Author's Note:
Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter of Earth's Mightiest Huntsmen, and boy are y'all really excited about that character showing up. But before we get to her doing what she does best, let's answer some reviews!
SulliMike23: Yes. Yes I just had to throw Laura in.
Blackmetalzane22: Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Who can tell these days?
Blockyblob: Originally, I wasn't even thinking about the New Mutants for this story. Now I'm really glad I did with all the fun interactions I can have between them and the RWBY characters.
Archdruid Gilneas: Magik is...elsewhere at the moment. I'll leave it at that for now.
CRUDEN: Honestly, there's not a ton of other New Mutants affiliated characters left aside from Magik and Cypher. I wanted to use Boom Boom, but with eight characters already on the roster (making it quite a lot of characters I'm working with for this arc overall), she sadly had to be left out.
WildImaginator21: Red Hulk might come into play later on in the story. I haven't really decided yet.
DarthK9: To answer your questions, I do have a plan for Doom's return-it just might not be what people expect. As for the various DC/RWBY crossovers...I have mixed feelings about them overall. Some parts are decent, and I do like how the Part 2 movie gave Watts a decent ending after Volume 8 just kind of...killed him off unceremoniously. But some of them are really bad. Like, there was one comic crossover where Team RWBY wound up on Earth and their presence suddenly gave random people Semblances, including I believe the superheroes that already had superpowers, and that whole story was such a mess that I couldn't even finish it. I do think you're right that RWBY, especially early RWBY (which is where this story started timeline wise) does bounce off Marvel more due to its lighthearted nature.
Convoy914: It's all good, and glad to see that the TVTropes page is still attracting new readers! To be fair, I don't see post Vol 3 stuff as objectively bad. It's overall still pretty good, there are a lot of moments that I like, and I do think the tone shift from Vol 1-3 to a more serious tone going forward was done in a decent enough manner. But there are also some big character decisions that they made that I have lots of issues with, too many issues to really talk about here lest I get into a big rant about my least favorite of those character decisions. At the very least they haven't done anything yet to make me stop watching or to make me think about stopping the series. I'm still invested in it overall and looking forward to Vol 10 if/when it comes out. As for Yang losing her arm and how it relates to Hunters of Justice, well...that story's still far from over, so she may still lose that arm there too. I chose to have it early on as a good way to help get her memories back. Plus, vibranium arm!
KJK5381: Yeah, using the more obscure characters was one of my main goals for this story, since there are a lot of fantastic Marvel characters out there and not all of them can be used in cartoons and movies. And your critique is quite valid. Lately I've been feeling like things are happening a little too fast for my liking, so chances are I will probably have more time pass before big arcs. I'm considering at least a month of time passing between Arcs 12 and 13 (so between the next arc and the one after it) but haven't fully considered it quite yet.
Red Scorpion: Well, to be fair, in X-23's very first appearance way back in X-Men: Evolution, she was created by Hydra. Granted, her first appearance in the comics had her being created by a different organization, but her association with Hydra here does make some sort of sense based on that original appearance...and what happened to her in this story's timeline.
Thank you all for your continued support. Now, let's get back to the action.
The Canadian Wilderness—November 28th
The proximity alarm on the X-Jet began blaring, tearing Beast away from his book. Setting it down, he moved to the console and checked the radar, which was detecting multiple aircraft on approach...and they were locking weapons on the X-Jet.
"Oh my stars and garters," he breathed before quickly springing into action, firing up the engines and taking off even as missile launch warnings screamed at him. He flew the jet up and launched countermeasures, which destroyed the incoming missiles. However, his scanners indicated that Logan's Quinjet, still parked in the clearing below, had not been so lucky.
He looked out the cockpit window to see several helicopters fly by, heading for the forest. But the startling thing about them was that they all had the Hydra insignia painted on their sides.
"Oh dear," he said aloud.
"Take cover!" Weiss yelled as the figure in the trees opened fire. She dove behind a tree as everyone else similarly took cover. The ground where they had been standing just a second earlier was hit with multiple bullets. More shots then hit the tree trunks behind which everyone was hiding.
"Who the hell is that up there?!" Sunspot yelled.
"I can't tell!" Yang yelled back. "Whoever he is, he's not a friendly!"
"Do you think this could be some old war buddy of Logan's that he brought in to help?"
