Author's Note:
Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter of Earth's Mightiest Huntsmen! This took a bit longer to write than I wanted, but it's finally here right before NaNoWriMo begins! But first, some housekeeping.
Lately, I've been getting several comments and messages about people wanting to do some art or comics for this story through commissions. I appreciate you all reaching out on that topic, but for the moment, I do not have the necessary funds to spend on commissions. Any art or comics that anyone wants to do based off this story would have to be on your own time and for fun. Maybe someday I'll be able to commission people to make fanart, but for the moment, that's just not in the cards. Of course, if anyone does make some fan art for this story for fun, let me know! Just because I can't pay people to make some art for this doesn't mean I won't say no to it!
And now, let's answer some reviews!
SuperSaiyanFever: A lot of elements do come from the Gamma World episodes from Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but I did take some stuff out and add my own twist on a few things-specifically with one fight in particular.
Blackmetalzane22: It's certainly going to be a long series of battles since there's three different ones going on. It's not going to be an easy fight no matter what.
DareDreamer: Blake's mutation is certainly one of my favorites as well. Out of all the characters, hers was the one I already knew what I wanted as I planned this story arc.
Noire12: There certainly may be some consequences from this arc, but it may not be in the physical sense of things.
TheBrilliantOne: I've referred to them as both humans and aliens I believe, as I classify them as both. They are from another planet, which does technically make them aliens, but they are also human. I'm pretty sure the people that call them aliens are mostly villains as well, but I could be wrong.
Deathwing: There certainly may be some changes, but they may not come into play quite yet.
Jack: How Roman got to Earth is definitely going to remain a mystery for a while, as well as what his plans are.
William Hoenicke: A lot of the voices I picture for this story are based on the character voices from Earth's Mightiest Heroes. For example, I certainly picture Jeffery Combs as the voice of the Leader. As for Doctor Strange, he's going to be coming soon, but the villain for that arc may not be who you'd expect.
Thank you all for your continued support. Now, let's get back to the action.
The Cube—November 13th
Ruby stood back to back with Yang as their mutated friends circled them. Her finger rested gently against the trigger of Crescent Rose, waiting for the right moment to strike.
From his platform, the Leader watched, still with that cold smile on his face. "Do you really think that you can take on all your friends at once?" he asked.
Ruby and Yang exchanged a look. "Do you have your cure darts ready?" Ruby whispered.
"How many do we have?" Yang whispered back.
"I think we have ten left."
"Better make them count then." Yang quickly aimed her arm at the nearest person, Jaune, and fired a dart at him. Unfortunately, Ren quickly darted in in the blink of an eye, swatting the cure dart down without it ever hitting anyone.
"I'm aware of the cure that you have created," the Leader told them. "Do you think I'd let you turn your friends back into their weaker, non-perfect forms?"
"We're going to have to get closer to cure them," Ruby realized.
"I'll follow your lead, Ruby," Yang told her.
Ruby nodded, scanning the room and looking for the best spot to make a stand. Most of the tables had already been scattered or smashed due to Thor's efforts. There wasn't any better place to move to. They would have to make their stand right there.
She quickly converted Crescent Rose into its scythe form. "Go!" She sprinted into her Semblance, quickly darting around Jaune and swinging her weapon into his back. At the same time, Yang lunged for Pyrrha, with the two colliding fists before trading blows furiously.
Ruby ducked under Jaune's meaty punch and sliced at his face. Before she could continue her attack though, someone pounced on her and slammed her to the ground. Ruby struggled as the creature pinned her, finding herself face to face with Blake, who snapped at her neck. Ruby, grunting with effort, drew her legs in and kicked her in the stomach. Blake flew off her with a distorted yowl.
Ruby winced. "Sorry, Blake!" It was an empty gesture, she knew, to apologize while her friend was being controlled by a megalomaniacal supervillain to try to kill her—but it still felt natural to say anyway.
Yang forced Pyrrha back and prepared to punch again, but Ren materialized out of nowhere and slashed into her side. Fortunately for her, her aura took most of the impact. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she blasted herself forward, trying to pummel Ren, only for him to vanish again.
Ruby was about to dash in to help her when Weiss swooped in, grabbing her by the shoulders and flying her up into the air. She yelped and kicked herself free, which caused her to fall back to towards the ground, where she was promptly blasted into the wall by Nora.
As she struggled to get back to her feet, Jaune charged her, slamming his shoulder into her, knocking her further back. She got back to her feet and slid out of the way as he charged her again.
As he barreled past her, Ruby decided to take a chance. She quickly switched her clip out of her rifle, replacing it with a clip filled with her cure darts. As Jaune turned to face her again, she jumped into the air and activated Petal Burst again, speeding until she was above Jaune.
She took aim right above him and fired a single dart straight into his head. Jaune let out a loud roar before his body began to glow green. He began to shrink down much like Janet had earlier, his form growing more and more human as he did so. In just a few seconds, he was back to his usual self, slumping face down on the ground, his sword clattering by his side.
