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Ruby sat in a Atlesian military humvee. The soldiers around her were tense, but she wasn't. She was relaxed despite the handcuffs secured around her wrists. Despite the fact that she was innocent. She had nothing to worry about; they were just taking her to the four-star general. This man outranked Ironwood. “You're all so tense,” Ruby finally spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “You really have nothing to worry about. Why would I try to escape? I'm not going to prison or anything.” Despite her attempts, the soldiers remained silent and tense. Ruby sighed and looked out the window at the desert terrain. The sand went for miles. The only thing other than sand that could be seen was Atlas’ CCT. Ruby grinned at the memory of when she and Weiss had gone to the Vale’s CCT, but then frowned when she remembered Penny. Penny was the reason she was arrested in the first place: Atlas had discovered that Ruby had known about Penny’s being a robot. She couldn't blame the energetic ginger, though. It wasn't her fault. They had accessed Penny’s memories soon after The Breach, and found out that Ruby knew. Soon after, they had gained permission from The Kingdom of Vale to arrest her. They sent in at least fifteen armed S.W.A.T. Team members. They had bashed in the door while Team RWBY was sleeping, grabbed their leader before they realized what was going on, and left. Of course, they had to tase Yang. The blonde hadn't even opened her eyes by the time the barbs contacted her skin. Her aura had been down, and they had been advised to do so. Blake just had an automatic rifle in her face, and no one came near Weiss. They wouldn't dare. Ruby could only imagine how worried Yang was. The blonde was worried about Ruby if she was even a minute late to classes, of course, Ruby’s speed semblance would hamper her from being late, but didn't always help, especially since she had to worry about leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake. The humvee came to an abrupt stop, and the soldiers stepped out. The one in the back with her, and the one in the passenger seat tightly grabbed her arms, making her wince. “Mind loosening the grip?” She asked. They didn't answer, but one of them tightened their grip. They lead her through a large, metal gate, stopping at a booth just inside. “Prisoner to General.” The one who hadn't tightened his grip told the woman in the booth. “So you're the strong, silent type?” Ruby asked the other once they moved on. A few of the guards behind her laughed. “I guess you could say that,” the guard decided to humor her. “Good God!” Ruby exclaimed, shocked. “You're a woman! I mean, I am too, but I honestly couldn't have called that.” The other guards began to laugh again. The two guards led Ruby through the base, past the hangars, past the barracks, and finally, to the the Command Center. When they walked in, the two guards behind her stayed behind at the door, and the other two led her into the General’s office. Where her father was waiting. Now, she was nervous. Before, her father never trusted anyone over her. (Yang had lost this privilege long ago) If she had said she was innocent from doing something at school, and explained the situation, he wouldn't even humor the teacher. In Taiyang’s hand was a folder with her name on it. Just above her name was an round eagle silhouette. As soon as the guards walked away, Taiyang handed the folder to a woman, who went into the corner with a pen. “Take the damn cuffs off her!” There was a bald, black man with an eyepatch and a goatee sitting at the desk in the center of the room. He wore a black, zip up jacket, and a black trench coat. On his command, the guards came back and removed her handcuffs. “Sorry about that.” He said. “This didn't cause any problems, did it?”Ruby began rubbing her wrists where the handcuffs had been, then looked at her father, “They tasted Yang.” She told him. He looked over at the man at the desk, who promptly denied responsibility, “I didn't do that.” He said. “Regardless… I need to ask you a few questions.” He motioned to the chair across from him. She sat down, “Is this about Penny?” She asked. He smiled. “You're a smart girl.” He looked down at a paper on his desk. Ruby couldn't see it from where she was. “What do you know about P-E-N-N-Y?” He asked. She raised an eyebrow, “Why'd you spell it out?” “Don't worry about it.” He waved her off. “What do you know about Penny?” He asked again.“Nothing I can tell you.” Ruby told him. He raised both eyebrows, as if to say, “Oh, really?” “Why is that?” He asked.“Because I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone.” She said. He hit a button and the guards came back in. “Take her back to Beacon.” He told them. He looked at Taiyang. “You and I need to talk about something.”Now, Ruby was back in the humvee, on her way back to Beacon. “On the road again.” She quietly sang, trying to get a laugh out of the soldiers. They chuckled, but sounded as though they were trying not to laugh. Ruby heard the sound of an artillery cannon going off in the distance. “The hell was—” The humvee in front of her’s exploded, and they came to an abrupt stop. Ruby could now hear the sound of automatic rifles going off outside. The soldiers jumped out of the vehicle, but were immediately shot. Realizing that she didn't have much of an option, Ruby ran, the humvee exploding behind her. The explosion threw her to the ground. Ruby pulled out her scroll, which her father had given her, and began to dial his number. She was interrupted by a small bomb hitting the sand a few feet away. She began to scramble away, trying to get to her feet, trying to activate her semblance. Ruby could read the label on the bomb; “Schnee Dust Company.” “You've got to be kidding me, Wei—” The bomb exploded and Ruby was thrown several feet, landing on her back, she felt blood soaking through her dress. Her father had also given her something to wear instead of pajamas. Then she lost consciousness.
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Ruby opened her heavy eyelids, her vision was fuzzy, and there was a bright light shining in her face. Standing over her was a man she couldn't see the face of. “—goes the ransom.” He said. She looked to the person the man was speaking to, but couldn't see their face either. She could tell it was a woman. “—let her die.” Ruby recognized this person’s voice as well. From their distinctive accent, she could tell it was Velvet. ‘Why is Velvet here?’ She wondered. She was torn from her thoughts by something touching her face, the object wrapped around her nose and mouth. Whatever it was, it was making Ruby’s entire body feel fuzzy. It dispersed a weird smell. Ruby’s eyelids got even heavier, and she lost consciousness.~Line Break~Team CFVY hadn't been in the White Fang’s custody for long when Ruby arrived. They were being kept in a cave. It was one way to hide from the military and hunters, which was good for the White Fang, but bad for the third year team. After about a week, a bunch of soldiers came in, pointing their guns at CFVY, and ordering them to stay against the far wall. Next, a stretcher came in. None of them could see who was on it, but whoever it was, they weren't moving. Adam Taurus trailed behind them, looking right at CFVY, “Any of you know the first thing about medicine?” He asked. “Why?” Coco countered. “Ruby Rose. Know her?” He asked. Coco nodded, and Adam pointed to the stretcher. “That's her. She's bleeding out, and we don't have medics worth a damn.” He seemed to be very angry. “Why do you care what happens to her?” Velvet asked, crossing her arms. Adam began to walk towards the rabbit faunas, stopping inches away from her. “Because, her father,” he pointed at Ruby, “is Remnant’s biggest helicopter parent, and will pay any sum imaginable to get her back. If she's dead, he'll search every corner of the planet for anyone involved.” “And if we don't?” Coco threatened. Adam frowned and cocked his head, her audacity reminding him of Blake. In response, he pressed down on Ruby’s wound, making the girl gasp in pain. Coco gestured for Velvet to go to Ruby. The bunny faunas could clearly see what was wrong, but asked anyway, in case she was wrong, “What's wrong?”“Shrapnel in the chest.” He told her, standing on one side of the gurney, Velvet on the other. “I need an electromagnetic.” She told him.“What for?” He asked. “We can't get all the shrapnel out.” She said, “But, we can keep the shrapnel out of her heart.”“How're we supposed to power an electromagnet?” He asked.“Car battery. It's possible to use dust, but it's a very delicate process. It could accelerate the process and kill her in seconds.” She explained. Adam left and came back a few minutes later with everything Velvet had asked for. Velvet sifted through the box he had brought, it was full of scraps; everything one would need to build an electromagnet. She looked up at him. “One last thing; Anesthesia.” She told him.“Why does she need to be unconscious?” He asked.“Because it's the humane thing to do.” She told him, “And I won't work without it.”Adam sighed and left to get the anesthesia. When he came back, Velvet was already working. He set down the canister, and walked to the other side of Ruby. “If she dies, there goes the ransom.” He said.“I won't let her die.” She said. At this point, they both noticed that Ruby’s eyes were open, and she was looking around. Velvet picked up the mask for the anesthesia and strapped it to Ruby’s face until the girl lost consciousness.~Line Break~Ruby jolted awake, sitting up, she felt something tug at her chest. “I wouldn't do that if I were you.” A voice said. She could see wires running from her chest to a car battery. Ruby looked around, seeing Adam hiding in the shadows, she asked, “What the hell did you do to me?” He didn't answer, so she began to rip the bandages off of her chest, and saw a metallic circle. “What is this?” She asked. He didn't answer, so she looked around a bit more. She was in a semi-lit cave. There were scraps everywhere. In the far corner of the room, was Team CFVY. Ruby looked back at Adam, only to find that he had left. She looked back to CFVY. “What the hell is going on?” She frantically asked, “Where are we? Why do I have a car battery running into my chest?” “Calm down.” Coco told her. Ruby stopped asking questions, and just sat in silence, breathing rapidly. “You— we were all captured by the White Fang.” Coco said. “You had quite a bit of shrapnel in your chest, but Velv put that thing in your chest to keep it from killing you. And we're in a cave.” Ruby slowly lowered herself onto her feet. “What are you doing?” Yatsuhashi asked, voicing Team CFVY’s thoughts. “I,” Ruby said, “am making a more portable version of this thing.” “Told you she would,” Coco said to Velvet. Within an hour, Ruby had completely assembled a new battery for the magnet. She opened up the case for it, and connected the wires to the battery, having to get Velvet to screw it in place. “How's this going to work?” The rabbit faunas asked as she tightened the screws. “The battery is self sustaining.” Ruby told her. “It will never run out of power.”“Where did you learn to do that?” Fox asked, breaking his silent streak. “Signal.” Ruby told him. “I could build a weapon out of anything after the weapon’s engineering class. At one point, Crescent Rose was going to be a laser sniper, but she wouldn't collapse and even now, she won't fit through a doorway unless she's collapsed. If you ever need something done to our weapon once we get out of here, don't be afraid to ask.”The door opened, and Adam, as well as ten armed guards came through the door. Ruby walked right up to them, and stuck her hand out. “Ruby Rose. And you are?” She asked. He moved her hand away and remained silent. “I'll just call you Mister Captor.” Coco chuckled at this, and motioned for her to stay away from the guards. ~Line Break~Ironwood had a rather large conference call on his scroll, all of people who wouldn't be happy with the news he had. On the line was; Qrow, Taiyang, Yang, and Ozpin. “My men seem to have made a rather large error when transporting Miss Rose back to Beacon from Nick. (Not an OC. If you know the source material, then you know who it was.) On the way back, the convoy was attacked, and Miss Rose was captured by the White Fang. We believe that she is now in the custody of Adam Taurus.” He told them. “Of all people,” Qrow said. “Him. Of course! It had to be him!”Yang seemed to be fuming, crackling could be heard from her end.~Line Break~Blake entered the Team RWBY dorm, expecting Ruby to be back from wherever it was she had gone, but instead, just found a USB on her bed. The USB had a note on it; “Blake.” Was all it said. Blake put earbuds in, and plugged the USB into her scroll. A video began to play. Ruby was in a dark room, a blue light shining off her chest. The resolution was poor, so Blake couldn't tell what it was. Ruby winced as someone grabbed her hair and slammed her head against the wall. Whoever it was that had done it, was also operating the camera. they grabbed her hair again, and pulled her back up to eye level, sitting her down in a chair. “What's your name?” They asked. Blake recognized the voice immediately; Adam. Ruby was obviously dazed by the hit she had just taken, and began to slur her words. “R-Rub-y Ro-se.” She slumped her head down, only to be smacked out of the chair. “LOOK AT ME!” He roared. She didn't get up. Adam handed the camera to someone else. He stepped into frame, crowbar in hand. “Get up.” He told her. She still didn't move. He cracked her in the ribs with the crowbar, and she cried out in pain. Ruby began to get up, but once she was at eye-level with Adam, she decked him. Blake shook her head, knowing that this was stupid. Adam grabbed Ruby, forcing her to her feet, and slammed her onto the chair, breaking it. The video stopped.~Line Break~ Two White Fang grunts dragged Ruby back into the room with CFVY. Blood was coming out of her mouth and nose. Adam stopped the guards. “Do we have a deal, Summer’s kin?” He asked. Ruby nodded. “Yes.” She hoarsely told him. The guards and Adam left, and CFVY went over to Ruby. “What deal did you make?” Coco asked.“He said that if I made them weapons this wouldn't happen again.” Ruby told them. Velvet found this very out of character for Ruby. As long as she'd known the young leader, she had never done anything out of selfishness. Velvet couldn't blame her, though. She was still just a girl. “You're not actually going to build them weapons, are you?” Yatsuhashi asked. He had seen the quality of Ruby’s craftsmanship, and didn't want to fight for his life against anything Ruby had built. “No.” She said. “I'm going to build a suit of armor to get out of here.”
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Blake had decided to be quiet about the video she received, but did not keep it to herself completely. She had immediately decided what to do with it; give it to Ozpin and have him keep her identity a secret. The second the video ended, she put it in her pocket and began sprinting to Ozpin’s clock tower. When she reached her destination, Goodwitch stopped her at the door. “I need to see Ozpin, urgently.” The faunas girl panted. “Why?” The blonde professor asked. “I believe that will remain between her and I,” Ozpin’s voice calmly called from the elevator. “Let her in, Glynda. It seems to be important if she ran all the way here.” He said, motioning for Blake to enter the elevator up to his office with him. Goodwitch nodded and allowed the raven haired girl through, allowing her to join Ozpin on the elevator.“Why did you need to see me so urgently, Miss Belladonna?” Ozpin asked as soon as the door closed. Blake pulled out the flash drive. “I found this on my bed. I watched it, and…. It's from Adam. About Ruby.” She explained. He jumped, then gave her a confused look, as if he had know idea what she had been talking about all along. “It is under my understanding that Miss Rose is with the Atlesian Military.” He was lying, and Blake knew it. She always knew when people were lying. “You're lying.” Blake didn't hesitate to call him out on it. Ozpin gave her an odd look. “And how did you come to that conclusion?” He asked.“When I mentioned Ruby, you jumped.” Blake explained, narrowing her eyes. Ozpin took the flash drive from her hand and stepped off the elevator. “No one can know you found this, Miss Belladonna.” He said, turning around. “If her father found out about your severed connections with the White Fang…” He paused. “Miss Xiao Long is careless around Ruby compared to her father. We’ll leave it at that. I'll simply tell them that one of my spies recovered this.” He smiled and closed the elevator door. “Nick Fury; Director of Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.” The man who lost Ruby said, extending his hand to Yang. Yang didn't care who he was, her father had told her everything she needed to know about him; he lost her little sister. Ruby had been missing for three months. Around the first month, they had received a video. A ransom video. Month two, they received a message; it said to give them an unreasonable amount of money. Month three; nothing. Standing behind him was a woman and a man, the woman wore a navy blue jumpsuit that looked like it was meant to be skin tight, but she wore a larger size. The sides had strips of grey, on her shoulder was a round eagle symbol. She looked like she was ready to beat the hell out of someone, her black hair was tied into a ponytail, showing her very angry looking face. The man wore a plain black suit, he looked like a nice man, even with his receding hairline.They both seemed to be his subordinates, and Yang didn't like that at all. If he had subordinates, that meant that Ruby was the least of his worries. When Yang didn't take his hand, he put it down. He knew what her concerns were, and openly voiced this. “We're doing everything we can to get your sister back, trust me.” He said, kindly smiling. “After all, I don't think Taurus can hold her for long…” Yang wanted to hit him so bad, but knew she would get herself in a lot of trouble if she did, because the major leaders of Beacon and the Atlesian military were present. So she just growled at him. “Down!” Qrow playfully shouted to his niece, earning an angry glare from her. “What are you doing exactly?” Taiyang asked Fury. “We're searching caves…” Fury told him, sounding indignant about it.“Caves?” Taiyang asked. “Why caves?”“Last place anyone would check.” The man behind Fury finally spoke, sounding very professional. “Uh, sir?” The woman spoke as well, sounding nervous and frantic. “Good news: We found Rose.” All eyes turned to the woman. She flipped around the tablet she was holding, “Bad news: The place just exploded.” On her tablet was a video of a cave exploding, with a small projectile the shape of a person shooting out the top. The video played on a loop, and no one knew what to do or say. Ruby Rose was dead. “What's that?” Yang asked, pausing the video and pointing at the projectile. No one could answer her, so Fury broke the silence. “Hill.” He commanded. “Send a squad to recover that projectile. Agent Coulson.” He turned to the man, who was presumably Coulson. “I need you to go with them.” “What about the people that are already there?” Yang asked, wondering about the people who took the video. “They've already returned.” Hill said. “The White Fang is smart. They went somewhere out of range of the CCT. Even if Rose got her hands on a communication device, she would not have been able to contact us.” [Earlier That Day]Ruby stared proudly at her creation, her ticket out of the cave she had been trapped in for so long. Her ticket back to Beacon. Her only way home. Coco suddenly burst her thought bubble, “What’s the plan?” She asked. “I'll distract them. You guys get out, then I'll fly out of here.” Ruby explained. “I so wish I had my camera.” Velvet quietly said, staring at the creation in awe. “This hunk of junk can fly?” Yatsuhashi asked, giving Ruby the opportunity of a lifetime. “She'll make point seven past light speed.” Ruby began, grinning from ear-to-ear. “She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made special modifications myself.”“I'm four years older than you,” Yatsuhashi reminded her. “Why did you call me ‘kid’.”“He doesn't watch movies,” Velvet explained. “References will go right over his head.”Yatsuhashi looked offended. “Nothing will go over my head,” He claimed. “My reflexes are too fast. I'd catch it.” Ruby laughed at his claim, furthering Velvet’s point from movie references to metaphors. “Let's just get this over with. I so wanna go home.” Ruby said, feeling a pang of sadness in her chest. Ruby opened the front of the suit, stepping in backwards so that she was facing the right way. “You remember what I told you to do, Velvet?” She asked. The bunny faunas nodded, tapping away at the laptop that sat in front of her. [Meanwhile]“Where's Rose?” Adam asked, scanning the television screen. The man who was supposed to be watching the five sat up. “She was here a minute ago.” He claimed in a thick accent. “What are you waiting for?!” Adam shouted. “Go check on them!” The man quickly got up and began running to the door. He slid open the eye slit and began shouting, “Where is she?!” “Dammit.” Ruby cursed under her breath. “I'm over here.” She groggily called out, trying to make it sound as though she was asleep. “Why're you over there?!” The man shouted again, not bothering to enter the room. “She's sick.” Coco lied. “Sleep deprivation. Throwing up. Real nasty shit.” The man closed the slit and turned back to Adam, “She is sick with sleep depri—” Adam smacked him. “I heard, dumbass!” He yelled. “Leave her be. I'd rather her not die.” “Ninety percent!” Velvet excitedly shouted, seeing that Ruby was completely covered by the armor. Adam heard this, and stopped. “Send in the guards. They're doing something.” He said to the man from earlier. “Now!” The man scrambled to get the guards. “Stay low to the ground.” Ruby told CFVY. “When they see me, they'll start shooting.” As if on cue the door flew open, and several armed men came in. They all began to shoot at Ruby, but all the bullets hit the armor, bouncing off. The chest piece was crudely welded together, and a lot of the raw components could be seen, such as a gas tank on her arm, a belt on her leg, adding to her ability to move. Her arc reactor was visible through a hole in the center. The face mask had two large, slanted eye holes, along with a small slit that allowed her to breath easier. (Let’s be honest, you all know what I'm trying to say, and I'm bad at descriptions) Ruby didn't even have to do anything, when the bullets bounced off of her, they hit the men who were firing them. Once they were all down, Ruby shrugged and moved on, leaving the cave, the light of the sun blinding to her after three months of being in that cave. She barely noticed the bullets hitting her, this time they didn't bounce off and hit the men, so she just laughed, and lit her flamethrower. Ruby torched the men, and they all screamed in agony. To her right, she saw a path to an abandoned helipad with a single bullhead, as one would assume there would be on a helipad. “CFVY!” She shouted, literally creating a line of fire between her and the men. Without hesitation, CFVY ran out of the cave, they filed into the bullhead, and took off. The only downside being that Ruby had been so distracted with them, that she failed to notice the missile she set on fire until it was too late. “Shi—” The explosion launched Ruby several feet into the air. She tried to activate the thrusters she had installed on the suit, but this began to tear up the armor. Ruby then noticed that she wasn't going up, she was going down. “No! Not down!” She shouted, trying to go up. Ruby then closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, waiting for the ground to strike her in the face. Despite her preparations, Ruby was not ready when it did; her momentum caused her feet to flip over her head, as she began to roll down a nearby sand dune. Her face smashed into the ground, and everything went black.When Ruby woke up, the first thing she noticed was that the armor had fallen apart in her landing, ruling out the possibility of retrying the flight capabilities. Ruby stood, taking in her surroundings in an attempt to orient herself. She noticed that she had not made it far from the compound she had been kept in, but didn't worry too much about recapture since the place was still burning. While, the flames weren't as high as they had been when she left, she had been occupied by the… Explode-y parts of the fire. Other than the compound, there was nothing in Ruby’s line of sight. She sighed, realizing that her only option was to walk. [Later]“Sir,” Coulson said, somehow managing to contact his boss. “We found the landing point of the projectile. There's a set of footprints leading away.”“Follow ‘em.” Fury told him, only slightly annoyed that he needed to tell Coulson this.