Weiss winced as another few bullets whizzed past her. "I think that's a no."
Dani took aim with her bow. "I can't get a clear shot."
"Then we take down the tree he's on instead," Yang decided.
Dani looked back at her and actually smiled slightly. "Not a bad idea."
"Weiss, give me some cover!" Yang shouted.
"I'm on it." Weiss summoned a Nevermore and sent it straight at the attacker. As he started to shoot it down, Yang blasted herself around her tree and straight at the tree the attacker was on. He quickly changed targets as the Nevermore disintegrated, but she blasted herself forward even faster. She twisted around and rammed her metal arm right through the tree trunk, shattering it. The tree buckled and started to fall.
The attacker leaped off the falling tree, landing on the ground with ease while still holding his rifle. Now that he was in full view, Yang could finally get a good view of him. He appeared lightly armored, but wore a mask and goggles to conceal his identity. His most distinct feature, however, was his metal arm, which stretched all the way up through to his shoulder.
"Nice arm," Yang commented before firing several rounds from Ember Celica. The attacker instantly slid away, firing on her with his rifle. She dove to the side to avoid getting hit, and Dani used this distraction to fire an arrow straight at the rifle, knocking it from his grip.
The attacker stood up straight as everyone surrounded him. "Give it up, dude," Sunspot warned. "You're outnumbered."
The attacker didn't move. But it was then that Yang heard the sounds of helicopters approaching. "Not anymore," the attacker countered.
Several soldiers in green uniforms dropped from above, landing around them and aiming their rifles at them. "Surrender," the attacker warned. "Or you will be executed."
"These guys," Wolfsbane warned quietly. "They're Hydra."
"The hell is Hydra doing way out here?" Yang asked back.
"Surrender," the attacker repeated.
"Surrender?" Yang repeated with a smirk. "What, because we're outnumbered?" She cracked her neck muscles. "This just means I'm going to enjoy beating the crap out of all your goons."
"You and me both," Sunspot agreed, cracking his knuckles. His entire body suddenly darkened, with the only light coming from his outline and his glowing eyes.
"Very well." The attacker pulled a long combat knife from his belt and twirled it. "Let us see what you children are made of."
Gorgon charged at Logan, swinging his katana straight at him, which the X-Man blocked with ease before pushing forward. "Stay back!" he ordered as Pyrrha and the others moved forward to help. "This guy's way out of your league!"
"But we can—" Jaune started.
"This aint up for debate, kid!" Logan snapped as he blocked another strike from Gorgon. "Hydra's going to be crawling all over these woods in minutes!" Already he could hear gunfire in the distance. "Regroup with the others and push them back!"
Jaune hesitated, but nodded. "Let's go!" he ordered, rushing off through the woods, with Pyrrha, Nora, Karma, and Warlock following.
"Sending your children away so they won't witness your defeat?" Gorgon questioned, parrying Logan's claw strike.
"I know how you work, Gorgon," Logan growled. "You aint killing any of them and you aint killing me." He pushed forward, jumping and slashing for Gorgon's chest, but he managed to duck away in time.
"Oh, I have no plans of killing you," Gorgon said back. "I have someone else in mind for that role. Someone very close to you."
"What are you talking about?" Logan swiped at him again, the two clashing metal against metal.
"Oh, come now, Wolverine, surely you remember her. A young girl that you were unable to save. One that's just like you."
Logan froze. "No...Laura..."
Gorgon grinned. "Oh yes...your name for her. I prefer to call her by her true name: X-23."
"What did you do to her?!"
"We reminded her of her true loyalties to Hydra. And now she will help us acquire some new recruits—your new charges."
"You aint getting near them," Logan snarled.
"Oh, I assure you that X-23 is dealing with your little red cloaked girl as we speak. What was her name again? Ah yes...Red Ranger."
"What the hell do you want with her?!" Logan swiped at him again as they continued their fight.
"Come now, Wolverine, did you really think Hydra wouldn't hear about what she did to those Grimm in New York?"
Logan growled as the two clashed again. "You want that power for yourselves."
Gorgon smirked and pushed against Logan, sending him back several paces. "Your children are no match for her, Wolverine. They will fall, and any that survive will soon work for Hydra."
Logan snarled and charged again in a flurry of slashes and stabs, which Gorgon managed to block at every turn. "You aint getting your hands on those kids, Shishido!"
