Author's Note:
Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter of Earth's Mightiest Huntsmen. But before we get started with the next arc, I figured it's about time for the first one shot collection for the story!
So, since this is the first of these, I'm going to break down a few rules for them. Each one of the chapters of this type will contain 2-3 different stories. These stories will all be in the same chapter, and those chapters will only come out between story arcs so as to not break up the narrative. These stories will also fall under one of three categories.
One shot: Title says it all. One or more of the RWBY characters will go on some sort of adventure, whether it be fighting crime, interacting with Earth culture, or anything else I can think of.
Team-Up Special: Paying tribute to the classic Marvel series, these stories will feature a RWBY character teaming up with a Marvel character to battle a villain or villains.
What If...?: Much like the comic series (and, I suppose, the MCU series), this series will feature alternate universes or scenarios that differ from the main universe. And before you ask-no, these universes will NOT be crossing over into the main universe for this story. They're mainly going to be one offs that I'll explore once and then leave them alone forever. For some of these alternate universes, I might delve into them more if there's a larger story to be told, but that won't be until I finish the overall story. For the most part though, these will be one offs. No multiverse traveling. No larger story connecting these what ifs together. None of that. Got it? Good.
With that out of the way, let's answer some reviews!
triscythe59: Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait for Sinister to make his move for a while. But I'm really excited for that storyline and the teamup that will come with it.
Vicente Urrutia1: Punisher I do have plans for. Ghost Rider is a character I want to use, but don't have any concrete plans for yet. As for Deadpool, he's a character that is really hard to work in a fanfiction format. I'd like to come up with a way to use him, but so far I haven't come up with anything good.
Blockyblob: The Sentinel was Arcade's, and the mastermind is indeed Sinister. Taskmaster is currently working for Roman as well.
Theheroneeded: Actually, there's a hint about the team of young heroes that I'm going to be using earlier in the story. I won't say where that hint is or how far back it was, but it is there.
Blackmetalzane22: Yep, that's Sinister all right. But like the shadowy villain he is, he's going to remain in the shadows for now.
RedMist86025949: I have no plans for Slapstick at this time. Sorry!
TheBilliantOne: While Ms. Marvel would be an interesting addition to the story (and is one of the few newer Marvel characters that I don't hate or get annoyed with), I don't have any plans for her yet. But good deductive reasoning on your part regardless.
Geoxaga: That indeed would've been a little funny. But at that time, Nora was probably not in any emotional state to be making jokes like that based on what happened to Ren.
DarthK9: I like answering reviews and connecting with my readers in this way. To answer some of your questions, we will be having an arc coming up relatively soon that will show what's going on Remnant, the Pet Avengers will NOT be showing up whatsoever, and yes, I have played the Lego Games. Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga and Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars were my go-to Lego Games growing up.
Renato Chacin: Spider-Man already has MJ, so there will not be any shipping between him and Yang. However, I may be plotting some shipping of my own right now-one or two in particular, but potentially another one that I'm still debating on.
Archdruid Gilneas: There are plans in place for one of those two options, with the other one also having tentative plans in place as well.
Thank you all for your continued support. Now, let's get back to the action.
ONE SHOT: THE AMAZING CIRCUS...OF CRIME!
Manhattan, NY—November 23rd
A crowd of people were lining up outside the circus tent. Excited citizens chatted with one another as they waited for the line to get moving.
"Look at this line!" Nora exclaimed, munching on a stick of cotton candy. "You'd think that they're giving away free stuff."
"Technically, they are," Blake replied. "The tickets for this show were free."
"Which is why it's suspicious," Pyrrha added. "Logan thinks that this might be the Circus of Crime in disguise."
"The who?" Nora questioned.
Blake huffed slightly. "Didn't you read the mission file?"
"Does she ever?" Yang countered.
"The Circus of Crime," Pyrrha explained. "A group of circus performers that rob their audiences blind. They put on a show, steal everything from their audiences, then skip town and repeat the process all over again under a different name."
"How do they do that?" Nora finished her cotton candy and tossed the stick into a nearby trash can.
"Their leader, Maynard Tiboldt," Blake told her. "Otherwise known as the Ringmaster. His hat mesmerizes the audience, allowing his group to rob them all without any effort. That's also why they've been able to avoid long prison sentences. None of their victims ever remember getting robbed in the first place."
"So he mind controls people then?"
"And that's why Ruby decided to sit this one out and patrol the city instead," Yang announced.
