us into life on Earth. It almost feels like she doesn't want to think about what happened on Remnant." She paused. "I know that's not true. I know she's hurting deep down. Not knowing if her dad and uncle are still alive. Not even knowing if her sister is still alive. She just…she doesn't like to focus on the bad. And now she's under the control of some—some lunatic. And now it seems like what I said to her about the childish notion of becoming superheroes here just…wasn't right."
Logan stared her down. "Listen, kid," he began, "I've done some things I aint proud of. And I've seen God knows how many wars. I've watched hundreds of kids like you march off to war, only to get slaughtered. I've seen dark days, kid. Far too many of them."
"What's your point?" Weiss asked.
"My point is that you can't worry about things that are out of your control," Logan told her. "What's going on back on your world is out of your hands. You can't change it right now, and there's no way to know the status of your world. Worrying about all that is just going to eat you up on the inside. You need to focus on the here and now, and figure out what it is you can do. You want to help people as a hero, and right now, the only people that you can help are here on Earth. The villains here are strong…but you and your team are stronger. And, when the time comes, you're going to use the skills that you learn here to retake Remnant from that oversized tin can and send his ass back to the scrapheap."
Weiss actually managed a small smile as she pondered Logan's words. "Thanks, Logan."
"Don't mention it." Logan reached back and pulled his cowl over his head. "Now come on. Let's go save your friend."
"What," Jaune said, "is that?"
The group had made it to the hanger and opened the door, only for what could only be described as a small, purple dragon to fly through the opening and land on Kitty's shoulder.
"This is Lockheed," Kitty explained.
"You have a pet dragon?" Nora asked in awe.
"He's not my pet, he's my friend!"
"But he's a dragon?"
"Well, technically, yes. He may not look like much, but he's the best one to call when I need help…or if there are any Brood around to fight."
Nora let out a laugh. "I think we're going to get along just fine."
"You think so?" Kitty asked. "Even though I just tried to kill you all?"
"We know that it was not your fault," Ren told her. "While mind control is a foreign concept for us and our world, we understand it well enough to know that you would never do that under your own free will."
"Plus, it's always a good idea to befriend the girl with the cool purple dragon," Nora added, throwing an arm over Kitty's shoulder, which dislodged Lockheed, who flew up with a small growl.
"Yeah, it's not a good idea to make him mad," Kitty warned as Lockheed shook a tiny fist at Nora.
"Is everyone ready?" Logan asked as he arrived in the hanger with Weiss.
"Everyone else is already on the jet," Kitty confirmed.
"Good." Logan marched past them and up the boarding ramp. "Let's get moving."
Washington D.C.—October 25th
The dark-haired secretary answered the phone after a few rings. "Senator Kelly's office," she greeted.
"This is Professor Charles Xavier," Xavier said through the phone. "I have an urgent message for Senator Kelly."
"I'm sorry sir, but the Senator has gone home for the night. He has a big speech in the morning and needs his rest."
"This is important. He needs to be warned that the Brotherhood of Mutants will be planning an assassination attempt on him during the speech using brainwashed members of the X-Men."
"Is that so?" the secretary asked.
"It is. Those X-Men not under the villain Mesmero's control are on their way to intercept the Brotherhood, but they may be planning to strike sooner once they launch their attack. The Senator must be warned."
The secretary nodded. "I will inform him at once. We will double the security on him."
"Please know that I am sending two of my own to protect the Senator as well."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." The secretary hung up the phone just as a middle-aged man with glasses poked his head out of his office. "Who was that, Sally?" he asked.
The secretary looked to him. "No one, Senator Kelly," she answered. "Just a prank call."
Kelly nodded and disappeared back into his office. Once the secretary made sure he was gone, she casually picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"This is Mystique," she said. "Xavier knows. They're coming."
The X-Jet—En Route to Washington D.C.—October 25th
"I'm sorry, you discovered your powers how?" Kitty asked in astonishment.
Nora grinned. "Struck by lightning. Didn't die. Crazy Thursday!"
"Your world seriously sounds crazy."
"Semblances are only the half of it," Jaune said. "With all the Grimm running around…well…"
"Yeah, I can see how you guys had it rough there," Kitty noted.
"Remnant may be a rough place to live," Ren spoke up, "but it is still home. And one day, we will return to take it back from Ultron."
"That's not going to be easy," she warned. "I've seen footage of Ultron before. He's…well, he could possibly be the biggest threat the world has ever seen."
"What, even bigger than Doctor Doom?" Nora asked.
"That's debatable," Rogue spoke up.
"Nobody asked you, Rogue," Kitty told her coldly.
The Remnantians exchanged looks with one another. "Aren't you being a little harsh?" Jaune asked.
"She tried to kill me and my friends several times," Kitty said back. "That's not something you can forgive easily."
"She's trying to make up for her mistakes," Jaune insisted. "The least you could do is give her a chance."
"I'm still here, you know," Rogue reminded everyone. "Still on the jet, listening to every word y'all are saying."
"Listen up, everyone," Logan announced as he stepped back from the cockpit, where Beast was flying the X-Jet. "We just got word from the Professor. Something aint right."
"What do you mean?" Kurt asked.
"Xavier thinks that the Brotherhood already has someone in Kelly's office if things don't go as planned."