"We'll see about that." As the two continued their fight, metal clashing against metal, Logan could hear the sounds of gunfire in the distance continuing. Hydra forces were all over the forest most likely, battling against the kids while he clashed with Gorgon. And somewhere out there was Laura.
He clenched his jaw, fighting back another growl. He had to end this fight quickly and find her. He couldn't allow himself to lose her. Not again.
"Who's this supposed to be?" Magma asked. "Wolverine Jr?"
The girl, in response, suddenly lunged at her. She let out a yelp as her body instinctively turned to molten lava. She jumped back, throwing blasts of molten rock straight at her. The girl plowed through them without even slowing down, swiping at her chest.
Ruby instantly started shooting at the girl, but she quickly dodged out of the way and sprinted at her. In a flash, Cannonball shot forward, an energy field forming in front of him as he launched himself, and rammed into the girl, knocking her back straight towards Armor.
Armor, seeing this, acted quickly. Pink see-through armor formed around her, making her seem taller and bulkier. With now oversized armored hands, she grabbed for the girl, but she twisted around and stabbed straight through the armor, slashing her arm. Armor yelped in pain and dropped the girl, who quickly jumped away as she swung down with her other hand.
"Yep—she's definitely got adamantium!" she yelled.
"Who is this girl?!" Cannonball yelled back.
Blake's ears twitched as she heard the distinct sound of helicopter blades approaching in the air. "I think she brought friends," she announced.
"Something tells me this isn't part of the training," Cannonball surmised.
"Gee, you think?!" Magma exclaimed.
As the helicopters flew overhead, several soldiers in green and yellow uniforms dropped down around them, instantly starting to fire. Armor deflected multiple bullets and whacked one solider aside, while Cannonball shot himself at another group of them, knocking them all down at once.
"I know these guys!" Ruby announced as she used Crescent Rose, it's stunning force field active, to shock one soldier to the ground. "They're Hydra!"
"Hydra?!" Magma repeated as she sent a wave of lava at the girl, who flipped over it with ease. "Those Nazi assholes?"
"What are they doing way up here?!" Armor added as she tanked several more rounds and grabbed another Hydra soldier, throwing him into another one.
"Maybe we can ask them once we're done taking them down!" Ruby responded, jumping back and firing Crescent Rose several times to propel herself back, taking down a few more soldiers in the process.
Blake swung her chain blades around, wrapping around one soldier and pulling him towards her, finishing him off with a kick to the face. As she did, another soldier tried to shoot at her, but she jumped back, leaving behind a shadow clone that instantly dissolved upon getting hit. That soldier was quickly taken down by Ruby, while Cannonball moved past her, punching another soldier in the face and taking him down.
The girl with claws was still pressing forward against Magma, who was trying her best against her, but was retreating further and further away, steam coming from the ground from each step she took as her magma form melted the snow around her. "Could use some help over here!" she called.
"I'm on it!" Ruby dashed forward with her semblance, swinging Crescent Rose at the girl. She jumped out of the way before taking a flying leap at her, flipping over her as she tried to swing up at her again. A single claw popped out of her feet as she swung down with it, cutting a large chunk out of Ruby's cloak in the process.
Ruby yelped and swung around, firing again to propel herself back further. When the girl, dodging most of the rounds, leapt forward in an attempt to stab her, she used her semblance again, quickly darting around the claws and reappearing next to a tree and using her scythe to swing herself around the trunk. This allowed her to kick the girl in the side, regaining her footing and firing another shot at her.
The girl recovered quickly, however, and lunged to attack again, only to be blasted in the side by Magma, which burned through her sleeve and forced her back a little further. But as Blake watched (after kicking down another Hydra soldier), the burns on her arm slowly began healing.
"She's got a healing factor!" she warned.
The girl sprinted forward, slicing both her clawed hands through a tree and launching an entire piece of the tree straight at Blake. She jumped over it and threw her chain blades at her. Unfortunately, the girl slid under the blades and swiped her claws up through the chains, slicing them apart. The blades hit the ground hard, and Blake was left holding nothing but chains.
She bit back a curse as the girl lunged at her, only to be cut off by Ruby, who moved in front of her and blocked the claw strike with Crescent Rose. The girl pushed hard into the scythe, apparently not affected by the stun field over it. Ruby struggled to hold her back, but was slowly getting pushed in the other direction.
