Avengers: Age of Remnant

by free man writer

There's always a story to be told. A story of heroism overcoming the most daunting of odds and challenges. A tale we've seen before and one that needs to be told to its end. The beginning of a new tale. A new age. An Age where Remnants paved the way for heroes. Reboot of Avenging Remnant, co-written/created with Jebest4781 and BulletStormX.

11. Are We Ready For This?

Thanks for all the reviews folks, MK Warrior, glad to see you've caught up to this one and are getting into it like you have with Infinite Wars.

Lexi, mah girl, you get another shoutout cuz you're awesome and appreciate readers like you.

Motivates my ass a great deal to write these stories and keep me going no matter what. Something to deliver to those who always get what me and my comrades are going for, flaws and all.

Right then, on with the show.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.

Avengers Age of Remnant Chapter 11: Are we ready for this?

It was a calm, tranquil afternoon in the academy of Beacon.

An air of serene silence hung in the corridors of the school, the prelude to the undoubtedly hectic and chaotic school year to come in the next few days.

Dorms had already been prepared as was the curriculum.

Save for one or several, depending on the perspective.

The curriculum that would be conducted by Earth's, or rather now, Remnant's Mightiest Heroes.

The Avengers were gathered in their personal quarters with all in attendance, including Tony via holo-transmission.

"So, throwing them into a forest, eh?" Stark remarked, looking over the planned initiation for the new Huntsmen and Huntresses in training. "Can't deny that caffeine addict, he doesn't lack style and creativity in endangering children. Ever do something like that, Cap?"

Captain America snorted, shaking his head.

"We never put kids through something like this." He smirked. "In my day, it was worse."

"Stop the presses, Cap said a joke." Sam said in faux-disbelief, getting a deadpan look from the good Captain, his "wingman" grinning back at him.

The others snickered though still had their concentration on the work before them.

Pietro let out a strained chuckle, tussling his own hair.

"Never thought of doing this." He commented, looking at the paper he held of their planned curriculum as if it were an alien object.

"Lesson planning?" Clint asked though he knew that was the case as he did not look up from his file where he was jotting down some notes.

"Yeah." The speedster slumped back in his seat. "I don't ever plan for anything, well… never for something like this. How are we supposed to be teachers? Aren't we still training Avengers?"

"You know that's just a technicality, right?" Tony rhetorically said. "You guys are "training" under Cap and by that he's just showing you guys some fancier moves cause his mind works like that."

Steve let out an amused 'hmph' at that, taking a piece of paper Sam held out to him.

"Wouldn't Clint qualify as the best teacher for this type of job?" Wanda asked, having several books floating around her on tips for education. She looked a bit frazzled but managed to maintain her composure being studious in her efforts to become a teacher to the best of her ability.

Clint snorted, shaking his head. "At SHIELD, I was never an instructor. Only was one with my kids."

"And why not?"

"Not many agents decide to take up my kind of field."

"And that is?"

The archer silently gestured his eyes down and around the group.

"True, not everyone can teach someone how to be an Avenger." Sam stated wryly, crossing his arms.

"What about you, Mr. Wilson?" Peter asked, hanging upside down, book in hand on the subject of Dust. "Didn't you have those therapy sessions back home helping out Veterans?"

"That's different. I was a trauma counselor and these teens will undergo trauma of the teen puberty variety. Something you're already familiar with." Falcon replied, scrunching up his face. "And just call me Sam, kid. Mr. Wilson makes me sound like I'm Stark's age."

"Bescuse me?" Tony said in an affronted manner. "I'll have you know despite me being biologically older than old man winters over here, I'm still in with the cool and hip youth culture of not one but two planets, thank you very much."

"Cartoons don't count, Tony." Barton idly said, checking over one of his ideas with a squinty-eyed face.

"Neither does listening to their music." Pietro tacked on. "ACDC?"

"Yeah, the hip and cool still listen to it." Stark was defensive. "You telling me kids like Spidey here don't appreciate a good heavy rock and roll riff?"

"I like ACDC." Peter innocently said.

Tony gestured to him in a "see?" manner.

The rest of the team rolled their eyes at the childish antics of one of the founding members of the Avengers, resuming their work until an idea came to Steve's mind.

"Hmmm." He hummed aloud, taking several curriculum ideas from everyone, piling them together.

"What's up, Steve?" Sam asked, glancing over at him as Rogers stood up.

Cap held up the selection of papers with a knowing look. "Something I think we keep forgetting is we're in a school. Filled with teachers. With years of experience."

"Yeah… and?"

"Have any of you considered asking them for advice?"

The rest of the team stared at the super soldier while Tony shook his head. "Steve, you do know who you're talking to, right? The only advice I take is from Pepper and Rhodey and I usually take twelve percent into account."

"But what can they advise us in?" Wanda questioned. "This isn't a typical high school. They teach kids how to fight monsters, not do mathematics?"

"And we have a lot of combat experience already." Pietro confidently said.

"Actually they do teach math here… and all the other subjects." Peter spoke up.

"They do?" Said a surprised younger twin.

"What? You thought it'll be like Harry Potter where it's a straight-up supernatural-based curriculum the entire time once admitted?" Asked the Web-slinger. "No. They don't want to outright stop with the general education and not make the eventual graduates outright dependent on the main field of work; unlike the Harry Potter world."

"That is a good point." Pietro remarked, rubbing his chin. "I was never a school guy but not teaching basic education was always weird in those books."

"You're looking at it logically or nitpicky." Wanda countered.

As the youngest members of the team chattered on, the older teammates conversed with Steve.

"-And besides, Atlas is more of a military school than the other ones." Tony contributed.

"I imagine your father would be slapping himself for not throwing you in one of your rebellious years. And look where you're at now." Rogers said with an amused smirk.

"It was either that or boarding school, but either would've dampened my intelligence."

"Uh, huh."

"Oh please, Rogers, you know that much is at least true. Either is like Summer Camp, throwing one's kids there just so they don't have to deal with them for weeks. Those particular schools are far worse in comparison."

Steve only shook his head, turning to leave. "Still, it's always important to ask for other perspectives. Training kids to be heroes ain't something we've ever done before but everyone here has been doing it for years. Some pointers are always a start."

With that, Cap left the room, walking through the many halls and corridors of Beacon.

He peeked into several door windows that led into classrooms, finding them empty until he found someone in one of the rooms.

It was a sizable room with multiple rows of seats that elevated upwards and in the center was a small arena. Standing in the center of said arena, surrounded by holo-screens was a blonde woman close to Steve's age with ovular glasses, green eyes, light blond hair and a riding crop held in one of her hands.

"Glynda." He called out to her, making the Combat instructor of Beacon turn to him.

"Ah, Mr. Rogers." She kindly greeted him, getting him to shake his head.

"You do remember we just call each other by our names, right?" He said good-naturedly, jumping up to the arena.

"Ah, yes." Goodwitch cleared her throat. "Apologies, Steve. Force of habit."

"Politeness isn't a bad force of habit."

The Beacon teacher blinked at that before smiling lightly, clearing her throat a moment later.

"Can I help you with something, Steve?"

"Actually, yes you can. I was looking for some assistance with this." Steve held up the paperwork he brought with him and held it out for her to take.

She took a moment to look it over, a small silent "ah" coming from her.

"Your curriculum." Glynda noted, flipping through the papers. "I'm surprised you opted for an old-school approach of writing them down."

"Call me old-fashioned." Steve dryly said. "Least that's what I'd say. Tony on the other hand…"

Glynda snorted at that, already having had enough of an interaction with the billionaire superhero to get a gander at the hyperactive chatterbox he can be. She silently read through all the notes, ideas, courses, everything that the Avengers thought of for their uniquely designed class.

She hummed at a few notes and ideas in particular, musing on their application and how it would be implemented as a lesson.

"Interesting." Goodwitch said aloud. "I haven't even considered some of these as lessons. Though I do agree with the rotating team dynamics. Survival out on the frontier is a definite must. I believe Vacuo is the only academy that implements such lessons. These are all rough outlines but the potential is there. I'll be sure to give you pointers."

"Much appreciated, ma'am."

Glynda arched a brow at that, Steve realizing what he said.

"Glynda." He said apologetically, earning a satisfied smile from her.

"So what are you doing right now?" Steve asked, looking past her at the holo screens behind her.

She turned back to her original work, pointing at them. "Fine-tuning some last-minute preparations. Making sure everything is operational and nothing is out of place. Some new functions being built in, updates here and there."

Rogers silently nodded, looking on at her work until he spotted something.

It was a screen going over the instructions and preparations for the initiation into Beacon.

"Glynda."

"Mmm?"

"I've been having some thoughts about the initiation."

She glanced at him briefly, looking back at her work. "Being…"

Steve stepped forward, pointing out one of the small clips playing that displays what the new students will have to go through. "Springboards into the forest? Who thought of that?"

Glynda frowned at that, crossing her arms in thought. She swayed back and forth on that matter for a few seconds. "Can't recall. One of my predecessors, no doubt. Why do you ask?"

Steve had his head bob left and right. "Let's say there could be some upcoming students who might not have the best means of landing strategies or are rather limited to them. Hypothetically speaking."

Goodwitch was silent, her expression conveying for Steve to continue.

"I get the factor that the upcoming Huntsmen and Huntresses need such experience, but what if something is impeding them from enacting landing strategies at the initiation? I can imagine there'd be problems such as concussions, broken bones, or worse."

"That's what Aura is for." She plainly said.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Don't always assume with that. Aura can't defend oneself from everything and you should know that."

Glynda paused at that, recalling her own past adventures where aura could only do so much. She mulled it over in her head, glancing over at the mechanism for the springboard that was used so many times before.

"Also if I recall looking at the details, the Emerald Forest is filled with Grimm. That seems a bit of an extreme first test.

"They are to be trained Huntsmen and Huntresses to take down Grimm, Mr. Rogers." Now Glynda's tone was sharp. "I believe you yourself spoke of enduring trial by fire when you participated in a war back on your homeworld, no?"

"That was war, Glynda." Steve pointedly said. "Life or death for men and women without abilities."

Glynda's expression was one of understanding now. "I know you are only thinking about the safety of the students. The section the initiation is to take place is blocked off from the rest of the general forestation."