Ruby breathed a quick sigh of relief. "That's one!" she called to Yang—right as Nora slammed her hammer fists into her side. She let out a cry as she was blasted through the air, hitting the other side of the room hard.
"Ruby!" Yang yelled.
Ruby got back to her feet with a groan. "I'm okay!"
Yang nodded briefly before ducking under several flying metal bars courtesy of Pyrrha. She delivered several punches to her chest and stomach before firing a blast from Ember Celica that knocked her back. But as she did, Blake slammed into her shoving her back several feet before Ren reappeared and delivered an uppercut that knocked her into the air.
But Yang recovered quickly, twisting around and firing a blast that propelled her back down, slamming directly into Ren and pinning him to the ground.
"Say ahh!" Yang quipped, pulling her metal arm back and preparing to fire a dart into Ren's neck to cure him. But Pyrrha flicked her hand and she was pulled off him, being dragged by her metal arm. Ruby quickly moved in to help, grabbing Yang's arm with one hand and slashing at Pyrrha with Crescent Rose with the other.
The sisters landed together and got back into fighting stances as their remaining friends circled them again. None of them seemed even tired from the fight. But a quick check on her gauntlet showed Ruby that her aura, as well as Yang's, had taken serious damage.
If they were going to last much longer, they needed a new plan—fast.
Lightning crackled in all directions as Thor battled Absorbing Man, who continued to laugh. "You think you can beat me, Thor?!" he challenged. "I'm as strong as you now! With the power of your hammer at my fingertips, no one will ever beat me again!"
Thor's eyes narrowed. "You are filled with nothing but boastful words, villains!" He swung Mjolnir, hitting him in the chest and knocking him straight into the air. As he flew up, the Asgardian launched himself above him before smashing him with his hammer, blasting him straight back into the ground.
The impact created a large crater and knocked several of the gamma monsters that were nearby—most of them having once been S.H.I.E.L.D. agents—off their feet. Thor flew down, Mjolnir crackling with lightning, ready to finish Absorbing Man off, but the villain stretched his arms out and blasted him with lightning, knocking him off course.
Thor landed well as Absorbing Man got back to his feet, smirking. "Enjoy tasting your own lightning, Avenger?" he mocked.
He ignored him and threw his hammer at him. The villain ducked under it and moved to attack, but Thor recalled Mjolnir, having it smack him in the back of the head on its way back into his outstretched hand.
Absorbing Man growled in frustration. "You can hit me all you want, Thor! But I'm as unbreakable as your hammer!"
Thor's eyes narrowed again as lightning crackled around Mjolnir. "Then, villain, let us test that theory!"
With a shout, he charged the villain yet again. He had to finish this fight soon to help the others.
The ground shook with each blow Hulk and Abomination dealt to each other. Windows shattered and doors blew in with each impact. Their fight had taken them away from the Cube itself and into a small town nearby. More gamma monsters—all of them having formally been the citizens of the town—lurked nearby, but none of them seemed interested in interfering with the battle between the two behemoths.
"You haven't changed a bit, monster!" Abomination roared. "Not even after years of being on the run from everyone!"
Hulk roared back and pummeled him in the face. The monster stumbled back several paces, rubbing his jaw before grinning. "Good," he grunted. "Strong as ever. That will make killing you even more satisfying!"
He picked up an overturned car and threw it straight at Hulk. He smashed through it with ease, but that gave Abomination enough time to tackle him. The impact sent them both completely through another building, landing on the other side of it. They rolled on the ground for a few seconds, with Hulk eventually ending up on top.
He began punching Abomination repeatedly in the face. But the villain drew his feet back and kicked him in the chest, launching him off him. As he flew back, Abomination leaped after him, grabbing him and throwing him back into the ground.
Hulk hit the ground hard, but rolled out of the way before Abomination slammed his fist right where he had just been a second ago. Regaining his footing, Hulk clapped his hands together, creating a shockwave that shattered every window before him. While it didn't hurt Abomination, it did cause him to move his arm up to shield his face.
This allowed Hulk to leap forward, pummeling Abomination into the ground and dragging him across the ground, tearing up pavement and asphalt alike before throwing him aside. He crashed into an overturned fuel tanker, which exploded instantly.
Hulk waited with anticipation as Abomination emerged from the fire, laughing. "Is that the best you can do?" he mocked. "I thought you were supposed to be a warrior. The Green Scar. The Champion of Sakaar. Yet you fight like the same weakling you've always been."
Hulk bared his teeth as his rage built up at the name of the planet he had been banished too. He could almost hear the roars of the crowds again. The blood dripping from the monsters he had to kill. The faces of his Warbound staring back him. The face…of his love.