Blake ducked around Ruby and took a swipe with her clawed gloves at the girl, but she responded by breaking off her assault on Ruby and switching to her, leaping back and using her foot claws to take a swipe at Blake. She managed to lean back at the last second, the claw missing her neck by mere inches.
Armor smashed her armored form's shoulder straight into the girl, knocking her back. She tried to go in for the grab, but she jumped on top of Armor and used her as a springboard, launching herself directly into Ruby, pinning her to the ground. Before Ruby could break free, her attacker pulled out a circular device and placed it onto her forehead. Instantly, a crackle of energy flashed over her body, and she went limp.
"Ruby!" Blake moved in to help her, trying to attack the girl on top of her friend. But she quickly dodged her blow and delivered an uppercut to her chin, which sent her reeling as her aura took the brunt of the impact. But as she struggled to right herself, the girl was on her, jamming a second device onto her own forehead. Instantly, she lost all feeling to her limbs, causing her to sink to the ground, unable to move.
"What the heck?" she thought in alarm, trying desperately to move, to do anything. But her body refused to listen to her. She was stuck even as the girl picked her up and slung her over her shoulder before she picked up Ruby as well.
"Keep them occupied," the girl spoke to the Hydra soldiers that were still standing. "I'll secure the primary target."
"Hail Hydra!" one solider shouted in response while the girl took off running in the opposite direction, taking both Blake and Ruby with her. And there was absolutely nothing either one of them could do about it.
Yang blocked a strike from the assassin's metal arm while dodging a knife strike at the same time. She blocked another punch before firing a blast from Ember Celica, which her opponent ducked instantly before grabbing her metal arm and flinging her over him. She twisted around and fired twin blasts that rocketed her back to him. Unfortunately, he jumped aside, causing her to pummel the ground where he had been standing.
Meanwhile, Weiss had summoned her Arma Gigas, which was throwing aside Hydra soldiers like it was nothing. Weiss herself was parrying a soldier with a blade, knocking it from his hand before kneeing him in the chest, taking him down.
Dani fired some sort of energy arrow at a Hydra soldier, who instantly buckled and fell, writhing in pain. Next to her, Wolfsbane slashed into another Hydra soldier, now as some sort of wolf-human hybrid. Another soldier tried to shoot at her, but she swept his leg out from under before beating into his face, knocking him out.
Yang focused back on the assassin, firing several more blasts at him, which he slid under, getting him close enough to grab his rifle. He brought it around and fired on Yang. She used her vibranium arm to block the initial shots as she ran for cover. However, before the assassin could do anymore, he was hit from behind by an uprooted tree, which was being wielded by Sunspot.
"See?!" he called to her. "Strong!"
Yang rolled her eyes slightly with a playful snort. "Yeah, I can see that."
The assassin then threw a grenade at Sunspot, which blew the tree he had been carrying into splinters and knocked him right on his butt. The assassin then shot at him, forcing him to take cover. Yang ran into help, flipping up and blasting herself into the air before landing a pummeling strike against the assassin. However, he saw her coming and raised his metal arm to defend himself, blocking her and forcing her back.
Yang grit her teeth in frustration. Whoever this guy was, he was good. Really good. Thinking quickly, she activated her wrist blades and moved in again. This time, the assassin used his knife again, blocking her strikes with ease before kicking her straight in the chest, sending her flying straight back into Sunspot. The two landed in a heap in the snow.
"Okay...I really don't like this guy," Yang grumbled as the two got back to their feet.
"Then let's take him down," Sunspot decided.
The two ran straight at the assassin. At the same time, Sunspot scooped up a massive pile of snow and threw it at the assassin, giving them just enough time to reach him. Yang threw a series of blows on one side of him while Sunspot did the same on the other. The assassin seemed to still be able to block every strike, but soon started to let a few blows through. He struck out with his knife, trying to slash at them both, but the two easily dodged his strikes. Yang then fired a blast from Ember Celica that hit him in the side, while Sunspot jumped on his hands and spun his legs around, smacking them both into the assassin's head. This knocked him back several paces. As he tried to recover, both Yang and Sunspot went in and delivered a simultaneous uppercut, which knocked him far back into another tree.
"Give up yet?" Yang taunted.
"Or do you want even more of a beating?" Sunspot added.
