Author's note:
Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter of Earth's Mightiest Huntsmen. But first, let's answer some reviews!
SulliMike23: Soon enough, there will be a story arc where we will be seeing what's been happening on Remnant during this time. It's still a little ways away, but it's definitely coming!
mastergamer14: Some interesting suggestions there. All I'll say is that I do have plans for Doctor Strange.
dinocam3: Like I said, I will be doing a Remnant centered arc relatively soon to catch up with those characters. And who knows-maybe one or two of them will show up on Earth.
Brian.H.H: You make some really good points. Personally, I don't really see the Annihilation Wave on the same level as regular sentient beings. Yes, they carry and use weapons, but they're mostly just monstrous creatures from another dimension with only one goal: complete and total destruction of all life on behalf of Annihilus. As for Yang coming back this early, while you are right and things could develop more with Yang and the Guardians, I feel like this is a necessary thing. It was never my intention to keep everyone separated for too long, as I do want these characters to continue to grow and bond together. There's also the fact that most of the cosmic villains out there are either way too powerful or too iconic for me to use effectively this early in the story, along with the reduced effectiveness of most of the other big name Civilizations like the Kree and the Skrulls who are still somewhat recovering from the Annihilation War Don't worry though-we will be returning to space later on in the story, and we'll be seeing more cosmic villains then. I can't tell you everyone that I have plans for, but I will say one of these villains has a rather...sharp sounding name.
RXWriter: Glad to hear it! I myself was inspired to write this story after stumbling upon Hunters of Justice, another RWBY fanfic that crosses over with the DC Universe. Good luck in your writing!
Blackmetalzane22: There is a plan in place for Yang getting her memories back. It may happen sooner than expected, but the way it happens I hope will please everyone, especially with what it pays homage too.
metroplex07: I currently do have plans for Doctor Strange, but none as of yet for Miles Morales. As for the multiverse, I currently have no plans to tie anything into the multiverse. Personally, I'm very tired of everything to do with the multiverse, so I won't be including it in this story. There may be some mentions of it, but the characters will not be going to other realities or universes.
Guest: Oh yeah, I can see Spider-Man having a great friendship with Yang.
Red Scorpion: She probably will be learning about Earth guns, but I probably won't talk about it as much since it's not really relevant to the story.
Guest: These things tend to always make Ben miss the game. Nice EMH reference!
theMAX360: Spider-Man's definitely going to have a talk with Ruby, especially with the friendship that the two have forged.
JThorpe5: They just might be! As for certain relationships, I won't speak about them until I get to them in the story. Don't want to spoil any big surprises!
Thank you all for your continued support. Now, let's get back to the action.
New York City—November 1st
Tony blasted two of the Annihilation Wave aside with his repulsors. As another group flew in, he launched a volley of missiles that blew them apart. "What's the status on the ground, Cap?!" he asked through the comms.
"It's a nightmare down here!" Steve responded. "We're doing our best to get people out of danger, but these guys just keep coming!"
"We're taking them out as best as we can in the air, but until someone closes that damn portal, they're going to keep getting past us with sheer numbers!"
"Keep on them!"
Thor flew past Tony, his hammer crackling with energy. With a fierce battle cry, he pointed Mjolnir at the rush of enemies and unleashed a wave of lightning that incinerated an entire group of them at once. "Is there no end to these foul demons?!" he demanded to know.
"Just keep shooting!" Janet responded, buzzing past him and firing several stinger blasts at a larger creature, taking it down.
"I calculate that we will not be able to hold them off for much longer," Vision warned as he shot a beam straight through three of the Annihilation Wave at once.
"Tony, you have an incoming call from Reed Richards," F.R.I.D.A.Y. suddenly reported.
Tony groaned. "Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later." He switched to the call. "Reed, please tell you have a way to close that portal."
"Close it? No, not yet," Reed answered. "But I do have a way to plug the breach between our dimension and the Negative Zone for a short time while I come up with a solution to this problem."
"Can't you just close the portal from our end like your own personal portal to the Negative Zone?"