"You sure?" Steve murmured, looking at the outlined sector of Emerald Falls.

"Very sure."

"How can you be?"

"We have surveillance cameras installed. And this isn't the first time I've done this Steve. How else will we know who is paired up with whom for the team arrangements." Glynda shook her head. "Like I told you, not my first time. Believe me when I say this, Steve, I understand your concerns and all but this is not something we plan out of hand. This is a very serious test and a majority if not all of the students coming to Beacon already have combat experience and have fought Grimm on more than one occasion. We do not accept just anyone and know that there are dangers that come with an academy such as this one."

Steve was silent for a time, giving her a hard look before turning away. "I just want to be sure, is all. These kids may have experience fighting Grimm but at the end of the day, they're still kids. They don't know any better. Not yet at least."

Goodwitch's face softened and she subconsciously placed a hand on Rogers' arm.

"I understand your worries and concerns, Steve." She quietly said. "And if this is how you show it, I do believe Beacon has gained a promising new teacher that will help mold a strong new generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses, securing the safety of Remnant's future."

Hearing this, Rogers gave her an appreciative smile which she returned.

She then turned, swiping her hand down and dismissed all the holo-screens she had up.

"Come." The blonde woman abruptly instructed walking to the steps that led off the arena.

Steve lightly jolted back at this. "What?"

"Come along, Mr. Rogers." Glynda said in a more teacher-like manner. "You came to me looking for my instructions on your lessons and I shall endeavor to assist you in my free time. Though I do believe a nice lunch can benefit as I am famished."

Surprised by this, Steve found himself smiling all the same, quickly following after his fellow blond as the pair made their way over to the cafeteria.

Elsewhere on campus…

A young girl with jet-black hair was deeply engrossed in her book, her bow twitching with her eyes reading every word on each page without missing a single one.

"Tired of being cooped up here?"

"EEP!"

Blake Belladonna almost fell out of her bed at the sound of the voice, looking over to see Clint Barton leaning on the doorway, looking at her expectantly.

"How did you-"

"Master assassin." Barton said, thumbing to himself. "Or was at least before I became an Avenger. Still have the skills though, can't lose them at least."

Blake's eyes widen at hearing that, shivering at the thought of the man before her being an assassin. Though he may not look like it, one skilled enough with people and combat can understand that what he said was no lie.

He seemed like such a normal-looking fellow but that actually added to the idea of him being a Master assassin.

"So, this is what you've been doing since we brought you here." He commented, pulling up a chair next to her bed and seating himself. "Reading books, going to the library and then eating every now and then."

Belladonna stared at him in an accusatory manner.

"Have you been spying on me?"

"Yes." Clint said with a shrug. "I mean, it's hard not to "spy" on you when I've seen you go through this routine of yours since you got here. You do realize in a few days this little habit of yours is gonna have to end when ya get a team."

Blake frowned at that, shifting about on her bed uncomfortably.

"I know." She quietly said.

"You know but you're not showing it." Clint retorted.

"Why have you been spying on me?" She defensively asked.

"You call it spying, I call it keeping an eye on you." Barton shot back. "You wouldn't be the first in your situation I've come across."

The cat Faunus was unsure of how to respond to that, getting a dramatic sigh from the archer.

"I'm not here to interrogate you, kid. Nor am I here to say you're in trouble or anything like that. I just wanna make sure you're alright."

Blake was unsure of what to make of that. "Why would you think I would be in trouble?"

"I don't but you do." He emphasized, pointing at her. "It's written all over your face Blake. Ya gotta relax. I know what you did is not easy, not in the slightest. Turning on everything you ever knew and walking into a situation that's completely foreign and unfamiliar to you while trying to figure out what you're gonna do next, where you're even gonna go or how you'll reconcile with your past, if you can even manage to face it."

Now the Faunus was frightened by the Avengers' assessment as it was spot on.

All these thoughts have indeed been plaguing her mind and for someone she had only known for a short while to just read her like that…

It was a bit scary to hear all this.

"How… how would you even…" She stammered, trying to find her words.

"When your best friend is your starting example," He softly said. "And in the organization that you work in teaches you all about people, you learn to weed out the good from the bad."

"And what am I?" Blake murmured, having closed her book now, holding it to her chest.

"You're a kid who believed you were doing the right thing till you saw what it turned into." Barton said sympathetically. "And you chose to turn away from it to walk a different path." The smile he gave her made her heart clench up as it reminded her of her younger years. Through her eyes, it briefly flashed to that of her father looking down at her with that wide smile he had whenever he looked at her.

"So I think you're a lot better and stronger than most give you credit for." He finished softly, Blake feeling her eyes glisten for a moment.

She sniffled, rubbing her eyes for a moment, feeling a weight she hadn't realized she had gotten lifted from her shoulders. Though there was a lot that plagued her mind right now, knowing she had a chance here was no longer something that troubled her.

"Why?" She whispered.

"Hmmm?"

"Why say this? Why put your faith in me like this?"

"Why?" Clint said to himself, leaning back into his chair with his arms crossed. "Didn't I give you enough of a reason?"

"But you don't know me-"

"But I do." He interjected. "Cause I told ya before, you're not my first rodeo with a person in a situation they don't wanna be in anymore. You just needed a chance. And," He gestured to the room, more to the school as a whole. "Here you are. Your chance at a fresh start."

The Cat Faunus was at a loss at what to say, finding herself swept up by the bowman's words. This was certainly the last thing she expected from one of the men who came to get her out of the White Fang.

"Wh-I don't-"

"Look, you don't need to say or do anything… well just one thing." He got up, patting her shoulder. "Don't waste it. I have faith in you. So I know you won't let me down."

Hugging her book tighter, she felt a bit shy now given how much Clint reminded her of her dad right about now.

"Thanks." She quietly said. "I'll… I'll try."

"Try not to stay exclusive to just three rooms per day." Barton countered. "When you'll get a team, that means a lot of stuff in places you're not familiar with."

Now Blake gave him a flat look.

"I know, I'm not gonna be a recluse."

"Oh? Are ya now? You sure I don't need like a message on your scroll to remind you to-"

"I get it." Blake deadpanned, now remembering similar conversations of the same variety she had with her father when he was just like this. "When I get a team, I'll make friends."

"Ok now," Clint nodded in a patronizing fashion, causing her brow to twitch rapidly. "Just wanted to make sure. Friends being code for going out, hanging out, doing stupid things as teenagers and not planning a heist, robbing a train-"

By this point, Blake had now jumped from her bed and began pushing the man out of her room while he kept on talking, grating on her nerves.

Upon getting him out of his room, she slammed the door, leaning her back on it.

She let out a tired exhale, resting her head in her hands. Thinking over Barton's words, she was unable to hide the smile that developed on her face.

To have that kind of-

*knock knock*

"Blake?" Came the muffled voice of Clint from the other side of the door.

*Knock knock*

"Blake?"

And like that, whatever gratitude she felt towards the man died. He got the annoying dad act down a little too on point.

All the while…

The door opened to a specialized infirmary and in walked the Maximoff twins.

Their purpose for being here?

"Hiya, Newt." Pietro waved in greeting at the sole man in the room.

He stood beside a modified bed with multiple screens and contraptions around it. Resting on the bed was the Fall Maiden Amber who was in a deep sleep, having not reacted to the arrival of the twins.

"Pietro, Wanda," Newt Featherington greeted, the head smith of Beacon academy. "How are you two?"

"Well enough." Wanda said in return with a pleasant smile that fell slightly upon gazing at the sleeping Amber. "How is she?"

Newt smiled lightly at the Sokovian, holding up a datapad he had in his hands. "Better. Healing still takes time on such an injury but she is well on her way to a proper recovery."

"How's her back?" Pietro asked, standing next to Amber with a small frown doting his face.

"That's where most of the machine focused on." Featherington said, showing them an image of the healed arrow injury Amber once had on her back.

Wanda nodded, happy to see that. "Good, that's good."

"Has she woken up at all since?" Pietro said, glancing up at the Smith who shook his head.

"I'd rather she didn't and if she did, I may have missed it." Newt admitted. "This machine works best when the person in question is at rest. The body is in a relaxed state, allowing for greater optimization. If she does wake up, I do believe it to be very soon."

The younger of the twins nodded. "This is an amazing invention. You made it, yes?"

"Years of work and effort." The smith proudly said, patting a side of the machine. "It broke so many times when I had the initial prototype built. Just wasn't functioning right but now, I hope this will spread to all hospitals in Remnant."

The speedster snorted. "You should talk with Stark about that. Marketing and branding and all. He'll have it done sooner than you'd think."

Newt pondered for a moment or two. "Maybe I'll consider it. For now, I'm still trying to perfect this as best as possible."

"Mmrph."

The trio froze upon hearing this, eyes snapping down to Amber whose head shifted about before her eyes slowly began to open.

"Wow…" Pietro said aloud, not noticing her wince at the volume. "Talk about timing."

Amber began moving around more and Newt was immediately by her side, hand on her shoulder.

"Easy there Amber, easy." He quietly said. "No sudden movements, just take your time."

"Do you need any-"

"There's a water bottle right there Wanda if you would be so kind."

With a quick application of her telekinesis, the bottle of water situated on the table on the other side of the room flew into her hands and was given to the doctor.

Gently cupping the back of her head, Newt put the bottle up to Ambers' lips, having her slowly drink the water.

She let out a croaked thank you, her vision still a bit of a blur as she gazed around her.

Once her sight had cleared up, she was greeted by the faces of Wanda, Pietro and Newt.

It took her a moment to register where she was until she focused on the speedster.

"Pietro." Amber softly said with a small smile. "It's you."

"Well, glad to know you remember my devilishly handsome face." Pietro jokingly boasted, stroking his stubble.

Wanda flicked the side of his head which he ignored, making Amber chuckle slightly before wincing in pain.

The twins flinched at that, the older of the two quickly apologizing.

"It's alright, you two." She softly said, taking a moment to look around. "Where am I?"

"Beacon Academy." Newt answered straight away. "You've been here for some time now. Thanks to Pietro and Wanda here, they managed to bring you in time to avert the damage done to your body. Their timely rescue of you means you'll still be able to walk and have a full recovery."