"Wouldn't security recognize a known evil mutant trying to apply for a job there?" Nora asked.
"Unless…that mutant could change her appearance at will," Ren realized.
Rogue clenched her fists slightly. "Mystique."
"The shapeshifter?" Weiss asked. During the flight, she and the others had been briefed on both the Brotherhood members and the X-Men that they would be fighting so as to better plan against their abilities.
"Not surprising," Kurt said. "My mother would not want to leave things to chance."
"Wait—Mystique is your mother?!" Nora asked in astonishment.
"Yes."
"Wow."
"If Mystique's already close to Kelly, that's going to complicate things," Logan said. "We're going to have to deploy quickly so Hank and Kurt can get to the Senator before she tries to kill him."
"Wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of Mesmero's plan to make the X-Men kill him though?" Weiss questioned.
"No doubt Mystique will transform herself into one of the X-Men to keep the charade going," Gambit guessed.
"The Cajun's right," Logan agreed. "Which means we need to get to both locations as soon as possible."
"We're about to fly over the Brotherhood's warehouse," Beast reported.
"Good," Logan walked the past the group to the back of the jet. "Everyone get ready to drop."
"Wait—drop? As in—we're jumping?!" Jaune cried.
"Quickest way to get down there," he replied.
Jaune chuckled nervously. "Uh—yeah…okay—that's great—"
"Don't worry, sugah," Rogue promised. "It aint that big of a drop. Hank will fly us in real low."
"Move your asses!" Logan yelled, hitting the ramp lower button at the back. Wind whistled through the open door as the X-Jet sped down closer to the lights of Washington D.C., clearly visible in the fading sunset.
"Ten seconds to drop," Beast reported. Everyone scrambled to stand up from their seats and rushed to the back of the jet.
"Good luck, everyone," Kurt told them.
"Jump!" Beast ordered. Everyone instantly ran down the ramp and leaped into the open air. Weiss felt herself falling for a few seconds before landing on a rooftop with the rest of the group. The X-Jet streaked by, pulling up almost instantly before vanishing into the night.
Jaune had, of course, landed badly, and was busy picking himself up. "How far away to the warehouse?" he asked.
Logan pointed over the edge of the roof. Weiss looked over and saw, across the street, what looked like an old, abandoned warehouse, with cracked windows and rusty doors. The group quickly made their way off the roof, with Logan digging his claws into the side of the building and sliding his way down, while Rogue grabbed Gambit and Jaune and flying them down.
Once everyone was on the ground, they quickly hurried across the empty street before stopping at the main door of the warehouse. "Get us inside, Gumbo," Logan ordered.
Gambit took out a playing card from his trench coat. "First we charge the card," he began as the card began to glow, "then we blow it up!" He threw the card at the door, blowing it wide open. Logan then led the charge into the building.
"Mesmero!" he shouted. "Come out and show yourself, you coward!"
The lights suddenly flickered to life, revealing all the Brotherhood members as well as the mind-controlled X-Men. Overlooking the whole thing from a platform high above was Mesmero himself.
"Well, it's about time, Wolverine!" he called down. "We've been waiting forever for you to show up!"
Logan growled, popping his claws out. "Let them go, Mesmero!"
"And why would I do that?" Mesmero challenged. "They make very useful slaves for the Brotherhood."
"Your plan aint gonna work, Mesmero," Rogue warned. "It's over."
"Over? My dear Rogue, it's only just begun." Mesmero leaned forward on the railing. "And now that I have all the X-Men within my grasp, my revenge will be complete!"
"Revenge?" Gambit questioned. "Don't tell me you're still mad about how we beat you last time."
"Uh, what happened last time?" Jaune whispered.
"Trust me—you don't want to know," Kitty responded.
"You humiliated me!" Mesmero exclaimed. "And now I get to return the favor. After Senator Kelly is murdered by you X-Men, the Brotherhood will finally get the war we've always wanted! The war Magneto was too weak to lead us through! When the humans march against us, mutantkind will rally to us, and we will exterminate humans off the face of the Earth!"
"Not if we have anything to say about it," Logan challenged.
Mesmero laughed. "You are outnumbered, even with these pathetic aliens you've allied yourselves with. The so-called huntsmen and huntresses of Remnant."
"What have you done with Ruby, you monster!" Weiss shouted.
"Oh, she's been a great source of information for me," Mesmero replied. "After a little…persuasion, of course. I know all about you and your Semblances. And once I have you all under my control, well…perhaps there are a few assassinations I can make you carry out."
"We aint going down without a fight, Mesmero," Logan warned, brandishing his claws. "So come down here and prove you're not a coward."
Mesmero laughed. "I think not." He pointed down at them. "Tear them apart. When you've beaten them, bring them to me."
Sabretooth, at the front of the pack, let out a growl. "You're mine, runt!" He leapt at Logan, who also charged straight at him. The two colliding in a flurry of claws and blood as the rest of the Brotherhood and the mind-controlled X-Men surged forward.
"Here we go," Weiss thought as she drew Myrtenaster. It was time to fight.
"Let's get them!" Nora exclaimed, charging forward with Magnhild and slamming it into the ground, using its force to fling herself forward with it straight into the first person she saw, which happened to by Cyclops, knocking him aside with ease.