He let out an ear splitting roar and leaped straight at Abomination. The villain grinned savagely and grabbed a flaming piece of metal, throwing it straight into Hulk's eyes. He bellowed in pain, temporarily blinded. Abomination then plowed into him, pinning him to the ground while grabbing another piece of twisted scrap metal and trying to force it to his throat. Hulk was barely able to move his hands up to block it, barely able to keep Abomination from slamming it down on his neck.
As the two struggled, Abomination flashed a toothy grin. "This is where you die, Hulk."
Yang struggled as Ren's tail squeezed her even tighter. "Little—help—here," she choked out.
"One second!" Ruby blasted Weiss out of the air before kicking off a leaping Blake and streaking straight towards Yang. She whacked Ren in the mouth with Crescent Rose, which caused him to yelp and let Yang go.
Ruby instantly helped Yang back to her feet. "We can't keep this up!" she exclaimed. "My Aura's running low!"
Yang quickly scanned the room. Their friends were still coming for them. They barely looked winded. And they were down to only half a dozen cure darts left. While they had managed to turn Jaune back to normal, their other attempts to get a cure dart into another one of their friends had been failures. They just couldn't get close enough to get a good shot. And the Leader seemed to be making sure to keep it that way.
Yang glared up at the Leader on his podium. Still watching her and Ruby fight for their lives against their friends. All with that cold smirk on his face. "We're just going to have to keep fighting!" she exclaimed, flipping a table up to block lightning blasts from Nora.
"Yang, our friends are going to be stuck like this if we can't get to that gamma dome generator!" Ruby reminded her.
Yang knew that Ruby was right. This battle was a distraction. The Leader was trying to buy as much time as possible. He knew that with both Thor and Hulk still in play, he could still lose. But if people were transformed permanently into monsters, he could still come out on top. They had to find the generator and destroy it—soon. But they couldn't do that while they were trapped in the mess hall.
She made a quick decision. "Then go find it!" she ordered.
Ruby took a step back. "What?!"
"Go!" Yang told her, taking the brief respite that she had to load her weapons again. "I'll cover you!"
"You can't take them all on by yourself!" Ruby protested.
Yang gave her a confident smile. "I've got this."
"No!" Ruby protested. "I'm not losing you again! I—I can't lose you again!"
Yang heard the pain in her voice. The thought of her being lost again was unbearable to her. "You're not going to lose me, Ruby," she assured her. "Just break the generator and we win."
Ruby hesitated, but then nodded. "Good luck!" she told her before sprinting into Petal Burst, streaking past the monsters and right for the nearest doorway.
The monsters all moved to follow her, but Yang fired a volley of missile rounds from Ember Celica which streaked past them all and slammed into the wall above the door, collapsing it right as Ruby darted through, sealing it shut.
Her friends all turned to look back at her as Yang marched forward, reloading once more. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked. "Party's just getting started."
A low chuckle came from the Leader. "Bravo, Miss Xiao Long," he complimented. "A noble sacrifice if I ever saw one. A pity it will be all for nothing."
Without warning, he suddenly dropped below his podium. Yang frowned in confusion. What was the Leader doing? Why did he—
The podium erupted as a large mech suit emerged from it. It was even bigger than one of Tony's suits, although this one had a clear fishbowl covering the top of the main body, where she could clearly see the Leader operating some levers.
Without warning, the mech's tentacle arms raised up and fired twin green blasts at her. Having no time to react, Yang was blasted far back into the wall. Her Aura shimmered briefly from the impact as she sank to the ground.
She was back on her feet as the Leader laughed. "If you will excuse me, I must attend to your sister." He turned the mechsuit around and fired more lasers at the blocked exit, blasting it apart and starting to march through.
"Don't you dare hurt my sister!" Yang yelled, blasting herself forward to try to stop him. But Weiss instantly blocked her path while Nora blasted her with more lightning, knocking her into another overturned table.
The Leader paused briefly in the doorway. "Finish her off," he ordered before leaving. The monsters that had once been her friends began to close in around her as she got back to her feet, her hair standing on end from the lightning blast.
She pounded her fists together in frustration and anger as they closed in around her. Five against one. Not great odds, especially given that the five were gamma enhanced mutants with incredible strength, speed and agility, and Yang was already down to half strength.
However, there was no way she was going to just roll over and die. She had to keep them occupied long enough for Ruby to destroy the generator. With any luck, she could take care of it before the Leader caught up to her.
She felt the built up energy from the fight course through her. Good. That was going to help her stay standing for longer, and she was going to need every advantage she could get.
Yang smirked and started walking towards them. "Okay guys," he said. "I'm sorry in advance for how much this is going to hurt. But I'm not going to hold back anymore." She pounded a fist into her palm and cracked her neck.
"So...who's first?"
Ruby ran as fast as she could down the hall, her heart pounding. She knew she had to hurry. Every second she wasted put Yang in more danger. But she didn't even know where to even start looking for it.