"It's not that simple, Tony. The portal at the Baxter Building is fixed and under my personal control. This one…is unnatural. Annihilus opened it somehow from his end. I'll need time to figure out a way to destroy this portal for good."
Tony winced as several energy blasts hit his armor as another swarm attacked. "Fine. How long until you can seal this portal?"
"Five minutes minimum. But possibly longer if we get shot down by Annihilus' minions on our way over."
"We've got four Avengers in the air and S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements on the way," Tony responded. "Where are you right now?"
"Just taking off from the Baxter Building right now," Reed answered.
"Got it." Tony punched down another attacker. "Wasp, Thor, Vision—the Fantastic Four need escort to the portal! Let's move, Avengers!"
Weiss ran Myrtenaster through one of the creatures. It let out a screech before falling over, dead. She wrenched the blade free just in time to block a spear strike from another one of the creatures, parrying the blade away before chopping its head clean off.
"Is it always like this on Earth?" Blake asked.
"Evil insect creatures descending from the sky?" Weiss shook her head. "No, that I've seen."
A swarm of the creatures flew overhead, firing their weapons on the two. Blake swung her chain blades, flinging them up so that they impaled the creature through the wings. With a grunt, she pulled down, tearing the wings off and sending the creature spiraling to the ground.
"How many of these things are there?!" Jaune yelled, blocking a volley with his shield.
"I suspect they will keep coming until that portal in the sky is closed!" Ren guessed.
"Then we should try to find a way to get that portal closed!" Weiss decided.
"How do we do that?" Nora asked as she fired several blasts from Magnhild that blew multiple creatures out of the sky.
"You're asking me?!"
"You are the one that brought it up," Blake pointed out.
Weiss stamped her foot in frustration. As she did, another swarm of the creatures flew down at them, firing their rifles and forcing them all to take cover.
Pyrrha raised her hands, raising a flaming car up with her Semblance and flinging it directly at the swarm, smashing them on impact. "We won't be able to keep this up forever," she warned.
"All we have to do is hold out long enough until someone closes that portal!" Jaune told her. "If not us, then the Avengers!"
"Where are those guys, anyway?!" Nora wondered.
"Probably trying to solve this problem!"
"Incoming!" Ren pointed to the skies as two swarms of the creatures approached, firing on them from all sides. Weiss pointed Myrtenaster at them, and a Nevermore formed from an appearing glyph, which flew straight at the swarm, knocking them all aside.
Jaune's gauntlet suddenly chimed. "It's Ruby!" he yelled, activating the comm on it. "Ruby, are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Ruby answered. "I'm with Logan and Spider-Man—and The Thing! We're holding our own right now!"
"Where?!" Weiss asked.
Ruby's voice seemed to crack slightly upon hearing Weiss speak. "I—I think we're a mile away from Avengers Mansion? I don't really know for sure."
"We can come get you!" Jaune offered.
"No—we're okay!" Ruby insisted. "We'll be—Logan, on your left!" An explosion echoed through the comms.
"Ruby? Ruby!" Jaune yelled.
Ruby coughed. "I'm okay!"
"Look!" Nora pointed up. "What the heck is that?!"
Weiss turned her head to the sky, just making out a small vehicle above, escorted by several smaller shapes. Whatever it was, it was heading straight for the portal still spewing creatures high above.
"It looks like Iron Man," Ren realized, pausing briefly to shoot down a passing creature. "With a few of the other Avengers. Escorting…some sort of flying car. They're heading straight for the portal."
"Maybe they're going to close it!" Nora guessed.
"Let's hope so," Ren agreed.
Tony blasted down another creature. "How much longer, Reed?!" he demanded to know.
Reed Richards, better known as Mr. Fantastic, tapped some controls on a data pad. "Almost there," he reported. "But we need to get closer to the portal for this containment field to work."
"How close?"
Reed looked up briefly from his work. "Extremely."
"Wonderful," Tony muttered under his breath.
"What's the matter, Stark?" Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, asked as he flew on his back, lazily tossing a fireball at the nearest Annihilation creature. "Afraid that we'll show you Avengers up?"