The assassin slowly picked himself up. "My turn," he decided. Without warning, he brought up a small weapon and fired a concussive shot straight into Yang's stomach, sending her flying backwards. Sunspot, with a shout, jumped in to attack, but the assassin grabbed him by the throat and threw him aside.
Yang slowly got to her feet again, her semblance already causing her hair to glow brighter. "Okay, tough guy," she growled, slamming her fists together and letting her power build around her. "Let's go."
She blasted herself forward, aiming to pummel the assassin right in the head. But he jumped back, causing her to punch the ground again, which created a large shockwave around her. In one fluid movement, she brought her fist up, which he leaned back to avoid. He swung his own metal arm to backhand her, which she jumped to avoid, firing two shots straight at him. As she flew back, she loaded missile rounds into Ember Celica and fired, sending half a dozen missiles straight at him. The resulting explosion engulfed him and the surrounding area around him in a fireball.
"Are you trying to kill him?!" Weiss exclaimed as she moved by her.
"Relax. There's not enough in those rounds to kill him," Yang assured her. "Maybe roast him a little, but—"
A cable shot from the flames, wrapping around Yang and yanking her forward. She yelped as the assassin emerged, belting her straight in the face with his metal arm, smashing her into the ground. Yang flexed her arms, snapping the cable before rolling across the ground and back into a kneeling position.
"Who the hell IS this guy?" Yang thought wearily as the man continued to advance.
Jaune's group continued to run through the forest in the direction of the gunshots when Warlock suddenly jerked around. "Alarm!" he shouted. "Enemy aircraft closing in!"
"How close are they?" Karma asked. That was when two helicopters flew overhead, turning around to hover over them. Their doors opened up, revealing mounted weapons manned by Hydra soldiers.
"Very close!" Warlock's arms morphed into cannons , which he used to take aim at the helicopters. But before he could do anything, several missiles smashed into them, blowing them apart as the X-Jet flew overhead.
"It's Beast!" Karma realized.
"We've got air support," Jaune confirmed. "Hopefully that will take care of anymore Hydra reinforcements."
"Then let's keep moving," Pyrrha advised.
"That psycho took Red Ranger and Shade!" Armor yelled as she punched down another Hydra soldier.
"Sam, go after her!" Magma called to Cannonball as she ducked under a Hydra fist and punched him in the face, leaving a large burn mark on him. "You're the only one fast enough to catch up! We'll finish off these guys and catch up."
"I'm on it!" Cannonball took off in the direction that the clawed girl had gone, using his powers to propel himself even faster. He grabbed a tree branch near the top of a tree and quickly spied the girl in question, running with an incapacitated Ruby and Blake in her grip.
His first thought was to launch himself directly at her to try to take her down right then and there. But he didn't want to accidentally hurt the young heroes that she had captured, and frankly, given how expertly she had been fighting, he didn't really expect to have much of a chance against her. Chances were, he would just end up captured too.
"I have to choose my moment," he thought. "I'm only going to get one shot at this." He didn't really have a clue about what would happen after he saved them. If this Wolverine knock-off was as good of a tracker as the real deal, she was probably going to come after him.
"Worry about that later," he told him self as he jumped to the next tree, keeping a somewhat safe distance from the attacker. "Focus on just getting them out of there first."
He continued following from above as the attacker moved through the trees. Eventually, she came to a small clearing—not the one that he and the others had started in, but a different one. As Cannonball watched, the girl seemed to stop and look up at the sky. A moment later, a ship materialized above her, lowering to the ground.
"A cloaked ship!" Cannonball realized. The helicopters weren't the only airships Hydra had brought. With a sickening dread, he realized that if this girl managed to get Ruby and Blake on board, they would probably never be seen again.
It was now or never. He had to move in fast, or he would lose his new friends.
Still unable to move, Blake could do nothing but stare at the ground, as she was still slung over the girl's shoulder. However, she could still hear the whirling as some sort of airship lowered above her.
"I have the primary target," the girl said to whoever was on the ship. "And an extra that may be useful. The doctor will figure it out when we get to Antarctica."
"Load them up," a male voice responded.
The girl shifted, as if she were lifting someone (presumably Ruby) to the person on the ship. But an instant later, she twisted around, as if something or someone had drawn her attention.