A few smaller gamma mutants blocked her path, hissing and snarling. Thinking quickly, Ruby fired her weapon under her, blasting herself up before channeling a quick second of Petal Burst to help propel her over the monsters. She then turned around and fired another shot that not only hit one of the monsters, but also propelled her faster down the hall.
She landed well and kept running. She had to keep ahead of everyone that was chasing her. She couldn't waste anymore time fighting them. She had to get to that generator and destroy it.
Ruby turned a corner and entered what was most likely the cell block. Every cell door was wide open. Who knew what sort of villains they had once held.
"Hello? Who's there?" Ruby skidded to a stop at the voice. She quickly turned to see a large man with green hair in one of the cells, staring right at her.
"Oh—it's, uh—Red Ranger," she quickly stammered, choosing to go with the name Yang had given her.
"You must be with those other kid heroes. I'm Doctor Leonard Samson, the head of this facility. You have to destroy the generator that's causing all this."
"That's what I'm trying to look for," Ruby told him, looking around for a card or something to free him.
"I think he's put it in the back of the Cube," Samson guessed. "That'd be the best place for it."
Ruby nodded, finding the control console for the cell and slashing it with Crescent Rose. The see through wall in front of the cell lifted, freeing Samson from the cell. "Can you take me there?"
"I'm on it." Samson's eyes narrowed. "Uh oh."
"What? What is it?" Ruby turned around and saw two ogre like monsters charging straight at them. From the looks of them , they looked like they had once been Tony and Steve.
"Change of plans," Samson decided. "Can you get back there on your own? Go down to the other end of the cell block, take a right, and then go straight ahead."
"What about you?" Ruby asked.
"I'll hold them off." Before Ruby could stop him, Samson took off running straight for Tony and Steve.
"Are you sure you're going to be-" Ruby started to call after him. But then she saw him deliver a powerful uppercut to Steve's jaw while tanking a blow from Tony at the same time before headbutting him.
"-okay," Ruby finished. "Right. Okay." She turned around and took off running again.
Following Samson's instructions, she ran down the hallways until she reached the door. Throwing the doors open, she ran out and skidded to a stop. Just a few yards away was a large, pyramid shaped metal object that was shooting green energy into the sky.
"There it is," she thought, taking aim with Crescent Rose. One shot should destroy the generator. One shot-
A web suddenly shot from above, latching onto Crescent Rose and yanking it from her grasp. She yelped, looking up to see a spider-human hybrid on the outside wall of the Cube, hanging near the roof. "Natasha!" she yelled in surprise.
Natasha hissed back at her. Ruby got into a fighting stance, but before she could do anything, the door back inside exploded into shrapnel, knocking her back. She rolled several feet away before coming to a stop. She struggled to her feet as she looked back to the new attacker—a large mech being piloted by the Leader.
"Did you really think that it would be that easy?" the villain mocked her. "Did you really think I wouldn't know what you were doing? I am the most brilliant mind the world has ever seen! You cannot out-think me! I know what you're doing before you even do it!"
Ruby got back into a fighting stance. "If you're the most brilliant mind on the planet, why are you hurting people?!" she countered.
"Hurting people?" The Leader laughed. "I'm perfecting them. An entire world made in my image."
"In your image?" Despite herself, Ruby couldn't help but giggle. "But you're pretty ugly."
The Leader snarled. "You joke now, but you won't be laughing when you're nothing more than a corpse!" Green lasers shot from his mech suit's clawed hands at her, forcing her to dash to avoid getting hit.
Her arm gauntlet began blaring an alarm at her. Her aura was running dangerously low. Chances were that it would be completely gone if she took another bad hit.
And without her weapon, she didn't stand a chance.
Lightning flashed in greater bouts of intensity as Thor continued his fight with Absorbing Man. Neither combatant was going to back down anytime soon. That much was obvious. There was only one way, Thor knew, that would end the fight quickly.
Slowly, he began to stop his attacks, focusing more on defending himself from Absorbing Man's blows, blocking each of them with Mjolnir, though still letting him hit him a few more times, grunting with pain with each hit.
It didn't take the villain long to notice what he was doing. "Fight back!" he demanded. "Come on, what are you, stupid?! Fight back!"
"I cannot," Thor answered calmly. "For I am concentrating."
"Concentrating? Concentrating on what?!"
Thor's eyes narrowed as he lifted his free hand. "You."
Absorbing Man snorted and, with his hands morphed into hammers, tried to smash them into Thor's head. But he suddenly froze in place. "Wh—what's going on?!" he demanded to know. "I can't move!"
"You were a fool to take on the essence of Mjolnir, villain," Thor responded, raising his hand so Absorbing Man rose into the air. "I alone control its power. No one else."
"No! Not again! This is how that bitch beat me! Not again!" Absorbing Man shouted and raged, but it was no use. He was stuck.
"You dare to challenge the God of Thunder, mortal?" Thor challenged. "Then face the consequences." He threw his hand up and the villain shot into the sky.