"Hey, don't forget to be gentle, petite," Gambit warned as he threw a series of exploding cards at a charging Colossus. The explosions didn't even seem to slow him down, forcing the Cajun to roll to the side, while Rogue flew in, punching him so hard that he flew back through the back wall.
"I'll handle Petey," she said, flying after him.
"Yeah, fight another X-Man," Kitty commented. "Seems like all you know how to—"
The ground began to rumble as one of the Brotherhood members, the one known as Avalanche, slammed his hands against the ground. The floor began to split apart as the group began to stumble to regain their balance.
"I liked you better when you were working for us, Kitty," Avalanche snarled.
"Oh, grow up, Lance!" Kitty snapped back, running at him and throwing a punch. He caught her fist with ease, but she phased through him and swung her foot around, kicking him in the back.
He stumbled, turning around and raising his hands, causing the ground around Kitty to crumble away. She began to fall, but Nora quickly jumped in, rocketing in from a blast with her hammer. "Friend of yours?" she asked.
"We used to date," Kitty responded. "It didn't end well."
"No kidding!"
"Die!" The shaking on the ground got worse as Avalanche increased the use of his powers. But that was when Lockheed flew in, breathing an enormous amount of fire on the villain. He yelled out in pain, stumbling away as the dragon continued to attack.
"Thanks, Lockheed!" Kitty called. Then a glob of slime splattered next to her as the villain known as Toad hopped in.
"You aint gonna win this one!" he cackled. "Even with your new freak friends!"
His extra-long tongue shot out at the two girls, but Nora snatched it on of the air and pulled Toad off his feet. He tried to move, but Nora began to swing him around like a ragdoll before throwing him aside, where he hit the wall hard before slumping down, out cold.
"That," Kitty commented, "was awesome."
"Thanks," Nora said as the two fist bumped. But that was when a wave of ice surged at them as Iceman attacked, accompanied by Cyclops, who fired an optical blast at them.
"Uh oh. Back at it!" Kitty ran at the two, Nora quickly following.
Beast and Kurt teleported into the Capitol Building. "You search for Mystique," Beast ordered. "I will speak with Senator Kelly."
"Let us hope we are not too late," Kurt replied before teleporting away with a bamf!
Beast shifted his shoulders before calmly walking in the direction of Senator Kelly's office. The entire building seemed empty. Most of the workers had already gone home for the night. However, he, like Xavier, suspected that Kelly was still here. If he was, he was certainly in terrible danger.
He reached the office and opened the door. "Pardon the intrusion, Senator, but—oh my stars and garters!"
Kelly was backed into a corner, his hands over his head as an identical looking Beast held him at gunpoint. "Mystique!" Beast yelled.
The other Beast, clearly Mystique in disguise, turned to face him. "Damnit," she swore.
"Let the Senator go, Mystique," Beast ordered. "Mesmero's plan is folly."
"No," Mystique snapped back. "The Senator will die for his actions against mutantkind. And when the world sees an X-Man doing the deed, they will turn on you."
"I'm afraid I can't allow that," Beast told her. "Besides, security tapes will reveal what really happened here."
"Not if they're erased. But, you won't be around to see it." Mystique turned her pistol towards Beast.
Bamf! Kurt appeared behind her, grabbing the arms of the Beast duplicate and pulling them behind her, forcing her to drop her gun. "Hello, Mother," he greeted before shoving her forward. Mystique stumbled, her disguise dropping as she transformed into the red haired, blue skinned form that was her true self.
"Kurt," Mystique said softly. "Can I assume that your sister is not far away?"
"Rogue is helping to deal with the rest of the Brotherhood," Kurt replied. "Please, Mother. Stop this. You cannot win."
"You do not know what you're saying, Kurt," Mystique sneered. "Even if you stop us today, what will you do? Humans will always hate us. That will never change. We need to strike now, before they get organized in their hatred."
Kurt stared sadly at her mother. "I grieve for you, Mother," he said, "for the hatred that thrives in your heart. I will pray for you."
Mystique's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. You do that." She dove for the gun, grabbing it and taking aim at Kelly. But Kurt was faster, grabbing Mystique and teleporting with her away.
"Are you all right, Senator?" Beast asked.
Kelly composed himself quickly. "Yes—yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Mr. McCoy. Care to tell me what is going on?"
"It's a long story, Senator," Beast answered.
Weiss held her arms against her face as the X-Man Storm created a vortex of wind and ice that bore down on her, Jaune, and Ren. "Why isn't she using any sort of lightning?" she cried, her voice barely audible over the wind.
"Ruby must have told Mesmero about Nora's Semblance," Ren guessed. "The enemy does not want to risk Nora supercharging herself again."
"But where is Ruby?" Jaune demanded to know.
"Mesmero might be hiding her away," Ren replied. "We have to find her." He gazed up at the platform, where Mesmero was still watching the fight. "And I suspect if we make it to him, we'll find her."
"First we have to take care of Storm."
Ren raised StormFlower, his arms shaking from the vortex of wind being slammed down upon them. "I can't get a clear shot," he warned.
Suddenly, several explosions struck Storm in the back. "Sorry, Ororo!" Gambit declared, throwing another three cards at her, which forced her to the ground.
"Come on, here's our chance!" Weiss ran forward, followed by both Ren and Jaune. But a wave of fire cut off their path.