In that same instant, she jumped back, with Blake falling off her shoulder and landing face down in the snow. Stuck on the ground, she had absolutely no idea what was happening. But she hoped that whatever it was, it would lead to her and Ruby getting saved.
Cannonball had waited for when the girl was handing Ruby off to the Hydra soldier in the airship before he made his move. He leaped off the tree and launched himself, directing himself straight at the small space between the girl and the ship.
His plan was to grab Ruby directly and snag Blake by the leg as he flew by. It would probably hurt like hell, but it was better than the alternative.
Unfortunately, in that split second that it took for him to reach them, the girl seemed to sense his presence. She whirled around and tried to back away from him, but Cannonball had already wrapped a hand around Ruby's waist and was reaching for Blake's leg. But the girl's sudden movement and pull back moved her just enough so that he was grasping nothing but air.
"Dammit!" Cannonball silently cursed, twisting his head around to see Blake fall into the snow, with the girl that had captured her staring after him as he rocketed past. He had missed. If he had just been a little faster...
He turned back around and let out a yelp in shock as he realized his momentary distraction had caused his flight angle to dip, sending him careening off a nearby ridge. He crashed through a tree, his blast field dissipating as he lost focus. He hit the ground hard and began to roll further down. All he could do was pull Ruby tighter into him, keeping a hold of her and putting himself between her and the multitude of trees and rocks that they were both now rolling towards.
"Idiots!" Blake heard the girl exclaim. "You let the primary target get away!"
"Ruby got away," Blake thought with relief. She wasn't sure exactly what happened, but if she had to guess, Cannonball had saved her. But that also led to the question as to why Ruby was the primary target. Why was Hydra targeting her specifically.
She felt hands grab her as she was lifted up and given to the Hydra soldier on the ship. "Take care of her," the girl growled. "I'll go after the other one."
"Sorry, but there's no time," the soldier told her. "We just got a signal from the Winter Soldier. He needs extraction."
"Forget him. Gorgon wants the primary target, so we get him the—"
"We have our orders, X-23," the soldier interrupted. "Get on the transport. Now."
The girl, apparently named X-23, growled. Blake almost expected her to stab the soldier right then and there. But she apparently relented, hopping onto the ship. "Strap her in," she ordered. "If she somehow falls out of the ship, I'm holding you responsible."
"Sure, sure." The soldier carried Blake over to a seat and strapped her in, before muttering under his breath, "Mutant bitch."
"At least Ruby escaped," Blake thought to herself. But her own escape would probably be much, much harder.
Yang dodged another knife strike from the assassin, trying as hard as she could to break through his defenses. But even when she could knock him back a few paces, he recovered quickly and continued his assault.
"This guy's a machine," she thought as she blocked another knife strike. "He's not even slowing down."
Suddenly, there was an explosion from nearby, accompanied by a familiar laugh. Seconds later, Nora appeared, riding Magnhild in her usual style, and smashed into the assassin, sending him flying. "Let's get this party started!" she exclaimed, then using her hammer to whack a Hydra soldier.
The assassin got back to his feet, pulling out a pistol, but that was when he was hit in the side by a Boarbatusk that Weiss had summoned. As he stumbled back from the impact, Sunspot punched him in the chest, knocking him straight into Wolfsbane, who grabbed him from behind and forced him to his knees.
"Yang!" Jaune broke through the trees, followed by Pyrrha, Karma, and Warlock. "You guys okay?!"
"I think so." Yang looked around the area as Dani, Weiss, and Nora finished off the last of the Hydra agents. That left the assassin as the last one left. She approached him and leaned forward. "What was that about surrendering?" she mocked.
The assassin stared daggers at her, but didn't respond. "Talk," Dani ordered, aiming a glowing arrow at him. "What's Hydra doing out here? Why did you attack us?"
He remained quiet. "Yeah, I don't think he's going to talk," Sunspot noted. "Guess we're going to have to beat the answer out of him."
"That's not how we do things," Jaune responded. "We don't just torture bad guys to get information. I say we just knock him out and let S.H.I.E.L.D. deal with him.
"Fine by me," Dani agreed. "This neural arrow will knock him out for a while."
She let go of the bowstring, launching her neural arrow straight at the assassin. But at the last second, he suddenly threw Wolfsbane over his back and held her in front of her, using her as a human shield. When the arrow hit, she let out a howl of pain and slumped over, unconscious.