"I'll kill you for this!" Absorbing Man shouted. "Do you hear me?! I'll kill you! I'll-" He stopped when his gaze saw something in the distance. "Oh...shit."
Thor followed his gaze just as something large slammed into Absorbing Man.
Hulk struggled to force the jagged piece of metal that Abomination was pressing down on his throat off. Abomination himself was chuckling. "Give it up, monster," he growled. "Even after everything you've been through, I'm still stronger than you. You're as weak as your pathetic friends and your pathetic wife."
Hulk's eyes widened at the mention of them. Images flashed through his mind. Friends that he hadn't thought about in a long time.
Hiroim. Korg. Elloe. No-Name. His Warbound. Allies and friends forged through blood and steel. And Caiera. The love of his life. The one turned to ash when the warp core of his ship exploded due to the machinations of Miek.
Thinking about her again, all this time later—her death, and everything that came after it—just made Hulk even madder than ever. Especially with Abomination's words echoing in his head.
"NO!" With a massive, furious roar, Hulk shoved Abomination off him, sending him crashing through a building. Before he could even get back to his feet, Hulk was on top of him, punching him over and over with blow after blow.
"HULK! STRONGEST! THERE IT!" he bellowed. When Abomination tried to grab at his fist to stop him, Hulk stomped on his ankle so hard he heard it crack. Abomination howled in pain, but Hulk still wasn't done with him.
He grabbed Abomination by the arm and slammed him into the ground like a ragdoll multiple times, causing more buildings around them to shatter and collapse. When he was satisfied that he had beaten him enough, Hulk drew his arm back and threw Abomination back in the direction of the Cube miles away.
Without so much as an instant's hesitation, Hulk leaped after him, punching him in mid air again to keep his momentum going. Abomination could barely do anything to stop him. He was completely at the mercy of the Hulk at this point.
As they got closer, Hulk saw an object fly up into the air. Seeing what it was, he smiled coldly and punched Abomination one last time. This caused the villain to fly straight into Absorbing Man. The collision sent both rocketing back into the Cube, taking a chunk out of the roof of the building before vanishing behind it.
Hulk landed next to Thor. The Asgardian looked up at him. "Ho there, Hulk," he greeted, though he could tell that there was guilt in his eyes. As there should have been. "I welcome the assistance."
Hulk glared down at him. "Hulk do this for Earth. Hulk don't do this for Avengers."
Thor bowed his head slightly. "I understand. But we shall discuss this later. Our allies need help, and we need to ensure that the Absorbing Man and Abomination are defeated."
Hulk growled slightly. "Fine."
Yang rolled under Weiss' talons and fired a shot that blasted her into the ceiling. She then punched a charging Pyrrha in the face before flipping over her and firing another shot into a leaping Blake. She fell back with a shriek as Yang landed well and fired yet another shot behind her back into Pyrrha as she tried to get back up.
Ren materialized out of thin air and went to bite for her head, but Yang ducked under the bite and grabbed him by the shoulders, throwing him into the path of one of Nora's lightning blasts. He screeched in pain as Yang fired a volley of rockets from Ember Celica into his back, blowing him back even further.
As she quickly reloaded, Weiss flew in and grabbed her, trying to lift her away. But Yang quickly countered by flipping up, kicking her in the face before blasting herself away from her, delivering another flying kick to Blake in the process.
As she landed, she felt her metal arm being pulled by Pyrrha. She tugged back, trying to resist the magnetic pull, until an idea suddenly popped into her head. She quickly loaded her arm with one of the last cure darts she had left. Once she was ready, she stopped resisting, allowing the force to drag her faster to her.
Pyrrha had no time to react. Yang's metal fist collided with her face. At the same time, Yang fired the cure dart at point blank range, hitting her right in the cheek. Pyrrha screeched as her body glowed green like Jaune's had as the gamma energy left her. Once she was back to normal, she slumped to the ground, out cold.
There was no time to celebrate though, for the remaining four were already swarming her, slashing at her with claws and pummeling her with claws and fists, forcing her to retreat further.
"Come on, Ruby," she thought. "Hurry it up. I can't hold them much longer." She fired another few shots at Ren, but failed to see Nora before it was too late. She whacked her in the side of the head, sending her flying into the wall.
Yang's head spun as she got back to her feet. "That all...you got?" she groaned.
Blake let out a cat like hiss and ran at her. Yang braced herself as her friend pounced at her.
CLANG! Someone slid into Blake's path, blocking her with his shield and trying to pin her to the ground.
"Jaune?!" Yang asked in astonishment.
Jaune struggled against a pinned Blake. He looked exhausted, barely conscious even. "Could use...some help," he grunted.
Yang shook off her weariness and shock and grabbed another dart, dashing over and stabbing the dart into Blake's neck. She hissed again as the effects of the gamma energy began to wear off.