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Ruby opened her sore eyelids, expecting to see miles of sand like she had the previous days, but instead, she was greeted with the sight of a small hospital room. Well, a hospital room would have been an overstatement; it was a med-bay at that. She sat up, and a man in a suit immediately came through the door. “Agent Coulson of The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” He said, holding out his hand to her. Ruby instinctively tried to reach out her right hand to meet his, but noticed that it was in a sling. “That's a mouthful.” She told him, respectfully declining his handshake. He chuckled. “We're working on it.” He told her. “So,” She began. “Where am I exactly?”“Oh!” He said. “I'm sorry. You're on an airship back to Beacon.” Ruby nodded, taking in the information. “From there,” he said. “Your father will decide what to do with you.” Coulson had a very fanboy/professional vibe to him. Ruby didn't know why, but to her, he seemed like the kind of guy who would collect trading cards. Old ones. From the 40’s. Regardless of that, she still felt like she had one more question to ask him, “How can I be sure I can trust you?” She asked. He jumped at the question, but seemed to understand why she asked. “Uh—” He began to stutter. The question caught him off guard, and then he relaxed. “I went to Beacon with your parents.” He told her. He wasn't lying. Ruby could see it in his eyes. She had never been good at telling whether or not someone was lying, she was always unsure of herself, but there were times where she was one hundred percent sure that someone was telling the truth based on the look in their eyes, and the aura they gave off. Coulson gave off an aura that was comforting, and seemed as though he actually cared about her. Whether or not he really did, she didn't know. But he made her feel important. [Meanwhile]Teams WBY, JNPR, the remainder of STRQ and a few of Fury’s agents waited for the airship housing Ruby Rose to land. The area where they were waiting was the same place that they had all taken their first steps into Beacon. Some of them tried to drink away that memory, others took it with pride. And some remembered it as the area they met Ruby Rose. The large gathering of people had made many students wonder what the occasion was, but none of them stuck around to find out; there were Feds everywhere. No one dared do as much as glance at the faces of the people in the crowd. The only thing anyone knew was that someone important was coming. They had been there all morning and didn't show any signs of leaving.Yang was bouncing on her heels; it had been three months since she had last seen her sister, and now she was coming home. Yang had been visibly a mess the day before: Her hair had been a mess, and her clothes were always dirty. Yang didn't have time to wash her clothes when she heard that Ruby would be back, so she just wore her other outfit, the same one she wore when they defeated Roman’s mech. Her hair was now back to its normal state, but her eyes were a dark shade of pink and puffy. When she had heard about finding Ruby, she couldn't help but shed some tears of joy for her long-lost sister. Blake simply stood, emotionless. If it seemed as though she really didn't care about what had happened, that was just how she normally looked. In reality, she was infuriated that someone would kidnap Ruby; one of the few people left who believed in justice, and equality. She didn't deserve any of this. Ruby deserved to be happy. Blake and Yang were really the only two who believed Ruby earned a place at Beacon, Jaune believing that they might as well give Ruby the title “Huntress” because in his mind, she'd earned that. Weiss, on the other hand, had gotten to a point where she really didn't care whether or not Ruby earned her place and just said that it was the way things happened. Regardless of their varying beliefs about Ruby’s place at Beacon, WBY all felt a surge of excitement when they saw an airship beginning to dock: They knew for a fact that Ruby’s was the only one cleared to come in/leave until classes ended for the day. This was for security reasons, Ruby had, after all escaped from a White Fang outpost, blowing it up in the process. When the door opened, they could see that Ruby was sitting in a wheelchair, but only for a split second. She stood, waving off the man who had been pushing her. Ruby was wearing a black suit with no tie. It fit her nicely, which was surprising since it was a spare that someone else who worked on the ship owned. The first thing Yang noticed was the navy blue sling on her right arm, but it didn't look too serious, as Ruby was using it to wave. Of course, this looked odd due to the fact that it was bound to her neck. Taiyang was the first to meet her at the dock, he kissed the top of her head, and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. He pulled away, still holding onto her shoulders and smiled, “Next time you're riding with me.” He said. Ruby smiled and nodded. “Of course.” She told him. Qrow was the next to meet her, but didn't say anything; he just stood beside Taiyang. Ruby moved past her father and uncle and saw her team, nearly sprinting to her. Yang was the first to pull her into a hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning her. Ruby laughed at the large display of affection. And then she noticed that they all had tears streaming down their faces. “Tears of joy for your long-lost boss?” She asked, grinning. “It was either get a new leader or we each got new teams,” Weiss explained. “And I know I'm very hard to get along with.”“It's only the natural reaction,” Ruby began, tilting her head downward, “I mean, I am pretty awesome.”Blake punched Ruby in the arm, being sure to hit her left instead of her right. “We did miss you, though.” The faunas said. Ruby smiled, “That.” She poked the center of Blake’s chest. “Is the last thing I'd expect to hear from you—or even Weiss for that matter. You're supposed to be the quiet one.” She looked at Yang, “How did things go so wrong?” Yang laughed and hugged Ruby. They all knew she was kidding, but were a little shocked by it: Ruby had never before had the courage to say something like that. Not that they were complaining; Ruby needed the boost in character. Blake had noticed a few other things about Ruby that was different; her voice was a tad bit deeper, and she was a few inches taller. The things about Ruby that were new were just things that happened to people her age, so Blake didn't really worry about it. But she seemed so different; in fact, she gave off a different aura. It wasn't too different, but was enough to be noticed. Before, Ruby’s aura told about her naïvety and social awkwardness. Now, Ruby had a charismatic feel to her, along with intelligence. That was all Blake could identify without hurting herself. The girl had a part of her aura that was blocked off, giving off the sense of power, Blake doubted that Ruby even knew it was there. There was another part that was so complex that when Blake had tried to see inside of it, she ended up with a two-hour migraine. Why had Blake been trying to see inside? Ruby was in charge of the team, if she had a dark aura to her, she could surely become like Adam. Needless to say, Blake was a little scared by this, noting that it was still there. “So,” Yang said. “What's wrong with your arm.” The blonde motioned towards the sling. Ruby looked down at it, “Absolutely nothing.” She slipped her arm out of the sling and began to move it around. “My aura repaired it before I even got off the airship.” She said, motioning towards the large ship. “Then why are you still wearing the sling?” Weiss asked. “I was working with my hands for the past three months, it's nice to put at least one of them to rest.” Ruby told her, sliding her arm back into its place in the sling. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk to JNPR.” Ruby began to walk in the direction of her best friend’s team. “Hey, guys.” She said once she got within earshot of the team. They all greeted her, happy to see her back. “How was your vacation?” Jaune asked, smiling.“Remind me to fire my travel agent.” Ruby told him, leaning against a nearby light post. “That bad?” Pyrrha asked, joining in on the joke.“Yeah,” Ruby said, still managing to keep a straight face. “Fed me crockpot food. Ech! It wasn't the fancy, like ‘I can't believe they made this in a crockpot’ kind of stuff, it was the kind that made you stop and ponder your life decisions to see what you must have done for you to end up eating that crap.” She smiled. “After a few days, the dude who made it came in, ‘how was it?’ I just looked him in the eyes and said, ‘I feel like God is punishing me and if I'm good he’ll send down an angel with a chicken pot pie and a cupcake’.” JNPR laughed at her joke, Ren just lightly chuckling. Jaune put his hand on her shoulder. “It's good to have you back.” He told her. She smiled in appreciation, and said, “Yeah, missed you too. Made a friend out of a volleyball. I'll never forget you Wilson.” “Rubes!” Taiyang called. “Come on!” “Gotta go.” Ruby told her friends, quickly hugging Jaune, she quickly walked away. “Coming!” She called back.
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Ruby’s entire family fit in a single four door car, with room to spare. She didn't mind though, she liked the members of her family and wouldn't dream of replacing them. Her father was driving, Qrow was in the passenger seat, Ruby herself was sprawled out in the backseat with her legs resting on Yang’s lap, and her back leaning against the door. “You've been acting differently…” Qrow said. “What happened back there?”“Not a lot.” Ruby said. “And acting differently…? I can count on one hand how many times I've seen you sober. This is one of them.”Taiyang quietly laughed. “She's not wrong.” Qrow scoffed and rolled his eyes. “You're avoiding both questions.” He said. Ruby sighed and unbuttoned her shirt near the center of her chest, her arc reactor poking out. “This happened.” She said. Yang stared at the glowing blue light, worrying even more when she saw that it was going into Ruby’s chest. “What–the hell–is that?” She asked.“It's an electromagnet.” Ruby explained. “It's keeping me alive. Built it myself.”“How is a magnet keeping you alive?” Taiyang asked, glancing in the rear view mirror.“There's some shrapnel in my chest that would be impossible to remove without killing me.” Ruby said, buttoning her shirt back. Ruby had been back at Beacon for a few days now, and seemed to be working on something. A new weapon of sorts. Her team didn't understand why. The girl had claimed that Crescent Rose was her baby, but was creating a new weapon to replace “her”. Nothing had happened to the scythe, it was right where Ruby left it; under her pillow. “I need your help with something.” Ruby poked her head into the dorm, seeing that all of her teammates were there. “Just two of you, though.” “I got you.” Yang said, hopping down from her bed. “I have homework.” Weiss told Ruby, frowning. “Ask Blake.”Ruby’s eyes moved to the faunas, who was now getting up. “What do you need help with?”“Testing something.” Ruby grinned when she said that, but they passed it off as Ruby being the weapons fanatic she was.Ruby lead her teammates to RWBY’s student workshop, there were scraps everywhere, spread across the floor, but there was a clean spot in the center of the room, alongside a welding kit and a few tools. The student workshops were actually very large compared to everything else the teams had. The lounges were the same size as the dorms, but the workshops were the size of a small house in volume. “What are we testing?” Blake asked, leaning against the wall. “This.” Ruby dropped the hoodie she was wearing, revealing the wires running from her arc reactor, across her tank top, and down each limb, to a wire frame of boots and to something that was strapped onto her hand. “What's that?” Yang asked, raising an eyebrow. “It's supposed to fly.” Ruby explained, firing it up. “First time I tried, I slammed into the wall and caught on fire. Rather not be running around screaming, so, I need one of you to film this– so I know what went wrong, and another to hold a fire extinguisher.”“I can film.” Yang said, pulling out her scroll. Ruby knew that this meant Blake was going to be the one with the fire extinguisher, so she tossed the red canister to the faunas. Ruby moved to the center of the room, Blake trailing her with the extinguisher pointed at her. “Don't—!” Ruby began. She sighed. “Don't point that at me, I feel like I'm gonna spontaneously combust.” And, as if on cue, Ruby’s arm spontaneously combusted. “Ah! Blake! Do—! Do the thing!” She yelled, furiously trying to pay down the flames. Blake sprayed her arm with the the extinguisher, grinning from the coincidence. “It overheated…” Ruby quietly said. Once she added a coolant system, she tried again. This time, she began to hover around the room, using the thrusters on her hands as stabilizers. “Okay.” She said, blowing out of her mouth, not realizing that she was gravitating towards a couple of gasoline canisters. “This is not where I wanna be!” She said, looking down. The flames were too close to the cans. She quickly breathed through her teeth, terrified. “Other way! Other way!” Ruby leaned back, moving herself away from the cans. She killed the engines and landed in the middle of the room. Out of the floor came three yellow, mechanized arms. One behind her and two on either side. The two beside her fit around her forearms and seemed to be adding something to her devices. Two more arms came from the ground, smaller than the others, and in front and behind her. These arms behind to slap plates onto her body, bolting them together. The plates were very bumpy and black with a red outline. The arms moved up from her legs, stopping at her thighs, and moved to her arms, doing the same. This time, they didn't stop, they added plates to her chest and stomach that expanded up to just below her cheekbones and chin. The arm behind her added plates that went up to her cheeks, the top extending into a triangle that covered the middle of her forehead. Finally, a final red plate came down in front of her face, lighting the rectangular eye slits a bright white. The two looked at the armor their leader was wearing, it was mostly black with bits of red mixing in. On her shoulders were cubic rings that stuck out like spikes. “Time to take her out for a spin.” Ruby said, grinning under her mask. A glowing blue HUD appeared showing little circles over Yang and Blake’s faces. The circles had red X’s going through them. “Call my scroll.” Ruby told them, having just gotten a new one recently. “I'm going to test my limits.” She began to move towards the door to the outside. Once outside, she activated the thrusters and was lifted off the ground. Next, Ruby turned them all the way up, and she began to rocket upwards. “Incoming call from; Yang Xiao Long.” An automated voice said. “Answer.” Ruby said in response. Yang’s face appeared on the left side of Ruby’s HUD, “What the hell are you wearing?” She asked.“New weapon.” Ruby answered, grunting as she narrowly avoided a flagpole. “That's some high-tech shit.” Blake said. On Ruby’s HUD appeared a waveform of what Blake said, it turned green and the name “Blake Belladonna” appeared over it. A picture of Blake went below the picture of Yang. A picture of Ozpin appeared, “Incoming call from Professor Ozpin.” “Hold on,” Ruby told her teammates. “Got another call coming in. Answer.” The pictures of Blake and Yang moved to the right side, under something that said, “On hold.” And Ozpin’s photo took their place on the left. “Hello?” She asked. “Can I help you, Professor?” “Miss Rose?” He asked, shocked. “You called me, I don't understand why you're so shocked to hear my voice.” She said, her voice devoid of emotion. “I was trying to contact an Unidentified flying object over the school. How did I reach you?” He asked. “Hold on.” She told him, now flying for the clock tower. She gracefully landed on his balcony and lifted her facemask, letting him know her identity. “Sorry about that.” Ruby said as she entered his office. “Just testing out a new weapon.” Ozpin sat in stunned silence before finally speaking, “Your weapon looks a lot like a suit of armor.” He said.“Yeah.” Ruby said. “That's pretty much what it is. Again, sorry about the inconvenience, and bye.” Her mask dropped and she dashed for the balcony, leaping off and activating her flight.