Amber's eyes widened at that, glancing over to a bashful Pietro and a deadpanning Wanda, her gaze being directed at the doctor.

"Did you have to say it like that, Newt?"

He looked somewhat apologetic. "Sorry, my doctoral habit of mine."

"It's alright, Wanda." Amber murmured. "I'm just glad I'll be able to get back to full strength."

"We just need to make sure that whatever got inside you is properly wrung out." Newt stated. "When you got injured, what do you recall?"

Amber frowned at that, thinking hard back to the memory of the time she had been attacked.

"I remember an arrow hitting my lower back." She winced and squirmed, a phantom pain springing up. "But… I felt something else from that arrow. Like my entire body was shutting down and-"

"I see," The Beacon smith held a deep frown, looking over the data on his Scroll. "Well, my dear, I do not wish to alarm you any further but the truth of the matter is owed to you. That arrow that pierced your lower back was laced with the essence of Grimm, more specifically, a parasitic version of Grimm that would have poisoned and destroyed your body had it not been for these two here."

"Newt." Wanda now admonished, not exactly comfortable with telling Amber all this.

"I'm sorry, Wanda." He earnestly said, turning back to the Fall Maiden. "Thankfully, you have nothing to worry about with the Grimm anymore. With my efforts and Oobleck's instructions, the parasite was removed and no permanent damage was left. All that remains will undoubtedly be a sense of discomfort as your body reacclimates to its usual self. Your Maiden powers should assist in that regard but no drastic movements or utilization of your power. Let yourself rest naturally and let it all come back to you."

Amber smiled up at him. "Thanks doc."

Newt chuckled, shaking his head. "That would be Doctor Oobleck. I'm just the smith of Beacon."

"Who was responsible for saving Amber." Wanda spoke up. "Come now, at least take some credit."

Pietro, all the while, focused on the young woman in bed, leaning close to her.

"How are ya really feelin', Amber?" He softly asked.

She glanced over at the speedster, shooting him an appreciative look.

"I'm fine, Pietro." She murmured. "I'm just… tired. I want to move, but…"

"You're still recovering from your injury. You're confined to the bed until you're all fixed up." Newt all but ordered.

Amber didn't really have room nor a want to complain. She felt an ache in her back as did the rest of her body. She flexed her fingers experimentally, lifting her arm up.

"How does it feel?" Wanda asked.

"At least I can feel." Amber remarked, a dry laugh coming out. "Oum knows what may have actually happened had it not been for the two of you."

"Let's try to imagine that and stay in reality."

"Is there anything you want? Hungry? Thirsty for something else?" Pietro asked, Amber adopting a thoughtful look.

"Well… I am feeling a bit peckish for a sandwich. Any kind really."

Pietro had a wide grin upon hearing that. "Then I have just the thing for ya. Sit tight."

And with that, the fastest Avenger zipped off, leaving the three of them in the room.

"And there he goes again." Wanda dryly said, hearing Amber giggle.

"I think it's sweet." She happily said, a wide smile for the pair to see.

Newt 'hmphed' with a small grin whilst Wanda held a knowing brow in her direction.

Seeing this, Amber's cheeks colored slightly, the Fall Maiden coughing into her hand before she leaned back into her bed.

-Scene Cut-

Over at Atlas, a workshop was filled with several busy individuals.

Though the typical workload was put on hold with discussions.

One of which didn't start out with scientific discussions and theory or engineering, but something… less exciting.

"Come on, Heimy, are you seriously not annoyed that you weren't there for her coming out party?"

"I am a teacher first, Mr. Stark." Professor Heimerdinger airily responded, helping adjust some gears with Viktor at his station. "My students come first and that was a moment meant for Pietro and his daughter."

Tony rolled his eyes at that. "Yeah, but as one of her uncles, you should've been there."

"Didn't you rush off to Menagerie of all places?" Jayce asked, looking up from the contraption he had constructed.

"Yes but that was for a good cause." Tony indignantly said, inspecting a cragged blue glowing sphere. "I betcha Ironwood did that just to spite me. Pietro would've waited."

Viktor chortled at the man's behavior.

Tony Stark was like Pietro Polendina and Heimerdinger in many ways. Brilliant, genius, innovative and ahead of his time. And like the two, had a giddy excitement for new inventions and discoveries.

But he was quite childish with his wants and demands as well as what annoyed him.

"Still, I cannot believe what Professor Polendina accomplished." Jayce commented, leaning on his desk in thoughtful awe. "To create a being and imbue it with a soul. He created a new form of life. That's amazing."

"It was a team effort."

"Oh come now, Tony, you came in at the last second." Heimerdinger chided jokingly.

"I still helped." Stark petulantly said. "Isn't that right, Friday?"

"As my creator, I am inclined only to agree with you, boss." Said the synthetic female voice of Tony's personal AI.

Something that still amazed the three Atlesians to this day.

To think that this newcomer had created something as advanced as Artificial Intelligence to the degree that Friday possessed. Many a scientist on Remnant could have only dreamed of such a thing.

Yet he came out of nowhere with it.

"Has Penny met Friday?" Heimerdinger asked with Stark nodding.

"Yeah, should've seen her face." The Avenger said with a chuckle. "Eyes literally had stars in them. Like outright. Think that was a function of her optics or maybe it was Polendina's idea. It was still hilarious."

"Professor Polendina was always one of putting personality into everything he made." Jayce said with a laugh. "He made a cleaning mech that sang all the time."

"Sounds like my kind of mech. Is it still operational?"

"He keeps it in his personal lab." Viktor answered, holding up a glowing core for Heimerdinger to look at and nod approvingly.

"Guess I know what I'm bugging him about next time."

The others rolled their eyes and chortled at this.

It was still so strange to them that this bizarre man had so quickly become a part of their group.

The moment Jayce and Viktor told him of their projects and plans, rather than laugh such an idea off, his eyes became ablaze with interest and a want to join in and help. His offering of Lien, which was a staggering amount, was also a shock to be sure.

"Say, I've been wondering," Stark said aloud. "I know Pete and Heimy are the premiere science guys with you two next up to bat but ain't there anyone else here that could've helped you guys with this? Cause it feels like it's only you two bigshots."

There was a moment of silence shared between the Atlesians, Heimerdinger mulling over Tony's question with a slight downturn of his brilliant mustache.

"There was… one scientist amongst us." Heimerdinger slowly said. "He would've gotten the P.E.N.N.Y. project finished sooner by several years had he not…"

"What? Not what?" Tony looked at Jayce and Viktor, neither of the two knowing who their Professor was talking about so he turned back to Heimerdinger. "What happened to him? Did he get fired? Quit?"

Given how Heimerdinger spoke, this person clearly didn't take part in the Penny project in progressing it further.

"He died."

Well that was depressing. "Oh."

Heimerdinger nodded.

"How?"

The small Faunus scientist shook his head, plopping himself down on the chair he stood on.

"How it went isn't one that many wish could've had onto another. Beginning with arguments, disagreements and conflict. I was there when it began." Heimerdinger sighed, recalling the events. "James began pulling funding from several projects and directed them into others. Arthur Watts was one of those victims, which caused quite the uproar."

Tony grimaced internally an all too familiar feeling of doing the same to other people within his own company at times. Not the most pleasant thing to do, cutting the funding from a passion project.

Heimerdinger picked up a random tool, looking at it on all sides.

"My old protege had a keen mind, one which excelled his engineering and computer skills more than anyone else I knew. Always studying any new topics that popped up in order to refine his knowledge. Even built Atlas' mainframe and systems from the ground up into what it is today. Watts was a gifted man of insight and had the ambition to boot."

Tony hummed in interest. Sounded quite a lot like himself.

"When the General cut the funding from his work, Arthur stormed into James' office when he was discussing matters with Pietro and I. He argued his case in hopes of having his project back up and running, yet things were beginning to get out of control. Didn't help when Pietro brought up the suggestion of having Arthur transferred into his department with the P.E.N.N.Y project. Arthur considered it a major slight, given those two didn't get along very well over the years. After that, Arthur stormed off and confined himself in his lab."

Heimerdinger sagged slightly, shaking his head.

"I am unsure as to what happened but several of his assistants tried pulling him out of his lab after his conversation with Ironwood. Watts became erratic and easier to anger and in one experiment…"

Tony sighed, hand dragging down his face. Alright, this was bordering on the generic now.

"Let me take a wild guess. Something went wrong and boom and then he was dead."

"End result, sadly true." Heimerdinger stated, lowering his head. "Pietro stated he tried to clear up the mess and make amends, but Arthur wouldn't hear it. And then the explosion happened. It was actually that explosion that confined Pietro into his mechanical chair while Arthur's life was snuffed out. All we found was a charred corpse."

"Jesus, the hell kind of experiment was it?" Tony asked, disturbed by this new piece of information.

"From what we could tell, it was Arthur's attempt of "one-upping" Pietro."

There was a tense silence in the room, the younger two of the group sharing looks.

"I knew Watts died but never in that manner." Viktor voiced his comment on the matter.

"Ironwood and Pietro would rather not speak of it." His Professor replied. "It's not a pleasant memory, which I'm sure you both are aware of."

"Jeez." Jayce was troubled, before becoming resolute, walking over to Viktor and clapping his friend on the shoulder. "Let's make a promise that we don't fall into that trap, yeah?"

Viktor smirked at that, nudging his shoulder on his.

"At least be committed to that."

"I'll have you know that I am very committed." Jayce said faux-affronted.

His best friend laughed, patting his hand on his shoulder.

"I know, my friend. I have nothing to worry about."

Tony smirked at this, seeing Heimerdinger beam at his two students before returning the conversation to Watts.

"So with this Arthur guy dead, what happened to the rest of his work? Was it scrapped?"

"Repurposed," Heimerdinger said with a heaving sigh. "I call it rather hypocritical as James seemed to restart Arthur's project after these years. The excuse being "honoring Arthur's memory after my previous decision" as James stated."

"And what is this project?"

"The Knights and Paladins." Heimerdinger answered. "The Advanced Atlesian Mechanized battle suits and drones that safeguard Atlas academy and the streets of Mantle."