"Don't listen to him," Susan Storm, the Invisible Woman, suggested. "He's always full of hot air." In her compartment of the Fantasti-Car, she tapped on a screen. "Ben, how's it looking down there?"
"It aint a pretty sight, Suzie!" Ben answered. "Annihilus' goons are everywhere. We're trying ta hold them off as best we can, but you better get that hole plugged up soon!"
"We're working on it, Ben," Reed told him gently.
"Hey, are you talking with the rest of the Fantastic Four?" Spider-Man's voice came through the comms.
"Focus, web head!" Ben yelled. "Incoming bugs on your left!"
"I've on it!" Ruby's voice came through next, followed by the sounds of her weapon firing multiple rounds.
Several laser blasts shot by Tony as another swarm of creatures flew down, trying to shoot down the Fantasti-Car. This swarm was easily dispatched thanks to a volley of rockets from Tony and a blast of lightning from Thor.
They were getting close to the portal now, which was still unleashing hundreds of Annihilus' minions onto New York. The closer they got, the more enemies focused on them. Even with Thor's lightning, there were still almost too many of them to handle at once.
Johnny sent a wave of fire that incinerated an entire wave of monsters. "Anytime you're ready, Reed!" he yelled.
"Just a few more calculations." Reed was tapping away at a console. As he did, a device unfolded from the back of the Fantasti-Car. It appeared to be some sort of large ray gun. As Reed continued typing, it began to glow with energy.
"Can't that thing go any faster?" Janet asked as she zapped a bug into submission.
"Perhaps if you knew how to calculate for variables involving trans-dimensional travel—" Reed started.
"Stop talking and seal that damn portal!" Tony yelled.
"Almost got it…" Reed started to mumble under his breath as the device continued to power up.
A creature landed on the Fantasti-Car and aimed a rifle at Reed. Sue quickly raised her hands, putting up a force field that blocked the creature's blasts long enough for Vision to swoop in to blast it off. "I recommend haste," he warned. "We cannot maintain this position for much longer."
"This should do it." Reed typed one final set of commands on his console. A second later, a large blue beam shot from the device, striking the center of the portal. The beam slowly expanded into a large energy field, which soon covered the entire portal, stopping more enemies from flowing through it.
"The portal's sealed!" Tony yelled. "Thor! Light them up!"
Thor grunted and flew up into the sky. He spun his hammer around, calling a massive amount of lightning down from the clouds. With a loud battle cry, he sent the lightning down at the wave of enemies, incinerating every last one in the sky around the portal and the others in seconds.
Reed tapped on his console again. "The field does appear to be holding…for the moment."
"How long is that field going to hold?" Tony asked.
Reed rubbed his chin. "Based on these calculations, and barring any unforeseen complications…the field will collapse and the Annihilation Wave will continue its assault on Earth by sunrise tomorrow."
"Please tell me that you'll be able to find a way to close that damn portal before then."
"I should. Just give me a few hours, and I should have a solution. But there's no guarantee that I will be able to implement such a solution before the field fails."
Tony cursed. "Fine. We'll just have to hold them off until then. Luckily, we've got some time to prepare and evacuate as much of New York as we can." He thought about it briefly, then said, "F.R.I.D.A.Y., patch me through to every hero in New York. I have a message for them all."
"Look!" Jaune pointed up. "They've sealed the portal!"
"Then let's finish these guys off," Weiss decided. Despite the portal no longer unleashing unspeakable horrors on the city, there were still dozens of the creatures flying around. She slammed Myrtenaster into the ground, and an Arma Gigas formed from a glyph she had created. It grew and grew until it was the size of a small building. Weiss pointed the tip of her blade at the swarm of creatures down the street, and her creation marched towards them, smashing them aside like they were nothing.
"Did I ever tell you how awesome your Summoning is?" Nora asked.