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[Seventy-Four Years Ago]Steven Rogers was a scrawny fine-arts student growing up in the Great Depression. His father died in The Great War; The War To End All Wars. World War One. Steve's mother passed away from pneumonia soon after he graduated high school. His friend, Bucky worried for him after his mother's untimely passing.Steve was slowly walking up the stairs to his apartment, his hands in his pockets. "We looked for you after." Bucky said, making Steve jump. He hadn't known his friend was there. "My folks wanted to give you a ride home from the cemetery.""I know…" Steve quietly said. "I'm sorry… I just...wanted to be alone.""How was it?" Bucky asked, feeling for Steve."It was okay…" Steve said. He would have cried, but he had cried so much over the past few days, he just didn't have it in him. "She's next to Dad.""I was gonna ask—""I know what you're gonna say, Buck, I just…" Steve interrupted him with a tone of voice neither had used with one another in a very long time. Bucky gave him a kind smile. "We can put the couch cushion on the floor like when we were kids. It'll be fun. All you gotta do is shine my shoes, maybe take out the trash." He said.As the two reached Steve's apartment, Steve began to frantically look for his keys, unable to find them anywhere. Bucky leaned down and moved a rock, revealing a spare. He bent over and picked up the key, carefully placing it in Steve's hands. "Come on.""Thank you, Buck." Steve said, giving a weak smile. "But I can get by on my own.""Thing is…" Bucky said, grabbing his shoulder. "You don't have to." He smiled again. "I'm with you till the end of the line, pal."
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“What do you plan to do with that?” Yang asked when Ruby took her off hold. “Topple the White Fang… Ya know, superhero stuff. Cut off the head of the snake—” Ruby was abruptly cut off by her sister’s partner, “And two more will take its place.” Blake said. “That's a catchy phrase.” Ruby said. “They should turn that into a jingle. Really motivational. Love it. Is that trademarked? I wanna get a bumper sticker that says that.”“I don't think so,” Blake said, fighting a grin. “When do you plan to start this?” Yang asked.“I'm hoping to start production of the bumper stickers next month. Maybe some T-shirts. Throw in a beanie, maybe even a hoodie. Whole line of merch. That's how we get them; they'll blow all their funds on buying my stuff, they'll have no money left to support themselves.” Ruby joked. “Seriously.” Yang demanded. “When are you starting this?” Ruby immediately straightened out. “What time is it?” She asked.“It's 3:41.” Blake told her.“Then, about now.” Ruby told them. “I can see the base from where I am.”“Does that thing have weapons?” Yang asked.Ruby scoffed. “Of course it does!” She said. “Let's just see if they work.” She mumbled the last part. “What was that?” Yang asked. “Sorry?!” Ruby shouted. “What?! Going through a tunnel! I'm losing you!”Ruby hung up as she struck the ground in the landing that we all know is hard on your knees. The White Fang grunts stared at her for a second before opening fire, the bullets bouncing off of her thick armor. “Come on, guys.” She said, not even flinching “Can't we just talk about this?” They didn't stop shooting. Ruby stuck out her arm, and a small gun popped out of her forearm. Two missile launchers came from her shoulders, just above the spike-things. Explosives fired in every direction, launching the soldiers off their feet. “Good talk.” She said, stepping over them. One of the soldiers cried out, “No it wasn't!” Ruby began to walk into base, knowing that they had hostages somewhere.[Not Too Far Away]A little faunas boy watched as The White Fang dragged his father to the center of the camp. They had offered him a position in their ranks, and he had politely declined. They then dragged him and his family into a concentration camp. Now they were going to execute him, and his family. Them and dozens of other families that had done the same. “Ready!” Adam shouted, taking joy in this act. “Aim!” They had the men lined up, their hands tied to posts. “FIRE!!!” As Adam shouted this final command, he turned and began to walk away, listening to the gunfire. He heard screams, but they weren't of the men who were being shot. They were of his own men. Adam turned back around and saw a man made of metal fighting his armed soldiers, the bullets bouncing off of him. (Yes, Ruby’s armor makes her look like a dude) Within seconds, all of the White Fang grunts were on the ground, their status unknown. “Miss me?” The man sounded like a woman. It then hit Adam that it was probably a woman in a suit of armor. “I'm unsure of who you are.” Adam said, confused. The face-plate slid up, and he could see clearly that it was Ruby Rose. “You.” He growled. “Executing people is bad for you.” Ruby said, grinning. “I know it's all the rage with the kids, but you're better than that. If jumping off a bridge was all the rage, would you do that too?” “You talk too much.” Adam noted. “It's called taunting. Ever heard of it? Works like a charm.” Ruby said. She dropped her faceplate, “Now…” She said. “You wanna dance, or are you the kinda guy who dances with his hand.” Adam snarled and pounced. Ruby managed to catch him, mid leap, and toss him to the side. “You getting old, Adam? Last time we fought, you beat the hell out of me.” She teased, running forward and kicking him in the ribs. “I get it.” She said, bringing her hand to her chin. “You're letting me win cause I'm a woman! That's sexist. I expect more from you. Racist… Yeah! Sexist… Now that I think about it, there aren't really a lot of women in the White Fang. Or really any for that matter.” Adam leaped to his feet, but was immediately kicked back down. “No. Stay down. It's nap time, you can't come watch TV with the adults; Breaking Bad is on.” Ruby told him. She kneeled down and took his sword from him. “What are you doing with this? You could hurt someone. Let me take care of that.” She stood and broke it on her knee, tossing the pieces in two different directions. She turned to the men, who had now been cut down from the posts by their wives. “He's all yours.” She said, launching herself into the sky.When she flew back into Beacon, she was completely unaware of the man watching her. Well, watching would be an overstatement. He was listening to her, able to paint a perfect picture of her in his head. Ruby strolled back into the workshop, seeing Yang and Blake still waiting for her. “Let's go find two more.” She joked, the machine beginning to take off her armor. “Weapons work, by the way. They're non-lethal, too, so that's good.” “What'd you do?” Yang asked, a little worried.“I put Adam down for a nap and left him with a sitter— er… Several sitters. Angry ones. I'm sure he'll be fine.” Ruby smugly responded. Yang chuckled, “Isn't he a big deal?” She asked.“Not anymore.” Ruby said, noticing that the machine was having trouble removing the armor. “You killed him, right?” Blake asked. “I don't kill people, Blake.” Ruby said, now trying to work with the mechanical arms. “I maim.” “Having trouble?” Yang asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah. Just, don't—! Right is tighter!” Ruby shouted at the machine. “Yang, uh… Can you find Penny. She helped me create the AI for these darn things. She should be around here somewhere.” Yang jogged out.[Elsewhere]Glynda was not having a good day. She had to deal with CRDL bullying faunas. Yet again. There had been something flying around campus, and now Ozpin was sending her to RWBY’s workshop to check something out. And when she opened the door, she nearly had an aneurysm. The leader of the team was wearing a high-tech armor, mechanical arms were trying to take it off, and Belladonna was trying to help. Glynda made eye contact with Ruby, who stated, “Let's be honest, this is not the worst thing you've caught us doing.” This was actually true. The worst thing Glynda had caught the team doing, was when they had Yang dress up as a cougar and promote anti-littering… With a loaded .44. They had called her; “Gary the No-Trash Cougar.” Yang had run into the dining hall and began screaming, “Whose cup is this?!” Demanding that whoever it belonged to pick it up and throw it away. Before she left, she declared, “Give a larbage, pick up your garbage.” And then fired two rounds into the ceiling. And of course, Ozpin let them get away with it, since it was, “For a good cause.” Glynda just stared at them, shaking, and with an expression of anger burned onto her face. All she said was; “True.” Before she turned around and walked out. Ruby and Blake looked at one another, then went back to what they were doing.
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Matt Murdock, born in the City of Vale. He was blinded during an accident when he was nine. His father was Jack Murdock, who was killed after he blew a deal with the mafia. Jack left his son a rather large inheritance, the exact sum is unknown. What is known is that Murdock was sent to a catholic school after his father's death. There, his senses began to heighten. They nuns thought he was sick, so they called in a man who is only known as "Stick"."He's getting worse." A nun said as she escorted Stick down a hallway to Matt's room. "When we first took him in, Matthew's problem seemed less severe. Now he's in so much pain. Doctors, clergy. No one has any idea what's wrong with him. We heard about your work with special children and we thought you could help.""Not for free." Stick said."His father left a sizable inheritance." The nun said, caught off guard."What about his mother?" Stick asked. "Is she dead?""No," the nun said. "She's…" She paused. "Well that's another story. Here we are." The nun motioned to the door, forgetting that he was blind. He somehow knew what she meant. "Make the check out to cash. I'll take it from here."Matt was writhing on the bed, his hands tightly secured around his ears. "They think you're getting worse." Stick said. "But you're not. Are ya, kid?" He tossed his keys, Matt reached out and caught them, barely flinching. "You're getting stronger." Stick sharply exhaled. "Let's get started.""So, what kind of training is this?" Matt asked. The two were now sitting on a park bench, ice cream in hand."You like ice cream?" Stick asked."Yeah." Matt said, confused as to why this question was being asked."Then shut up and eat it." Stick said. "I'll ask the questions." Though he spoke fiercely, his facial expressions never changed, not that Matt could tell. "First thing you gotta understand is nobody feels sorry for you and nobody ever will. 'Cause when it comes to being born lucky... you won the friggin' lottery." He said."I did?" Matt asked."What did I tell you about asking questions?" Stick asked." 'Shut up'." Matt recited."Good." Stick said, nodding. "Hold old were you when you got blinded?""Nine.""Nine? So you had nine whole years of looking at movies, blue skies, up girlies' skirts that I never had. I was born blind. You don't hear me whining about it, do you?" Stick said, frowning."No.""So you're nine years old, walking down the street, and whammo! Get hit by a truck, killed dead on the spot." Stick said, smacking his hands together."I wasn't killed." Matt corrected."You lived?" Stick asked. "Praise God, it's a miracle! So, you survive getting hit by a truck and get this chemical shit in your eyes. What next?""I hear things." Matt said."What kind of things?""Everything. Coughs and fights and cats meowing. Sometimes blocks away. I can sense things. I know where things are and when they move, but I can't see.""You know what they call stuff like that?" Stick paused. "Gifts."
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A man wearing dark clothing and a bandana over the entire top half of his head, with no eye holes, hid in the shadows of the dark workshop Ruby Rose worked in. He didn't know who she was, but he knew about the suit. He was suspicious of her, and would soon get all the answers he needed. He had been in the room long enough to know what she was building. But at the moment, he was listening to her teammates in their dorm. They were getting ready to go to bed. Once they were asleep, he would get answers out of their leader.Ruby was working on yet another project to help with her suit, when she felt someone's arm wrap around her neck. She could tell it was a man by the way he sounded when he breathed. His breath hot against her ear. "You're going to tell me what I want to know, and no harm will come to you." He said. His voice was gravely and quiet."Like hell." She said. He slammed her head against the wall and she limply fell down. He knew it wouldn't knock her out, but would be just enough to incentivize her. He turned her around and grabbed her by the throat. "Who do you work for?" He quietly asked."What?" Ruby asked, confused. There was blood running down her temple, but she didn't seem too worried about it."Who do you work for?" He asked again. "If I have to repeat myself, you will lose full use of your dominant hand.""I don't work for anyone!" Ruby declared. He decked her for being too loud. "I'm going to ask one final time. You might want to think about your answer." The man said."I– Ozpin, maybe! I don't know what you're talking about!" Blood was now running out of her nose, trailing down her face and chin.The man stopped, listening for something. He then slammed her against the ground, causing her to begin coughing up blood. He grabbed her scroll while she was disoriented, and pushed his knee onto her neck, closing her windpipe. The man scowled at her as she tried to breath, pushing on his knee. "I'm going to take my knee off of your throat, and when I do, you're going to answer your scroll and tell them that you're busy. If you do that, no harm will come to you." He said, lifting his knee off of her throat when he finished. He handed her the scroll, and she checked the caller ID to see if it was really worth her time. It was Yang."Ruby, I think you should go to bed—" Yang was cut off by Ruby's sudden shouting, "Break-in! Break—" There was a loud crack, and Ruby was silenced. Yang knew the sound too well; it was the sound of someone being hit in the face.Yang began sprinting down to the workshop, seeing a man in dark clothes running down the hallway. Yang's semblance flared and her hair caught fire. "You!" She screamed, speeding up. She recognized him from the news; he was The Man in the Black Mask. He was known for beating the hell out of criminals. Depending on who you asked, he was known as a terrorist or a vigilante. Yang didn't care which one he was, he was going to die. She swung at him, and he stopped, caught her fist, and slammed her against the wall, bending her arm behind her. "Your friend is fine. No broken bones. She'll live. You on the other hand, if you even struggle in the smallest bit, I will not hesitate to break your arm." He tightened the hold, and Yang winced. "Let me go!" She shouted."Answer a few questions first." The man quietly said in her ear. "And I can assure you, I will let go."Yang sighed, realizing that it was her only way out. "Whatever." She said."The woman unconscious in the other room. Who is she?" He asked."She's my half-sister." Yang growled, indignant about succumbing to his demands. He tightened the hold. "Did I ask who she was to you? I asked who she is. Name. Employment." He told her."Her–ah! Her name is Ruby Rose, she's fifteen, so she doesn't have a job." Yang said."When I was fourteen, I had a job." The man said."Well, things have changed." Yang said. "Most places don't want a fifteen year old girl who's obsessed with weapons." The man tightened his grip again, and Yang knew that if he did anymore, her arm would break."You said it was a matter of age. Not personality." The man said."It's a bit of both." Yang said. She felt him let go, but when she turned around, he was gone.Yang quickly ran into the workshop, where Ruby was unconscious on the floor. "Hey," Yang lightly smacked Ruby. "Hey, Rubes. Wake up." Ruby groaned. "Mom?" She asked. Yang grinned, "Why do you have to be a stereotype?" She asked her now conscious sister."Cause it's fun." Ruby groaned, sitting up."You okay?" Yang asked, helping her."Yeah." Ruby said. "The blood makes it look worse than it is.""Okay… Good." Yang said, relieved. It was at this time, JNPR and the rest of RWBY decided to make their entrance. "We heard yelling," Jaune panted, running into the room. "What happened?" JNPR were all in their pajamas, but were also all armed, as were Weiss and Blake."Someone broke into the school and beat the hell out of me." Ruby said, wiping the blood from her face."Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked."Yeah," Ruby wiped the blood from her hand onto Yang's shirt. "I'm fine. Just some blood.""What were they after?" Ren asked."Kept asking who I worked for." Ruby said, rubbing her throat."What'd you tell him?" Jaune asked."I'm self employed." Ruby grinned as she said this. As they all went back to bed, Yang decided not to tell them about her own interrogation due to her pride being shattered.When Yang woke up, she noticed that Ruby was no longer in her own bed. The blonde stood and got dressed, making her way down to the workshop. "Look who decided to come back to life." Ruby said, not looking in Yang's direction. Ruby was feeding a wire into the ceiling, and something was pulling on it. "Can't believe she convince me to do this." Jaune called from the open panel in the ceiling. "Just plug this in, and you can come down." Ruby called back."What're you working on?" Yang asked, leaning against the wall. Jaune hopped down, and Ruby turned to her. "You'll see." She said, grinning.Ruby turned a thermostat looking machine on the wall. "Wake up, Mom's home!" She commanded. The lights flickered, but soon returned to their original state. A waveform began to move on the thermostat as an English man's voice echoed through the room. "Hello, ma'am." He said. "How may I be of your assistance?""What is that?" Yang asked, pushing off the wall into a standing position."An AI. I call him; Just A Rather Very Intelligent System. Or Jarvis." Ruby said."Hello." Jarvis said."He's technically an AI, but he's also capable of generating an aura. A soul." Ruby told Yang. "Created him using a sample of Jaune's aura, since he has a lot.""How did you do that?" Yang asked."Simple." Ruby said. "Created an AI, then pushed a bit of aura into him. Easy.""I still don't understand how she was able to do it." Jaune shrugged. Ruby pointed at him, her finger inches from his face. "I hacked the Atlesian Government's servers in Signal… On a dare." She told him. "This was child's play. And really educational.""I'm surprised you haven't been jailed for such actions." Jarvis said."You're not gonna snitch, are you Jarvis?" Ruby asked."Snitches get stitches." Jarvis told her."Good boy." Ruby told him, trying not to laugh."Is something funny, Miss Rose?" Jarvis asked, seemingly teasing her."See?" Ruby said, "He has a personality as well.""And, Miss Rose?" Jarvis asked."You got my attention." Ruby said. "Speak.""I have finished fabricating blueprints for a Mark Three." He said. Ruby was impressed. "I don't remember assigning you to a task." She said."You didn't." Jarvis told her. "I just thought it would be something you'd appreciate. Was I wrong in assuming such?""No! No!" Ruby said. "It's perfectly fine. Just caught me off guard.""I apologize, Miss Rose. I will refrain from starting a task until you've instructed me." He said."I don't mind." She grinned. "In fact, it's perfect. Wouldn't have it any other way. Let's just stick to blueprints for the time being.""Of course." Jarvis said. "And if you don't mind, I believe I will begin work on an terminal for you to access blueprints.""Sounds good." Ruby told him, nodding."And, Miss Rose?" Jarvis suddenly came back."Yes, Jarvis?" Ruby asked."It is eight forty. You should be making your way to your classes." He told her."Thanks, Jarvis. Get the lights for me, will you?" Ruby asked."Of course, Miss Rose." As Ruby, Yang and Jaune walked out, the lights turned out, and they shut the door behind them.