"The Paladins? Those gaudy-looking things? I've seen the schematics." Stark inquired with a snort. "Jeez, talk about streamlined junk. Could they have at least tried for a more stylish edge?"

Viktor and Jayce laughed at Tony's comments on the design of the Paladins. They too had seen it from Heimerdinger though they never held any interest in it. It was just an oversized robot.

"It was Arthur's design with James having the final say of the look. Wanted them to be a tad more simplistic than stylistic and gaudy."

"It is gaudy and ugly." Tony retorted. "Is there anyone out there with some sort of flair? Am I the only one who understands this?"

"I believe there are others, but they'd either be ignored or too scared for design changes."

"Scared for a design change?" Stark scoffed. "Not until I'm through with one. It'll be sleek and sexy."

"Sexy?" Viktor parroted in bemusement.

"Yeah, sex sells, kid. Keep up with the program." Tony said dismissively.

"I wouldn't go that far."

"Then you haven't watched enough tv."

The young teen looked over at his friend, Jayce shrugging at him.

They never really watched all that much television really. Maybe a video game every now and then but nothing to entertain themselves. That's what their work was for.

Tony coughed into his hand, turning back to Heimerdinger. "Back to Arthur's project, what was the whole point of them? Were they a replacement for who you already have?"

"Far from it." Heimerdinger said with a shake of his head. "The Paladins were made to be supplementary to Huntsmen and Huntress. They were to be the defenders of the kingdom, saving the Huntsmen and Huntresses a lot of effort in getting from place to place along with manpower in fending against the Grimm."

Hearing this made Tony wince as this felt too similar to what he sought with his Iron Legion and Ultron.

"Well, ya can't really blame the guy for it." Stark stated, crossing his arms. "The idea of a combat force at your beck and call whenever Huntsmen and Huntresses aren't around is too big of a deal to pass up. Pride, decency and morality go out the window for guys like Jimmy who want to protect the people."

"A better job can be done." Viktor said in a low voice, causing the other three to momentarily glance at him.

Tony gave the teen an analyzing look before turning away.

There was a beat of silence as Stark walked over to Jayce's table, seeing the man set aside another blue, jagged orb next to several others.

"Hextech orbs?" Tony asked, picking one up, the young inventor nodding.

"Only several but I think this will be enough for a preliminary test." Jayce confidently said.

"We'll need to run some tests on stability as this is technically a new substance." Viktor said from his station, Stark's eyes widening with a glimmer of awe.

"Is it now?" He remarked, thinking back to when he made a new element that saved his life. "Have you run any simulations? Seeing how strong these orbs are?"

Jayce shook his head. "Not much, sadly. Can't get accurate readings with the present systems."

"Figured, given the programs are more suitable towards Dust." Stark looked towards the teens. "How did you make them anyways?"

"We did use a number of dust crystals and combined them. After that, used these glyphs we dug up through old archives to help synchronize the concoction before adding in a particular element to make them into what you see now." Viktor said.

"This was its source." Jayce held up his hand and on his wrist was a bracelet with a single blue crystal woven into the fabric.

Stark tilted his head. "What is that?"

"It was given to me." He softly said, his other hand gently running over the crystal. "I… was saved by a stranger. She rescued my mother and I in the middle of a blizzard after our village was destroyed by Grimm. And she gave me this after I thanked her. Told me that the impossible remains so, only if you allow it."

Tony leaned in closer, seeing a sparkle of some kind from the crystal.

"Magic?"

"I have had the same speculation as you bear now, Mr. Stark." Said Heimerdinger. "Crystalized substance of something this world has considered long since lost. Would've considered it an actual myth, but the concepts with Aura, Semblances and the Soul tend to waver on such a topic. Debates with scholars and philosophers argue it's the only remnant of magic we all have and can muster."

Tony nodded slightly before thinking back on the discussions about the Maidens with them having magic.

The whole notion of magic was something Tony wasn't one to quickly discard despite his skepticism. He was heavily aligned towards science to begin with.

"It's an interesting theory, no doubt, but-"

"It's not a theory!" Jayce blurted out. "I saw it with my own eyes what magic can do. What lives it could save." Stated the Atlesian, having much passion in his voice. "You have no idea how beautiful it is."

Tony eyed the young teen with an analytical eye. He remembered when he first fought Thor three years ago and the thunderer unleashing the power of Mjolnir. "You might be surprised, kiddo."

Jayce turned to the man, seeing an odd look in his eyes that prevented him from rebuking the billionaire, opting for Tony to speak once more.

"If these orbs are successful in their intended use, what do you imagine them being used towards?" He asked, picking one up and tossing it up and down.

"Transportation, trade routes, medical, mining, construction. The applications can be considered limitless." Jayce listed off.

"More or less depends on what's designed and powered by the orbs." Viktor stated, getting a hum out of Stark.

"And do you have a means of regulating the output of power from these orbs?"

"To a degree." Talis admitted. "This is still uncharted territory. The basis of the power output comes from Dust formulas but we can't rely on that output. These cores hold untapped power and potential which is why what we have in terms of theory shows a greater degree of energy that may come from these."

"Which is why I advise the greatest of caution." Heimerdinger immediately chimed in. "I've seen and suffered through enough explosions for this lifetime, thank you very much. And I would rather it not happen to my top two proteges."

"Not fun having to do most of the testing on your own, especially in certain sized spaces." Tony stated, thinking back to his earliest test runs of the Iron Man armor. "Consider finding open spaces or at least having good places for cover. And pillow pads. Lots of pillow pads. Soften the fall. Or impact. Or both."

The others got a feeling that this wasn't coming from just talk. Heimerdinger gazed at the Avenger, almost hesitating. "...How bad was-"

"Extremely. Wasn't much of a thrill junkie at the time, so it was rather nerve-wracking. And my dummy just kept dousing me with the fire extinguisher on every test run I took." Tony shook his head at the memory. "Had to shut down that function at one point… and he still did it."

The rest were a bit confused now. Was he talking about a person or a robot?

Tony then clapped his hands together, looking at the two teens with an expectant gaze.

"So, you guys thought of all the basic needs and such." He got varying responses from them. "Good. Good. Then have you considered the aftermath?"

"Aftermath?" Both boys parroted in confusion.

The armored Avenger nodded at them.

"Yeah, what's gonna happen once the basic stuff is done, you know the army is gonna come tramping up to you guys." Tony said as if it were obvious, seeing them tense up. "With new ways of advancement, they always find their way into military applications. Or the very least, reverse-engineered by enemies and used against you and allies."

"We will not let that happen." Viktor chimed in, a fierce look in his eyes.

"Hextech is not for weapons but the betterment of the people of Remnant." Jayce emphatically said, fists clenched tightly.

Tony shook his head. "I respect your little motivation, my sweet summer child, but it will happen right under your very nose." Tony held up his hand, one of his Iron Man gauntlets flying onto it. "See this? I once believed this to be the deterrent for war. But what I did was galvanize those without this technology to replicate what I made and use it for their own intentions. A lot of speculated attempts were sad and laughable, but one person got it right and perverted it out of spite. This isn't a matter of if but when someone gets their hands on this technology. You can regulate it all you want, but the difference between you and me is your technology will be out there cause you're putting it out there for use. So people, unsavory people, are gonna get their hands on this stuff. What will you do about it? And then, take a moment to realize this. You just said this is for the betterment of the people of Remnant. That also means fighting off Grimm. That also means the creation of weapons."

There was a momentary pause between the two teens, Heimerdinger frowning at the question as it appeared he himself didn't think to ask such a matter.

Jayce and Viktor appeared to be greatly conflicted, both looking to each other for an answer. Neither could come up with a good argument.

"I know you guys don't wanna hear this, but it's something you need to hear." Tony stressed out. "You'll be roped into it at some point. Won't be today or tomorrow, but someday. Someday you'll comply with such thoughts and roll with it thinking nothing bad will happen. Then you'll get one hell of a shrapnel-filled irony bomb in your face where you'll try to make things better once you recover. Once stepping away so you won't be that person again but you'd surprisingly find yourself back to where you once stood and call yourself a hypocrite."

Jayce and Viktor were certainly troubled by this statement, glancing at one another nervously.

"The only thing, and I cannot stress this enough when I tell you this. The only thing that matters is both of you remember who you are, what you stand for and why you started all this." Stark now looked at them with eyes far older than the usual spark he held. "Cap reminded me of that so I can't take all the credit but you get what I'm saying."

That certainly threw off the two teens.

"Cap?" Jayce said.

"Captain Steve Rogers." Tony said dramatically. "Big blue, war hero boy scout… which… not sure if he'd qualify as a boy scout."

This only served to further confuse the pair.

"I'll introduce you guys later." The Billionaire assured. "Also Peter says hi."

"Yeah, we spoke to him the other day." Jayce said, mood lightening up now.

Though he and Viktor had only gotten to know Peter Parker for a short time, there was a natural chemistry they shared with each other. Their love of science, advancement, theoretical ideas and technology was a fast-track path for the trio to become quick friends wherein they now communicate almost every other day now.

Hearing this made Tony smirk to himself, whilst Heimerdinger was once again curious about this Peter Parker boy.

His students had spoken of this boy only two years their junior but is just as brilliant as they are. In their short time together, formulas were exchanged, ideas that were out there spoken of and theories thrown around for potential works down the line.

Heimerdinger hoped to meet this Parker boy sooner than later given how his two best students speak of him.

Tony, all the while, was inspecting one of the hex orbs again.

"You said you got the components from Dust, right?" He asked, Viktor and Jayce murmuring some degree of confirmation.

"This crystal I have here is the foundation." That latter said, holding up the bracelet he wore. "We had to identify the material and elements that we were able to detect from this shard and locate which Dust or any other matter on Remnant, matched it so we could recreate it."

"So Dust is one of its components then." Stark mused to himself. "Wonder if there are some other Dust mines out there untouched. They may hold more of the components you're looking for."

"I can see some located in out-of-reach territories and harsher climates." Jayce said, having resumed working on his contraption that would be powered by one of his cores.

"Both are reasonable possibilities and no one can argue with that." Said Tony. "Some harsh cold locations where not even regular workers dare to step into, let alone work in. But those high-risk places usually yield high rewards."