As Weiss was about to answer, the comms on all their gauntlets began to beep. A second later, Tony's voice began to come through. "Attention, everyone," he began, "This is Iron Man. Reed Richards has managed to seal the portal to the Negative Zone, but I'm afraid it's only a temporary fix. The portal will be open again by sunrise tomorrow at the latest. We're going to need everyone available to defend the city from Annihilus and his minions while he comes up with a way to close that portal for good. S.H.I.E.L.D. will be arriving to evacuate civilians, and I suggest that, if you are able, you help them. Otherwise, get some rest. You're going to need it."
The group all exchanged looks with one another. "We'd better get going," Jaune suggested. "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s going to need all the help they can get to get people out of harm's way."
Weiss activated her comm again. "Did you get that message, Ruby?" she asked.
"I got it," Ruby confirmed. "We're going to stop by Avengers Mansion first to see where the most damage is."
"We can come to you and help you out where you're at."
"No—it's okay," Ruby said quickly. "I—we can handle it."
Weiss let out a sigh. She knew the real reason why Ruby didn't want her to be there. She was still uncomfortable around her after what Mesmero had done. But she wasn't going to argue with her friend. Arguing would probably just make things worse. "Okay, Ruby."
"I'll…see you guys later."
"Ruby?"
There was a long moment of silence. "What is it, Weiss?" she eventually asked.
"I just thought you should know…Blake and Pyrrha were on that ship that arrived. But Yang…Yang wasn't there."
There was another long moment of silence. "O—okay," Ruby eventually answered, her voice cracking slightly. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll…see you guys later."
Weiss ended the call and looked back up, seeing the others had gathered around her. "She's…doing worse than I could've imagined," Blake said quietly.
"She's been like this ever since we fought Mesmero," Jaune admitted. "And not having Yang here probably hasn't helped things."
"We can only hope that Yang will find her way to Earth much like Pyrrha and Blake did," Ren spoke up.
"Wherever Yang is, we can't worry about her right now," Weiss decided. "We're apparently going to have more monsters attacking tomorrow. We need to help get as many people out of the city as possible."
"And then?" Blake asked.
Weiss eyes turned up to the sky, where the portal still remained, albeit covered with an energy field. "Then we get ready for whatever mess that portal will bring."
The Milano—En Route to Earth—November 1st (Earth Time)
Sweat trickled down Yang's forehead as she pounded her fists into the punching bag repeatedly. Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" blasted through her music speakers as she worked out, hitting the punching bag again and again.
"Seems like you've found a way to keep yourself busy," Richard commented, leaning against the door frame.
"Gotta do something to pass the time," Yang responded, continuing to pummel the punching bag.
"Right…" Richard paused. "You sure you're up for something like this?"
Yang glanced over at him briefly. "Of course I'm up for this. Why?"
"The Annihilation horde is one of the most dangerous forces in the entire galaxy," Richard reminded her. "They make Titus, the Chitauri, and the Raptors look like low level thugs compared to them."
Yang finished punching the punching bag and turned fully to face him, switching off the music a moment later. "So?"
"So just be careful," Richard warned.
Yang flashed a confident smirk. "Aren't I always?"
"Look—we all know how strong you are, Yang. But you're also a bit headstrong. Whatever special ability you have that shields you from damage isn't infinite."
Yang waved him off. "Relax, Rich. I know my limits."
"Even though you still haven't regained your memories?"
Yang shrugged. "I may have lost my memories, but I still know how to throw a punch."
"I just want you to be prepared. It's going to get rough out there," Richard told her. "I don't want to lose you."
"Aww, I didn't know you cared so much."
Richard let out a small chuckle. "Any progress though?" he eventually asked.
Yang's smile slipped a little. "No luck," she admitted. "I've been trying to remember something—anything about my life before winding up on Knowhere. Nothing."
"What about this girl you keep seeing? The one with the silver eyes?"
Yang shook her head. "She has to be somehow connected to me. But I don't know who she is. And yet, I see her face wherever I go." She absolutely wished that she knew who the silver-eyed girl was and how she was connected to her. But it was all still one big blank, along with the rest of her life.
"Maybe she was the one that did this to you," Richard suggested.