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Ruby slowly made her way back to the workshop. She had already changed from her uniform into jeans and a black V-neck. The V-neck strained against her arc reactor, the blue light shining through the dark fabric.As Ruby reached for the doorknob, the door to the workshop opened, and Ruby could see the changes Jarvis made. When she left; there were scraps all over the filthy tile floor, now the scraps were gone, and the tile was now clean, shining. "Welcome back, Miss Rose." Jarvis' voice greeted. "I hope you don't mind, but I've cleaned the place up a bit." He said."I don't mind at all." Ruby said. "What did you do with the door?" She motioned towards the door."I linked the hinges to a group of Pistons so that I could open the door when you arrived." He explained."How did you do that? You don't have a body." Ruby asked."I created helpers using a design similar to the ones you have to put on the suit." As he said this, two mechanized arms on wheels came from the corner of the room. "Is that okay?" He asked."Yeah! It's great! You're doing great." Ruby told him, meaning every word. "Show me Mark III.""Just a moment." He told her. Just then, a hologram appeared in front of her. It was a 3D model of a new suit. It was a lot smoother, seeming like it had no seams. The suit also had a rose on each shoulder. "I like this design, Jarvis. Let's do this."[Later]Ruby had been in her workshop for a while now, and Jaune was a little worried his friend had been damaged from her months as a hostage. She didn't seem like it when he last spoke to her, but still, she was his friend, so he had to be sure. He knocked on the door, and heard Jarvis speak to him from a panel outside. "Just a moment, Mr. Arc." He said.A moment later, the door opened, and Jaune could see what it was Ruby had been working on. "That hunk of junk is your newest weapon?" He asked, pointing to the sloppily welded together metal."No." Ruby said, glaring at him. "This is a model of Mark One. But, I appreciate your honesty." She smiled at him, "The real one is over there." She motioned to the glass cases behind her.Jaune walked over to the cases, his jaw dropping at Mark Two. Then he looked at Mark Three. He laughed. "What?!" Ruby got up from her kneeling position beside the model. "Why're you laughing?" She came up beside him and looked at the armor at the same angle as him. "What's wrong with it?" She asked."Nothing." He said, still smiling from the laughter. "It's just, the roses made me think; a suit of armor with a rose on it? Iron Rose!""Where did you get Iron from?" She asked. "I mean, Iron Rose; I like that. It's kinda catchy, but it's not technically accurate. The suits a gold-titanium alloy, but it's kind of evocative. The imagery anyway.""Big words." Jaune said, "Jauney no understand.""Not iron," Ruby said, stretching out the syllables. "Name motivate.""Me understand now." Jaune grinned, and she punched him in the arm. He reeled back from the punch. "Ow!" He said. "You hit hard.""Whatever."Ruby turned back around. "Jarvis. Ready the suit. We're going to find this masked man." She stepped in the center of the room, and the new armor dropped into the floor. Next, the mechanized arms came from the floor and began putting the armor on just as they had the day before. "You're going to find the guy who beat the hell out of you?" Jaune asked."Yeah." Ruby said, as if it was something people did every day."What if you get hurt?" He asked. Ruby tilted her head to the side, grinning. "It's Friday.""Neck straight." Jarvis commanded. Ruby indignantly followed orders. "I created you to follow my orders. Not vice-versa." She sighed."I'm an assistant." Jarvis told her. "And there are certain things you have to do your job, so I can do mine.""Right." Ruby nodded."Neck." Jarvis said. Ruby straightened her neck yet again and rolled her eyes. The suit she was wearing was mostly red, the roses on the shoulders were black, but the thighs, biceps and face were silver. "I'll be back." Ruby said. "Don't worry about me, Jaune."Once Ruby got outside, she pulled the throttle, flying as fast as she could. She tore through the night sky, her bright colors a stark contrast to the stars and moon. "Jarvis." She said, doing a barrel roll. "Talk to me. Any leads on this guy?""Not at the moment… But if you are really going for the superhero vibe, police are in route to a bank robbery on fifth." The English AI told her."Can't pass up such an offer." Ruby said, clicking her tongue. "Mark it on my HUD. Time to be a freaking superhero." Ruby flew at speeds that rivaled her own semblance. She could see her destination; it had a big red arrow over it, courtesy of Jarvis. "You're so cliche." She told him."Would you like me to change it?" Jarvis asked."No. I like cliches." Ruby tilted to the side as she barreled towards the bank. When she was a couple yards from the ground, she killed the thrusters, and landed; one knee on the ground, with her fist beside it, her other fist raised above her head, which was facing downwards. "That's really hard on my knees." She sighed to herself, slowly looking upward."What the hell is that?" Ruby heard someone ask as she stood. Her HUD pointed her in the direction of the voice. She had landed in between the police barricade and the actual bank. "Looks like one of those Atlesian bots." Another officer said."I'm not Atlesian." Ruby corrected, her voice coming out metallic. As she spoke, they all raised their guns, realizing that she wasn't military. Ruby ignored this and began walking towards the bank. "They've got hostages, Jarvis. Show me thermal." Once she finished speaking, her HUD changed to thermal vision, just as she had asked. "Three hostages. Four armed hostiles." Jarvis told her, displaying this information on the right side of her vision. "How are we going to do this?" She asked him."Front door is a bad idea. They'll assume it's the SWAT Team and begin executing hostages, or using them as further leverage." He told her. "Try the skylight. Very dramatic.""Thanks Jarvis." She launched herself back into the sky, and smashed through the glass dome that acted as a skylight."Nobody move." She ordered, aiming her repulsors at two of the robbers, Jarvis aiming her shoulder launchers at the other two. The hostages were to Ruby's right, so she wasn't worried about them getting caught in the crossfire of what was about to happen. The four men didn't hesitate in shooting at her, the bullets only able to do as much as chip the paint, so she didn't flinch. "What did I tell you about moving?" Ruby asked, immediately opening fire on the four and injuring each of them. She walked over to them and grabbed them each by the hoods of their dark grey hoodies, two in each hand. Ruby dragged them out the door, tossing them down the stone steps of the bank. "Thanks for the effort," she told the cops. "But I got them. Think you can take it from here?"A few cops ran at her, guns pointed in her face. "That didn't work for those guys." She told them. "Doubt it'll work for you. And, just a word of advice: At this range, if you shoot me, the bullets will kill you. So don't. Please.""Stand down!" The sergeant shouted, running up to her. "Who are you?" He asked, his voice shaking from fear. Ruby understood his fear, after all, she was a mechanical being that acted human. At least to them, anyway. "I'm the Iron Rose." She told him, shooting into the sky and taking delight of her cliche superhero moment.
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Sleeping peacefully in her bed, Ruby was rudely awoken by a loud pounding on the door. She groaned and dragged herself out of bed, her teammates had already left for their own personal endeavors, whatever they were, Ruby didn't ask. It wasn't her business. Ruby glanced down at the alarm clock and woke right up. She had stayed up very late, but being asleep for this long was ridiculous. It was three in the afternoon. Ruby quickly ran to the door and opened it, remembering her reason for getting up. At the door was Nick Fury, the same man from many months ago, before she was captured. “Hello, Miss Rose.” He said. “Mind if I come in?”“Sure—I guess.” Ruby opened the door even wider to let him in. “I apologize for showing up unannounced like this, but you've done a few things that caught my eye.” He said, pushing the door shut.Ruby raised an eyebrow, “Like what?” She asked, fearing the answer. “I'm the Iron Rose?” He asked, quoting her word-for-word. “You think you're a superhero now?” He laughed. “Busting caps in low-life's, and being a badass doesn't make you a superhero. It makes you a vigilante.” Ruby sat down on Weiss’ bed, and he sat on Blake’s. “Are you telling me that I shouldn't be doing this?” She asked, looking down to the floor. He laughed again. “No.” He told her. “I just wanted to let you know,” He paused and stood, making Ruby wonder why he even sat down in the first place. “There are many things you could do with that suit. Make sure it's the right thing before you do it.” He began to walk out the door, but stopped before he closed it. “And remember… I've got my eye on you.” He closed the door and Ruby let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in, and laid back on the bed.She sat up, an idea sparking. Ruby stood and ran to her workshop. “Wake up, Jarvis!” She shouted as she ran in. “Hello, ma’am.” He said. “You've been asleep for a while now, I was beginning to worry.” “Don't worry just yet. Prep Mark three, we’re going to find the Masked Man.” She told him.Jarvis did what he was told as Ruby stepped into the center of the room, where she normally put on the armor. “May I ask how?” He asked.“We're going to see if anyone’s seen him.” She told him, the armor closing around her face. “We’re going to the last place he was seen, and we’ll ask around.”Ruby cornered a tall, muscular man in a dark alley. He had tried to run from her when she approached him. The man wore a Hawaiian shirt and a light brown leather jacket. His hair was dark black and was spiked up on the sides. He had mutton chops that shifted into stubble around his upper lip and chin. She roughly grabbed him and slammed him against the wall. “What do you know about a man wearing a black mask over his eyes?!” She snarled. “Listen, bub.” The man aggressively said. “I don't know nothing about no man in a black mask.”“That's not what I wanted to hear.” Ruby told him, aiming one of her shoulder launchers at him. He didn't flinch. “Go ahead. Try me.” He said. This confused Ruby. “Wha—?” She didn't even have enough to comprehend the situation before the man punched her in the face, his fist making a metallic chime as it contacted with her armor, denting it. Ruby fell to one knee, her arm supporting her, she was dazed. No one has ever hit her that hard, not even Adam. The man swung his foot up, attempting to knock her out, but she caught it. She stood and hit him as hard as she could, blood spattered onto her faceplate as a chunk was torn from the man’s cheek. Ruby watched in horror as the man’s face healed, her eyes widened and the man slowly turned back to her, scowling. “And for that…” He popped his knuckles. “I'm gonna kill ya.” He hit her again, and she stumbled back, then he landed a kick on her chest and she fell to the ground. Ruby managed to quickly get to her feet, just as six inch, metal claws extended from his hands. “You asked for this.” He told her, swiping at her arc reactor. She jumped back and he missed. He took another swipe and tore the metal apart with ease, though not revealing the girl underneath the armor. “Jarvis.” She said. “Fire the chest arc.” A powerful beam of light shot from Ruby’s chest and slammed into the man, throwing him into the wall. This did not stop him. He got right back up, and dug his claws into her side. Ruby cried out in pain, and kicked him back, falling to her knees afterwards. Her breath came in ragged, painful gasps. The man got back up, and came towards her. He tore off her face plate and tossed it back, he then brought his claws forward, aiming for her face. Ruby closed her eyes and waited for her inevitable death. But it never came. She waited, listening to his breathing turn from angry to scared. She opened her eyes and saw that he had stopped his claws just inches from her face. He looked both shocked and scared. “I–I’m sorry.” Was all he said before running off. “Jarvis? You there?” She asked, not moving from her spot on the ground, clutching her gaping wound. “Of course.” He immediately answered. “Are you okay, Miss Rose?”“Yeah.” She breathed. “I'm good.” “Perhaps we should take the weekend off.” He suggested.“Yeah.” She said. “Good idea.” Jaune was on his way back to his dorm for the night when he got a call from Ruby. “Hey, Ruby. Haven't seen you since last night.” He said. “Everything okay?” “Yeah…” She said. “What do you know about patching up knife wounds?” “What?!” He asked. “Where are you?”“I'm in the workshop.” She said, sounding like she was in pain.“I'll be right there.” Jaune hung up and took off into a full sprint down to Ruby’s workshop. The door swung open when he arrived, he dashed in, and saw her sitting on the stairs leading to the glass cases with the armors in them. She was clutching her side and writhing in pain. Her white t-shirt stained bright red from her blood. “What happened?” He asked, running to her. “Some guy with knife hands. It's complicated.” She told him. He moved her hand out of the way, and examined her wound. “Do you have a first-aid kit around here?” He asked. Ruby just pointed to the wall beside the door, where one was mounted on the wall. He ran to it, and opened it, pulling out everything he needed to stitch her up, and bandage it. Jaune finished stitching her three wounds, and was wrapping it in gauze. “Then he ran off.” Ruby had been busy telling him what had happened the entire time he was tending to her wounds. He looked up from the gauze, and saw the bruise on her jaw. “Your wounds will be fine, as long as you aren't too active. Don’t wanna reopen them. And there’s nothing I can do about that big-ass bruise on your face.” He told her. She immediately began searching for it, and when she found it, she gasped. “Yang’s gonna kill me.” She said. “I'm sure it'll be fine.” He told her, standing. “Just tell her you fell out of bed or something.” Jaune began walking towards the door. “Take care, okay?” She nodded and smiled. “Of course.”
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The next day, Ruby woke up with her teammates gone yet again. But this time it was different; she felt like someone was watching her. It was dark, even though her clock said it was ten in the morning. Then she saw something in the corner of her eye. She slowly turned her head to face it, and her eyes widened. “You've been looking for me.” The intruder said, showing no emotion. Ruby shook with terror. Without her armor, he could beat her ass yet again. “You came to my school and attacked me.” She said. “How could I not be angry?” The man nodded. “I understand that.” He said. “And I want you to know; I’m not the bad guy. I'm just like you.” Ruby shook her head. “No.” She said. “You know what separates me and you from the bad guys?” He asked. “What we fight for. Some people fight for chaos. Others for order. But no one fights for peace. ‘As long as there is order, there is peace’. That's what they'd like you to think. But you don't believe it, do you?” Ruby shook her head. “I'm sorry.” He said, grinning. “I can't really see, so if we could just use verbal communication, that would be great.” “What do you mean?” She asked. “How could you have done all that to me without sight?” “It's simple.” He said. “I listen better. I know that you're scared, your heartbeat increased the moment you saw me. And so did your breathing.” The man leaned against Yang and Blake’s beds, and gave her a sincere look. “You shouldn't be scared.” He said. “I thought you were one of the bad guys when I first heard you. I realize now that I was wrong. And I apologize.” He paused. “If you need my help, call me. After all, vigilantes should stick together.” He smiled. Ruby hopped down from her bed. “I don't even know your name.” She told him. “It's in your scroll.” He said. “You'll know it when you see it.” Ruby turned around and grabbed her scroll, but when she turned back around, he was gone. She unlocked her scroll and looked through her contacts, eventually, she found him; Matt. That's what he set himself as. Ruby stepped out of her dorm, having just gotten dressed, and immediately ran into JNPR. “Oh, hello, Ruby.” Pyrrha greeted. Ruby nodded and smiled, moving down the hallway. “I'll be right back.” Jaune told his teammates, jogging to catch up with Ruby. “You found him, didn't you?” He whispered. She shook her head. “No. He found me.” She whispered back.“What?!” He asked. “I woke up this morning and he was there.” She said. “You don't look beaten up, what happened?” He asked.“He wanted to tell me that he’s not the bad guy.” She told him.“He is totally the bad guy.” “He said that he's a blind vigilante, and I confused him.” “How does that work? The blind thing?”“He says he listens. Then he told me he left his name and number in my scroll in case I needed his help.” “Do you trust him?”“What other choice do I have?” “I— Nevermind. You've been making the news.” Ruby turned towards him, walking sideways. “How so?” She asked.“The story about you stopping a bank robbery broke.” Jaune told her. “It's all over the place. I know my team doesn't trust Iron Rose as far as they can throw her metal ass, so I don't think anyone else does, either.”“And how do I earn their trust?” She asked.“Well, you probably want to earn their respect. Save the world, something like that. Stop a criminal mastermind.” He told her.“I'll see if Shield needs my help.” She said.“Shield?” He asked. “You mean this thing?” He patted his sheath, and she laughed. “No. They're the people that brought me home.” “Oh! Those guys!” Jaune said, smacking his forehead. “Just be careful, okay? I don't know if I did that well of a job with the stitches.” Ruby nodded and bolted off, down to her workshop.“Jarvis!” She said, dashing in. “Must we start every day like this?” The AI asked. “Since when are you one to get annoyed with me?” She asked.“I am not annoyed.” He said. “Just wondering. What was it you needed?” “Show me everything we have on The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” She said. “There isn't much.” Jarvis said. “Mostly conspiracy theories. People who disappeared because of SHIELD…” “Any way we can contact them, or even find them?” Ruby asked.“Not that I can see.” Jarvis said. “Wait. Professor Ozpin has ties to them. As does General Ironwood. Mr. Xiao-Long and Mr. Branwen as well. Who do you wish to speak to?” “Director Fury said he had his eye on me. Now, what can we do that would get him to come and see my personally?” She asked. “Well, you did break into the Atlesian Military’s servers on a dare. I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem to do it again.” Jarvis suggested. “No.” Ruby said. “If Fury would be able to trace it back to me, so would Ironwood. It's too risky. Wait. I have an idea.” Ruby was comfortably reclining inside of a giant decorative donut that rested on top of a donut shop, when she heard Fury’s all too familiar voice. “Ma’am!” He shouted. “Would you please exit the donut?” Ruby shifted her attention to him, and hopped down, her suit making a loud clunk as it contacted the ground. “You know how long I was up there?” She asked. “And now you show up?” “I'm a busy man. You're not the only person I've been watching, and I've only got one eye.” He told her. “You wanted me? I'm here now.”“Yeah.” She said. “People don't trust me as a vigilante. Thought you might have something for me to do. After all, you are a busy man. Don't have enough people or time to do everything that shows up.”“I'll think about it.” He said, turning around.“That's it?” Ruby asked. “I'll think about it?”“Yes. Now, I've got a huge green rage monster to take care of.” He told her.“You sure I can't help with that one?” She asked. “You're a civilian. I couldn't possibly—” Ruby cut him off. “I could reduce the causalities. Just give me a release form or something.” She reached out her hand, her palm facing the sky. He sighed. “Goddammit. Fine! Just don't get anyone killed, and don't kill the target.” Fury told her.“Seems reasonable.” She said, relaxing. “Who is the target exactly?” “Doctor Bruce Banner.”