"Speaking from experience, Mr. Stark?" Heimerdinger knowingly asked.

The well-trimmed man placed a hand over his heart and gasped.

"I don't like that insinuating tone you possess, Professor Heimerdinger." He said in mock defense, becoming a tad more serious a second later. "But~ if you guys ever do figure an "expedition" is warranted to look for new materials and elements for your Hextech, feel free to let me know. Always love a good challenge in flaunting how amazing I am."

Though he seemingly bragged about himself, Jayce and Viktor understood the offer and both nodded at him gratefully.

"We'll hold you to it." Jayce said.

"If you manage to pull off an amazing feat such as that," Viktor's head bobbed from side to side. "We'll say you contributed to eleven, no, twelve percent of Hextech's development. Marketing mostly."

Iron Man almost couldn't believe what he just heard, his face hiding none of it.

"Wait, what did you just say?" He got a serious case of Deja vu suddenly. "Twelve percent?"

"Yes, is that too low?"

"No just… god, Pepper is gonna love this when I see her again." Tony laughed airily. "What goes around really does come around. Oh god, she'd never let me live this down."

The Atlesians were now confused by the man's ramblings again, all looking to one another for an answer.

"Do you know what-"

"No, I really don't know what goes on in his mind half the time."

"Such is the burden of geniuses." Heimerdinger remarked. "Though in this case, eccentrics are more apt with Mr. Stark."

-Scene Cut-

"That's the last of it."

Natasha Romanoff, the current de facto leader of what was left of the Avengers on Earth nodded appreciatively at Colonel James Rhodes AKA War Machine. The armored fighter pilot had just brought in the last crate of tech and other research equipment from the HYDRA base they had raided and lost their friends and teammates in.

Since then, they had basically cleared the entire place out of everything save for the equipment that had been around the black pool where their comrades fell through.

After doing a preliminary scan, Vision detected that the equipment HYDRA had set up around the pool was monitoring the liquid for activity and anything that may come out of it. Upon further inspection and a quick bit of research, the synthetic Avenger had also realized that the hardware also served as a barrier to prevent those crazy creatures from coming out of the pool.

But the barrier was weakening, given the attack from the monsters they had to deal with and the loss of a good chunk of their team.

So now they had to figure out how to deal with that.

There hadn't been any activity as of yet but they set up an alarm system to notify the team of any immediate motion or anything really.

But right now, they had more important matters to discuss.

Once the last of what they had gotten from the HYDRA base had been set down, Natasha, Vision and Rhodey all stood around in a circle of sorts with Maria Hill having joined them.

"So…" The former deputy director of SHIELD wryly said, looking around. "This is a party."

"We'll be getting the confetti, I'm in charge of it so don't worry." Rhodey dryly said, arms crossed.

Hill rolled her eyes at him, fixing him with a pointed stare.

"So what happened with Pep?" She asked after a beat. "You looked really out of it when you came back and you haven't talked about it since."

"I'd rather not-"

"Just tell us, Rhodey." Nat sounded a bit tired, sitting on a crate, leg propped up for her arm to rest on her knee. "The sooner the better, come on. We all shared our stories. But you were all tight-lipped about it. So spill."

Rhodey looked between the two women and synthezoid Avenger who all had their eyes on him. He kinda felt like this wasn't his secret to tell. Then again, Tony isn't here and really, it was only an eventuality until they know. Or Potts lets them know herself.

"Pepper's situation is… unexpected." He slowly said.

"Being…" Nat rolled her hand for the go-ahead.

He appeared to hesitate for a few seconds until finally, Rhodey let out a dramatic sigh, a wry smirk as it was an exasperated one and pulled the bandage off.

"She's pregnant."

And like that, Natasha went through a pratfall.

The redhead groaned in pain, courtesy of the fall. She even wondered if her head was hurt but in fact wasn't, due to her not wrapping around the concept at all.

"Oh…" Maria actually didn't know what to say there as Vision let out an "ah" that morphed into an "oh my".

"And the father is not here with his status being unknown." Vision succinctly said.

"Thank you for summing that up Viz." James deadpanned.

"Oh, she's gonna hate us." Nat said, rubbing the sides of her temple, recalling the times her best friend's wife was pregnant.

Laura was a sweetheart and a loving, devoted woman but like all women, she was susceptible to the violent mood swings that came with pregnancies. She became quite volatile at times.

Natasha already had a pretty clear idea of how one such as Pepper will react. Either she's gonna be a rock solid, immovable wall having been strengthened by Tony's bullshit all these years. Or she's gonna be an emotional wreck half the time, sobbing at him not being there, eating then vomiting her troubles away before it morphs into an unrepentant rage.

That will certainly be a sight to see.

The Black Widow let out a loud groan, head in her hands, shaking it slightly.

"Typical." Nat said in annoyance. "Leave it to the universe to throw this on us. A mini Tony without the big one."

"Are you just having a hard time imagining Mr. Stark having a baby?" Came Vision's inquiry.

"What?" Came Rhodey's response to that question.

Nat rolled her eyes. "No. I'm having a hard time imagining a baby with Tony's head attached to it."

"With his attitude, I feared what his progeny would be like once growing up." Said Maria.

Romanoff rolled her eyes at them. "That's now what I'm not thinkin' about. Just the fact that this happens now. Tony's gone and now Pepper's pregnant with his kid."

"Didn't realize you'd get so worked up about this." Rhodey voiced his surprise.

"I've seen Clint and Laura go through three of them already." Widow pointedly said. "They always had each other and me whenever I could be there but Pepper has no one and a business to run at this moment."

"What, I don't count?" the Colonel asked in a slightly affronted tone.

"You're not the one who got her pregnant. You're the uncle." The redhead flatly shot back. Leaning back, she blew out a puff of air, a strand of her hair flicking up, ignoring the thoughtful look Rhodey had at the thought of being the uncle to his best friend's kid. "I'm probably gonna have to jump in and be Pepper's assistant again."

"She'd appreciate it, no doubt."

"I'll do it." Maria abruptly spoke up, surprising the Avengers, seeing them turn to her. "What? You think I'd have problems helping her run a multi-billion dollar corporation? I was second-in-command in SHIELD, remember?"

"...You're just part-time right now if memory serves."

"I think I'm due for a promotion then." Hill flatly said. "Pepper will appreciate it."

Rather than debate it, the Avengers all just nodded.

"Ok, that's handled, sorta." Rhodey said. "But we gotta figure out how that black shit works. Are we gonna throw anything in there? Experiment with it? Viz, any suggestions?"

"First we must conduct proper research of this viscous." Vision answered. "When I scanned their systems, I noticed a sizable portion of their research was either in a separate compact system that we will need to explore separately or placed off the books. Going through them might warrant the answers we seek."

"Sure as hell would explain that casket we found in the other room." War Machine mumbled, a disturbed frown on his face that was mirrored by his teammates. "How long have they been keeping her there?"

"Unclear as of this moment but what we do know is for now, that stasis pod is keeping her alive." Vision firmly said. "Let's not fiddle with it lest we risk losing her."

"We'll keep her in the medical ward for now." Natasha declared. "Doctor Cho and Selvig can help with that when they get over here. Maybe we can start theorizing why she is like that. And if she's a friend or foe. And speaking of friends, come on, we've got something else we need to handle."

She hopped off the crate she was sitting on, and walked away from the others, leaving them a bit confused.

Maria then shrugged at Viz and Rhodey, the trio following after their teammate who led them into the meeting room.

Widow walked around the table in the center and the room darkened somewhat as holo-screens appeared above the table.

On the multitude of screens were the Avengers, past and present with those missing on one side and those present on the other.

And in between them were several blank screens.

"A while back, after everything on Sokovia, we had a team reshuffle and a few weeks later, a new team member." The video screen of Spider-man in action was briefly highlighted. "And before that happened, Tony did bring up the fact that while there is a team of us, he knows it isn't enough."

The screens were then filled with those of other enhanced individuals in action.

"Tony took a page out of Fury's book in keeping tabs on people with abilities and skills like us should something like the obvious come to pass."

Vision, War Machine and Maria all gained looks of understanding now.

"There were the contingencies Tony set up though they'll need updates." Widow said, the first screen magnifying to focus on a particular individual that got a noticeable grunt from War Machine.

"That guy?" He said in clear annoyance. "Him? Why? Him beating me doesn't count."

"It was an impressive showing." Vision remarked, earning a flat glare from the colonel.

"He may have stolen from us but it was within good reason." Maria Hill stepped forward and a new screen appeared next to the current one. "Scott Lang was a convict but he was recruited by Hank Pym, the creator of the Pym Particle. They worked together in taking down Darren Cross, a former protege of Pym's and prevented the shrinking tech of Pym from falling into the hands of less-than-ideal individuals. HYDRA being one of them."

"So the thing he stole was actually used to help do some good?" Rhodey asked for clarity, Hill nodding at him and he huffed. "Well… guess he's not so bad. So what? We actually thinkin' of recruiting him?"

"His abilities are exceptional and he has shown to be a capable fighter." Vision mused aloud.

"Plus, there's a lot of utility with that shrinking ability." Nat pointedly said. "Someone like Ant-Man can't be ignored."

Ant-Man's screen shrank down with the next one enlarging.

On it were newspaper clippings with blurry camera footage of a man who appeared to be wearing a devil-inspired attire.

"The hell is with this quality?" Rhodey complained. "What is this, the 1990's?"

"Yeah, not much to look at other than this." Widow said, having them focus on the man single-handedly incapacitating a dozen men in a matter of minutes.

"The Devil of Hell's Kitchen." Vision read one of the newspaper clippings aloud.

"Daredevil, for short." Romanoff clarified. "He's been busy for the last year now. He was responsible for taking down the crime lord Kingpin and has been busy since."

Rhodey and Vision nodded at this since they actually recalled hearing about this.

The Kingpin's rise to fame in Manhattan and subsequent reveal as the biggest crime boss in the city was a surprise to be sure. Though they no longer operated out of Avengers Tower, the team was still aware of the goings on in the city.

"So this is the guy then." War Machine murmured, nodding his head now. "You think a guy like him would fit in with us?"