"Don't go anywhere, lovelies!" This came from Pyro, the blonde haired, fire controlling member of the Brotherhood. He raised his arms and another twin jet of flames shot from the flamethrowers he had attached to them. The flames quickly transformed, twisting and morphing until they formed a pair of fire wolves, who lunged at the trio. Jaune quickly raised his shield, activating the energy field as the wolves attacked. The flames smashed into shield, breaking apart instantly.
"Go!" Jaune yelled. "I got this." He moved forward as Pyro shot more flames at him, trying to break through the energy shield extension. Weiss and Ren continued forward.
Their advance was suddenly halted yet again by a huge fat guy, who stomped into their path and smacked his fist into his palm. "Do your worst," he announced. "But nothing hurts the Blob!"
Ren turned to look at Weiss. "Can you make it up to Mesmero on your own?"
Weiss nodded.
"Then go. I will handle Blob." Ren began to calmly walk forward, directly towards Blob. Weiss then took off running again.
"Oh no you don't!" Blob tried to reach a bulbous hand out towards her, but Ren began shooting, pelting him with multiple shock darts. The darts themselves didn't seem to do any damage to him, but they did get his attention, especially when Ren tried to kick him in the stomach. His foot sank deep into the flabs of his bell and remained stuck, allowing Blob to grab him and throw him aside before lumbering after him.
Weiss couldn't worry about him though, or anyone else. Her only thought was to get to Mesmero. If she could take him down, this would all be over.
Blam! A repulsor round struck the ground in front of her. Weiss skidded to a stop, quickly turning her head towards the source of the blast.
A few yards away was Ruby. Her eyes, normally bright and full of life, were dull and blank as she aimed Crescent Rose straight at her best friend. Weiss felt her heartbeat quicken in both sadness and anger at seeing Ruby like this. "Ruby," she said quietly. "I don't want to fight you. I know you're still in there somewhere. Fight him. Fight Mesmero's control."
Without any sort of hesitation, Ruby fired another three shots, forcing Weiss to deflect them with Myrtenaster. "Well, it was worth a try," she said to herself. "Fine. I'm sorry in advance for this, Ruby."
Ruby, in response, charged forward, quickly converting Crescent Rose into its scythe form. Weiss braced herself, reluctantly preparing for what would surely be one of the hardest things she had ever done.
Jaune rolled again to avoid another wave of fire from Pyro. "You can run all you want, boy!" the villain mocked. "But sooner or later, you will burn!"
Jaune readied himself again. "Do all villains on Earth not know when to shut up?" he asked aloud, not that there was anyone near him to hear his words. Everyone was too busy fighting, spread out around the warehouse. For the moment, things looked pretty even despite his friends and the X-Men being outnumbered. But should anyone of them fall, the odds would be even more against them.
He tightened his grip on Crocea Mors as Pyro shot another volley of fire at him, this one twisting to form a giant snake, which created a ring of fire around him.
Jaune bent his legs back before running straight through the flames, using his shield to block the flames. He felt the heat rising around him, but he ignored it, leaping through the fire and running directly at Pyro.
"Oh no you don't!" Pyro raised his hands and the flames began to curl around, heading straight for Jaune's back. He swung his shield around, absorbing the flames as best he could.
Suddenly, a winged man—the X-Man known as Angel—swooped in, grabbing Jaune by the arms and hoisting him into the air, hovering directly over Pyro. The villain smirked and raised his arms, creating a fiery vortex that swirled below Jaune.
"Oh, no no nonononononono," he said, starting to struggle.
"End of the line, 'hero,'" Pyro laughed. "Prepared to be barbequed like—gah!" Lockheed flew in, latching onto Pyro's shoulders and sinking his teeth into his right one. He cried out in pain, stumbling around and trying to wrench the dragon free. As he did, the fire vortex faded from existence.
Seeing his chance, Jaune slammed his elbow into Angel's belly. The mutant grunted in pain, dropping him. He hit the ground with a thump—painfully, but at least there wasn't any fire that he was falling into.
Angel swooped down, arms extended to grab Jaune again, but this time he was ready for him. He grabbed his fallen shield and shoved if forward at the right moment, slamming it straight into Angel's face. He yelled in pain, crashing to the floor of the warehouse. Before he could get up, Jaune got on top of him and punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.
Jaune panted with relief, then got up and searched around the warehouse for someone else to fight.
Nora smashed through another layer of ice as she tried to make her way towards Iceman, who was keeping just out of reach thanks to the ice slides that he was constantly generating. "Stand still already!" she complained.
Kitty, meanwhile, was fighting Cyclops nearby, trading him blow for blow, though she was clearly outmatched. The field commander of the X-Men was a lot stronger than she was, and the fact that she had to constantly dodge his attempts to blast her with his laser eyes meant that she was constantly on the defensive.
Nora turned her attention back to Iceman, who was now sending volleys of ice spikes at her. She took cover behind a metal support pillar, quickly converting Magnhild into its grenade launcher form. She then spun around and fired multiple electrified grenades at him.
The grenades blew the ice up from under him, causing him to fall while getting electrocuted by them. "Yes!" Nora cheered—a victory that was quickly dashed when Ren flew by her head, landing in a heap a few paces behind her.