"If we're sure this is the Circus of Crime, how come we're going in undercover and not guns blazing?" Nora asked.
"Because we want to be sure this is the Circus before starting a fight," Blake replied. "We don't want to cause a scene by attacking the wrong people."
"If our suspicions are correct, we'll slip out, suit up, and come back in to take them down," Yang decided. "Just don't look directly at the hat during the show."
The four of them slowly made their way through the line and into the large circus tent. Right away, Blake noticed that all the seats were situated in one line rather than wrapping around the entire performance area. Almost as if someone wanted everyone to be facing the same way the entire time.
She instinctively reached back and felt her chain blades hidden under her black jacket. If they were right, then this would quickly dissolve into a chaotic battle. She hoped that none of them would accidentally fall under the Ringmaster's influence. After seeing just how much Ruby had been impacted by mind control...she didn't want to see any more of her friends affected negatively by it.
She then looked over at Nora. She was holding it together better than she would've thought. After Ren had been severely injured during their brief stint in Murderworld, she had barely left his side. It was only after his insistence that she should get out and back on patrol that she was here. Because of that, she seemed to be more or less back to her old self. But Blake knew that she was still hurting slightly with what happened to her best friend.
Once the stands had been filled, the lights started to dim. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!" a voice boomed. "And welcome to the greatest show on Earth!"
Music began to play as smoke began to rise from ground. Several people were emerging from the smoke, including a strongman, a pair of acrobats, a human cannonball, and a snake charmer, who had a massive snake coiled around her shoulders.
At the head of the group was a mustached man in a green suit with black stripes and a large green top hat with a black and white spiral image on the front. "I am the Ringmaster!" he announced. "To start our show, please direct your attention at me and my hat!" As he spoke, the spiral on the hat began to spin.
Just looking at it for a few seconds caused Blake to space out. The spiral was...so mesmerized. Yet she couldn't look away. She had to—
Someone grabbed her hand and pulled her to the ground. Upon breaking eye contact with the hat, Blake felt her mind return to her. "Thanks," she told Yang, who had been the one to pull her down, rubbing her eyes to try to clear them.
"Anytime," Yang responded.
"Well, I think that confirms that this is the Circus of Crime," Pyrrha commented.
"I'll call it in." Blake activated her comm. "Phyllis, send our suits to our location. We've got villains."
"Affirmative," Phyllis answered. "Your suits will be arriving in thirty two seconds."
"Let's get outside," Pyrrha suggested. "Quietly."
As the group crawled behind the chairs, making their way to the exit, Blake tilted her head up to the people they were crawling around. Their faces were blank and expressionless, as if they were asleep, yet still awake. They were completely helpless, at the mercy of the Ringmaster.
"We're going to have to be careful," Blake thought as they all managed to slip outside undetected. "Keep the fighting away from the civilians."
"Here come the suits!" Nora called, pointing up at the sky as four rocket pods flew in. Their descent slowed significantly before they landed softly on the ground and opened up, revealing their outfits as well as Nora and Pyrrha's weapons, as they could not have been smuggled in like Blake and Yang's weapons had.
The group changed quickly, slipping their armor and superhero outfits on over their street clothes. As they did, Blake could hear the Ringmaster back in the tent, ordering his thralls to pull out their wallets and valuables. Just hearing it made her skin crawl.
"What's the plan?" Nora asked, grabbing Magnhild once her armor was fully on.
"We're going to have to flank them," Pyrrha decided. "But we're going to have to keep the fighting away from the people."
"Or smash them so fast that they don't have time to hurt anyone else," Yang added, pounding her fist into her palm.
"When does that ever happen with us?" Nora pointed out.
Yang paused. "Fair point."
"I'll go around the back," Pyrrha said. "Yang, cut through the top of the tent. Blake, go back through the entrance. Nora, you're with me. Just be careful with your grenades."
The girls all nodded and headed off to take their positions. Blake crouched on the ground, peeking through the entrance. Fortunately, Ringmaster had apparently switched off his hat, so she was in no danger of getting hypnotized by it. His people were already moving through the crowd, stealing watches, wallets, and anything else they could get their hands on.
Blake gripped her weapons tightly, waiting for the right moment to strike. "I'm in position," Yang reported.
"Everyone ready then?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'm ready," Blake confirmed.
"Then move in...now!"
Blake leapt through the entrance right as the strong man stepped into the pathway. She instantly kicked him in the chest, which knocked him down the ramp and down back into the center of the tent.