"Well if assassins and people who made questionable life choices can." Widow calmly shot back with a shrug.

Rhodey copied her motions, making a face that said "good point".

It was then that Maria Hill now stepped forward.

"Since we're on the topic, I got some from the old SHIELD files, suggestions and other candidates Fury had on hold before SHIELD collapsed."

This drew the attention of the others.

"Shield agents?"

"No. They aren't. One he needs to get back in contact with. The other he's talking to right about now."

"So we can expect a meeting with a potential new teammate in the near future." Rhodey stated than asked.

"Well, that's up to Fury and his words. See if he could convince the guy."

"Just have to see who they are and see their capabilities."

"Do you know anyone, Maria?" Rhodey then asked the former Deputy Director. "Anyone Fury doesn't know?"

"There is one but I haven't seen her in a year. Might have to do some tryouts at some point."

"This ain't a sports recruitment or cheerleader tryouts." War Machine deadpanned.

"How would that even work?" Vision couldn't help but ask.

"Advertisements are always a thing."

"That would feel ridiculous." The Synthetic Avenger bluntly said. "I fear we may just get many admirers rather than those with the abilities to safeguard the world."

"Let's just focus on Daredevil and Ant-Man for now but keep our eyes peeled." Natasha instructed. "There's bound to be other people out there we may have missed and if we find them and they meet our criteria, we make the offer."

"Would someone even accept something like that?"

"Well, who gave us offers?" Nat rhetorically asked.

"You did."

"After we had a team reshuffling."

"And making the choice to be a hero, let alone an Avenger is a difficult one." Vision said.

"Guys, I'm trying to be emphatic and dramatic here. Why are you ruining this?"

"Because we can." Rhodey admitted. "And it's funny."

"Hardy har, get back to the hangar bay." Black Widow snipped. "We got a lot of crap to unpack from that base."

"I shall move our newest guest to the medbay." Vision said, floating up to phase out of the room.

"I'll be here." Hill said, taking a seat on one of the chairs near the table. "See who else I can find. Fury has a lot of files, some restricted."

"Need help unlocking them?" Nat asked, Maria, shaking her head in response.

"I got it. Been going through a number of these since Nick gave 'em to me. I'll call you if I find anything."

Widow silently nodded in appreciation, her and Rhodey leaving Hill to her work.

As the Avengers busied themselves with their duties and tasks, on the other side of the planet, on the continent where many scientists first believes humanity originated from, a jungle was experiencing its sunrise.

Life echoed through the trees, birds chirping at the rising sun with other wildlife awakening as morning set in.

Several birds flew on high before delving down into the tree lines, swooping past several tree trunks.

They all stayed together for the most part, all save for one that swooped down to the forest floor. Its eyes captured movement down below and it spotted an insect crawling along the ground near a pool of water.

With a speedy dive, the bird landed, scooping up the insect in its beak and munching it down in an instant.

It ruffled its feathers, letting out several chirps of satisfaction until something caught its attention out of the corner of its eye.

Head tilting slightly, the bird hopped on over to what had caught its eye and saw that it was a pool of liquid.

But not one the bird could identify. Birds were not necessarily the smartest animals in the animal kingdom but they, like all life, knew the basics of things.

Like water.

And what was in front of the bird was certainly not water.

The pool of liquid there was a kind of black, constantly shifting viscous of some kind.

There was something in there that was making it move or maybe it was a natural occurrence.

Whatever it was, the bird kept moving its head from side to side for both its eyes to get a look at this bizarre substance. In the background, there was an odd feeling that came over the area, a feeling of dread.

Then… silence.

A dead silence befell the surrounding area with only the sounds of the shifting black pool and one chirp from the bird.

…

…

…

*CHE-*

The unfortunate bird was unable to chirp or squawk anymore, a large clawed hand bursting out from the black pool and slamming over the bird. The claws dug into the ground, pressing down upon it before out came a wolf-like monstrosity with a bone skull on its head that was ashen white with red markings, sharp teeth and acidic yellow-red eyes.

Rising up from the pool, the wolf raised its hand, taking a whiff of the corpse of the bird before chomping it down.

It sniffed about, turning its head from side to side. Its reddened eyes scanned the area as this occurred.

Before long, it prowled further into the area and began to search.

For what exactly, no one -if they were in the area- would know in the slightest.

It paused then, rearing its head back as the pool shifted once more…

And out came several more of the black wolves with bone-like protrusions on their bodies.

Soon the forest was filled with various growls and howls as these beasts went on for a hunt in a new and unfamiliar territory.

-Scene Cut-

Being in the city again was interesting for one Ruby Rose. The inspiring Huntress-to-be walking down the sidewalk, all by her lonesome. Doing so late into the night may make this a bad situation waiting to happen.

She was out here for a small mission for herself. She was here to get Yang a present.

With the upcoming school year coming up, Ruby wanted to get her big sister a gift for her first year at Beacon. Granted doing this particular gift idea is rather late in acquiring and down to the wire, but the young Huntress-to-be still had time.

Sure, she could shop around at Patch, but there was much better stuff in the big city.

What could possibly go wrong?

…

…

…

Apparently a lot, actually.

Next thing Ruby knew, she soon found herself at a police precinct. Held there for quite some time in an interrogation room of all places.

All because she did her civic duty as a good little girl and stopped some mean bad guys from robbing a dust store.

Is that really such a thing to be arrested for?

They even had this one giant guy with a freaking horn on his head trying to skewer them the whole time!

Seriously, that guy was psycho!

But here she was, in a police precinct of all places.

Her dad was gonna kill her. And her sister… well, a pat on the back and an "I'm proud of you Ruby" is a certainty from Yang.

What could she possibly say to her dad?

She's praying to Oum that it's her Uncle Qrow that can come, busy as he is sometimes.

He might react similarly to her dad, but to a lesser degree. Only saying "I'm conflicted about being disappointed and proud" in what she could imagine.

Before she was able to dwell any further on the matter, in walked a man in a blue suit with a star on his chest and had blond hair.

It took Ruby a moment to realize this wasn't any normal kind of clothing. This was a combat suit.

Then did that mean…

"So," The man started conversationally, taking a seat in front of her. "You're that young whippersnapper Ozpin just told me about in bringing you in two years ahead of time to Beacon."

"Uh… hiya." She said meekly. This soon changed when recalling what the blonde just said. "I'm sorry, what?"

The man raised a brow at her. "Is something wrong?"

Ruby's eyes began to widen slightly. "Y-y-you just said that… that Ozpin… the Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon wants to accept me into Beacon… now?!"

The man gave her a small, amused smile.

"Something like that." He casually remarked. "I'm Steve, Steve Rogers. Gonna be one of the new teachers at Beacon."

Ruby's eyes further widened to the point that they were practically dinner plates and Steve swore there must be a trick of the light cause he could literally see stars sparkling in her eyes.

"REALLY?!" She excitedly squealed now jumping out of her seat.

Rogers now chuckled at her overjoyed response. Her giddiness was rather infectious.

"Wait." She momentarily calmed down. "How do I know this isn't a joke?"

The good Captain grinned, standing up from his seat.

"If you need some proof," Steve went to the door and opened it before leaning out a bit, "Hey, Glynda."

"Yes, Steve?" Came the voice of the Huntress who came in to help her out of that situation that she got herself caught in.

"Is what Ozpin said still legitimate?"

"In a manner." She said in a slightly annoyed tone.

Rogers looked back at the 15-year-old who looked like she was on the verge of exploding.

Going back over to her, Steve pulled out his scroll and placed it on the table.

Ruby looked at it curiously when she almost jumped back at the hologram that popped up above the phone. Her eyes were glued onto the image of the holo-Ozpin that spoke to her or rather, conveyed a prerecorded message.

"Ah, good to make your acquaintance, per se." Said the Beacon headmaster. "I would like to give you an offer."

"What offer?"

"It's a recorded message, Ruby." Steve said, chuckling at her bashful face as Ozpin's recording went on.

"I have always been one to keep my eye on potential talent as they are the future guardians and heroes of the world. And after hearing about your natural talent in Signal academy from a dusty old crow on top of stopping a robbery at the tender age of 15, I've come to realize that you having to wait until 17 to join Beacon just will not do. So I offer you the chance to join this prestigious academy and truly bloom, pun intentional Ms. Rose."

The silver-eyed girl giggled at that.

"All that remains is whether or not you choose to accept my offer. I await your response."

"And you already said yes, so-" Steve pressed at the center of his scroll, sending a message of confirmation to Ozpin. "That's settled."

Ruby was about to explode with joy when Steve momentarily walked out of the room…

And came back with a plate full of cookies.

"Forgot about these." Rogers said, taking one for himself. "Ozpin mentioned a small reward for your efforts today and for accepting his offer.

The young girl couldn't eat them fast enough. Ruby guzzled them all down, almost choking on one before resuming to devour the rest.

It was a fascinatingly amusing sight for the super soldier to see such a thing. He'd never seen anyone eat that fast, other than Thor and Pietro.

Well, now that makes two new students he was gonna have at Beacon that he had already met.

This whole teaching gig is shaping up to be quite an interesting prospect.

Minutes later, the young aspiring Huntress made her way to the precinct lobby where she was soon met with several familiar faces.

"Hey dad." She happily greeted, still high on the fact that she just got accepted into Beacon two years ahead of time.

Taiyang Xiao-Long rushed over to his youngest daughter, immediately fretting over her.

"Dad, I'm fine." The little Rose said with a small pout. "I can handle myself.

"Yeah, well, tell that to yourself after you have kids who end up in jail for a night." Her father shot back, glad to see she was alright. He then crossed his arms with a look of expectancy and slight bewilderment.

"Ruby, what happened?" Taiyang asked, glancing up at the precinct behind his daughter. "How in Oum did you end up here?"

Remembering the many instances of her older sister being in a similar predicament, Ruby cleared her throat. "Ok… so here I was minding my own business-"

"Bullshit!" Tai blurted out.

Ruby recoiled a bit hearing her father saying that to her.

Realizing his action, he was quick to apologize. "Sorry, sweetie, I'm just used to hearing that from your uncle and sister and I just reacted."

"Oh, right, yeah. Really should've expected that."