Dani also cried out in pain, sinking to her knees and clutching her head in agony. "Dani!" Sunspot ran to her side.
Yang, eyes flashing red, dashed forward to try to punch him. But in that same instant, the assassin fired a grappling line straight up into the air. A second later, he was yanked off his feet as a ship flew by, taking Wolfsbane with him.
"Oh no you don't!" Yang blasted herself off the ground, trying to catch up. The assassin, in response, threw a device down at her, which exploded right in her face in a flash of light and sound. She yelped, crashing back down into the snow.
"Yang!" Jaune's voice called as he and someone else ran to her.
"I'm okay." Yang groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Except I can't see anything."
"Flashbang," Karma's voice explained. "It'll wear off."
"Forget that!" Dani's voice exclaimed, still sounding in pain. "Those bastards took Rahne!"
Logan slashed at Gorgon's side and kicked him into a tree. "Give it up, Shishido," he ordered. "It's over."
Gorgon laughed, straightening back up. "You're right. It is. I got what I wanted."
Logan's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
Gorgon offered him an evil smile. "You'll find out soon enough." At that moment, a ship decloaked above the. Hanging off of it was a man with a metal arm wielding a large rifle, who instantly fired a volley of rounds straight at Logan, knocking him off his feet. Seeing his chance, Gorgon jumped for the ship, grabbing onto the edge of it and flipping himself up. "Until we meet again, Wolverine!" he yelled down to him as the ship flew away.
Logan growled in frustration, getting back up as his healing factor took care of his wounds. Then he took a big whiff of the air and began running in the direction that the kids had gone, hoping that Gorgon was just bluffing.
After a few minutes, Yang's vision was back, albeit extremely blurry. As she rubbed her eyes some more, Jaune was starting to take charge. "Are the comms back yet?" he was asking.
"Still can't get through to anybody," Sunspot confirmed as he finished tying up the Hydra soldiers that had been left behind. "Does anybody know who that guy with the metal arm was?"
"Whoever he was, he knew how to fight," Yang spoke up.
"Who cares about who he was?" Dani snapped, still holding her head in pain. "He's got Rahne."
"And we're going to get her back, Dani," Karma assured her.
"You can say that again," Nora agreed. "We're going to find her and kick Hydra's butts."
Crunching footsteps came from the west. Everyone turned around, weapons and powers at the ready, only to relax when they saw Logan reaching them. "Everyone alright?" he demanded to know.
"We're fine," Karma answered. "But those Hydra guys took Rahne."
Logan growled in anger. "Damnit."
"We're going after them, right?" Jaune asked.
"First we need to find the others."
"-copy?" Beast's voice asked over the comms. "I repeat, does anybody copy?"
"Comms are back," Jaune realized.
Logan activated his comm. "Hank," he answered. "Hydra kidnapped Rahne."
"They what?!" This came from Magma.
"Amara, are you guys okay?!" Dani demanded to know.
"Hisako and I are fine," she answered. "But we got attacked by some girl with claws like Logan's. She took Red Ranger and Shade."
"What?!" Yang's eyes flashed dangerously red.
"What about Sam?" Sunspot asked.
"He went after them. But we haven't heard from him since."
"Then that's our first job," Logan decided. "Hank, Hydra brought a cloaked ship. Do what you can to track where they're going."
"I'll see what I can do," Beast replied. "But I couldn't even detect them here. Whatever kind of cloak Hydra is implementing, it can't even be detected by the Blackbird."
"Find it, Hank. We'll track down Cannonball."
"I've got a tracking signal!" Weiss called from where she tapped her gauntlet. "Ruby's still in the woods! But she's not moving!"
"What about Blake?" Pyrrha asked.
Weiss shook her head. "No sign of her."
"Lead the way then," Logan told her.
"So...we're not going to talk about how there's apparently a female Wolverine running around with Hydra?" Sunspot asked.
Logan shot him a look. "We'll talk about that later." He marched off, following Weiss through the woods.
"Is it just me, or does it feel like he knows something about who that was?" Nora asked.
"He's always like that," Karma responded. "Never likes talking about his past. But it does seem weird that there's a female Wolverine out there. I always thought that whatever program made him got wiped out years ago."
"Hey!" Logan called. "Let's move!"
The teens all exchanged looks with one another, but quickly followed him, not wanting to tick him off more than he already was.