"Ren!" she cried, turning around to see Blob lumbering towards the two. She bared her teeth and switched Magnhild back to its war hammer mode. "Keep away from him!"
"Go ahead, girlie!" Blob responded. "Nothing stops the Blob!"
Nora gripped her hammer tighter as she charged at the villain, swinging wildly even as Ren, picking himself back up, called out, "Nora, wait!"
She hit Blob directly in the side. But, to her horror and disgust, the hammer sank into his enormously fat form, sticking in place. He laughed as Nora tried to wrench the hammer free. But it was stuck fast.
"C'mere, you little twerp!" Blob grabbed Nora's arm and flung her across the warehouse. She hit the wall hard, slumping to the wall as pain shot through her back. She struggled to her feet just in time to see Blob pull Magnhild out of him and throw it at top speed directly at her.
The hammer smashed her in the face so hard that she saw stars, even despite her Aura taking much of the damage. This forced her back down to her knees as she struggled to remain conscious.
"Nora!" Ren was back on his feet, looking furious. He faced down Blob, twirling StormFlower around in his hands. With a fierce battle cry, he charged in for another attack.
Ruby swung her weapon again and again at Weiss, who blocked as best she could with her own weapon. This wasn't just any sort of regular sparring match; Ruby was actually trying to kill her, albeit not under her own free will. And with her Semblance coming into play as she darted around in a flurry of rose petals and scythe slashes, she had the distinct advantage.
However, Weiss also knew of Ruby's biggest weakness: her overreliance on Crescent Rose. While she had been training to focus more on her hand-to-hand skills, she knew that her friend still lacked much of the skill that she would normally have with her weapon. So, if she could just separate Ruby from Crescent Rose, that could potentially give her the edge to incapacitate her.
Of course, getting Ruby away from her weapon was not going to be an easy task, as Weiss was quickly starting to realize. Ruby was insanely fast with her Semblance, giving her opportunities to move just out of Weiss' reach or art around her to attack her from behind.
Once again, Weiss cursed her lack of an active Semblance. If she could use her Glyphs and Dust again, she would be putting up much more of a fight. But without them, it was all that she could do to keep Ruby back.
"Come on, Ruby!" she pleaded as she parried another quick strike before jumping back. "I know you don't want to do this!"
But Ruby continued her relentless assault, determined to end her once and for all. She swung down, nearly cutting Weiss as she jumped back yet again, before firing several shots. These repulsor rounds slammed into Weiss, knocking her back into a wall.
Her gauntlet beeped a warning siren, indicating that her Aura was starting to run out. It had been doing the same a minute earlier for Nora as well. The battle was starting to take its toll on her.
Ruby was slowly starting to approach her now, the point of her scythe scraping against the floor, creating sparks. Weiss got back to her feet, bracing herself again for the next assault.
She thought again about her Summoning. The one thing that she had always struggled with. The thing that she had continuously tried to do even more so after arriving on Earth. The thing that she had apparently done unconsciously, but had yet to do on purpose.
Weiss thought again about Winter's words and advice about Summoning. "Think to your fallen foes. The ones that forced you to push past who you were and become who you are now."
Weiss slowed her breathing and held Myrtenaster directly in front of her, placing two fingers against her blade. "Please," she thought. "I need your help. I need your strength."
Ruby apparently decided that it was time to go in for the kill and sped forward, drawing Crescent Rose back and jumping forward to slam the weapon down on Weiss. She prepared to block with Myrtenaster, barely registering the Glyph forming in front of her.
Clang! A large, armored figure, colored white and light blue had materialized from the Glyph, catching Ruby's scythe on its sword before throwing it—and Ruby—aside.
Weiss stared in awe at the Arma Gigas that she had summoned. It wasn't quite as big as the arm that she had previously been able to summon while fighting the Frost Giants with Jaune, but it would do fine. The thing had put itself between her and Ruby, who was getting back to her feet.
"What the hell is that?!" Mesmero had taken notice of the incident and looked concerned.
Weiss gazed up at him. "The power of the Schnee family," she announced. She winced as she said it—it sounded so cheesy out loud. Maybe being around superheroes for a month was starting to rub off on her.
Mesmero growled. "Don't just stand there, slave—attack! Kill her!"
Ruby's eyes narrowed and she shot herself directly at the Arma Gigas, who swung down its massive blade directly on top of her, smashing her to the ground.
"Keep her busy!" Weiss ordered her creation. She turned her gaze towards where Mesmero was standing. "I'll get him."
Kitty was thrown against the wall by Cyclops, slumping to the floor, barely conscious. He prepared to blast her with his laser eyes, but Jaune quickly ran in, his shield facing him as he fired.
He strained with effort as he blocked the lasers from hitting Kitty. The force of the energy was starting to push him back. The energy shield addition to his own shield, usually colored blue, was starting to glow red as it began to overheat.
"Come on, come on," he thought to himself. "Don't give in!"
A bo staff suddenly whacked Cyclops in the side of the head, knocking him out cold. As he fell, Gambit stood behind him, twirling his bo staff expertly. "House always wins," he quipped.
Jaune lowered his shield and helped Kitty to her feet. "You okay?"
She shook off her daze. "I think so. Thanks, Jaune."
The ground suddenly began to shake again. Avalanche had gotten back on his feet, still slightly charred from his run-in with Lockheed. Already the ground was starting to cave in, and part of the front wall was collapsing.