"Hold it right there!" Blake yelled. A second later, there was a ripping sound as Yang cut through the top of the tent and flew in, aiming Ember Celica at the criminals.
"What she said!" she agreed.
Ringmaster startled. "What—who—"
Pyrrha and Nora then moved into view from behind, aiming their own weapons. "It's over, Ringmaster," Pyrrha warned. "Surrender."
"Or don't," Nora piped in. "And then we get to kick your butts."
"Bah!" The Ringmaster waved his hand. "Attack, my Circus of Crime!"
Nora cackled. "Showtime!" She jumped forward, swinging Magnhild into the strong man, sending him flying with one hit.
"Keep the fighting away from the civilians!" Yang yelled as she flew down from above. The two acrobats flipped into the air, sending a flurry of kicks into Yang that pushed her back. She quickly recovered though and flew right back at them, grabbing one and pushing him into the ground before dragging him along for a few feet.
Pyrrha, meanwhile, was making a run for the human cannonball, who was also running straight for his large cannon. She raised her hand and the cannon suddenly began to move on its own, turning around fast enough so the man, not really looking where he was going, ran straight into the cannon barrel, where he then fell to the ground.
This left Blake to make a run for the Ringmaster, only to be blocked by the snake charmer. "Little kitty," she mocked. "You'll make a fine dinner for Precious."
The snake snapped at Blake, who jumped back, leaving behind a shadow clone that dissolved after getting bitten. She swung her chain blades at the snake charmer, who ducked under them and sent her snake slithering after her again. Blake further retreated, trying to keep herself away from the quick striking maw of the snake.
Thinking quickly, she called out to Yang, "Yang! Maneuver Twelve!" She threw her chain blades up as Yang flew overhead. Her partner caught the ends of the blades and pulled Blake up, swinging her around and letting go, letting Blake fly down and kick the snake charmer right in her face.
As the snake charmer dropped, Blake rolled back to her feet and made a run for Ringmaster, who was starting to back up in alarm. But the snake lashed out at her, whipping its tail into her legs and sending her off balance. She got up quickly and had to jump to avoid another bite from the snake.
Yang flew in to help her, but the pair of acrobats were back in action. Both of them grabbed onto her legs and tried to pull her to the ground. Yang, grunting in annoyance, spun in a circle and stretched her legs out before firing twin blasts from Ember Celica and her metal arm, which knocked both acrobats off her.
Pyrrha, meanwhile, had finished off the human cannonball and was busy helping Nora battle the strongman. The two worked in sync with one another, dodging blows from their enemy and delivering several of their own. But it was clear that the big man wasn't going to go down easily.
Blake brought her attention back to the snake charmer, who had recovered and had gotten back to her feet, rubbing her bruised head. "You're dead," she hissed. "No one does that to Princess Python and gets away with it."
The snake struck again, nearly catching Blake's arm this time. Blake sprinted around the two of them, trying to find a good way to attack them. The snake, prompted by Princess Python, tracked her every movement, lashing out at every opportunity.
Eventually, Blake mistimed her jump, and the tail of the snake struck the back of her legs. As she stumbled, dropping her chain blades, the snake quickly took advantage and wrapped its coils around her, trapping her and starting to squeeze.
"Now, little kitty," Princess Python cooed, approaching her and tracing her chin with her finger. "Let's see just how quickly Precious can eat up those nine lives of yours."
Blake struggled within the coils of the snake as it leered at her. She tried to use the claws built into her gloves to stab into its scales, but her arms were stuck fast. She let out a cry of pain as the snake squeezed her tighter and tighter. She was finding it hard to breathe—
"Hey, scaly!" Yang landed on the snake's tail. It let out a hiss and loosed its grip on Blake, who let out a gasp of air and pushed herself free. The snake, meanwhile, quickly snapped at Yang's arm. Unfortunately, it had chosen to bite down on Yang's vibranium arm.
The snake let out a large hiss of pain. But Yang moved fast, grabbing the snake by the head and swinging it around before letting it go. It slammed into Princess Python and the two acrobats, knocking all three of them to the ground and pinning them. "No!" Princess Python exclaimed. "Get off me, Precious!"
But the snake was out cold. Princess Python cursed and tried to lift it off her, Blake ran to her and punched her in the face, knocking her unconscious. A quick check on the acrobats showed that they were already out as well.