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Doctor Robert Bruce Banner was born the son of an alcoholic, who deeply hated him. Banner's mother showed much affection for her child, who returned her love, but this only served to fuel his father's rage. Dr. Brian Banner was an atomic physicist who worked on producing clean nuclear power as an energy source, but he was afraid his exposure to it mutated his son's genes. Bruce showed signs of high intelligence at an early age which strengthened his father's belief. Brian became abusive to Bruce and when his mother intervened, Brian murdered her. He frightened Bruce to keep quiet, but his own bragging landed him in a psychiatric institute.As a child, Bruce was withdrawn, possibly developing a split personality to cope with his pain and rage. His only happiness came from spending time with his cousin; Jennifer Walters. Bruce found it hard to develop friendships and often found himself on the receiving end of physical abuse at the hands of school bullies. One such incident sparked Bruce's idea of planting a bomb in the basement of his school. The bomb was a dud, and Bruce was expelled, but the Atlesian military took notice of his genius. Eventually, Bruce earned a doctorate in nuclear physics and started a career with them.Supervising the trial of an experimental gamma bomb that he designed for the Atlas Defense department at a nuclear research facility in New Mexico, Bruce selflessly rushed to the rescue of an ignorant teenager who had wandered onto the testing field as the countdown ticked inexorably to zero. After shoving Rick Jones to safety in a nearby ditch, Bruce was struck full-force by the bomb blast. He survived, but was irradiated by the deadly gamma energy.At first, Banner would transform into the brutish grey Hulk only at sunset, and revert to human form at dawn. Eventually, his change into the childlike green Hulk came to be triggered by the release of adrenaline when he was intensely excited, no matter what time of day. The green Hulk possesses little of Banner's memory and intelligence, and is easily angered; making him a menace to society.Since Banner's initial transformation into The Hulk, military forces commanded by General James Ironwood -Bruce's one-time benefactor- have hunted him continually, despite being warned about such behavior several times by colleague and headmaster of Beacon Academy; Professor Ozpin. Director Fury believes that he can put an end to this charade once and for all. I hope he's right.
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Ruby fired another round from her repulser, but this only seemed to anger the creature she was fighting. It let out an inhuman roar and side-swiped her into a wall. It then pulled her from the wall and began slamming her into the ground, digging up the dirt around it. Ruby fired a few flares at it and it dropped her, she flew into the sky, hoping to reorient herself on the situation. Her armor was torn up, jagged pieces and raw components sticking out. Her helmet was dented and scratched, she was breathing heavily, and was definitely terrified. “Jarvis!” She said. “Any idea—”“Incoming!” Jarvis shouted, but even then, it was too late, the creature had leaped into the air and grabbed Ruby, tossing her to the ground. “Jarvis.” She hoarsely said. “I can't… I can't…” Her eyes began to slowly drift shut as the creature closed in on her. [Earlier That Day] “People still don't trust you.” Jaune said, leaning against the wall in Ruby’s workshop.“I said I got an assignment.” She said, seated on the stairs to her glass cases. “I never said it was complete.”“And what is your assignment?” He asked, crossing her arms. “At the moment it's, ‘wait for further instructions’, but once I get said further instructions, I'm containment.” She told him. “Of what?” He asked.“Super villain? I dunno.” She said, beginning to nibble on a bagel. But Jarvis seemingly sighed, “Did you do the required research?” He asked.“Course not!” She said. “What do you want from me?”“The target is Doctor Bruce Banner, a gamma radiation scientist. During a test of a gamma bomb, he rushed onto the field to save a young man, pushing him to safety, Banner was irradiated and turned into The Hulk; a green monster.” As Jarvis told them this, a projection of The Hulk appeared in the center of the room. “This guy looks like he'd give Yang a run for her money.” Jaune said, pushing off the wall and walking towards the projection. “Yeah.” She said. “Jarvis! Start working on Mark Four, please!” “Right away.” He said. “But I fear it will not be ready in time.”“Why not?” Ruby stood.“Director Fury is trying to contact you.” He told her. Ruby motioned for Jaune to leave and began to put on the suit. “Answer it.” She told Jarvis.“Rose.” Fury’s voice echoed through the room. “I'm here.” She told him. “You ready for me?”“Yes. Banner’s in Vale. At Culver University. Ironwood already made the irrational decision that made him change.” Fury told her.“Be right there.” She said, exiting the workshop. When Ruby touched down, The Hulk was facing away from her, taking fire from a group of soldiers. “Hey!” She shouted. This did not get his attention, so she fired her repulser at her back. He cried out and turned around, staring her down. He let out an inhuman roar and charged her. Ruby shot herself into the air and flipped over him, doing a three point landing. Iron Rose versus the Hulk was all over the news, so it was impossible for WBY and JNPR not to see or hear about it, though, only Blake, Yang, and Jaune knew that it was Ruby. And of course, Lisa Lavender had been the first on the scene. “It seems as though The Iron Rose is attempting to contain this monster.” She said, her back to the battle. The Hulk turned around, and charged her once again, fist raised. Ruby began running forward, using her repulsers to increase her speed, and at the last second, she raised her own fist. Unfortunately, their hands collided, and a shock wave was created, this shock wave smashed nearby windows and set off car alarms. Ruby was thrown backwards several yards, tearing up the grass. When Ruby stood, The Hulk sideswiped her into the wall of the college. [Present]“Miss Rose!?” Jarvis shouted. “Miss Rose?!” The Hulk was getting closer to Ruby’s still form in the dirt. “Freeze!” A squadron of soldiers came from behind the monster, pointing automatic weapons at him. “I'm sorry about this, Miss Rose.” Jarvis said, sending a bolt of electricity through her body. She jolted awake and sat up. “Jarvis. Thanks for that.” She said, her breath even more ragged than it was before. “It was the only option.” Jarvis said, sounding indignant. “Ready the chest arc.” Ruby bolted to her feet. “We can't let those soldiers die.” Ruby fired another repulser blast from her hand at The Hulk and he turned back around, looking angrier than ever. “Jarvis. Now.” She said. Just as she said this, a highly concentrated beam of energy slammed into the Hulk. He cried out in pain, but did not move. “Losing power!” Jarvis warned her. “Forty percent.” Ruby continued firing at the beast, and it seemed as though it was actually hurting him. “Thirty five. Thirty. Twenty five. Twenty—” Ruby cut him off. “Just put it on the screen!” She told him, he complied and went quiet. The Hulk fell to his knees and his skin began to change from green to Banner’s natural, pale skin color. Ruby ceased fire and his muscles continued to shrink until Bruce Banner was kneeling a few yards ahead. Ruby fell to her hands and knees, her power now at ten percent, but was going up. SHIELD personnel rushed to Banner, aiming their weapons at Ironwood’s men. Ruby pushed herself to her feet, and looked around; civilians were all staring at her, and everything was quiet, except for the SHIELD agents’ body armor hitting together as they dragged Banner away. As soon as Banner was in the SHIELD transport vehicle, Lisa Lavender ran to Ruby, cameraman in tow. “Iron Rose!” She said, getting Ruby’s attention. “Why do you hide your identity?” She asked. Ruby looked into the camera, then back at Lisa. “Never did.” She said. “I shared my identity from day one, but no one noticed.” Ruby opened her faceplate, and winked at the camera, “Ruby Rose, out.” She shot into the sky, the camera trailing her.
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"Up next, we have; Team RWBY! Versus! Team ABRN!" Port shouted into the microphone."This should be a very exciting fight," Oobleck added. "This is the first time we've seen the Iron Rose since the incident at Culver.""Miss Rose has still been around, though!" Port laughed."Yes, indeed." Oobleck agreed.Down in the arena, Team RWBY stared down ABRN. Ruby was not in her suit, but rather just an athletic shirt and jeans. Her arc reactor could be seen poking through a hole in her shirt, glowing a bright blue. "I'm gonna make sure this is a fair fight." Ruby told ABRN. "It's gonna take me a minute to get the suit on, and you can attack me while Jarvis is putting it on me. Sound good?"ABRN nodded in agreement, looking up at the yellow ring that floated just above Ruby. It was the machine that would put her suit on for her."Fight!" The two in the press box suddenly shouted, signaling that the fight had begun. WBY got into their fighting stances, but Ruby put her arms out as the ring descended upon her. Nadir began to fire at her, but Weiss blocked it with a glyph. "Never told you it'd be easy." Ruby told them. As she said this, Jarvis threw on the chest piece. Now, everything but the helmet was on, and it was obviously a new suit. It was clunky, but not too much. The helmet wrapped around the back of her head, and the jaw pieces extended out, encasing her head as plates extended from the jaw, and connected with the chest piece. Lastly, Jarvis placed the faceplate onto her face, and the eye slits lit up. Mark IV; it had the same color scheme as its predecessor, but the ankles, feet, wrists and hands were slightly thicker."Now," she said. "Let's do this."Ruby then made it to where only her teammates could hear her through their earpieces, "Blake." She said."Hm?" The faunas asked."See if you can disappear and hit them from behind." Ruby told her. "I've read some of your books. You're into that, right?"Yang chuckled, and Ruby spoke to her next. "Yang. I need you and Weiss to hit them from the front.""What are you going to do?" Weiss asked."I'm gonna hit them from above." Ruby launched herself into the sky as her teammates began their assault. Ruby used her targeting system to make sure she didn't hit her teammates with the incoming missile barrage. Unfortunately for her, Reese used her board to elevate herself to Ruby's height, high above WBY's range."Thought you were safe?" Reese asked, smirking."More or less." Ruby said, shrugging."Your suit's pretty cool." Reese said. "I almost feel bad for what's about to happen.""Don't worry." She said. "This won't hurt that bad."Ruby fired out of her chest arc, launching Reese to the ground with a loud, echoing thud."Reese Chloris is out by aura depletion!"Port exclaimed."Miss Rose." Jarvis said. "The use of the chest arc has depleted the suit's power. I recommend landing soon."Before Ruby was given a chance to heed the AI's advice, one of her thrusters gave out and she began to float towards the ground. The engine kept flickering, allowing her a safe landing."Jarvis." Ruby said. "Can you send Banner down with Mark V after the fight?""Yes, ma'am." Jarvis said."Good AI." Ruby told him."I try." He told her."I'm so glad I gave you a sarcastic personality." Ruby said, smiling proudly."As am I."Ruby lightly jogged towards where her team was fighting the remaining members of ABRN."I may have drained the power of my suit." She told them. "I'm gonna have to stay down here for now.""Sounds good." Yang said.Ruby dashed forward and kicked Bolin in the knee, allowing Yang to get the upper hand. She then aimed one of her repulsors at Arslan. When she fired, the other girl was launched backwards, doing several backflips. She somehow managed to regain her balance, landing on her feet. Ruby slowly clapped whilst slowly walking towards her opponent."I give it a seven out of ten. The flips were impressive but your form was all off." She joked.Arslan didn't speak, she just tossed her rope dart at Ruby, letting it wrap around the metallic suit of armor. Ruby sighed and quickly broke her hands free from the rope. She then grabbed the rope and swung it around, taking Arslan with it. Arslan slammed into Nadir, eliminating both.While Ruby had been fighting Arslan, Yang had managed to take down Bolin."Team RWBY wins!" Port exclaimed, bursting the eardrums of all those nearby.The ring yet again descended upon Ruby, taking the suit from her body."You guys did good." She told her team as they exited the arena."You eliminated almost everyone." Weiss deadpanned. Ruby rolled her eyes."You guys softened them up." She said. "Not to mention the fighting lessons I was given.""You're welcome." Yang said.As the four walked out, an old man in a suit walked up to them. He outstretched his hand to Ruby, "I'm Doctor Hank Pym of Pym Technologies."Ruby reluctantly took his hand, "Ruby Rose of Metal Suit."Despite Pym's friendly attitude, Ruby could tell that he was not at all happy to see her."I want you to know," he said. "That not everyone trusts that you will do the right thing.""And why's that?" Ruby asked, feigning interest."Never trust a Rose." He said. This grabbed Ruby's immediate attention, and she frowned. "Doctor Pym." She said. "Would you like to see how easy it is for me to get you kicked out?"Pym was surprised, reeling back. "What?""You wanna touch what?!" She loudly shouted. "R-A-P-E! Get your hands away from me!"Almost immediately, a few guards ran up to the group. "What's going on?" One asked."He said something about touching bad places." Ruby falsely accused."What?" Pym said. "I did no such—"Before Pym could claim his innocence, he was dragged away.Ruby quickly turned around, facing her team, who were all trying not to laugh."That's not okay." Yang said, trying to make her smile disappear.At this point, Banner had finally arrived with Mark V. It was encased in a red and silver metallic briefcase and didn't look like much."Thanks, Banner." Ruby said, taking the case from him. He nodded and walked off. Ruby turned back to her team."Made a new armor." She nonchalantly said. "Little more portable. A lot more fashionable."The four then made their way to a nearby noodle stand, having agreed that they were each starving. And of course, even there they couldn't escape someone who recognized Ruby. The old man at the noodle stand immediately recognized her."You're that Iron Rose woman!" He said. "I love your work."Ruby smiled as the four sat down."Thanks." She said. "I like your mustache…" she paused for a second, reading his nameplate. "Mr. Leiber."He smiled. "Just call me Stan." He told her.She chuckled. "Can do."Stan took their orders and retreated into the back of the stand, and Ruby turned to her teammates. But before any of them could say anything, Ruby was thrown from her seat as something wrapped around her body. Whatever it was that grabbed Ruby was scorching hot, depleting her aura levels rather quickly. Fortunately, it was only wrapped around her for a few seconds before it let go and slammed her through another nearby stand.
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It was a few minutes before Ruby regained consciousness, and sat up. She immediately assessed the damage to her body, finding that something had burned a sizable hole in her shirt, thankfully below the chest. Ruby flopped back onto her back, groaning in pain as she did so. She could hear the fighting. Her teammates were still in trouble, but she couldn't get up. She weakly lifted her head to see out, to make sure her teammates were okay. And she saw it. Her armor was lying just behind the counter of the noodle stand, just beside where the old man who worked there was hiding. Ruby tossed a small chunk of wood at him to get his attention. He looked over at her, and she pointed to the large briefcase, motioning for him to throw it to her. “It's heavy.” She whispered over to him. “Be careful.” Yet he tossed it over with ease, it landing right in Ruby’s arms. She weakly forced herself to her feet and tossed it to the ground, when it opened up with ease. She quickly stepped into it, before grabbing the handles on the inside, bringing the rest of it to her chest. The metal expanded throughout her body, the plates wrapping around her limbs. The helmet extended from her back, and wrapped around her face. The chest arc and the eyes lit up immediately as she stepped out of the wrecked vendor stand. Then she saw her attacker. It was a man wearing a chest arc similar to her own, but it was attached to whips, which seemed to be made of energy. One of these whips was wrapped around Ember Celica, and the other was swinging at one of Blake’s shadow clones. “Alright girls.” Ruby said. “I'll take it from here.”Yang fired one final shot at the man before backing off, and Blake just kind of disappeared. The man laughed as he scanned Ruby’s new armor up and down. “Your armor is a downgrade.” He said with a thick accent of some sort. “You insult me.” “Well, ya know, treating everyone the same is not the same as being fair.” She jokingly remarked. “I want to at least give you a chance.”He chuckled again. “We’ll see about that.” He said.He suddenly swung one of his whips at her, and she brought one of her arms up to block it. This allowed him to wrap his whip around her forearm. Believing himself to have the advantage, he laughed again, but Ruby tugged on the whip, pulling him in, and allowing her to kick him in the chest. He was launched backwards, into another stand, but unfortunately, he swung her with him. His grip was released while she was in midair, launching her into Beacon’s campus, which wasn't too far away from the fairgrounds. Ruby quickly got to her feet, just as the man approached reentered her line of sight. “Jarvis.” She said. “What do we have on this asshole? He's starting to piss me off.” A reticle entrapped his face on her HUD, zooming in and showing an ID to Ruby.“Ivan Vanko.” Jarvis said. “He worked with your mother a long time ago.” “Hasn't everybody.” She mumbled. “Any weaknesses? Physical or mental. Doesn't matter.” “He has a thing for birds, Miss Rose.” Jarvis told her.Ruby sighed. “That's real helpful.” She took a few steps towards Vanko, “Listen.” She said. “Give up now, and I'll make it worth your while. You want a bird? I can get you a bird!” Vanko stopped, giving her a confused look, before he swung his whips at her again. “Bribery does not work.” She said. “Anything else?”“Take out the power source in the center. It's the weakest point.” Jarvis said.“Why didn't I think of that?” Ruby asked.“You may take credit for it.” He told her.“Thank you.” Ruby began to run towards Vanko, as he swung his whips at her in a rapid fashion. One wrapped around her forearm, and the other around her neck. Ruby used this to her advantage, wrapping it further around her body to get closer, despite her HUD flashing red from the damage. Vanko’s eyes widened as she got closer and closer, before she suddenly reached out and crushed his chest arc in her hand. His whips immediately shut down, and she kicked him to the ground. Ruby put down her helmet as a few Atlesian soldiers showed up, dragging Vanko away. WBY approached just as Vanko disappeared into the distance with the men. Ruby turned to them. “Let's go eat now.” She said. “Though, I think noodles may be out of the question.” She pointed at the wrecked noodle stand, and her teammates nodded in agreement.“Have you guys ever had Shawarma?” She asked. “There's a shawarma stand not too far from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it.”