"I thought we took care of that guy already!" Jaune complained.
"There's always more gators in the bayou," Gambit replied.
"What does that even mean?!"
"You're done!" Avalanche seethed. "I'll bury all of you!"
The ceiling above him smashed open as Rogue dropped in behind him, a glove already off her right hand. "Lights out, Lance!" She placed her hand on his exposed cheek. Avalanche gasped in shock and pain, then slowly sank to his knees before passing out in a heap on the ground.
"Where's Petey, chere?" Gambit asked as Rogue joined them.
"Taking a load-off outside," Rogue answered. "Had to take his powers to make sure he'd stay down, but he'll be fine. How are things in here?"
"Starting to get better," Jaune answered. "We might just win this."
That was when he saw it. His eyes widened in horror. "NO!"
Ren batted Blob again and again, trying to find a weakness in his skin. Nothing worked. StormFlower, even with the stun field turned off, could not cut through anything, and nothing he tried seemed to even faze him.
"This guy's tough," he thought as he backflipped to avoid getting pummeled by Blob's massive fist. "How are we going to stop him?"
None of his attacks had hurt Blob. He was just too big and too fat for him to do anything. There had to be a weakness he could exploit somewhere. His mind worked quickly, analyzing everything he could about his opponent. "He's got enough skin and fat to render all my attacks on his main body useless. And if I'm not careful, he'll be able to grab me and crush me. I need to keep my distance until I can—"
Ren suddenly made a realization. While most of Blob's body was roughly the same…his head may be vulnerable for attack. But to get at it, he would have to get in close. Too close.
But he charged forward nonetheless. Blob raised both his fists and slammed them down, but Ren jumped over them, landing on his shoulders. He twirled StormFlower and slashed at Blob's face. At long last, a thin trickle of blood began to flow from the cuts.
The villain bellowed in pain. "Hey! Get off me!" He swung at Ren, punching him off his shoulders. The huntsman in training landed on the ground, quickly rolling aside as Blob tried to stomp on him, getting back to his feet in no time.
"You're gonna regret that!" Blob shouted, wiping the blood away from his face. But that was when multiple shock grenades landed on the ground around him, all going off at the same time and pumping Blob's body full of electricity. As he cried out in pain again, Ren ran over to where Nora was. She looked a little banged up, but otherwise seemed fine.
"He's almost invulnerable to physical attacks," Ren warned. "His only weak spot seems to be his head."
Nora reloaded Magnhild quickly. "Electricity seems to work too."
The two exchanged a look and nodded, both coming up with a plan in an instant. Ren moved in first, shooting at Blob with StormFlower to get his attention. As he turned around to track his movements, Nora fired several more shock grenades, once again causing him to cry out as the electricity sparked against him.
Ren made his move, running at Blob and kicking him in the face with a flying kick. While this brought his attention back towards him, it didn't really do much damage to him. Fortunately, Nora was also running in, Magnhild already in its war hammer form and charging with more electric energy. She jumped up, raising the hammer high over her head before bringing it down directly on Blob's head.
He bellowed in pain once more, beginning to stumble around. "You think you can hurt the Blob?!" he yelled.
Ren bit back the curse. "He's still standing?"
Blob stumbled forward. "Nothin' hurts the Blob," he said. "Nothin…" His eyes rolled up into the back of his head as he faceplanted against the floor.
"Yes!" Nora cheered. "Guess we found something that can hurt the Blob!"
Ren winced. "No need to overdo it, Nora."
"Oh, lighten up, Ren. We beat him!"
But that was when Ren heard Jaune's cry. He turned around and instantly saw what he had seen. "Oh no."
Weiss could see Mesmero was starting to panic. His forces were falling one by one. And while Logan was still engaged in a furious battle with Sabretooth, it probably wouldn't be long before he himself would be targeted by everyone.
But Weiss wasn't about to let him get away. Not after everything he had done to them. To Ruby, who was still trying to fend off her Arma Gigas.
She quickly noticed that the platform that Mesmero was standing on wasn't exactly stable. It was held up mostly by a series of small metal poles. So she activated the flame blade on Myrtenaster and quickly sliced through the poles. The entire platform collapsed, and Mesmero fell with a scream. He landed facedown on the ground, where Weiss quickly ran over to him, planting a boot on his back.
"It's over, Mesmero," she declared. "Let them all go, and don't even try your little mind tricks. If you try to turn your head to me, I'll knock you out."
Mesmero sagged against the ground and began to chuckle slightly. "What's so funny?" Weiss asked, pressing Myrtenaster's point against his back.
Mesmero took a deep breath. "Gotcha."
Too late, Weiss heard the distinctive sound of Crescent Rose firing. She turned around just in time for Ruby to stab her in the stomach.
"NO!" Jaune cried as Ruby wrenched Crescent Rose free of Weiss' body. The girl looked completely stunned, in shock and pain, before falling to the ground, blood seeping from the wound.
In an instant, he forgot about the raging battle. He just ran straight for Weiss. But his path was instantly blocked by Ruby, already rushing at him, swinging her scythe to claim another victim.
Out of nowhere, Ren kicked Ruby in the side, sending her sprawling. "Go!" he ordered Jaune. "See to Weiss! I'll deal with Ruby!"