"You okay?" Yang asked, helping Jaune back up.
He swayed slightly. "I can barely stay on my feet, and our friends are monsters trying to tear us to shreds."
"Okay...yeah, dumb question."
Weiss, Ren, and Nora all let roars and ran straight at the pair.
The Leader fired more laser blasts as Ruby desperately dashed around them. "You cannot possibly stop me!" he exclaimed. "My genius is absolute!"
Ruby slid across the ground. "You're still a terrible shot!" she pointed out.
The Leader snarled in frustration, firing several more laser blasts, forcing her to run again.
Things weren't looking good. Without her weapon, she had no way to take out the Leader's mech suit, let alone destroy the generator. And she couldn't keep running forever. She had to try to get Crescent Rose back from Natasha's web. It was her only chance.
Coming up with a quick plan, Ruby ran straight at the Leader, dodging the lasers at every turn as they blew holes in the ground around her. With a quick burst of her Semblance, she shot up to his mech suit, jumping up and grabbing onto one of the arms before swinging herself up to the fishbowl helmet and standing upright on it.
The Leader looked up at her and growled, maneuvering the levers inside to swing the arms up towards her. Ruby leaped off at the last second, launching straight for the webbed up Crescent Rose.
The spider-like Natasha swung a few legs at her, but missed by inches, allowing Ruby to grab Crescent Rose and fire a shot, which propelled her away from the web.
As she sailed through the air, Ruby angled herself so she was aiming right for the generator. But before she could pull the trigger, Natasha shot a web at her, latching onto her back and pulling her back to the web. She yelped and struggled, but it was no use. She was stuck.
The Leader let out a laugh. "Did you really think you could save the world all on your own?" he mocked. "You're nothing more than a silly little girl."
Ruby pulled with all her might, trying desperately to pull herself free. But she was stuck fast as the Leader aimed his mech's hand straight at her, already charging up with energy. "And now...you will die."
A piercing scream echoed through the air. Ruby tried to turn her head in its direction, but she couldn't see it. The Leader, however, clearly could. "No!" he yelled, eyes widening in shock and fear.
CRASH! Something crashed through the top of the building and collided with the Leader's mech suit, knocking him straight to the ground. The impact through the building also so happened to smash the spot where Natasha's web was attached to the building, freeing Ruby.
She hit the ground hard on her side. Pain shot up through her ribs, but she ignored it. Seeing her weapon a few feet away, she crawled for it, fighting through the pain Her fingers grasped it, trying to pull it back to her.
"No!" The Leader's mech hand grabbed onto her foot, pulling her back. "You will not undo my work!"
Ruby's eyes narrowed, getting her fingers around the trigger and aiming at the generator. "This is for Earth!" she cried, pulling the trigger!"
"NO!" the Leader screamed as the blast shot through the generator. It began to spark as a harsh whine sounded from it. The whine louder and more high pitched before finally, the generator exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere.
The instant the generator exploded, the green hue in the sky due to the gamma dome faded away. Natasha let out a screech as she transformed back into a human before slumping to the ground.
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. The plan had worked. They had won.
The green hue suddenly vanished in the mess hall. The moment it had, Weiss, Ren, and Nora all screamed and collapsed to the ground, their bodies returning to normal.
Yang finally let her guard down. "Ruby did it," she said aloud. "She got the generator."
Jaune sank to his knees, dropping his sword and shield. "Go get her," he panted.
"Jaune? Are you-"
"I'm fine," he interrupted. "Go get Ruby. I'm just...going to rest for a minute."
Yang nodded. "We'll be back, Jaune." Giving him a nod, she sprinted from the room.
"I'm coming for you, Ruby."
As Ruby got back to her feet, the Leader's mech suit sparked to life again, allowing him to pry himself from the unconscious bodies of the Absorbing Man and Abomination. "You!" he bellowed. "You ruined everything!"
Ruby cocked Crescent Rose and aimed it at the Leader. "Samuel Sterns...you're under arrest," she said.
The Leader laughed. "Do you think I'm scared of you? Look at you! You can barely stand! You may have destroyed Gamma World, but you won't live long enough to celebrate it-"
BOOM! The ground shook as Hulk landed behind the Leader, glowering at him. The Leader gulped, turning around to face his mortal enemy.
"You!" he growled. Hulk, in response, grabbed the mech's arms and ripped the entire suit in half. The Leader dropped to the ground with a grunt.
"It's over," Hulk grunted, tossing the mech suit halves aside. The Leader tried to crawl away, but with a crackle of lightning, Thor landed in his path.
"Surrender, villain!" he demanded. The Leader turned away tried to crawl the other way, but Ruby converted Crescent Rose into its scythe form and slammed its tip in the ground inches from his head.
Finally giving up, the Leader flopped down on his back. "None of you understood," he quietly spoke. "It was going to be beautiful. A perfect world made from my own image."