At the same time, Pyrrha threw Miló at the strongman, scraping the side of his face. As he yelled in surprise and pain, Nora jumped up onto Pyrrha's shield as she braced it and launched her into the air. "Heads up!" she shouted, twisting around so she could deliver Magnhild down straight onto the strongman. She slammed the hammer down onto him, which sent out a burst of electricity. The man roared in pain before sinking to the ground, out cold.
With the rest of the Circus of Crime defeated, the four of them closed in around the Ringmaster. "It's over, Tiboldt," Pyrrha told him. "Let these people go."
"Never!" Ringmaster raised his hands. "Now hear this! These heroes are trying to disrupt the show! Stop them!"
Slowly, the audience began to stand up. With glassy looks in their eyes, they began to jump over the railings and run down the steps into the middle of the tent, heading straight for the group.
"Uh oh," Yang commented.
"Quit it, hat boy!" Nora yelled, aiming Magnhild at him. "Or you'll get the shock of a lifetime."
Ringmaster smirked, turning to face her. "I think you'd prefer being part of the show." Without warning, his hat turned on, the spiral spinning directly in Nora's face.
"Ha! You think something like is going to..." Nora laugh trailed off as her body slumped over as she quickly succumbed to Ringmaster's spell.
"Yes...you are under my power!" Ringmaster declared. "And now you will—"
Blake, taking advantage of the villain's distraction, dashed forward, decking Ringmaster in the nose. He bellowed and fell back, letting Blake quickly grab the hat off his head.
"Hurry, Blake!" Yang yelled as she and Pyrrha tried to hold back the hypnotized civilians. "Wake everyone up!"
"How do I do that?" Blake shot back.
"Use the hat maybe?!"
Blake hesitated, then put the hat on her own head. "Uh...look into my hat?" she suggested. Slowly, the civilians began to stop advancing as their gaze caught the still spinning spiral.
"Uh, you will no longer be controlled by this hat," Blake went on. "Everyone wake up."
Almost instantly, the civilians began rubbing their eyes, looking around in confusion and concern. A chorus of voices rose up as they tried to figure out what had just happened.
"That's my hat!" Ringmaster yelled, getting back to his feet and rubbing his sore nose. But as Blake turned back to him, the Ringmaster stopped moving and seemed to slump over, having caught sight of the still active hat.
"Taste of your own medicine, Ringmaster?" Yang asked before chuckling. "Looks like your three ring circus will be putting on their next performance behind three bars."
Blake rolled her eyes as she found the switch to turn the hat off. "Nice work, everyone," she said before activating her comm link. "Phyllis, call in S.H.I.E.L.D. so they can take these villains to jail.
"Affirmative," Phyllis answered.
"What do we do with Nora?" Yang asked. Nora was still slumped over, her eyes glazed over and a dopey grin on her face.
Blake walked over to Nora and snapped her fingers in front of her face. "Wake up, Nora, it's over."
Nora stirred, blinking her eyes. "Huh? What happened?" she asked.
"We won," Pyrrha told her. "That's what happened."
Blake and the others watched as the S.H.I.E.L.D. team carted the Circus of Crime away. She looked down at Ringmaster's hat, which she still had with her. "It's amazing how one little hat with a spiral in it could entrance so many people," she commented.
"Probably because people can be so easily mind controlled when they're not expecting it," Yang guessed. "I bet a prepared mind could easily resist something as stupid as a spiral in a top hat."
Nora grinned and snatched the hat away from Blake before she could react. "Wanna bet, Yang?"
"Uh, Nora?" Pyrrha warned. "Is it really such a good idea to mess around with that thing?"
Yang crossed her arms. "Are you just upset that you got taken out so easily by that hat?"
"Come on, Yang," Nora challenged gleefully. "Scared that you can't actually stand up to it?"
Yang smirked back. "Bring it on, Nora."
"I don't think we should be doing this," Blake said.
But Nora was already switching the hat on. "Look into the hat, Yang," she intoned dramatically, "and fall under the power of the Amazing Nora!"
Yang rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's not going...to work..." Her eyes glazed over and she slumped forward, keeping her gaze fixed on the hat.
Nora laughed. "Ha! Told you I could do it!"
"Okay, Nora, you proved your point," Pyrrha told her. "Now wake her up."
"Hold on, hold on," Nora insisted. "I want to try something. Yang, you now believe that you are a chicken."
Yang instantly complied, sticking her hands in her armpits and flapping her arms while making clucking sounds. Nora laughed, activating her gauntlet and taking a picture. "Priceless!"
"Nora!" Pyrrha and Blake exclaimed.