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[Later]Ruby’s leg anxiously bounced up and down as the Quinjet she rode flew to some destination unknown to her. It was SHIELD, of course, but that was all she knew of the situation. She had no idea where she was headed, or even why. Coulson had said something about an evaluation, followed immediately by a meeting of sorts. Of course, Ruby dressed up for the occasion, wearing a black pantsuit with a crimson button-up shirt. However, she neglected to button the jacket, so she looked like a detective on Showtime, the only difference being the blue light straining against her shirt.“Miss Rose?” The unfamiliar voice of the pilot pulled Ruby from the hypnotic bounce of her leg. She looked over to the cockpit.“We've landed.” He told her. Ruby furrowed her brow. Surely she would have felt a landing, right? She quickly stole a glance out the cockpit window, and sure enough, the scenery of blue sky and clouds had been replaced with that of the deck of an aircraft carrier. There were many other Quinjets, taking off and landing with many people running all over the place, rushing to do their assigned task.Ruby took a deep breath and thanked the pilot before stepping off the craft, and onto the deck. The sounds of the other Quinjets filled her ears, but now it seemed that they were only landing, and none were taking off. “That's her?” A voice asked. Ruby didn't hear a response, but the voice spoke again, “She's just a kid.” Upon hearing this, Ruby’s head swiveled in the direction of the voice. Her eyes landed on a tall, blonde man with large, bulging muscles and a chiseled jaw. He was accompanied by none other than Agent Phil Coulson. She quickly strode over to him, and held out her hand. “I'm Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you.” The man was seemingly shocked by such a straightforward approach, but his expression quickly changed to a smile as he shook her hand.“I'm—” Ruby cut him off.“I know who you are. And I thought you were dead.”“We just found him encased in a block of ice not too long ago.” Coulson told her. Ruby nodded.“Is this what you brought me here for?” She annoyedly asked. The blonde man seemed confused by Ruby’s sudden change of attitude, but said nothing. “Because I don't need this right now.” Coulson shook his head.“No, Miss Rose, we’ve brought both of you here regarding the Avengers Initiative.” He told her. Ruby began to laugh, then turned to the blonde man.“You know what that means?” She asked him. He shook his head, and Ruby turned back to Coulson. “Neither one of us understands what you mean by that, so would you care to elaborate?”“It would be better if Director Fury told you instead.” He told her. Ruby gave him an obviously fake smile and nodded.“Lead the way.”[Shift]Ruby sat around a round table with several other people, of those people were the blonde man, Banner, a man with spiky brown hair, and a woman with bright orange hair. Ruby could only assume that these were others considered for the Avengers Initiative. Pacing back and forth in front of the table was the man himself, Director Fury. “Ever since Rose went public with her super suit, the world has become very aware of the presence of those they'd like to call super heroes.” He told the group. “And a power such as that provokes challenge, and challenge invites catastrophe.”“Where are you going with this?” Ruby asked. Fury paused in his pacing and glared at her, then resumed.“Since you revealed yourself to the world as a ‘superhero’, there has been a spike in ‘super villains’.” He rephrased. “And I have allowed you to deal with your own threats for the past few months, but your little incident at the Vytal festival yesterday caused a realization; you aren't going to be able to take care of every threat that comes your way.” He stopped pacing, and was now leaning across the table to face Ruby. “That is why I have assembled a team for the bigger threats that just one girl from Patch can't handle.” There were obvious hints of malice in the man’s voice. Ruby shook her head. “I can handle myself.”“This isn't about you.” Fury told her. “This is about the world. If you all can work together to solve a threat greater than yourselves, then maybe we can create world peace.”Ruby laughed at this. “Are you really that naive?” She asked. “World peace doesn't exist. Not with the Grimm still out and about.”“What if I told you I knew how to solve that problem?” He asked her. She tilted her head.“That's not possible.” She told him.“You sure about that?” Ruby said nothing, and he relaxed, leaning away from the table. He faced away from the group. “Are you in, Rose? Or are you out?” Ruby scanned the others that sat at the table, with her. They were all staring at her, but she said nothing. “If I join, then what?” She asked.“Then you go home, and continue with your life until we need you.” He told her.“And if I refuse?”“Nothing happens. To you or your friends.” He said. “You wanted to help people, Rose. You wanted to make a difference. Here's your chance. You won't get another one.”[Shift]Ruby anxiously paced back and forth in her workshop, listening to loud rock music. There was a lot happening in her life. Too much, and she couldn't handle it. And now, she was expected to keep secrets from her team, and her family. She hated lying. To anyone. It made her uncomfortable, yet she found the electric guitar and melodic chanting somewhat comforting, especially in this song.‘I was caught, in the middle of a railroad track! Thunder! I looked round and I knew there was no turning back! Thunder! My mind raced! And I thought what I could do! Thunder! And I knew! There was no help from you! Thunder!’“Miss Xiao-Long is at the door.” Jarvis’ voice echoed throughout the room, causing the music to lower in volume.“Let her in.” Ruby told him. “Why do I even have to say that?” The redhead strode over to the door just as it opened. “What's up?” She asked her sister. Yang shrugged.“Just came to check up on you. You've been a little… distant since that meeting with SHIELD. Anything I need to know about?” She said. Ruby shook her head.“Nothing I could tell you.” Yang seemed shocked by such a statement.“I'm your sister. You tell me everything.” Yang told her.“I tell you what I'm legally allowed to.” Ruby clarified. Yang nodded, then changed the subject.“You working on anything?” She asked. Ruby raised an eyebrow.“I'm always working on something.” Ruby told her. “But if you must know, I'm working on making the armor more portable.”“More than a briefcase?” Yang asked. Ruby nodded.“Much more. However, I only have ideas right now, so there are no blueprints or prototypes to show you this time.” She said.“What kind of ideas?” Ruby suddenly pointed to her desk, then shouted at one of the robotic arms she had rolling around the workshop.“Hey! Dummy! Can you grab that thing off my desk?” She commanded. Yang watched as the robot slowly rolled over to Ruby’s desk, which was littered with all kinds of papers and files, and swiped everything onto the floor. Ruby sighed, then growled. “You! I swear to God! I'll soak your motherboard, and turn you into a wine rack!” Yang giggled slightly, as the robot bowed its claw in shame.“Aw,” Yang said. “Be nice to him, he's trying.” Ruby spun around to face her sister. “He does this, literally everyday.” She said. The blonde girl slowly walked over to the robot, examining it.“What's his name?” She asked.“I call him Dum-E.” Ruby said. Yang laughed.“What does he do?” She asked. Ruby tilted her head and looked at the robot.“He mainly acts as a fourth arm, sometimes I have him fetch stuff. Doesn't work out too well.” She said. Yang looked over at the other robot. “What about him?” She asked.“That's Butterfingers.” Ruby said. “He's mainly controlled by Jarvis.” Yang nodded. “Ever made them fight?” She asked. Ruby looked offended.“I'll have you know that's the first thing I did with them!” Ruby told her. “A million hits on YouTube.” Yang laughed.
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Captain America hails from a fifth kingdom, a lost kingdom that shared a namesake with the soldier. America. Such kingdom fell in 1999, a year after Summer Rose had her first child. Summer Rose had a hand in creating the American Super Soldier. At only fifteen, she worked alongside Abraham Erskine near the end of The Great War to create such a fantastic man. In 1954, she and Erskine injected scrawny Steve Rogers with their super soldier serum, and created the great Captain America. At first, he worked solely as a form of propaganda, displaying to the American people that Mantle and Mistral we're evil people, hellbent on taking over the world. Whether or not this was true mattered to no one, Cap's shows were rather entertaining.The rest of this story has been told countless times before. However, the one part of the story that has always been left out, is the Roses' side of things.Summer Rose often compared her daughter to the soldier until a car crash in 2008 that ultimately resulted in her death. These comparisons caused Ruby to hold some sort of resentment towards the super soldier who she thought she would never meet. That was, until now.
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[Later]
“Mercury?” Ruby asked. She couldn't believe her eyes. Standing before her was Mercury Black, a man she was sure her sister had broken the leg of. She was sure he went back to Haven. Yet here he was, standing nonetheless.
“You're supposed to be in Haven!” Ruby called out to him. “With a broken leg.” Mercury smirked. She quickly pulled out her scroll, trying to call Jarvis, however, Mercury shot it out of her hands.
“Let's just keep this between us friends.” He said. Ruby’s eyes widened and breathing became rapid. “Big woman in a suit of armor, take that away and what are you?” He teased.
“Genius, weapons maker, hot, philanthropist.” She shot back. Mercury chuckled, and Ruby charged him. He quickly spun his leg around and kicked her in the stomach, launching her back a few feet. She rolled across the ground, landing face down. She didn't move. Mercury smirked and began slowly walking towards the downed girl. But a voice called out to him.
“You know, last time I was at in a stadium, and saw a man beating on a woman. We ended up disagreeing.” It said. Mercury spun around, and saw a large, muscular man wearing a mostly blue outfit, with white on the biceps and two stripes on his stomach. In between the two white stripes were three red stripes, matching the color of his boots and gloves. On the center of his chest was a silver star. His shoulders also had silver on them, they were stripes, stretching from the top of his shoulders, down to where his chest began. But these were not the parts of the outfit that Mercury found odd; the man was also wearing a blue cowl with a large, white A on the forehead, as well as a blue utility belt and a shield with the same color scheme as the rest of his outfit. Red, white and Blue with a star in the center.
Mercury laughed at the new player. “Who are you supposed to be? Batman?” He asked. The man smiled good heartedly.
“No, son. I'm Captain America.” He said. Mercury couldn't help but laugh at that as well. He turned back to where Ruby lay.
“I guess you really do inspire people, Rose.” He laughed. He began to turn his head back, but something hit him, hard. Mercury fell right onto his back, and watched as Captain America’s shield bounced off the walls before the Captain caught it.
“You were saying?” He asked. Mercury flipped himself back onto his feet, now ready to fight the man. “Son.” He said, holding a hand out to Mercury. “Just don't.”
“Why?” Mercury asked. “Afraid I’ll kick your ass?” The man shook his head, no longer playing with the boy.
“No,” He said. “I'm afraid I might hurt you.”
“Bring it.” Mercury ran forward, and leapt at the Cap, who easily put his shield up in defense, pushing up and launching Mercury towards the ceiling. However, Mercury easily kicked off the ceiling and kicked at him. Cap blocked the attack with his shield and punched the young man. The hit dazed him, but didn't take him down, so Cap threw his shield at the wall and hit him again. Just as he hit Mercury, the shield bounced off the wall and hit him as well. This angered the grey haired villain. He kicked at Cap again, but the soldier caught his shield and blocked it. Then, he hit Mercury with the shield again. He knew Mercury could only take so many hits before he went down, so he just began to hit the dazed boy over and over again until he limply fell to the ground, unconscious.
Satisfied with his work, Cap rushed over to Ruby, who hadn't moved at all during the fight. Just as he reached her, she rolled onto her back. He smiled and extended his arm to her. She took it and he roughly pulled her to her feet. “What are you doing here?” She asked him.
“Well, y’know,” he said. “I was in the neighborhood and heard you were having some problems.”
“Where did you hear that?” She asked.
“Fury did say he had his eye on you.” She nodded. “We gotta go.” He told her. “Who knows how many students are in that stadium.”
Ruby laughed. “I don't know if you noticed, but I don't have my armor, and getting it would require me leaving the stadium.”
“Just stay close and help me get these people out of here.” He told her, running through the door she had come through not too long ago. She glanced over at Mercury’s unconscious form, but quickly followed the captain.
“Pyrrha!” Jaune called out the redhead, who was still standing in the center of the arena, despite the Nevermore headed straight for her. Captain America immediately threw his mighty shield and nailed the giant bird right in the head. The metal disc made a metallic clank as it contacted the bird’s skull. The Nevermore cried out in pain, and redirected itself towards Ruby and the Captain. Cap pointed towards where JNR was and turned to Ruby.
“Go!” He shouted. Ruby leapt over a handrail and sped across a row of seats, jumping over more handrails as the rows ended before she finally reached Jaune.
“Who’s he?” Jaune skeptically asked, motioning towards Captain America. Ruby sat down in one of the chairs, struggling to catch her breath. “Friend of my mother’s.” She said. “Give me your scroll. Mine’s trashed.” Jaune fumbled for a few seconds before placing the device into her outstretched hand. She nodded thankfully, and hit a few buttons before she pointed it at the center of the stadium. Seconds later, her locker shot down, cracking into the platform near where Pyrrha was. Ruby handed Jaune his scroll back, and stood. “Cover me.” She told him. She leapt over the railing, landing carefully on the edge of the platform, JNR right behind her.
The girl sprinted towards her locker, while JNR sprinted towards their teammate. Ruby quickly threw open the locker door, and Jaune was surprised to see that instead of a suit of armor, there were two bracelets and an ear piece.
“No armor?” He asked, puzzled. She didn't face him as she hastily pulled the items from the locker.
“I'm working on it.” She mumbled. “Let's just hope this doesn't break my spine.”
“Excuse me, what?” Jaune asked.
“Hmm?” Ruby asked, acting as though she hadn't said anything at all.
“It sounded like you just said that whatever it is you're doing would break your spine.” He said. She shook her head.
“No. No.” Ruby told him. “It might. Twenty—forty percent chance it will.”
“That's a high percentage.” Jaune told her. “I mean sixty is pretty high too, but…” Ruby suddenly turned to him.
“Where did you get that number from?” She asked.
“You said forty percent it would break your spine, the other sixty percent means it would work, right?” He said. She shook her head again.
“No, there's a fifty percent chance it will work.” She said.
“What's the other ten percent?”
“Five percent it might kill me, the other five means it might just miss.” She placed the earpiece into her ear, and pressed the button on the side. “Jarvis, bring in Mark VI.” She quickly clicked the bracelets onto her wrists, spread her arms and closed her eyes. “You might wanna stand back.” Jaune began to quickly retreat, ushering his team away from Ruby. There was a loud whooshing noise in the sky, and it was rapidly approaching. A red and black object shot down into the arena, pulling up at the last second and heading towards Ruby. It suddenly slowed down and spread out, lasers lining up with Ruby’s bracelets. There was a loud beep and it gently connected with Ruby’s entire backside, wrapping all the way around her body, forming a suit of armor. Within seconds, Ruby Rose was transformed into the Iron Rose. This suit was much like Mark III, except it was more form fitting, showing off Ruby’s more feminine body structure rather than making her look like a man.
Ruby quickly activated her thrusters and shot herself into the sky, showing that she no longer relied on her hand stabilizers for flight, having two on her back, before coming back down atop of the Nevermore. Ruby easily picked up the large bird and tossed it into the center of the arena, where it was unexpectedly bombarded with dozens of lockers. Ruby quickly stopped herself and stared in awe at the display of students coming together to take out the Grimm.
The girl slowly landed, standing in front of the group of students comprised of Teams SSSN, CFVY, JNPR, ABRN, and FNKY.
“Who’s he?” Sun suddenly asked, pointing to Captain America, who had somehow joined Ruby without her noticing. Ruby brought her faceplate up and turned to the super soldier.
“Steve Rogers. He's a work friend.” She said.
“Sun Wukong.” Sun quickly waved at the man. Steve nodded.
“Nice to meet you, son. Now, I do believe that there are people who need your help. Can we trust you to take care of the civilians while the rest of us go after the madwoman responsible for all of this?” He said. The students collectively nodded, and Steve turned to Ruby. “I need a ride back to Beacon. Can you provide?” Ruby nodded, dropping her faceplate and saluting.
“Super Uber at your service.” She said. Steve just looked confused. She dropped the salute. “It's like a cab service.” She told him. He nodded and she put her arms under his armpits, wrapping them around his shoulders. “You have broad shoulders.” She told him.
“Thank you?” He was obviously confused by the comment, but she didn't elaborate anymore on it.
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Name: Clinton Francis "Hawkeye" Barton.Abilities: Above average reflexes and hand-eye coordination.Clint Barton was orphaned at an early age when his parents died in a car accident and was sent to a children's home with his brother Bernard. He and his brother ran away to join the Carson Carnival of Traveling Wonders, and the pair worked as roustabouts. While a member of the circus, Hawkeye was trained by the original Swordsman (Jacques Duquesne) and Trickshot. Clint's life, however, would forever be changed after he stumbled onto the Swordsman counting the money he had just robbed from the carnival. The Swordsman offered Clint to become his partner in crime, but Clint rejected his mentor, sparking a fight that ended when the Swordsman left him for dead after he fell from the high wire. Barney, too, abandoned him, in disbelief that Clint passed up such an opportunity. Trickshot stepped up his role as Clint's mentor, later asking him to join him in raiding a criminal named Marko. However, Clint severely injured one of Marko's guards and discovered him to be his brother, Barney. Repelled by the consequences of his actions (and his mentor's role in prompting them), he abandoned Trickshot and parted on bad terms.His natural archery abilities honed to an expert level, Clint wandered the country, working in various carnivals or otherwise making money out of the costume and persona of "Hawkeye". One day, when witnessing a masked vigilante save the lives of some people at the carnival, he decided to become a costumed crime-fighter himself. But as luck would have it, on Hawkeye's first night on patrol, he was mistaken for a criminal by the police and hunted down. Soon after Clint jointed SHIELD, he met Natasha "Black Widow" Romanoff.Name: Natasha "Black Widow" Romanoff.Next to nothing is known about Romanoff's past, and what is known is extremely classified. She's dangerous, we'll leave it at that.