"That's the problem," Hulk said back to him. "You're ugly."
"Hey, I already used that line," Ruby told him. Hulk just gave her a look in response.
"Ruby!" Ruby looked towards the door as Yang ran out. She looked battered and bruised, but otherwise she looked okay.
"Yang!" Ruby ran towards her, embracing her sister, letting out a yelp when Yang squeezed her side too tight.
"Oh! Sorry-" Yang quickly broke away. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Ruby answered, raising her goggles up onto her forehead. "Just got a little banged up. What about you?"
Yang waved her off. "Nothing I won't heal from. The others are back to normal too. You did it. You saved the world."
"No," Ruby countered. "We saved the world."
"Huzzah!" Thor raised Mjolnir into the air, shooting lightning into the sky. "Victory is ours!"
Hulk grunted. "Make sure they don't break out again." He started walking away from the group.
"Hulk, wait-" Ruby tried to say. But Thor gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Let him go, Ruby Rose," he told her gently.
"But he helped save the world," Ruby protested. "He's a hero!"
"Aye," Thor agreed. "But the Hulk is on his own path now. And despite all he's done to save lives...others will never let the world forget all the damage he's done."
"But-"
"He's right, Ruby," Yang said. She looked back at the Hulk. "But I have a feeling we'll be seeing him again someday."
Hulk stopped and looked back at them, giving Yang a savage looking grin. "You're all right, blondie." With a final curt nod at her, Hulk leaped into the air, jumping away from the Cube and eventually leaping out of sight.
"Why do we have to go through all these tests?" Nora complained. "We're fine!"
"The S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors just want to make sure there are no lasting side effects from the Leader's gamma energy," Jaune reminded her. "I'm sure we'll be done here soon."
Nora let out an annoyed huff.
"That was...quite an unsettling experience," Ren commented.
"It's not one that I'd want to do again," Blake agreed.
"We were lucky that you two were able to find a way to counter the Leader's dome and save us all," Pyrrha said to Ruby and Yang.
"Thank the Hulk," Yang responded. "Without his knowledge of gamma radiation, we'd have been turned into monsters like everyone else."
"I still wish the Hulk could've stayed," Ruby commented.
"He's kind of wanted by the entire world, Ruby," Weiss reminded her. "If he had stayed, those Hulkbusters you told us about would've been all over him."
Ruby opened her mouth to respond, but that was when Agent Coulson entered the medical tent. "Director Fury wants to see you," he told Ruby and Yang.
Ruby and Yang exchanged looks, but followed Coulson out of the tent and past the other emergency tents set up around the grounds of the Cube to care for those in the area that had been effected by the gamma dome. Fury was waiting for them in a shadowy area, hands folded behind his back.
"The world owes you both a debt of gratitude," he said once they had arrived. "You stopped the Leader from completing his plan, and there doesn't seem to be any ill side effects from those affected by it. Thanks to you, Thor, and the Hulk, we also managed to recapture most of the prisoners of the Cube, including the Leader, Abomination, and the Absorbing Man. Though a few villains remain at large, the damage isn't nearly as bad as it could've been." He turned around to face them both. "Not bad."
"Uh—thank you?" Ruby stammered.
"Now, there is the small matter of a certain assault made on forces led by Thunderbolt Ross," Fury went on.
"Hey, they started it," Yang protested. "You can't arrest us for doing what had to be done to get the Hulk to help."
"Relax," Fury told her. "Ross is furious, but he'll calm down. In the end, all he cares about is catching the Hulk. He especially won't care about two kids from another planet. You both did exceedingly well today." He turned around and started walking away. "I'll be keeping my eye on you. There may be a mission in the future where S.H.I.E.L.D. could use you."
"To translate," Coulson clarified, "he says 'good work and thank you for saving the world.'"
Yang elbowed Ruby's shoulder. "Hear that, sis? We're heroes."
Ruby managed to smile at that. They really were heroes. They had saved the world. Sure, it was with the help of other heroes that were a million times stronger than they were, but they still played a big roll. And it was Ruby herself that fired the shot that destroyed the gamma dome.
"Once your friends have been cleared, you're free to go," Coulson informed them. "Get some rest. You've certainly earned it."
Remnant HQ—November 13th
Yang found Ruby sitting on the roof of Remnant HQ. "Hey," she said.
"Hey, Yang," Ruby responded.
"You okay?" she asked, sitting next to her.
"Fine," Ruby responded. "The others settling back in okay?"
"They're fine."
"Good."
The two were quiet for a long moment. Then, Yang sighed. "Ruby...about what I said back on the Quinjet...about Mesmero. I'm...I'm sorry."
Ruby looked over at her. "Yang-"
Yang cut her off. "I know that thinking about him is...tough. And I...may have overreacted. I just want to make sure that you're okay. You're still my little sister. And I'm always going to do what it takes to make sure you're safe."