Yang would've argued but knew that to be true.

"Now tell me, Ruby, what happened?"

Thus, the young Rose recounted the events earlier that night.

"I was at the store, trying to get Yang the perfect acceptance gift. Lost track of time when suddenly this one goon was trying to rob me." Ruby said, holding up her hands, and from above, in her imagination, a memory cloud appeared as she recounted the events that led to her "arrest".

"Are you… robbing me?"

"Yes."

The young teen puffed her chest out proudly. "So I acted accordingly."

Ruby soon delivered a roundhouse kick to the goon, sending him flying across the store and knocking over several stands in the process. A moment later, said person was sent flying out of the store -via window crash- once he tried getting back up.

"Next thing I knew, I started fighting against all these goons, with Roman Torchwick -of all people- barking out orders."

"Get her!" Yelled out the bowler hat-wearing crook.

Ruby then tried her best interpretation of a swing into a superhero landing. "Then Peter showed up, swinging onto the scene."

"Hey, Peter!"

"Hi, Ruby."

Taiyang swiped the memory bubble away, giving her a scrutinizing look. "I'm sorry. Who's Peter?"

"Oh, this guy Yang met a while back before I met him on the same night. He's around our age." Ruby cheerfully said, the memory bubble returning a second later.

The blond father gave her an odd look before thinking back to a conversation he overheard his two daughters have after his oldest came back from a night out that resulted in a club fight.

This couldn't be the same guy they mentioned, right?

"From there, we had this cool team-up. Kinda like those heroes in the comics." Ruby made many whooshing sounds, arms flailing about to convey web-swinging, her scythe movements and bad guys getting beaten up.

Ruby and Spider-man moved like clockwork, taking out every thug that came their way, Roman Torchwick standing off to the side with an annoyed look.

"Then this other guy showed up, who seemed to work for Roman. He was all tall and intimidating, but he was no match for me and Peter!" Ruby held her arms up high to convey the man's size.

"Wait a sec, Rhino?" Spider-man said aloud. "How are you already out?"

"Friends in high places ya little bug!" The behemoth Faunus roared, lowering his head and running straight at him. "And this horn's been waiting for you, damn runt!"

"I'm an arachnid, not a bug. There's a big differe-GYAH!"

Though the pair managed to avoid the horn, the two beefy arms were a different story as Rhino threw them out, whacking them to the side.

The scythe wielder cringed at the memory. "Okay, I might've exaggerated a little."

Her father had a flat look on his face at this, watching as his daughter went on.

"We were totally awesome with how we fought!"

"AH!" Ruby shouted in fear of getting gored by Rhino's horn. "Leave me alone!"

"Peter said some things to the guy-"

"Hey ugly! You know child assault is at least twenty years in the slammer right? Or can you not think since you've hit your head so many times? There is something called concussive therapy to help guys like you out. Then again, a low IQ might be the least of your problems."

"-who took an exemption from them rather badly."

The rhino Faunus was seeing red -perhaps as Ruby might've thought differently about the situation- and charged forward. His head was lowered slightly but he made sure to keep his eyes on the webhead that jumped above and around the man as he tried swiping at him.

"Swing and miss, big guy." Peter taunted, further infuriating the Rhino. "I mean… I beat you the first time we meet so do you really want a repeat of last time?"

"Ha!" Ruby laughed aloud from her end of the street.

"He was getting really mad." The little Rose laughed at the fight. "Peter tricked him into running into a building. And I bonked him on the head, knocking him out."

"Wow, nice hit, Rubes." Spider-man approved, sticking to the wall that Rhino ran into with Ruby holding her scythe with a slight pant.

She gave the superhero a cheerful smile when they heard a groan from behind.

"You can't get good help from anywhere these days." Roman Torchwick complained aloud.

"After that, Roman was skedaddling and I was in hot pursuit with Peter right by side." Ruby posed dramatically, emulating a chase movement. "We fended off against Roman on the rooftop before this bullhead showed up."

"Well it's about damn time." Roman said aloud, lifting his hat off his head in a farewell fashion. "Red, tights, it's been fun this evening but this grownup has other matters to attend to. Ta-Ta."

"Someone then showed up at the doorway, who was all glowy and intimidating, firing these blasts at us like fwoosh fwoosh wearing a dress and all." The hyperactive teen had a thoughtful expression, tapping her chin with her finger. "I think she had dust embedded into her clothes and had hidden weapons on her sleeves. Anyways, we avoided the blasts before this blonde huntress showed up -who I recently learned is named Glynda- and made them cower and flee in fear with her cool semblance."

"Glynda, huh?" Taiyang said reminiscently. "Glynda Goodwitch? Blond hair, glasses, black skirt with a riding crop?"

"Yeah, her!" Ruby pointed at her father. "How'd you know?"

"We used to attend classes together years ago. She's a teacher there for some years now."

"You knew a Huntress?!" Stars were in Ruby's eyes.

"Ruby… I used to be one, remember?" Her dad deadpanned. "I know plenty of them. So does your uncle. Focus, please."

"Oh right." She deflated slightly, returning to the retelling of her storied night. "Don't know where Peter went off to," She then humphed, cheeks puffing out. "But he ditched me as I was dragged here of all places -by Glynda- waiting for you guys to pick me up."

"NOOOO! I don't wanna go to jail! I'm not as bad as my sister at all!" Came her yell. "I want my phone call, dang it!"

"Oh, and someone working with Professor Ozpin showed up and offered me to come into Beacon early!"

Yang was soon in front of her sister in a surprised fashion. "No way! Are you serious?!"

"Yeah. He said he'd let me skip two years to get in." Ruby then cocked her head. "Wait, have you been here the whole time? Where'd you come from?"

A big smile graced Yang's face as she thrusted her fist into the air, ignoring her sister's question. "Hell yeah! We can go together!"

As the sisters continued to converse, their father took a few steps back and pulled out his scroll and searched for a specific number.

After some moments, the call was answered.

"Evening, Tai." Came the familiar voice of the Headmaster of Beacon. "What can I do for you… or rather, you already know, don't you?"

Taiyang released a sigh, dragging his hand down his face, momentarily smiling at the sound of his two girls laughing together.

"Ozpin." The father said evenly. "You just couldn't wait for a few more years for her to join, huh."

"She's gifted. Seeing the surveillance footage, she reminds me of her mother back when Team STRQ was together."

Tai's eyes grew distant, remembering the long-departed love of his life. "She most certainly does." He shook his head to focus on the present. "But Ruby is still a child."

"She won't be a child for much longer. They must leave the nest eventually."

"I never thought both of them would leave together."

"Life is full of surprises. But I want to assure you, old friend, much as I know how against this you may be, I am not doing this carelessly." Ozpin's tone held a considerable degree of conviction. "Your daughters will become among the best of this generation, I am sure of it."

Hearing this, Taiyang couldn't deny the swell of pride at the thought of his baby girls becoming such a thing but Ozpin wasn't done.

"And I believe those who shall educate them will truly turn them into something special."

"What, you mean the usual band of eccentrics?" Tai knowingly asked.

"Well… I recently came across a collection of individuals, Taiyang. Some of which may be just what this world has been looking for to finally bring the fight to the Queen."

That certainly caught the man's attention, having never heard such belief in Ozpin's life.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, now intrigued by this.

"They call themselves the Avengers…"

-Scene Cut-

On the other side of the city, whilst a pair of young girls were cheering for their acceptance into the prestigious Beacon academy, one well-known crime boss was not having the best of nights.

Walking through their base of operations, the gentleman thief let out a 'tsk' in annoyance.

He should've brought Neo to this run. But she was entertaining her friend from out of town back at one of their safehouses tonight. After all, Roman was fulfilling his end of the deal with Silco.

Didn't mean he had to like it.

If it weren't for his appreciation and bond with Neo, he would've had her with him tonight.

Far be it from him from keeping his top gal and closest confidant from spending time with who was basically her best friend. And as long as she's satisfied, then further jobs will run a whole lot better with her presence.

Learned that the hard way as they began their partnership.

"Quite the spectacular evening, wasn't it?"

Oh and how could he forget the bitch in red walking behind him.

"I'll have you know that not every run is perfect and flawless. There's always bound to be hiccups along the way." He said, rationally. "But on that level, even that is absolutely ridiculous. I heard from Junior about this kid in a tight bodysuit but didn't think I'd run into that punk. And little red," Roman shook his head exasperatedly. "Kids these days. All in a rush to kill themselves faster."

"Doesn't give you the excuse of failing, even with the extra muscle."

Roman rolled his eyes at her. "Well excuuuuuse meee~ princess. I can't predict how well they fight. Every unexpected factor is different."

The woman scoffed at him, walking away with that stupid arrogant strut of hers with Torchwick lightly glaring at her the whole way. She was just as bad as Lil' Miss Malachite. Scratch that, she was worse.

Which is an accomplishment to be sure.

The crime boss sighed aloud.

He really needed a cigar right about now.

"Look, Cinder, you gotta be bloody patient with what you're asking out of me. Even with your deal with the White Fang, collecting whatever Dust you want is gonna take time."

Cinder Fall stopped in her walk, looking back at him, almost boredly, which only served to further irk Roman.

"Well then you better get to it, Mr. Torchwick." She said in a low voice. "My patience can only hold out for so long before it runs out entirely."

Turning away, she missed the gnashing of teeth Roman had, eyes violently twitching at the woman's dismissal of him.

Seriously, she pissed him off without even trying.

Or maybe she was.

Who cares, she was so goddamn annoying.

He would blast her to bits with his cane and shove her off the pier, but she had her 'posse'.

While Mercury kid wouldn't give a damn about Cinder, Emerald is like a loyal dog who would defend her master in a rather bad way.

If anything were to happen to his "client" then those two would be on his case to the deep end.

'Whatever. I just have to hold out until this stupid contract is done and over with.' He thought with utter annoyance. 'Then I can get rid of them, one way or another with Neo and Silco's assistance.'

-Scene Cut-

Alone in his office, Aris, councilor of Atlas, reclined into his chair, scotch in one hand and his other on the table, typing away at his computer screen.

Today had been uneventful, for the most part.