"Oh, fine." Nora turned the hat off and snapped her fingers. "Yang, wake up."
Yang blinked. "Huh? What happened?"
"I won," Nora declared with a grin. "I totally whammied you."
"Oh, did you?"
"Yeah, and I can do it again—"
"Nope," Blake interrupted, taking the hat back. "No more playing around with this, Nora."
Nora folded her arms. "Spoilsport."
MARVEL TEAM-UP: RED RANGER AND SPIDER-MAN: CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE
Manhattan, NY—November 23rd
Ruby stood dramatically on top of a building, gazing out over the city...or at least as much as she could see from her position. Her cloak flapped lightly in the autumn breeze as she scanned the area for crimes with her goggles. "Anything yet, Phyllis?" she asked.
"Negative," Phyllis answered.
Ruby sighed. How hard was it to find a crime in progress in one of the biggest cities in the country? Other than the potential crime that Yang was looking into, things were looking pretty quiet. Of course, given that New York City had a lot of superheroes in it, not counting Ruby and her friends, it probably shouldn't have come as a surprise that some days would be quieter than others. Most villains probably weren't stupid enough to try anything unless they had a genuine plan.
Having nothing else to do, she began pacing the rooftop. As she did, she began talking to herself, practicing a heroic speech that she could use when confronting the villains, like she had seen other heroes use. "Freeze, villain!" she started. "No, that's dumb. What about...taste the blade of the Red Ranger?" She shook her head again, lightly kicking the edge of the roof she was on. This was turning to be harder than she thought "The Red Ranger is here to stop you? Justice is here, and justice is red?"
None of her catchphrases sounded very good to her. She folded her arms against her chest in discouragement. "Yang or Nora probably would've easily come up with something by now," she thought.
"I kind of like that last one. It's very dramatic."
"You think so?" Ruby asked. Then the realization that someone else was on the rooftop with her kicked in. She yelped, nearly tripping and falling off the roof.
"Sorry, sorry!" A familiar red and blue superhero crawled up onto the roof from where he had been poking his head up moments ago. "Didn't mean to startle you."
Ruby clutched her chest dramatically. "You can't just sneak up on a girl like that, Spidey."
Spider-Man laughed at that After a few seconds, Ruby joined him before walking over and giving him a hug. "It's good to see you," she told him.
"Yeah, it's good to see you too, Red Ranger. Love the name, by the way. Very Power Rangers of you."
"Power Rangers?"
"Don't worry about it. Heard you guys took down Arcade the other day. Nice job. That guy has literally no chill."
"You're telling me," Ruby agreed.
"So, where's the rest of your friends?" he asked.
"Well, Ren's still recovering from his injuries," Ruby explained. "Weiss and Jaune are doing some research into robotics to see if we can find any weaknesses in Ultron that we can exploit when we get back home. And the others are investigating a potential crime in progress."
"So why aren't you with them?"
Ruby shuddered slightly. "They're investigating a group called the Circus of Crime. Their leader can—"
"Control your mind with his hat," Spider-Man finished. "Yeah. I've had a few run ins with him before. And I can see why you didn't want to join in on that one."
Ruby nodded, instinctively rubbing her arm as an image of Mesmero flashed in her head. "So, that's why I'm out here on patrol, looking for more crimes going on."
"Let me guess—no luck so far?"
"No luck. I think all the criminals are staying home today."
Spider-Man chuckled. "I think I have an idea on how to find a crime."
Ruby turned back to face him. "You do?"
He smiled, which was barely noticeable due to his mask. "Watch this." He stepped forward to stand on the edge of the roof. "Well, it looks like nothing's going to happen today!" he said in a loud voice. "Guess I'll go pick up a hot dog and go home for the day!"
Ruby frowned in confusion. "You're going home?"
Spider-Man held up a few fingers. "Three, two, one..."
A distant CRASH came from the distance. Ruby swung around in the direction of the crash as police sirens began to blare. "What—how did you do that?" she questioned.
"That's just how my luck goes." Spider-Man ran in the direction of the commotion, slinging his webs and swinging away. "Come on, let's see who the villain of the week is today."
Ruby grinned and ran after him, activating her goggles to help judge the right angles to speed off of. As she jumped off the rooftop, she pulled Crescent Rose out and fired a blast to propel herself faster before slipping into Petal Burst to go even faster to keep up with the web slinging hero.
She tried to keep her excitement in check. Spider-Man was one of the first superheroes on Earth that she had met and befriended, and now she was going to team up with him to stop a crime in progress.