Cannonball had remained at the bottom of the ridge once he had come to a stop. He had briefly considered flying back up to see what else he could do, but he didn't know if he was going to get followed by the clawed girl. So he had decided to hunker down and stand his ground.
Ruby hadn't moved the entire time, thanks to the device on her head. Her eyes were still open, indicating that she was conscious, but unable to even move. Cannonball had tried getting it off, but the moment he had touched it, it had started beeping. He had quickly concluded that the device was rigged to explode, and that was something he certainly didn't want to happen.
His comm had been lost in the tumble down the ridge, so even if whatever was jamming them was destroyed, he still couldn't contact anyone. All he could do was hope that Logan would be able to track the two of them down.
He looked back at Ruby's unmoving form. "Don't worry," he promised. "I aint leaving you."
Ruby, of course, couldn't give any response. But he hoped that she could hear her and, at the very least, appreciate the kind gesture.
Soon enough, he heard a voice out in the distance. "Ruby! Ruby, where are you?!" It sounded like one of her friends—Yang.
"Down here!" Cannonball yelled.
"Sam?!" Dani's voice called out.
"We're okay!" Cannonball called back. "Where's Hydra?!"
"Gone!"
"Is Ruby down there with you?!" Yang called.
"Yeah—hold on, we're coming up!" Cannonball gently picked Ruby up and used his powers to propel them both up in the direction of the voices, quickly finding that Logan and the others had reunited.
"Ruby!" Yang darted forward instantly upon seeing her, stopping just short when she saw what was on her. "What the hell is that thing?"
"Whatever it is, it's keeping her from moving," Cannonball explained. Yang quickly reached for it, but he stopped her. "Don't," he warned. "I think they're wired to blow if anyone tries to take them off."
"He's right," Logan confirmed. "I've seen them before."
"Then how do we get it off?" Weiss asked.
Logan turned to Warlock. "Warlock—can you get it off without hurting her?"
"The chance is high," Warlock confirmed, stepping forward.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Yang demanded to know.
"Just let him do his job, kid," Logan told her. "He won't hurt her."
"What's he trying to do?" Pyrrah asked.
"He's going to inject the device with the Trans-Mode virus," Armor explained. "Basically he's going to convert it to something he can process and consume it. Doing it like that will prevent it from blowing up. Hopefully."
"While potentially infecting Ruby with it at the same time," Yang growled slightly.
"The risk of that is minimal," Warlock assured her, reaching a hand out and touching the device with his finger. A small seeping of yellow and black seemed to reach out from his finger and flow over the device. A few seconds later, it vanished inside his finger.
Instantly, Ruby let out a gasp, sitting bolt upright (which caused Warlock to stumble back in alarm). "Ruby!" Yang wrapped her arms around her and held her tight. "Are you okay?!"
"Too...tight..." Ruby managed to choke out. Reluctantly, Yang pulled away.
"What happened, kid?" Logan asked.
Ruby took a few deep breaths, settling down. "We got attacked," she explained. "Hydra. They took Blake. And they were led by a girl that had claws like yours."
Logan bowed his head, walking a few paces away before popping his claws out and slicing a tree in anger. "Logan," Pyrrha asked quietly. "Who is she?"
Logan's claws retracted. "Her name is Laura," he admitted quietly, turning back to face the group. "And it's my fault that she's with Hydra."
Yep. X-23 is back, and already wiping the floor with everyone...which is about what was to be expected. But what happened to her? What happened when she first met Logan? That's coming up next time! As for who that guy with the rifle and metal arm was...yeah, I think it's pretty obvious who that was. And now Hydra has both Blake and Wolfsbane as prisoners, which is going to be quite the interesting combination.
Also, RIP the Remnantians' Quinjet. It has served them well. But now it's destroyed. Hopefully they'll be able to acquire a new one at some point.
The devices that X-23 used are based off what she used in her original appearance in X-Men: Evolution. I tweaked the design a little so that, while the victims can't move, they're still conscious, which makes them, in my opinion, even scarier.
I had an original plan for how this chapter was going to end, but while writing this chapter, things went a lot longer than expected due to how extensive I wanted the fight scenes to go. So that plan is going to be used for the next chapter, and I absolutely cannot wait for you all to read it.
Anywho, that's all from me. Until next time, this is Guest 1138, signing off.