"Yang-"
"I promise I'm not going to go after Mesmero," Yang interrupted. "Unless he somehow breaks out of jail and threatens you again..." She slammed a fist into her palm. "Then I'll make sure he regrets it."
Ruby looked at her, then wrapped her arms around her sister. "I love you, Yang," she breathed.
Yang gave her a tight squeeze. "I love you too, Ruby."
Eventually, Ruby pulled away. "Hey...Yang?" There was clearly something still on her mind.
"What is it?" Yang asked.
"You...don't think the Avengers are hiding anything else...do you?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Just...some things that T'Challa was saying. And some things that Bruce said."
Yang tilted her head. "I'm...not sure," she admitted. "But if they are...hopefully it's not as bad as what they did to the Hulk."
Suddenly, Jaune burst out of the elevator to the roof. "You guys should come down," he said. "You're on the news!"
"What?" Ruby asked as she and Yang stood up.
"Yeah—come on!"
They rode the elevator down quickly, coming out into the main room. "Phyllis, play the broadcast," Jaune ordered.
"Affirmative," Phyllis answered. A second later, the TV lit up with a new broadcast.
"...and the world has been saved from the Leader's plans to turn us all into gamma irradiated monsters," the newscaster was saying. "While sources have confirmed that the Avenger Thor was on the scene, others claim to have seen the former Avenger turned fugitive known as the Hulk on the scene. Also apparently on the scene were two new heroes, identified as Red Ranger and Emberfist, who played major rolls in stopping the villain." As she spoke, images of both Ruby and Yang in their hero costumes appeared.
The Remnantians all let out cheers. "You're famous now!" Nora exclaimed.
Yang gripped Ruby's shoulders, letting the praise sink in about their heroic actions. But in the back of her mind, she was still thinking about what Ruby had said.
Were the Avengers still hiding something? And if they were...what was it?
Elsewhere
In a secret location, a group of workers dressed in all yellow armor and helmets moved carts filled with scrap metal and materials into a large room, where eve more workers were assembling the framework of something large and circular. Armed guards, also dressed in the same yellow armor, patrolled the area.
Roman Torchwick stood on a balcony overseeing all of this. He took a long drawl of his cigar as he observed the work. So far, everything was going to plan. As long as the organization he had recruited kept providing him with the right materials and everything kept going on schedule, the project would be completed on time.
The door behind him opened and Neo appeared, a phone in her hands. This was apparently the source of communication on this primitive world. "What is it now?" Roman asked her.
Neo raised the phone and hit play, showing off a news broadcast from a few minutes prior. "...apparently on the scene were two new heroes, identified as Red Ranger and Emberfist, who played major rolls in stopping the villain."
"Why should I care about heroes that-" Roman stopped when he saw the images of the Red Ranger and Emberfist flash across the screen. His jaw fell open, the cigar falling from his mouth.
His shock quickly turned to rage. It was impossible. It couldn't have been her. She was supposed to be dead! But he knew that red cloak anywhere.
With a growl, he grabbed the phone and threw it to the ground, smashing it with Melodic Cudgel. He then took a deep breath. "Find her," he ordered. "Watch her. If she gets too close to our operation...take her down."
Neo nodded and walked away. Roman turned back to the balcony, looking down at the project once more.
"Have your fun now, Little Red," he thought. "But try to interfere with my plans again...and it will be the last thing you do."
And so we reach the end of the first arc of Act II. And there's a lot of stuff to take away from this.
For starters, I know a lot of people were hoping for some permanent changes for some of the RWBY characters, but the thing is that I can't really justify any significant changes to the RWBY characters and say that normal characters like Iron Man or Black Widow get off without any, especially given that they spent about the same amount of time in the gamma dome. Plus, the overall exposure time was probably a little over twelve hours maximum. So while it would be cool to see some permanent changes to have some lasting consequences...I couldn't think of any logical way how that would work.
But there is still a lasting consequence to all this: the characters are starting to question the Avengers. And while they don't know yet that Hank Pym was responsible for the creation of Ultron...they could be getting closer to the truth.
Fury's words at the end of the chapter are certainly true. There will be a time coming up where S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to use them for something. But that's still a little ways away. And let me tell you-that arc is going to be wild.
And then there's Roman. The ending scene with him is to show that he now knows that Ruby is on Earth. And as you can see, he's not too happy that Little Red is once again potentially going to spoil his plans. But what is he planning? What is he building? And who are the weird yellow beekeepers helping him? Okay, that last question is pretty obvious, but still-what is he up to? While we're still a long way away from him revealing himself to RWBY and JNPR, he will most definitely be lurking in the shadows for a while.
The next chapter may not come until December. With NaNoWriMo in November, most of my writing time will be focused on my novel, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to work on this story. Of course, I said the same thing last year, and I managed to get I think an entire arc done at the same time, so...yeah.
But anywho, that's all from me. Until next time, this is Guest 1138, signing off.