Yang shook her head. "No—I don't think so. When I see her, she doesn't look…threatening or wanting to tear my head off or anything. She just seems…familiar. I—I can't explain it."
Richard walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You'll figure it out eventually," he assured her. "I know you will. Besides," he added, "maybe someone on Earth can help unlock your memories."
"Do you really think so?"
"I don't see why not. After all, there's probably hundreds of different superheroes there at this point. One of them can surely help you out."
Yang's smile returned. "Thanks, Rich."
Richard gave her a smile in return. "Get back to your training then," he said. "And then get some rest. You're going to need it."
"How long until we reach Earth?" Yang asked.
"Fifteen hours," Richard answered as he left. "And then get ready to punch some bugs."
"You know me, Rich," Yang told him, switching on her music again and going back to her punching bag. "I'm always ready to punch something."
Avengers Mansion—November 1st
"How extensive is the damage, F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" Steve asked.
"Most damage has been limited to five square miles from the Negative Zone portal," F.R.I.D.A.Y. reported. "We were fortunate enough to contain the invasion before it spread too far."
"Something tells me we won't be that lucky next time," Clint guessed.
Steve ignored him. "How long until the city's evacuated?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is doing everything they can to evacuate people, but even with their resources, I don't know if they will be able to get everyone out in time," F.R.I.D.A.Y. told him.
"Divert some resources from Stark Industries to help with the evacuation," Tony ordered as he fixed a piece of his armor that had been damaged in the battle.
"What's our gameplan if Mr. Fantastic can't close that portal?" Spider-Man asked as he hung upside down from the ceiling.
"Don't worry about it, web head," Ben assured him. "Reed's as smart as they come. He'll come up with a solution."
"And if he doesn't?" Logan countered.
"Then we keep fighting until he does," Steve decided. "The galaxy was able to defeat Annihilus once before; we can do the same thing here."
"The Earth wasn't hit by the Annihilation Wave when it first terrorized the galaxy," Tony reminded him. "I've heard the stories; it was an almost unstoppable wave of complete and total destruction. We haven't faced something like that since the Kree invasion."
"We have no choice but to put our faith in Reed," Steve decided. "We're just going to have to hold the line until he finds a way to close that portal."
"Doesn't he have his own portal at the Baxter Building?" Logan asked.
"This portal wasn't opened up on our end, Logan," Ben reminded him. "Annihilus somehow opened it from within the Negative Zone. So we can't just switch it off. We have ta find a way to close it on his side."
"Or find a really big manhole cover," Spider-Man quipped.
"Right. And until then, we hold the line," Steve agreed, ignoring the web slinger's joke. "S.H.I.E.L.D. will be setting up defensive lines all over the city, and I'll be deploying the Avengers to back them up. I suggest you all do the same. We need every hero we can to stop this threat."
"Speaking of other heroes," Spider-Man said, looking around, "Where'd Ruby run off to?"
Ruby sat on the roof of the mansion, staring out at the destruction around her. While the mansion was mostly untouched, the surrounding area was in complete disarray. Cars had been blown to pieces, several smaller buildings were lying in ruin, and the streets had large chunks blown out of them. Then there were the bodies. While most of the corpses were from the Annihilation Wave, there were still dozens of civilians lying dead on the ground.
"It's happening again," she thought, her hands trembling. "It's all happening again."
It was Remnant all over again. When Ultron had first attacked, it had only taken him two days to drive everyone and everything to the brink of collapse. Now the same thing was happening on Earth.
Invasions. Complete destruction. Carnage all around her. Mesmero. Weiss. It was all cascading at once. Eating her up from the inside out.
She thought again about Jessica's words of advice to her. To keep pushing on and not let what happened to her stop her resolve. But did she really have the strength to forgive herself?
"There you are." Ruby turned her head slightly as Spider-Man climbed up to join her. "Was wondering where you slipped off to."
Ruby didn't say anything. She just turned her head back to look out over the city.
"Okay, what's on your mind?" Spider-Man asked. "You've been really off lately."
"I'm fine," Ruby said quietly.