Spider-Man suddenly landed on the side of a building. Ruby, seeing this, fired a shot down to slow her descent, landing in a combat role and into a fighting stance. Up ahead, she could instantly see exactly who—or rather what—they would be up against.
Overturning another car and letting out a roar was a large reptilian creature wearing a lab coat. It looked like a large lizard.
"Oh, great," Spider-Man groaned slightly. "He's gone and done it again."
"What is that thing?" Ruby asked. "A gamma monster?"
"That's Dr. Curt Conners," he explained. "Aka the Lizard. Ever since he lost his arm, he's been trying to create a serum that can regenerate lost limbs. But every time he tries, it turns him into...well, that. It also makes him crazy for some reason."
"Okay...how do we take him down?"
"Well, the best way is to inject him with a cure," Spider-Man replied. "But I left it in my other Spidey-Suit. So we're going to have to subdue him for long enough for me to go get it."
"Sounds like a plan." Ruby converted Crescent Rose into its scythe form and charged forward as the Lizard grabbed another car—thankfully empty—and threw it at her. She swung her scythe and cut through the car with ease.
"Hey! Scaly!" she shouted. "Prepare to face justice at the hands of Red Ranger!"
"Yeah, that doesn't sound as good," Spider-Man told her.
Ruby cringed. "Yeah, I regretted it the moment I said it."
"Ssssssppider-Man!" The Lizard hissed.
"Hey, Doc," Spider-Man responded. "Out of the vivarium I see. What, did you get tired of hanging out with all the gators there?"
The Lizard hissed again and lunged. "Diiiiiiieeeee!"
Ruby fired a few shots with Crescent Rose, but they didn't slow him down at all, forcing her to roll to the side. As he hissed again, Spider-Man webbed his mouth shut. "Uh uh uh!" he taunted. "You gotta use your words, and just shouting 'Die!' isn't going to be enough."
The Lizard ripped the webbing from his mouth and picked up another car, throwing it at Spider-Man. As he flipped above it, the villain was suddenly there, slicing at him with his talons. Thankfully, he managed to dodge.
Ruby dashed in, twirling Crescent Rose to slash at the Lizard. When he tried to claw at her, she jumped back, firing several blasts in the process. He hissed as the repulsor rounds slammed into his snout and torso.
"Annoying inssssectssss!" he hissed.
"Hey, I'm the only annoying insect here!" Spider-Man protested. "It's not nice to call other friendly heroes that unless they are bug themed and quip as much as I do!" He shot several webs at the Lizard, pinning his arms with long, sticky webs connecting to the ground.
"Don't worry—stick around for the punchline!" The web slinger ran in and delivered an uppercut to his jaw, which freed the villain from the webs and sent him flying back several feet. The Lizard got back up and roared, but instead of rushing back in to fight, he grabbed a manhole cover and ripped it up out of the ground, taking a large chunk of the street with it, and throwing it right at Ruby. She yelped and ducked under it, the large metal disk and accompanying gravel missing her by mere inches.
"Hey, that's rude!" Spider-Man yelled at the Lizard, swinging around him and landing a blow to the back of his head. "Don't you know how long it takes to fix these streets? They just finished fixing everything from the scary bug alien invasion!"
The Lizard roared again and lunged, but Spider-Man flipped backwards, avoiding his slaw strikes easily. "Come on, Connors, you know you don't want to do this," he protested. "It's meatloaf night at the Vault, and you know S.H.I.E.L.D. spends more money on Nick Fury's eyepatch budget than they do on good catering."
As The Lizard struck again, Spider-Man ducked, allowing Ruby to jump over him and slice at his face with Crescent Rose. He let out a roar of pain, stumbling back.
Ruby landed next to Spider-Man and took aim with her weapon. "Surrender, Lizard," she ordered.
The villain hissed in response. "Never!"
Ruby tightened her grip on her weapon. "Okay, you asked for it!"
"Woah, hold on!" Spider-Man suddenly looked around in alarm. "Spider-sense is going crazy." As he spoke, the ground started to shake as if something big was stampeding towards them.
"What's going on?" Ruby asked.
Spider-Man suddenly jumped onto a street lamp. "Look out!" he shouted. As she turned around, a huge, stampeding gray...thing...blasted through an overturned van, sending metal shards in all directions, and plowed into her. All she could do was throw her arms in front of her to shield her body as he rammed her, sending her flying backwards into another vehicle.