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“Incoming call from your sister, Miss Rose.” Jarvis’ voice cut through the silence that rang through Ruby’s head. “Answer it.” She told the AI. “As you wish.” “Ruby! Are you okay?!” Yang’s worried and panicked voice replaced Jarvis’, and Ruby smiled, just happy to hear the blonde’s voice.“Yeah, Yang, I’m fine. You? Not missing any limbs or anything?” She said.“No. No. I'm fine. Weiss and Blake are good too.”“Good. Good. I need you three to stay inside or try to get out of here. This might get messy.” Ruby began to lower both herself and captain towards Beacon’s courtyard, which was filled with Grimm. “We’re not going to let you deal with this by yourself!” Weiss’ voice suddenly joined in the conversation, and Ruby chuckled.“I don't expect you to.” Ruby told her. “But I'm not alone. Say ‘hi’, Steve!” “Hello, ladies.” Steve respectfully said, though it was lacking confidence.“Girls, I’d like you to meet Captain America. He’ll be helping me and the others today.”“Captain America?” Yang asked. “Others? Ruby, what is going on?”“I'll explain later. I've got a little meeting right now.”Ruby suddenly hung up and dropped Steve, letting him fall the last few feet before she herself dropped, landing in a heroic pose just feet away from a black haired man in a lab coat being led away by a man with spiky brown hair and a bow, as well as a red haired woman in a tight spandex suit.“Rose!” Banner said. “What is going on?!” He jerked away from the man and the woman. “Grimm are invading the school.” Steve said. “Doctor Banner, I'm going to need you to get angry.” Ruby suddenly turned to Steve. “What?!” She asked. “We can't release the Hulk in a civilian area!”“I can control it.” Banner told her. Ruby brought up her face plate and tilted her head to the side as she looked at the scientist.“Since when?” She asked.“Since before Culver.” Banner told her. “I was acting in self defense there.” Ruby just sighed and shook her head, dropping the faceplate. “Just get angry, Banner.” She defeatedly said. Banner shook his head.“That's my secret. I'm always angry.” His eyes turned green as he said this. Next came his skin, turning the same color as his eyes. His muscles began to grow as well, shredding his clothes. Bones popped and skin stretched as he continued the transformation. Once he was around eight feet tall, with muscles proportional to the rest of his body. Ruby slowly breathed through her mouth, trying to contain the fear she harbored towards the Hulk. The beast had nearly killed her just a few weeks prior, and now she was expected to work alongside it? She would have to have a word with Fury once this was over.Hulk suddenly let out a mighty roar, causing the surrounding buildings to shake, and their windows to shatter. [Shift]WBY jumped when they heard the roar. They knew what it was, or more importantly, who it was. “Please don't tell me The Hulk is loose on campus.” Yang shakily sighed. “Ruby can handle herself.” Blake said. “Even more so with whoever it is she’s with.” “Captain America.” Yang told her, drifting over to the window of the airship. “I thought he was dead. But here he is, fighting alongside Rubes.” She could faintly see the green monster among the piles of rubble and Grimm.[Shift]White Fang grunts, Atlesian Paladins and drones, as well as Grimm all rushed the Avengers, who stood in a circle just in front of the clock tower. Ruby and The Hulk focused on the Atlesian enemies, whilst Barton and Romanoff focused on the Grimm, and Steve fought off the White Fang. “This is almost too—” Ruby was suddenly picked up by the Hulk. “Same team! Same team!” The Hulk stopped, and gently set her down, brushing her off as she jerked away from him. He grunted in a way that Ruby translated into an apology.“Yeah, Yeah. Whatever.”“Miss Rose!” Ozpin’s usually calm voice was replaced by that of panic as his voice echoed over her comms. “I need you in my office! Now!” Ruby looked over at Steve as he took a break in fighting the White Fang to make eye contact with her.“Go!” He told her. “I'm sure Hulk has his side covered!” Ruby nodded and shot into the sky, landing in Ozpin’s office within seconds. “Follow me.” The headmaster told her. “What's going on?!” She asked. He gave her no response other than stepping into the elevator. Having no choice other than to follow, she did so. The elevator creaked at the weight of her armor, but Ozpin still, said nothing. He pressed the button for the lobby, and when the doors opened again, Jaune and Pyrrha stood on the other side. They just as equally surprised to see Ruby as she was them.“Miss Rose is here purely for security purposes.” He told them. They quickly stepped on as well, and the elevator went down further. When the doors opened for the third time, they were in some kind of vault, with long, dark hallways illuminated only by the green torches that lined the wall. The flickering of the flames reflected onto the marble walls and floor that looked as though they had just been waxed. Ozpin lead them down the hallway to a chamber where a young black woman with brown hair lay. Her face was covered in horrendous scars that made Ruby uneasy. The chamber next to the young woman was empty, but Ozpin soon motioned for Pyrrha to step inside. “Miss Rose. Mister Arc. I need you to stand guard.” Ozpin told the blonde and redhead. “Jarvis.” Ruby said. “Sentry mode.” The back of the armor opened up and Ruby stepped out. Now, instead of a metal suit, she wore jeans and an athletic T-shirt, which her Arc Reactor strained against. Ruby watched the whole ordeal with Pyrrha commence, power surging through the tubes that connected the two chambers. Pyrrha cried out in agony. It seemed to Ruby that the process was extremely painful for the redhead.“Miss Rose!” Jarvis’ voice split into her ear. “Incoming!” Ruby didn't have a chance to react before something sharp tore into her shoulder blade. Ruby cried out, and fell to the ground, belly down. “Ruby!” Jaune tried to run to Ruby’s aid, but Cinder’s arrows were bombarding his shield. Jarvis was doing everything he could to stop the villain from hurting Ruby anymore, but this allowed Cinder to easily shoot the woman in the chamber, killing her. The energy that was surging into Pyrrha was suddenly redirected to Cinder, and Ozpin released Pyrrha from the chamber. “Mister Arc. Miss Nikos,” Ozpin began. “Grab Miss Rose and leave. I will handle this.” Jaune looked at Ozpin, then at Ruby, whose blood was soaking through her shirt. It didn't take him long to reach a verdict. He and Pyrrha both rushed to Ruby’s sides, each grabbing an arm and wrapping it around their shoulders. Ruby gasped in pain as they raised her to her feet. “Jarvis.” Ruby said, sound groggy and tired. “Stand down and follow.” The weapons on the suit powered down and it followed the three out of the clock tower.“Lay her down here.” Pyrrha gently set Ruby back onto the ground, the girl’s wounded back facing the sky. “We’re going to have to take the arrow out. Is that okay, Ruby?” Ruby did not respond, and Jaune’s hand went to her neck. “She's unconscious.” Jarvis told them. “Her heart rate is steady, but I fear that if you remove that arrow and fail to bandage it quickly, Miss Rose will bleed out.” Jaune and Pyrrha made eye contact, each of them just realizing the gravity of this situation. “What happened?!” Steve suddenly sprinted up to them, the rest of the Avengers not too far away. Once Barton saw the arrow, he turned to Romanoff. “I didn't do that.” He told her. She just rolled her eyes and continued towards Ruby. “Barton.” Steve said. “Do you know how to patch that up?”“I might.” Barton ran to Ruby’s side and dug around in one of the pouches on his belt. It wasn't too long before his hand emerged, holding a roll of bandages. He turned to Pyrrha. “Magneto. I need you to pull out the arrow with your semblance.”“How did you—”“You used it on live television. How could I have not seen it?” Pyrrha gave no response to this, she just began to tug on the arrow with her semblance. It slid out smoothly and Barton immediately began wrapping up the wound. “She should be fine.” He turned to the others. “Given she gets to a hospital soon.”There was a sudden, loud noise coming from the clock tower, and Pyrrha stood. “You're not going back in there, are you?” Jaune asked her.“I have to.” She told him. “I'm not sure that's a good idea.” Steve told her. “You should let us deal with Cinder.” Pyrrha shook her head.“No. It has to be me. And me alone.” Pyrrha began to move towards the clock tower.“Pyrrha—” Pyrrha held her hand out and stopped Jaune from talking.“Take Ruby. Get her to a hospital. Go.” “Pyrrha! I can't, in good conscience—” Pyrrha cut the blonde boy off again, but this time with a deep and passionate kiss. Such actions caused The Avengers to all look away, pretending to have not seen such things. Jaune was shocked by the kiss but he didn't pull away. He couldn't. When Pyrrha finally pulled away, allowing the blonde boy to breath, he felt a pan of sadness. And as his blue eyes locked onto her emerald, he knew this would be the last time he ever saw her. And it was.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When Ruby finally regained consciousness, she was laying in a small, white room, with a similarly colored curtain separating her tired eyes from the other half of the room. Dim rays of morning sunlight poked through the window, telling Ruby that it had been several hours since she passed out. The young girl quickly examined her body, looking for any signs of injury. The previous night had been a blur, and even now, she wasn't sure what it was that hit her, as she had gone into shock immediately afterwards. She was happy to see that the doctors and nurses had not disturbed her Arc Reactor, nor had they made the futile attempt at an operation to remove the shrapnel. That would have surely killed her. A sudden hand touched Ruby’s cheek. But she was not alarmed by the touch, it was warm and comforting to her shot nerves. “Good morning, Rubes.” The familiar voice of her father was a joyful sound, but Ruby could not bring herself to show such joy, her shoulder was barely containing a burning pain.“Hey…” She managed to grunt out, making eye contact with the blonde man. He must have detected the pain in her voice, or possibly on her face, because his face showed that of a worried parent. “Do you need me to call a nurse?” He asked her. She quickly shook her head. While, the wound hurt, she knew that if she said yes, he would go into overdrive helicopter parent. So, she now had to act as though it didn't hurt. “I'm fine.” She groaned. He knew she was lying.“I'm calling a nurse.” He reached for the call button, and Ruby grabbed his arm.“No. You don't have to.” She told him. “I'm fine.” “Fine.” He quickly admitted defeat, knowing that she was all too much like her mother, and wouldn't give in until he did. “But, if you feel like you need me to…” Ruby nodded, and there was silence between the two for a few seconds. “Iron Rose, huh?” Her eyes widened. She hadn't told her father about her antics as a superhero. He chuckled at her reaction. “I’m proud that you're doing something good with your intelligence, but why didn't you tell me?” She attempted to sit up, only being able to do so after he assisted her.“I didn't want you to freak out.” She told him. Taiyang just shook his head and chose to say nothing. When he finally opened his mouth, he asked her the one question that everyone had been asking him.“Why didn't your aura stop that arrow?” He asked. Ruby shakily sighed and closed her eyes. Her hand formed a pointed finger and began tracing its way up her body, stopping at the center of her chest. Right at her Arc Reactor.“Its constant magnetic pull inside my chest interferes with my body’s ability to produce more aura. When I was attacked during the Vytal Festival, I used the last of it.” She told him.“You were attacked?!” He asked, clearly panicked. She just calmly nodded.“Ivan Vanko. You know him?” Tai nodded.“I met him briefly. Dude was obsessed with birds.” He said. “I vant my bird.” Taiyang said this whilst impersonating Vanko’s thick accent. He shook his head. “Summer told me that he was a complete whack-job. That's why she cut him out of whatever it is she'd been working on.” There was a long, tense silence between the two. The mention of Summer Rose made the both of them feel dismal. And, while Ruby hadn't always gotten along with her mother, she still loved her, and a part of her regretted that they didn't have a better relationship. But Ruby hadn't known Summer was going to die unexpectedly in a car crash when she was only ten. She thought her mother would always be around to argue with her, or tell her how much better Captain America had been. “So,” Ruby said. “I don't have an aura anymore.”“But that doesn't make you fragile.” Taiyang reminded her. “You're an Avenger.”[Shift]WBY waited for what seemed like forever for their leader to come out of one of the evacuation airships. And when the last airship came, they had lost all hope that Ruby would step out, alive and well. When that final airship opened its doors and they were greeted by the sight of Captain America. The blonde man was battle worn and obviously tired, his cowl discarded and hanging from his neck, his face covered in soot and small cuts. His blonde hair was disheveled, splayed out in every direction. But he was not holding his iconic shield, but rather a small redheaded girl, passed out in his arms. Yang sprinted to the man and gingerly took the girl from his arms. “She should be fine.” An unfamiliar voice came from behind the Captain, and from behind him stepped a brown haired man wearing a purple and black outfit with a bow wrapped around his body. “One arrow to the shoulder blade. No long term percussions.” Yang nodded, feeling the blood soaked bandages pressing against her arm. “It'd be best if you got her some medical attention soon.” Steve told her. Yang nodded again.“Thank you.” Was all she managed to say. When Yang turned around, she was surprised to see a stretcher waiting for Ruby. Everyone had seen what the Avengers had done, and everyone who had been at Beacon was grateful for them, as they had saved so many lives in holding off the Grimm, the rogue Atlas Bots, and the White Fang. And, not only had the Avengers saved lives, they had also saved the CCT. Yang gently laid Ruby onto the stretcher and watched as the paramedics rolled her into an ambulance. [Shift]As Yang sat in the waiting room, just as she had all night, accompanied by her team and what was left of JNPR, she noticed the SHIELD agents that slowly began covering every doorway, leaning against the frames with stern, blank faces in their black suits with the black Ray-Bans on. Their hands were all folded in front of their waists, as though they were standing at attention, waiting for someone important to appear. The same door Yang had come through the night before suddenly swung open, and a SHIELD agent, surrounded by many others appeared. He had some sort of brief case handcuffed to his wrist, and Yang recognized him; he was the man who brought Ruby home after those three long months of captivity by the White Fang. The man and his entourage barged through the next door and disappeared down a long hallway.[Shift]It had been a few hours since Ruby awoke, and yet they still weren't letting anyone other than her father in to visit her. Something about a package coming her way. The door suddenly swung open and Coulson stepped in, two SHIELD agents taking posts at the door behind him. Ruby could only assume that the briefcase he had handcuffed to his wrist was the package. Two more agents stepped into the room and unlocked the cuff.“Miss Rose.” Coulson said, respectfully. “Tai.” Taiyang smiled at the man.“Phil.” Ruby suddenly looked over at her father.“Phil?” Ruby asked. “His first name is Agent.” Taiyang chuckled at this, and Coulson just smiled kindly, laying the briefcase in her lap. “Your current assignment.” He told her, the first agents and the second swapping places, with the two who had originally been at the door coming and unlocking the case before going back out into the hallway. “It won't lock back without the key, so don't worry about closing it.” Coulson told her. She nodded and he left.“A lot of security on that.” Taiyang said, watching Coulson close the door behind him. Ruby slowly popped open the briefcase, and a holographic projection filled the space in front of her. Videos played on the projection, one of a blonde man wielding a hammer, one of a stadium being lifted into the air, one of four people in blue leotards, and one with a man dressed as a devil, a woman with black hair, a bald, dark skinned man wearing a yellow T-shirt, and a man wearing a yellow mask. Upon further inspection, Ruby found that these weren't the only files on here, there were many more, all about extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. “I'll go.” Taiyang told Ruby. “You've got homework. A lot of it.”
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Ruby eventually found that most of the files in the briefcase weren't part of her mission, but rather just showing her who the good guys and bad guys were. There was a vigilante group in Vale known as The Defenders, a group of super people more like The Avengers calling themselves The Fantastic Four in Atlas, and there were a group of faunas acting as heroes, all whilst advocating for faunas rights, known as The X-Men in Menagerie. However, they weren't all good. There was an evil scientist in Atlas who regularly fought the Fantastic Four, and a group of extremists that the X-Men battled.
Ruby was enthralled by this universe, which was still very new to her. There were countless heroes, and even more villains! But as Ruby combed through the files, she found that The Avengers weren't to deal with threats that those like The Defenders and The X-Men faced, but rather world ending scenarios such as big time terrorists like Cinder, and even worse.
The files told Ruby of a woman named Salem. She was supposedly the embodiment of all evil, bent on sending humans and faunas towards extinction. Her mission was to find Cinder, and get the woman to surrender Salem’s location. It would be undoubtedly hard to do so, but Ruby was willing to try as soon as she was able.
Ruby’s wound healed rather slowly without any aura, but Ruby figured that maybe if she cauterized—no, that was crazy. She wouldn't be able to reach the wound, and even if she could, she wouldn't be able to do it precisely and could hurt herself even worse. No one she knew would do it for her, either, she knew that if she even suggested it, they'd throw her in the psychiatric ward for her own safety. She would just have to wait for the wound to heal enough for her to be cleared for combat. Until then, The Avengers would probably begin their mission without her.
[Shift]
Even though Ruby had been released from the hospital, she was still wounded, and the wound was liable to reopen were she to do anything strenuous. So, instead of being out, searching every corner of the globe for Cinder, Ruby was in her father’s basement, building yet another suit of armor. Mark VI had been damaged whilst fighting Cinder, and Ruby did not think that the armor would hold up against a second fight. So she was building something a little bigger, stronger and faster to be used in emergencies only. The girl had begun designing it with Banner after the incident at Culver, but she had never gotten around to building it.
She desperately wished that she could be in her lab back at Beacon, but as her father informed her, the school still had to clear out the remaining Grimm and repair campus. Jarvis informed Ruby that he would keep anyone from getting into the lab in the meantime, and was already working on defense protocols.
If it weren't for Jarvis piloting the suit back to Patch, Ruby wouldn't have been able to transfer him to a second device. Originally, he had been on her scroll, but transferred his code into the lab after she lost it. Because of this, Ruby was able to transfer him into her new scroll.
“May I recommend using a magnetic pull for the faceplate?” Jarvis lowered the volume of her headphones, allowing for his voice to be heard.
“Getting it off isn't the problem.” Ruby told him. “But where is it going to go?” Jarvis paused for a moment, and Ruby began soldering two wires together.
“Have a track pull it behind your head.” Jarvis suggested. Ruby paused in her soldering and shrugged.
“I guess that could work.”
“I ran the calculations. It will work.” Ruby rolled her eyes at the AI’s certainty.
“I don't think that's going to fit in the basement.” Taiyang suddenly slid into Ruby’s vision, but she didn't not jump.
“Where do you want me to build it?” She asked.
“It might fit in the yard.” He told her. She turned to look at him.
“I don't think I should be building a WMD in the front yard for the world to see.” She said. Taiyang smiled.
“So you admit that it's a weapon?” He asked. She rolled her eyes.
“It depends on how you use it. The way I use it, it's a peace keeping agent. But I don't think we can trust the world with the plans for something that could take out The Hulk.” Taiyang raised his eyebrows.
“I think you're right.” She smiled.
“When am I not?”