"Come on, Ruby—you don't have your weapon with you, you didn't want your friends to come get you—somethings going on. What happened?"
Ruby pulled her knees up to her chest. "Mesmero," she admitted.
Even under his mask, Ruby could see Spider-Man wince. "Oooo…yeah."
"He…made me almost kill Weiss," Ruby went on. "If it hadn't been for Jaune, she would've died. I have to live with that now." She put her forehead against her knees. "And now this world is under siege just like Remnant was, and I don't know what I can do to protect these people. It's just so much to process and not enough time to figure everything out."
"Yeah…I know what it's like to have the weight of the world on your shoulders." Spider-Man sat down next to her. "When I was about your age, I had a lot of problems too. Fighting supervillains, juggling school life, taking care of my Aunt May—it was overwhelming. Even more so when things…took a turn for a worse."
He leaned back slightly. "I've been right where you are, Ruby. I've had my dark days. I've…lost a lot of people I've cared about. My Uncle Ben, my first girlfriend, my best friend. Some days I don't even know if everything will be okay or if things will come crashing down and everything will just get worse and worse. It's a lot to take in, especially for someone like you. Someone young and already dealing with things that no normal kid should ever have to face."
Ruby turned her head to face him again. "But I know you, Ruby," Spider-Man went on. "You've got strong friends and an even stronger heart. If anyone can get through something like this, it's going to be you."
Ruby managed a smile. "Thanks, Spidey."
Spider-Man held his arms out. "C'mere. You deserve a Spider-Hug."
Ruby actually laughed slightly at that, accepting the hug and squeezing him tightly. Talking with Spider-Man always seemed to calm her down. He had started being a hero when he was her age. He was extremely relatable—not to mention his great sense of humor.
"There you are." Tony now appeared on the roof. "Logan's getting his jeep to take you back to your base, Ruby."
Ruby pulled away from Spider-Man. "Thanks, Tony."
"But," Tony went on, "before you go, I have a gift for you and your friends."
Remnant HQ-November 1st
"Ruby Rose has returned to the premises," Phyllis reported.
Weiss looked up from where she was looking out the window. "She's back?"
"Affirmative."
"Let the others know," Weiss ordered the AI as the elevator doors opened, revealing Ruby. She was already out of the elevator before she saw her, flinching instantly.
"Oh—Weiss!" she stammered.
"Good to see you okay," Weiss told her.
Ruby looked around the room. "Where's everyone else?"
"Downstairs. Pyrrha had to fix her weapons. She and Blake were apparently on some gladiator planet where every day was an insane fight to the death against alien monsters."
"Oh…" Ruby paused, rubbing her arm slightly before blurting out. "Weiss—I—"
"Stop," Weiss interrupted. "I know you've probably got some big apology speech planned for what happened with Mesmero, but personally—I don't care. I don't care about what happened. I don't care about Mesmero or any of it. I just—" She swallowed. "I just want my best friend back."
Ruby stared at her, tears welling up in her eyes. Then, before Weiss could react, she sped over to her in a burst of petals, wrapping her arms around her and squeezing her tightly. Weiss wrapped her arms around Ruby, giving her a comforting hug as well, smiling slightly.
"You called me your best friend," Ruby said after the two pulled away.
Weiss managed an eye roll. "Don't get used to that."
"Oh no—you can't take it back. You already admitted it."
Weiss rolled her eyes again, but smirked. Ruby returned the smile, one of the first that she had given in the past week. It didn't last long, but at least it was progress.
"This thing that happened," Ruby said after a moment. "It's going to haunt me forever. But I'm not—I'm not going to let it destroy me or my friendships. I'm going to come back stronger from this. And it's going to start by helping to stop this invasion and saving this world from the Annihilation Wave."
Weiss nodded in agreement. After a week of seeing her in such a wretched state, it was good to see a spark of the old Ruby reemerging.
"Ruby!" The others had returned up the elevator. Blake quickly ran over and wrapped Ruby into a hug.
"It's good to see you, Ruby," Pyrrha added, joining in on the hug.