"Warning," Phyllis reported. "Aura levels at 50%."
Ruby let out a groan as she slowly picked herself up from the wreckage, regrasping her weapon as she focused on the new villain on the scene. "Spider-Man!" he bellowed.
"Rhino?!" Spider-Man exclaimed. "What is this, a creature double feature? Because I'd much prefer the chick flick. It's much easier on the eyes."
Rhino growled. "Still the annoying little bug. And look—you've got a bug friend for me to squash."
"I'm not a bug," Ruby protested, dropping down. "I'm Red Ranger."
Rhino laughed. "More like Little Red Riding Hood." He lowered his horned head and charged at her. "Let's see how you fare against the big bad wolf!"
Ruby used her Semblance to dodge Rhino's charge. "There's a wolf villain here now? What's his name, Man-Wolf?"
Spider-Man let out a laugh as he jumped over the Lizard's claw and tail strikes. "Hey, your first battle quip! Not bad! But I don't think Man-Wolf is going to show up today."
"Sssssilence!" the Lizard managed to strike a lucky blow against Spider-Man that knocked him back into a nearby bodega. He started to chase him, but Spider-Man shot two webs on opposite sides and used them to slingshot himself back out, kicking the Lizard right in the chest on his way out.
Ruby ducked under another punch from Rhino and sliced at his chest. But Crescent Rose just seemed to bounce off his tough skin. The villain laughed and tried to grab at her head. "C'mere, bitch!" Quickly, Ruby jumped backward, firing several repulsor rounds at him. Unfortunately, the energy blasts weren't having any sort of effect.
She landed next to Spider-Man, the two standing back to back as the two villains circled them. "You got a plan, Spidey?" she asked.
"Well, we're only dealing with two villains," he noted. "Which means I'm having better luck today than usual. On a bad day, I'd be fighting six of these guys at once all by myself."
"How do we beat them?"
"Rhino's the easiest of the two. He's big and strong, but not very bright."
"We can hear you, you know!" Rhino shouted.
Spider-Man looked over at him. "Do you mind? We're in a business meeting here."
"No more talk!" Rhino lowered his horn and charged. "Time to die, Spider-Man!"
Spider-Man jumped up onto the nearby wall as Ruby dashed out of the way, trading blows with the Lizard. "Really? Because I had plans later today, and dying would really mess up my schedule."
Rhino crashed into the wall and stepped back. "Do you ever shut up?!" He swung a fist up at him, which caused him to flip off the wall and shoot some webs at Rhino's back.
"Sorry, Rhino, but it's in my contract," he quipped. "Spidey-Fans demand a certain amount of quips per fight, and I'd hate to disappoint them."
Rhino swung around and swung again and again at Spider-Man, who dodged ever strike. Meanwhile, Ruby clashed with the Lizard, who was pushing against her scythe and starting to push her back.
"Weak little girl," he hissed.
Ruby's eyes narrowed in determination as she had an idea. She quickly lowered Crescent Rose, which caused the Lizard to stumble slightly. She took this opportunity to ram her knee straight into the Lizard's jaw before headbutting him and then twirling her weapon, proceeding to whack him on top of his head. He dropped to the ground with a growl.
Ruby pumped a fist. "Yes!"
That was when the Lizard swung his tail at her, sweeping her legs out from under her. She fell with a yelp, and the villain was instantly on top of her, hissing in her face before trying to bite her head off. Struggling, Ruby managed to grasp the trigger of Crescent Rose and fire it point blank into his knee. He hissed again, loosening his grip, which allowed Ruby to roll away and get back to her feet.
"Think of fighting him like you would fight a Grimm," she thought, tightening her grip on her weapon again. "He hits like an Ursa, but with the maneuverability of a Beowolf. Use that."
She got into a running stance and sped towards the Lizard. He hissed in triumph and leapt for the kill. But at the last second, Ruby pointed Crescent Rose at the ground and fired, propelling her into the air and causing him to miss. In that seem instant, she turned her weapon around and fired again, sending her back down to slam her weapon straight into the Lizard's back. At the same time, she switched on the protective force field over her blade, which caused Lizard to suffer a major shock.
As he roared in pain, sinking to his knees, Ruby looked over to see Spider-Man still taunting and avoiding Rhino's attacks. "Come on, Rhino. If you're lucky, you'll be able to hit me in about to twenty years!"
"When I get my hands on you, Spider-Man, there won't be enough left to even scrape off the pavement!" Rhino yelled back in response.