Jaune shook off his daze and made it to Weiss, Nora right behind him. She didn't look good. The hole in the stomach was deep. Blood was pooling everywhere. Her eyes were closed, her breathing ragged.
"She's—she's barely breathing!" Nora cried.
"No, no no!" Jaune yelled, pressing his hands against the wound, trying desperately to slow the bleeding. "We can't lose anyone! We've already lost our world! We can't lose you too, Weiss! Please!"
Weiss didn't move as her breathing continued to slow. "This can't be happening," Jaune thought. "She can't be dying—she just can't!"
He was so focused on his panic that he almost didn't notice when Weiss' body began to glow.
"Aww, would you look at that!" Sabretooth mocked as he traded blows with Logan again. "Looks like one of the kiddies you were supposed to protect aint gonna make it!"
Logan snarled. "If one of them goes, you're going with 'em, Sabretooth!"
Sabretooth slashed at Logan's face again as the two circled one another. "We've been doing this dance for years, Wolverine," he said. "You aint found a way to kill me yet."
"I don't need to kill you, Creed," Logan answered. "I just need to get you down!" He swung in without warning, burying his claws deep into Sabretooth's torso. He roared in pain and tried to swipe at him, but Logan kept going, lifting Sabretooth up while his claws were still impaled within him and running straight at one of the support beams, which had been heavily shredded at some point during the battle, so much so that most of it was sticking out. With a fierce cry, Logan flung Sabretooth directly into the pillar, impaling him once more.
Sabretooth howled in pain and fury. "You think this can stop me?!"
"Rogue!" Logan yelled.
"On it!" Rogue flew in, grabbing several large pieces of metal and twisting them around Sabretooth before he could move, forcing his arms behind his back and pinning them tightly. He howled and raged and struggled, but he was stuck.
Having a moment to breathe, Logan turned his attention back to the kids. Weiss was on the ground, but it looked like Jaune was doing something to her. His hands were glowing, as was her whole body. As he ran over to them, he could see that the girl was starting to stabilize.
Jaune looked confused. "What's happening?" he asked. "What's going on with her?"
"Looks to me like you're healing her," Logan answered.
Jaune blinked in surprise. "No…" he eventually said, "I…don't think I'm healing her. Our Auras heal our bodies. It's feels…more like I'm using my Aura to amplify her own Aura. So she can heal herself."
Logan smiled slightly. "Nice work, kid. Keep it up."
"Hey!" Nora shouted, pointing. "Mesmero's trying to get away!" Logan turned his head to see Mesmero running through an open loading door as it quickly closed shut.
"I'll get him!" Rogue started flying towards him, but a wall of ice spikes shot out of the ground, stabbing her in the arm and knocking her to the ground. Iceman was back on his feet, shooting ice spikes at everyone in sight, even as Gambit, Kitty, and Lockheed all ran at him.
Logan clenched his jaw. "You," he said, pointing at Nora. "With me." He ran straight at the loading door, slicing his claws straight through it in an X shape. Nora, seeing what he was doing, swung her hammer straight into it, breaking a large hole through the door. The two leaped through it and saw Mesmero already rising to the air in his hovercraft.
"He's getting away!" Nora cried.
"No. He aint." Logan brandished his claws. "You still charged up from your hammer?"
Nora gripped her weapon tightly, activating the electrical field and giving herself a boost. "Oh yeah!"
"Then mix me up a Fastball Special!"
Nora blinked. "Huh?"
Logan smirked. "Launch me."
Nora, seeing his plan, grinned. Logan ran directly at her while she braced her hands. As he leaped, he landed straight into them, where she then launched him straight up directly at Mesmero's hovercraft.
"MESMERO!" Logan yelled. The villain turned around. His eyes widened in fear as he saw the hero slice straight through the hovercraft. Alarms on it instantly began to blare as he began to fall back down to Earth.
"No, no, no!" he yelled, slamming his hands against the console. Logan, climbing into the vehicle, grabbed him by the collar and leaping out. The two men hit the ground and tumbled, while the vehicle spiraled into another nearby building, exploding on impact.
Mesmero, coughing, crawled to his feet, trying to get away. But he was instantly met with a seriously ticked off Nora.
"You—" he started. But Nora whacked him upside the head with a punch that knocked him out instantly. He collapsed with a slight moan.
Logan, pulling a small piece of shrapnel that had stuck in him from the crash, walked over to them. "Is it over?" Nora asked.
"Yeah," Logan answered. "You got him, kid."
Ren blocked another strike from Ruby with StormFlower before pressing forward and pushing her back. As she stumbled, briefly off balance, Ren kicked her in the chest, knocking her back several feet.
He darted in to continue the assault, but suddenly, she let out a startled cry, sinking to her knees and clutching her head. Ren hesitated, but then moved over to her. "Ruby?" he asked.
"I'm—I'm okay," she said, shaking her head. "What—" Her eyes widened in horror as she saw Weiss. "Weiss!" She ran to her friend's side as Jaune continued healing her.
"She's going to be okay," Jaune assured her. "The wound's already closed up."
Ruby stared down in horror at the scene. "I did this," she breathed, dropping Crescent Rose next to her and staring down at her blood-soaked hands.