Weiss managed another smile. Despite the fact that they would have to fight a seemingly endless wave of monsters the following morning, seeing everyone together was a small comfort—a comfort that would've been better if Yang had been there.
Seven of them were reunited. Seven survivors of Remnant. But one was still missing. Yang was still out there somewhere. And Weiss knew that none of them would be satisfied until they had found her.
"Where's Logan?" Jaune asked.
The elevator doors opened and Logan entered, carrying a stack of four large metal cases. "Could've at least helped me carry these in," he grumbled.
Ruby winced. "Oops. Sorry, Logan."
"What are these?" Weiss asked.
"Tony and Janet made us superhero costumes!" Ruby blurted out.
"Superhero costumes?" Ren repeated.
Nora let out a squeal of joy. "Yes! Gimmie!" She ran over and snatched the case with her name on it in a flash.
"So…we're really doing this?" Blake asked. "Becoming…superheroes?"
Logan looked at her and Pyrrha. "Don't have any for you two yet. But I'm sure Stark will work on them after this crisis is over."
"What about me?" Jaune asked.
Logan smirked. "Think you already got something going there." He rapped against Jaune's Asgardian chest plate. "That armor's already going to protect you way more than anything Stark can make for you."
Jaune seemed satisfied with that answer. Logan looked to the others and added, "We got our orders for tomorrow morning. Cap wants us to help defend the S.H.I.E.L.D. defensive line at Central Park. Be sure to wear those uniforms; this will more than likely serve as the world's first official look at you. Don't screw it up."
"We won't," Ruby promised. "Earth took us all in when we had nowhere else to go. We won't let it fall like Remnant did."
Logan smiled slightly. "Good to hear, kid." He set the remaining cases down on the counter and walked off without another word.
"I'm going to go try this on!" Nora hefted her case and quickly ran off to her room.
"I think it would be a good idea for everyone to get some rest," Pyrrha suggested. "If today's battle was anything to go by, tomorrow's will be even more challenging."
"Pyrrha's right," Ruby agreed. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow. Do what you gotta do." She went to the counter, picked up the case with her name on it, and went back to her room.
"She seems…a little better," Jaune noted after a moment. "Wherever Logan took her today…I think it helped."
"She's not fully back though," Weiss admitted. "I…don't know if she'll ever be the same after what Mesmero did to her."
"There is one thing that I think would help her recover fully from this," Ren spoke up calmly.
Weiss nodded in agreement. "Finding Yang."
The bond that Ruby had with her sister was unbreakable. Being apart from her for over a month was just another thing compounded on everything bad that she had experienced in that same timeframe. But if Yang could be found, Weiss had a feeling that Ruby's mood would instantly improve.
But as much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't worry about that right now. She had to focus on what was going to happen the next day. She and her friends were some of the only people that stood between Earth and complete destruction.
And she was not going to let this world share Remnant's fate.
The Annihilation Wave has been stalled, but only temporarily. The next day will bring more chaos, carnage, and bloodshed. And our heroes will be caught up right in the middle of it.
But we'll be getting some cool stuff next chapter too-like the reveal of the first batch of superhero costumes for the RWBY characters! I'm going to do my best to describe them as I can, but describing superhero outfits has never really been my strong suit. It's something I certainly need to work on, especially as I work on my own superhero novels. But not everyone will get one yet. Blake and Pyrrha won't because, well, they just arrived, Jaune already has his Asgardian armor, and Yang isn't even on Earth...yet. But I do have some designs somewhat figured out for everyone. Hopefully I'll be able to describe them well enough for people to understand.
Speaking of Yang, she's on her way to Earth! And I couldn't be more excited for her arrival. I've had her entrance planned out for quite some time now, and let me tell you-when she makes an entrance, she makes an entrance.
As for the Fantastic Four, I know they didn't really do much this chapter, but I hope to show off more of their skills in the next one as they prepare for battle against the hordes of monsters coming to slaughter them all.
But anywho, that's all from me. Until next time, this is Guest 1138, signing off.