Nothing but the usual. Meeting with Ironwood, catching up with Heimerdinger, politics, other meetings, blah, blah, blah.

But at least, there was a silver lining for the day.

A private dinner with her…

A small smile graced his lips on the memory.

Well, least there was some good from today.

He then heard a ding on his scroll, making him sit up, pressing on the scroll and seeing five icons now appear on his screen. A moment later, the screen revealed six faces for him to see.

"Hello everyone." Aris greeted with a small smile. "Been a while since we had a group chat."

The rest all greeted him back.

"Newt, glad I can pull you away from at least one project for tonight." The Councilman joked, hearing the spectacled man in Vale chuckle.

"Yes, well, with my recent progress with Amber, I do believe a moment's reprieve to speak is warranted." The man on his end said, wiping his glasses clean with a disarming smile.

Aris simply nodded, addressing the rest of the gathered individuals.

"Dex, Kat, good to hear from you both. Are you still out on the frontier, Dex?"

"Yeah, camping out at a village right now, got some Grimm that I gotta hunt close by." Said the silver-haired Huntsman on his end, scratching his scruff.

"And anything new on your end Kat?"

"Several things-" The blond bombshell in Menagerie responded before she was interrupted by the silver-haired swordsman.

"Aside from your boytoy."

"Oh shut up Dex, you know you wouldn't be able to resist him." Kat's tone was laced with confidence and a hint of want at said boytoy.

Dex shook his head at her antics. "Don't swing that way, Kat."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Well boo for you and more for me-"

"Kat. Dex" Aris patiently said, really not wanting to hear from the most promiscuous of the group on their tales of debauchery. "If you would please."

She cleared her throat, now having a more serious and excited tone. "I can tell you now Menagerie will have a new surplus export starting in the coming weeks."

"Really?" Aris remarked with intrigue.

"Yeah, over here the residents came upon a huge dust mine. Reportedly rivals one of the big ones over in Solitas."

"That's good. The people there desperately need the income after what they were shafted with years ago."

"Yeah… That's not all on why I'm bringing up the dust mine." Kat's tone soon became serious. "An Enkidu was found and awoken in the mine."

The others held varying reactions upon hearing this.

"Are you certain?" The concerned Tina asked, her face grave.

"You see my serious face here?" Kat pointed to herself. "I'm deadly serious about them." Her seriousness shifted with a smile in the mix. "Luckily for us, Brucy and his pals were able to help take it down."

"Yes, the Avengers. Good to see their addition is contributing to the benefit of things." Said the Atlesian counselor.

"Those guys again?" Dex said. "Qrow mentioned them a while back. Seemed real impressed with them."

"They are something special, Dex." Newt said in complete seriousness.

"Who even are they?" Tina asked aloud. "Are they a new group of Huntsmen and Huntresses?"

"They are something special, I can tell you that much." The smith of Beacon remarked. "Their abilities and powers are something to behold and I've only seen a fraction of it in their training."

"Their genius is not to be denied either." Aris stated. "This Tony Stark and the youngest of their group, Peter Parker, have certainly impressed upon the best here in Atlas. And Mr. Stark succeeded in launching a satellite."

The others who were unaware of this development were certainly shocked to hear this.

"A satellite?" Tina gaped. "Here? On Remnant?"

"Indeed." The Councilor nodded. "Happened a short week ago. It was astonishing to see. Ironwood's hope of getting such a device out into the atmosphere was done within a matter of weeks since the arrival of these Avengers. They're proving to be quite exceptional."

"You can say that again." Kat chimed in. "You should have seen how they fought that Enkidu. I know they can be tough old bastards but those four really brought it to him. I didn't even think I should have gone in, they would've killed that Grimm on their own."

"Now I gotta see these guys in action." Dex said, clearly interested in these newcomers to Remnant. "Qrow was hypin' them up, now Aris. I gotta see 'em."

"Indeed." Tina hummed to herself. "Where even are they?"

"Stark divides his time here in Atlas and in Vale. the latter being the home these Avengers have chosen to settle in for the foreseeable future given that Ozma has brought them on as teachers."

"Yes, that's right." Newt confirmed with a nod. "Faculty has expanded considerably in a few short weeks."

"Truly?" The black-haired warrior woman said in slight astonishment. "Well, talk about timing. My young Protege Pyrrha Nikos has just selected Beacon as her academy to continue her training in becoming a Huntress. Perhaps I shall meet them soon enough."

"Speaking of Proteges." Kat said in a small sing-song tone. "Cliff… anything you wish to add?"

The sixth member of this call, who had been silent this whole time spoke for the first time.

"There have been rumblings from what I've heard." The man's voice was deep and smooth. "The Grimm have been restless lately and a few villages have been attacked. My students and I have tracked several nests down and eradicated them but I fear what is to come from these battles."

"And how is Team SSND?" Aris inquired.

"They are well." They could hear the pride and joy in the man's voice. "Sun is up to his usual antics, Neptune is no help either but they have greatly improved. Doreen got roped in with another treasure hunt with Sivir but honestly, when will they learn that treasure is elsewhere, not under their feet."

"They're kids, Cliff." Newt said good-naturedly. "And who's to say that treasure can't be found right under you? Anything is possible."

Cliff only grunted in amusement at that.

"What of… the Queen?" Aris asked, focusing particular attention on Dex who growled slightly.

"I dunno, boss." Dex murmured, subconsciously reaching for his sword strapped to his back. "With what Cliff said, it's also true on my end. Grimm have been moving around a lot more. That Enkidu on Menagerie and hearing about Amber, got a gut feeling that a lot of insanity is coming our way. And I can't tell if it's good or bad."

"Probably both." Tina commented, earning murmurs of agreement from the others. "These Avenger guys seem to be on our side and they appear to wanna do good here. And if we should already know this, the universe always comes in twos."

"The good and the bad." Cliff answered her underlying question.

"Which is why we must remain vigilant." Aris asserted, a small thump of his fist on his table. "Keep in contact with each other more frequently. I'd rather us not take any chances. Any developments on any of our ends, we report to each other and Ozma. Leave nothing out.

"Loud and clear, boss." Kat said, a two-finger salute on her end before ending the call.

Dex simply nodded, Tina doing the same, the pair blinking out.

Newt promised Aris and Cliff a moment later.

Over with the aforementioned man, he stared at the blank screen for a few seconds before hearing laughter outside.

Tilting his head behind him, he smiled slightly and stood, walking over to the window of the room he was staying in and looked down.

The village Cliff currently resided in was small, only several dozen buildings set up, none being more than three stories tall.

At the center of the village was a small fountain and around said fountain were four young teens, three of which were laughing at the face of their blue-haired teammate who was edging away from the water.

Sun Wukong, Sivir Shurima, Neptune Vasilias and Doreen Green.

Team SSND.

His pupils.

One of the best things that ever happened to him in his long life.

Being a bit of a lone traveler can get a bit redundant, especially in a land as barren as Vacuo. But having them be in his life has made it far more enjoyable in recent memory.

In a world as dangerous as Remnant, the man knew that he couldn't keep them "safe", considering their personalities were those that would never be ones to sit on the sidelines whilst others got hurt. No, they had shown him that when they rushed in to help those in need in the ways he met them all.

So rather than deter them, he would educate them. Make them stronger together.

And when Shade academy assigned them to him, he put them to work.

Now, he could only look on in pride at his team as their growth continued and undoubtedly, Remnant would one day know their names.

Unbeknownst to all those in the world of Remnant, from Salem's group to the Avengers, to Ozpins inner circle and fledgling heroes to be, they were being watched.

Not from any surveillance equipment, any tech bug or through some adjacent window. No, they were being watched from afar.

How far, you may ask. Well… he is watching from an ever-present distance yet could be ever so close.

Through a kaleidoscope-like mirror, with its ever-changing colors, a person was viewing these events unfold from the other side.

He was nearly human in appearance. Two legs and two feet, two arms and two hands, a single torso and a single head on top of it. There were five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot.

The outfit he wore was nothing too strange. It was a simple, blue toga with a belt and a brooch to hold it closed. He also wore a white cape with a high collar, white gloves on his hands and sandals on his feet.

This person almost could have passed for a human, if it hadn't been for two major factors: his immense size, making him tower over any normal human when sitting down, and the size of his head, which was disproportionately huge even when compared with the rest of his body, as if had been ballooned up at some point in his life.

And there were his eyes, his completely blank eyes -without pupil or iris- that seemed to look at nothing and everything at once and the aura of immense, cosmic power surrounding it finished the picture.

This wasn't a human at all, but someone from among the cosmic sky above.

For he was Uatu of the Watchers.

"And so, the first set of pieces have aligned at last. This universe's variation from the one that has come from before. How will this reality's story unfold and differ from the previous tale? Clearly many factors have changed. Some may become a cycle with events still occurring from the last."

The "glass" in front of Uatu shifted to that of the Avengers on one end and Salem and her council on the other.

"As much as I wish to intervene, I cannot. All I can do is watch ever more and see how things play out like many other universes I've observed in my long existence. But if a situation becomes too drastic, I may take part and bring back the Guardians of the Multiverse to help resolve the situation at hand. Until then… I'll just wait and see with anticipation."

AN

Hey, another one, how awesome and we got to update both our RWBY/Avengers and Star Wars/Avengers Stories twice in one month.

Great first month of 2023.

A lot done and lot more to come.

Jeb, Bullet and I have been heavily discussing the coming arcs, characters, plot points, all that jazz while looking at other shows, comics and films to better flesh out this story. We have a lot to pull from and work on other than debauchery cause man, do our convos get hilariously ridiculous at times.

But it's 'cause we wanna make sure we deliver all the stops in both these stories.

Two weeks away from Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The last film we are taking into consideration from everything post Phase 3. We wanna make sure that this story has a distinction compared to Infinite Wars and with the complete inclusion of Phase 4 characters without the dogshit films and shows they were introduced in, we have our work cut out for us.

So other than that, once again, fuck yeah for four chapter updates for Age of Remnant and Infinite Wars in two months. This year is starting out quite well.

Also, for Cliff, please be sure to check out my DeviantArt account to see how he looks on top of all the others he spoke with on top of the man's team that he leads, team SSND.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.