Ren put his own hand on her shoulder. "It wasn't you, Ruby," he told her. "It was Mesmero. You are not responsible for this."
Ruby choked back a sob, sinking to her knees into the pool of blood around Weiss' limp form. She clasped her blood-soaked hands around her friend's own.
"I'm—I'm sorry," she sobbed. "This is all my fault."
Jaune watched as the S.H.I.E.L.D. strike team carted the villains away into holding trucks. From there, they would be transferred to supervillain prisons, where they would be locked away until further notice.
The X-Men were going to be fine. The ones that had been mind controlled by Mesmero were still unconscious, but Beast had assured him that they would recover. Currently, they were all loaded up on the X-Jet.
The only member of the Brotherhood that had managed to escape was Mystique, the shapeshifter. Kurt had fought her for a short time, but she had managed to escape. Jaune had no doubt that they would probably see her again soon enough.
As for the heroes that had fought against Mesmero, they were all going to be fine too. Rogue had taken a beating from Iceman, but was being tended to by S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors, all the while Gambit hovered nearby.
"Maybe I should take a look at it," he suggested.
"I'll told you, Remy, I'm going to be fine," Rogue insisted.
"Maybe if I just give it a little kiss."
Rogue stifled a snort. "Don't you ever give up?"
"It aint in my nature, chere."
Jaune stifled a smile slightly as he then noticed Kitty and Lockheed close by to Rogue and Gambit. Kitty was watching Rogue, but not with the hostility that she had shown before against the former villain. It looked as though she was coming around to the idea that Rogue was truly on her side now.
Weiss was also going to be fine. She had regained consciousness not long after the fight had ended. While she had lost a lot of blood, her injuries had fully healed thanks to Jaune. She was still being checked over by S.H.I.E.L.D., but seemed to be doing okay.
Ruby was another matter altogether. The girl had been inconsolable after she had realized what she had done. She was sitting alone at the corner of the makeshift camp that S.H.I.E.L.D. had set up, with her head bowed and her hood pulled low over her face.
"It aint going to be easy for her." Jaune looked over as Logan approached. "Especially after all this."
Jaune slowly nodded in agreement. "She's…pretty shaken up."
"Not surprised. You all haven't seen mind control in action as much as we have, let alone experienced it. Someone like her…it's going to take time to come to terms with all this."
"No one blames her for what happened," Jaune insisted. "Not even Weiss. We all know that it was Mesmero that made her do it."
"That aint going to matter, kid," Logan warned. "It's one thing to get forgiveness from her friends. But when it comes to forgiving herself? That'll be the real challenge."
Jaune knew that Logan was right. It had clearly crushed Ruby when she had realized that she had almost killed one of her closest friends. Bouncing back from that was going to be a challenge for someone like her.
"I just got off the phone with Stark," Logan added. "He's getting that AI he gave you to send a Quinjet to come pick us up."
"Us?" Jaune asked.
"Yeah, us. I'm still in charge of you kids, after all. So I'm going to stick around. Have to admit though…you kids did good today. Better than I would've expected. Whoever trained you all taught you well."
Jaune smiled slightly. "Thanks Logan."
The man gave him a nod and walked away as Nora and Ren approached. "You okay, Jaune?" Nora asked.
Jaune looked back to where Ruby was sitting alone. "Me? Yeah," he eventually answered. "Her though?" He paused. "I'm…not so sure."
And thus we conclude the Mesmero arc. And boy, is there a lot to talk about here.
First off, multiple different moments here that pay homage to canon RWBY events-most notably how Jaune discovers his Semblance. Of course, here it's in the most twisted way possible. Instead of Cinder injuring Weiss, it's Ruby under the control of Mesmero. So...yeah, that's going to cause some trauma.
At least Weiss is starting to fully grasp Summoning, so you can expect to see more of that as the story progresses.
The version of Avalanche that I used was the Lance Alvers version from X-Men: Evolution. I always kind of liked that character, particuarly with his relationship with Kitty, which is why I gave them that moment here in the story. As for Kitty herself, of course I had to bring in her longtime companion Lockheed. He's such an underrated character. I mean, who wouldn't like to have a purple dragon from space as a best friend?
We got most of the Brotherhood locked away now, but Mystique is still out there. And no, she didn't take Kurt's place there. She really did flee. I just didn't really feel the need to go into detail about her fight with Nightcrawler because it wouldn't last too long and the chapter was getting long enough as it was. But you can expect to see her again at some point.
As for the statues of the dead X-Men, that was mainly to show that Jean was already dead, in case anyone was wondering why she wasn't around. Assume that events similar to the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix Saga took place. The other names there mostly pay homage to other X-Men characters, such as Morph, who we all know from the X-Men 90s cartoon. As for the last major character from that series that never showed up here-Jubilee-rest assured that I do have future plans for her.
As for the next arc, well...I'm keeping a tight lid on that. All I'll say is three things about it. 1: Part of it is going to deal with Ruby dealing with the fallout from this arc, and it will involve a certain character that has dealt with something similar. 2: I may or may not have alluded to what this next arc will be dealing with in sort of a throwaway line a while back. 3: It has been a little bit since the characters have been able to really let lose against large quantities of basic-level enemies. And that's all I'll say on the matter.
But anywho, that's all from me. Until next time, this is Guest 1138, signing off.