The Lizard was starting to get back on his feet now, but Ruby had another idea. "Spidey!" she called. He looked over at her and seemed to instantly know what she had in mind. He gave her a nod and started running in her direction.
"Hey Rhino! Betcha can't catch me!" he taunted.
Rhino let out an angered shouted and chased after him. At the same time, Ruby ran in Spider-Man's direction, firing another round from Crescent Rose at the Lizard to get his attention. He let out a hiss and began chasing her as well.
The two ran straight at each other, with the two villains in hot pursuit. When they reached each other, Spider-Man suddenly shot a web at a nearby building, grabbing Ruby around the waist and lifting them both up and away. The Lizard let out a roar as he realized, two later, that Rhino was now barreling right at him. The two villains collided with a loud BOOM and slumped to the ground, momentarily stunned.
Spider-Man swung back around, setting Ruby gently on the ground before webbing both the villains together before either one of them could move. In a few moments, both were completely wrapped up in webs, pining their arms and legs together and pinning their bodies against each other. "Aww, isn't this nice?" he quipped. "It's still a month away from Christmas and the presents are already wrapped."
Rhino wriggled in fury. "Damn you, Spider-Man!"
"Shhhhhhh." Spider-Man webbed his mouth shut. "It's supposed to be a silent night." Then he frowned. "Wait—is it still too early to make Christmas quips? Or does the rule of not singing Christmas music until after Thanksgiving apply to quips too?"
Ruby giggled slightly, even though she had no idea what Christmas was. "That was fun."
"Sure was." As Spider-Man spoke, a Quinjet arrived overhead and landed in the street. "And that's our cue to leave."
"You don't want to stick around?"
"One thing I've learned from experience? Don't get in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s way." Spider-Man slung a web to a build and swung up to a rooftop, grabbing Ruby again and pulling her along with him until were up high enough to watch the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents take the two villains away.
"Will Doctor Connors be okay?" Ruby asked.
"They'll give him the cure and turn him back from the Lizard," he responded. "And then give him the standard warning of not experimenting with his serum since it always turns him into a monster, yaddah yaddah yaddah. Rhino, on the other hand, will be locked up in the Vault." He then held a fist out. "Not bad today, Red Ranger. You're quickly turning out to be a great hero."
Ruby smiled and gave him a fist bump. "It was fun," she repeated. "It's always fun hanging out with you, Spidey."
"That's good. I'd hate to be a boring Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. And now, I say we head out and embark on the most critical mission yet."
Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "What's that?"
"Victory burgers and milkshakes. Race you!" Spider-Man then flipped off the rooftop and began swinging away.
"Hey! No fair!" Ruby quickly reloaded Crescent Rose and jumped off the roof, firing a shot to propel herself in pursuit. But deep down, she was really proud of the work she had done with Spider-Man that day. After taking down two villains together, they both certainly deserved a tasty meal as a reward.
And there you have it. Nothing really major or life changing. Just some fun little stories of RWBY characters interacting with more Earth stuff.
Now, I know you're wondering why I didn't include a What If story for this collection. Well, I had one in mind, but I need to think it through more of how I want it to go, as the concept is very complex. The rest of my current What If ideas rely on future concepts and plot points not yet introduced in the story. So, regrettably, I had to cut the What If this time around. I'm not too terribly disappointed, as if I had to cut any of the three story types, it would be the What Ifs. Luckily, I should be able to get the idea I've been working on ready to go for the next collection.
For the One Shot story, I figured a fun little story was in order, so a nice little skirmish with the Circus of Crime seemed like a good idea. And Nora with her hands on the Ringmaster's hat is probably the scariest concept I've come up with yet for this story. Luckily, Blake is on point to make sure she didn't get any ideas. And yeah, the suit delivery system is supposed to pay homage to the weapon delivery system seen in the early RWBY seasons.
As for Ruby's team up with Spider-Man, it seemed only natural to lead off with a Ruby-Spidey team up, given that this was one of the first team ups from this story. Originally, I was just going to have them fight the Lizard in the sewers and have the story be called "Rumble in the Sewers." But while I was writing, I decided that some changes were in order. So I had the idea of throwing in Rhino as well, and after coming up with the "Creature double feature" quip, I changed the story title to that instead. It sounds a heck of a lot better as I think about it.
But anywho, next time will be the kick-off for the next arc. And I must say that I'm extremely excited about the extraordinary arc that is to come. But until then, this is Guest 1138, signing off.