“Want me to get the list?” Ruby just shook her head, and Taiyang began to walk back upstairs. “Anyway, I came down here to let you know that dinner is ready. And since you're injured, I expect you to eat it.” Ruby set down her tools and sighed. She knew this was not an argument she was going to win, so she might as well just humor the man.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It had been six months since the Battle for Beacon, and Pyrrha’s death, and yet the Avengers had found nothing on Cinder or Salem. There were no signs that either of them even existed. It made Ruby nervous. More nervous than she had ever been. What if Salem attacked and the Avengers weren't there to stop it? Ruby quickly pushed these anxious thoughts aside in favor of her work. She had managed to acquire a lab at The Avengers quote-unquote “base”, which was in reality just an aircraft carrier that flew. Like an airship. Ruby’s lab was near the bottom of the ship, overlooking the hangar. She could often see the building of the cities they passed, but mostly just the ocean. She was nearly done with Mark VII, but had set aside production of it for Mark VIII. It wasn't as big as VII, but it was faster and able to get her further than the others had. It was for long distance travel, as well as combat. The form-fitting look had been short lived, as Ruby failed to see the practicality of it. Now, the armor was rather bulky, and the chest piece offered more protection than before. The suit was now made with its own Arc Reactor, as to prevent it pulling power from the one keeping her alive and possibly killing her. This one was also built with a design similar to Yang’s Ember Celica, all Ruby had to do was punchy downwards and the bracelets would expand up to her shoulders and call the remaining pieces to her. This allowed Ruby to protect herself whilst suiting up, something she had not been able to do in the past.“Miss Rose.” Jarvis’ voice came through Ruby’s earpiece. “Director Fury is inbound. ETA five minutes.” Ruby had to use an earpiece to communicate with the AI, as the SHIELD engineers wouldn't allow her to install him into the lab.“Good to know.” She said, not breaking in her work. “Rose.” Fury’s voice sounded from behind her. “That's my last name.” Ruby nonchalantly said, still not taking her eyes off of her work.“You and your team are needed in Mystral.” He told her. She immediately dropped her tools and turned around. “Why?” She asked. “Has there been an attack?” He shook his head.“Fortunately, no. But we do fear that there will be one soon, so please hurry.” Ruby nodded and slipped the bracelets onto her wrists. “Rogers and Romanoff will be in Atlas, and Banner and Barton will be in Vacuo if you need help.” “We won't.” Ruby told him. She suddenly punched downwards and the bracelets extended into gauntlets that wrapped her around her hands and forearms, extending all the way to her shoulders. Pauldrons suddenly flew to her shoulders and extended to wrap around her collarbone and neck. The chest piece came next, wrapping around her upper torso, and extending down to her hips. The thigh armor flew in and extended to her ankles. Then came the boots, wrapping around the front at first, then getting the rest of her feet. Nearly done, two pieces flew to Ruby’s jaw, and wrapped around the rest of her head. Finally, her face plate flew on, connecting with the rest of the helmet and lighting up the eyes. [Shift]“You're sure he meant us?” Weiss asked Ruby. The four members of Team RWBY were walking down the long, futuristic hallways of the helicarrier, headed for the hangar. Ruby had already removed her helmet, and was carrying it under her left arm. She nodded.“I'm sure.” She said. “He told me that The Avengers were in Atlas and Vacuo, so who else would he have meant?”“I don't know.” Weiss said. “Maybe a superhero team!” Ruby just shook her head.“Don't worry about it.” She told them.“Weiss is right.” Blake said. “Fury doesn't even trust us enough to tell us what we’re up against here.” Ruby just sighed and rolled her eyes, obviously annoyed by the constant barrage of questioning. “Whatever happened to in-team trust?” Ruby muttered. “You obviously don't trust us enough to tell us what's going on!” Weiss said. “Trust works both ways!” Ruby stopped and turned to her teammates.“It's not a trust thing.” She told them. “The information that you are asking for is extremely classified and if I told you, it would be considered an act of treason and I would go to prison.” That shut them right up. “Any more questions?” They shook their heads. “Good. Come on. Let's go.” [Shift]Now mid flight, Ruby stood from her seat. “I may not be able to tell you guys everything, but I’ll tell you what I can.” She said. A projection of Cinder appeared in the center of the space. “This is Cinder Fall. She's the target. The plan is to capture her and bring her in for questioning. It is crucial that she live.” The other three nodded. “Because if we don't find her ‘employer’, there will be tremendous consequences. Not just for us, for everyone.” “Do we know who her employer is?” Yang asked. Ruby nodded.“That's the classified part. But, you'll know her when you see her.” She said. “If you do see Cinder’s employer; do not engage. Clear?” Yang furrowed her brow.“Are we supposed to just let you fight her?” She asked. Ruby nodded and smirked.“I have something built just for her.” She told her sister.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
As the four walked through Mystral, WBY couldn't help but notice that their leader made sure to wear her helmet. It was as if she was anticipating some sort of attack from Cinder of her associates. However, they just wrote it off as her taking the necessary precautions in case of attack. The death of Pyrrha had affected Ruby greatly, as the girl believed it was her fault she was shot by the arrow, and because of that, Pyrrha faced Cinder without help. “Stop! Thief!” RWBY watched as a young man bolted in front of them, a local shopkeep not too far behind. Ruby stepped forward to intervene, but before she could, a loud gunshot rang out and the young man dropped. Ruby’s head snapped to the shooter. He was a tall, muscular man with a buzz cut and a five o'clock shadow. His face had a few cuts and bruises on it and his nose had obviously been broken on several occasions, maybe recently. He wore a long, black leather trench coat atop a ballistic vest with a white skull painted on the front. In his hands was a large rifle, but it wasn't pointed at anything. Even as he stared at Ruby, he didn't look remorseful about what he had done. He didn't look scared, he just looked pissed. Ruby could see it in his eyes that he was a man who truly had nothing left to lose. She quickly raised her repulsor at him.“Frank Castle, stand down!” She demanded. She had seen his files, all the horrible things he'd done, the people he'd killed. He was a wanted man, a vigilante. An anti hero. As soon as she raised her weapon, he raised his. “I ain't goin’ cause you no trouble if you leave me the fuck alone!” His voice was deep, and he had an obvious inner city accent. When he didn't speak, his lips pursed in a way that made it look like he had just eaten something really sour. “You just killed a man.” Ruby told him. “Over what? Small time thievery?” “It's the principle of the matter!” He told her. His finger moved from the side of the gun to the trigger.“Just put down the gun.” Blake suddenly chimed in, and Frank looked around. He was surrounded, and he did not like these odds. He suddenly dropped his rifle and put his hands behind his head. Ruby began to slowly move in, to apprehend the man. But, once she got within arm's reach of him, he stuck something to her Arc Reactor, picked up his gun and booked it into a nearby alley. Ruby looked down at her chest, and saw that Frank had planted an explosive onto her. “After him!” She shouted to her teammates. She didn't want them present when that thing went off, who knew what it was capable of. It was too dangerous to try and fly away, as it could—The bomb suddenly exploded, and Ruby was launched backwards, out of the armor. She landed face down a few feet away, and she laid there for a few seconds before attempting to get to her feet. But something violently pushed her back down. Had her ears not been ringing, Ruby would have heard the panicked cries of her sister, and the sound of a gun being cocked. But soon she did hear these things, and Frank spoke to her.“I told you to leave me the hell alone.” He told her. “You chose this. Not me. You threatened me. That's a crime! You're a criminal!” He wasn't trying to rationalize this to her, but rather to himself. The gun suddenly pressed deep into Ruby’s skull, and Frank began shouting. “One more step! One more Goddamn step and I’ll blow her fucking brains out!” He suddenly pulled Ruby to her feet, wrapped his arm around her throat and put the gun to the back of her head. Ruby could now see the crowd that had formed behind her teammates, behind the pieces of her armor. It hadn't survived the blast, or at least that's how it looked. Ruby knew she could easily put it back together if she could get all the pieces, that was if Frank didn't kill her first. She heard Frank sigh and felt the gun move away from her head. He was about to let her—There was a sudden spike of pain on the back of her head and her world went black.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When Ruby came to, she found that she was now on a rooftop of some sorts, leaning against a chimney. It was dark now, and there was a warm, sticky liquid running down the side of Ruby’s face. She moved to stand up, but she found she was restricted by something. Whatever it was that restricted her, clinked together when she moved. She was chained to the chimney. She could see the silhouette of a man crouched near the edge of the building, just leaning against the short wall in front of him. “Why am I here?” She asked. She knew who he was. She didn't need to see his face.“Everything you do out there… in the streets, Red, it doesn't work. Did you know that?” He didn't turn to her, he just stared thoughtfully into the night sky. His voice was quiet and delicate as he spoke. “And what you're doing is better?!” Ruby angrily asked, straining against the chains. Castle turned around, and looked her in the eyes. There was a flash of softness, but it soon disappeared and his tone changed. “What I do, I just do it. It's out of necessity.” He told her. Ruby scoffed.“Come on.” She said. “You know you're not the only one, right? Who did you lose? Huh? Was it someone you loved? Well, boo-hoo. Let me tell you something. Everybody's lost someone. Doesn't mean you have to do this.” He quietly growled, stood and turned around, pacing.“Well, loss doesn't work the same for everybody, Red.” He told her. “Yeah,” She said. “That's right. It's clearly not working for you.”“Maybe not.” He said. “We don't get to pick the things that fix us, Red. Make us whole. Make us feel purpose. My moment of clarity? It came from the strangest of places. What kind of name is The Iron Rose, anyway? I mean, really?” Ruby didn't say anything, she just looked away.“This isn't about me.” She quietly said. He quickly moved over to her and crouched in front of her. He was really close now, and it made Ruby uncomfortable.“You ain't runnin’ from who you are. Why should I?” He asked.“Because I don't do this to hurt people.” Ruby said.“Yeah, so what is that? A job perk?” He chuckled.“I don't kill anyone.”“Is that why you think you're better than me?” His hand rested on his gun.“No.”“Is that why you think you're the big hero?!”“It doesn't matter what I am, or what I think,” she said. “People don't have to die.” He stood and turned back around. “Come on, Red. Do you really believe that?”“I believe it's not my call. And it's not yours either.” “I'm not a bad guy, Red.” The softness flashed again, but only for a second.I'm not a bad guy, Red.""You wanna explain that to the orphans and the widows of the men you killed?" He looked angry again. "For Christ's sake, that's what you think? I'm just some crazy asshole going around unloading on whoever I want to?""Yeah, that's exactly what I think.""That it?""You think you're anything else?""I think that the people I kill need killing, that's what I think.""You shot a young man in the head over small time thievery!”"He got off easy, in my opinion.""You shot up a hospital last year!""Yeah, and nobody got hurt who didn't deserve it.""Oh, yeah. What about you, Frank? What happens the day someone decides you deserve it?""I'll tell you what, they better not miss.""Come on, you run around Remnant like it's your damn shooting gallery.""Yeah, what do you do? What do you do? You act like it's a playground. You beat up the bullies with your toys. You throw 'em in jail, everybody calls you a hero, right? And then a month, a week, a day later, they're back on the streets doing the same goddamn thing!" His gun was now out of its holster, but not pointed at anything in particular.“Yeah, so you just put 'em in the morgue?!” Ruby was now straining against the chains with every ounce of strength in her body."You're goddamn right, I do.""You ever doubt yourself, Frank?""Not even for a second.""Really? Really? You never think for one second, ‘Shit, I just killed a human being’." He chuckled"That's being pretty generous.""A human being who did a lot of stupid shit, maybe even evil, but had one small piece of goodness in him. Maybe just a scrap, Frank, but something. And then you come along, and that one tiny flicker of light gets snuffed out forever!” Within a second, he was across that rooftop, and his gun was pressed to her head. She didn't flinch, she had expected it. “There ain't no such thing as redemption, Red!” He shouted. “You should know that! Everybody in this fuckin’ city knows what you're here for! Who you're looking for! What are you gonna do when you find them?! Huh?! You gonna lock ‘em up?! After everything they’ve done?! Look around, Red. This city, it stinks. It's a sewer. It stinks and it smells like shit and I can't get the stink out of my nose. I think that this world, it needs men who are willing to make the hard call. I think you and me are the same!""That's bullshit, Frank, and you know it!" Ruby leaned forward, only pressing the gun harder into her skull. "Only I do the one thing you can't. You hit'em and they get back up. I hit'em and they stay down!” As soon as he finished talking, her pistol whipped her. It didn't knock her out, but it drew more blood, and stunned her. When Ruby finally regained her senses, he was back on the other side of the roof, just as he had been when she first woke up.“You've killed a lot of people, Frank. Why am I still alive? Huh? I pissed you off twice now... and you don't strike me as someone who just lets that happen.” He didn't say anything. Not for a long time. “Cause you're so young.” He quietly said. “I never killed anyone as young as you before. Hell, the only reason you're here now is because I was so Goddamn worried that I’d killed you. With that bomb. Didn't think it would do that much damage. And then, when I hit ya. Damn. You went down.” “I don't understand.” Ruby said. “Why does age matter? I thought it was the crime.” He didn't say anything, he just moved towards the stairwell.“Your friends will be here soon.” He told her. “I hope this is the last time we meet. Cause if I see you again… age won't be an issue.” With that final statement, Frank opened the door, and left Ruby on the roof, chained to a chimney.
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WBY had been looking for their leader for hours, and yet they had still found nothing. No trace of the girl anywhere in Mystral. No trace of the man who took her. Just when they were about to give up, Yang’s scroll rang. It was Ruby.“Ruby!” She had immediately answered it. “Where are you?! Are you okay?!” There was silence on the other end of the line.“Red’s fine.” The man’s deep voice came through Yang’s scroll, and she immediately became infuriated.“I swear to God!” She said. “If you—!”“If I touch a hair on her head, you’ll kill me. I know. And, I'm telling you, Red’s fine. I didn't hurt her anymore than what you already saw.” “Where is she?!”“You'll get her location when I want you to. For now, you just gotta wait.” The line abruptly ended, and Yang was fuming with anger, with rage. [Shift]When they finally found her, she was chained to a chimney. There was blood running down her face, but it didn't look too bad. “We need to stop him.” She told them, watching Blake move around the chimney to find someway to get the chains off. Yang ignored the faunas and just pulled on the chains as hard as she could. There was a loud creaking noise, followed by a snap, and Ruby was set free.“What about Cinder?” Weiss asked.“She can wait. Castle is a prominent threat at the moment. Who knows what he’s capable of.” Ruby said, slowly rising.“Which is exactly why we should leave this to SHIELD.” Weiss told her. Ruby rolled her eyes.“Weiss is right,” Blake said. “I met countless men like Castle during my time in the White Fang, and I can safely say that it always ends the same way. They go after the wrong people, and die.” “And how many people died before they did?” Ruby asked. Blake looked away. “How many people have to die before Frank Castle is brought to justice?” Weiss and Blake said nothing, so Ruby turned to her sister. “You guys didn't leave my stuff lying in the street, did you?” “SHIELD collected it.” Yang told her.“Good.” [Shift]Ruby was now in SHIELD’s Mystral location, digging through the box of her armor. A lot of it was unsalvageable, but Ruby found that a majority of the right arm piece was intact, all the way up to the elbow. As was the Arc Reactor. There was no time to build a new armor, nor could she retrieve any of the others from Beacon, and the one she did have access to required her to be wearing another suit of armor for it to work. Ruby knew exactly what she needed to do in order to fight Frank Castle. It didn't take her very long to build her newest weapon, which was essentially just one of her gauntlets with an Arc Reactor attached to the forearm, so that she didn't have wires running up and down her body. It was, of course, covered, so that the power source couldn't easily be shot. The gauntlet had the ability to extend into a shield, the radius now being much bigger since the Arc Reactor wasn't being used for anything else. Ruby also slid some of the same metals that she used on the suit into a bullet resistant vest, making it actually bulletproof. She had considered incorporating the helmet, but without a power source, it would be near impossible to see out of it.Geared up, and ready to go, Ruby was now wearing a black t-shirt underneath the bulletproof vest, which she had to cut a hole into for her Arc Reactor. Atop of that, she wore a leather jacket with the gauntlet slid over the sleeve. She figured that Frank would probably aim to maim if their last interaction was anything to go by, so her lack of skull protection wasn't of any concern to her.“Rubes, you might wanna see this.” Yang suddenly walked into Ruby’s workspace, holding her scroll out to the younger girl. She was showing Ruby an online article. The title read, “Iron Rose Fights The Punisher.” Just below the title, was gif of Frank planting the bomb on Ruby, then it cutting to the armor exploding. Ruby scrolled down to the article itself, her eyes scanning the words on the screen.‘Yesterday afternoon, the Iron Rose went head-to-head with a man known only as ‘The Punisher’. The Punisher is known solely for hunting down and murdering criminals, no matter how big or small the crime. No witnesses came forward to tell what they saw between Rose and the Punisher. The only question now is; “Is Ruby Rose guilty of something that only The Punisher knows of?” Was the Punisher trying to punish Rose, or was Rose trying to punish the Punisher? The answer to that lies in Rose’s history with Atlas. Several months before her first interaction with the public as the Iron Rose, Rose was arrested by the Atlesian Military on charges of treason. General Ironwood has refused to make a statement on such, but if Rose was truly acquitted from these charges, why haven't they been removed from the record? Is our hero really all that innocent? We went to S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.) for an interview with Rose herself, but they turned us away, claiming that Rose was busy with a top secret assignment. Did S.H.I.E.L.D. bail her out, or is this just some simple misunderstanding? I believe that we should ready ourselves for the possibility that Rose is not some God-sent hero, but rather a criminal like The Punisher.’Ruby’s fists clenched. After everything she had done to try and protect the people of Remnant; going against the Hulk, shrugging off the deaths of two friends, taking an arrow to the shoulder, and leaving a friend at a time where she was most needed. And now they were turning against her?
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Maria Hill had spent countless hours arranging this sting, all in hopes of catching the man known as the Punisher. She had wanted to wait, but after Ruby’s recent clash with Castle, Fury suggested that they do it sooner. All the snipers were in place, watching the home of one Howard Saint. They had been watching him for days, and now it seemed like Frank was getting closer to Saint. WBY watched all of this from SHIELD’s control room, there leader sleeping off the months of fatigue, despite her own protests of such. However, Yang pulled the older sister card and got the girl to finally sleep for longer than just a few hours. Hopefully. It seemed that this whole thing with the Punisher would resolve itself, whether Ruby wanted it to or not. SHIELD wouldn't arrest Castle, that much was obvious. Yang knew that Ruby would be making all sorts of protests if she were awake. She wasn't a fan of the whole killing thing.“We got a visual on Castle.” One of the snipers’ voices echoed through the room.“If you have a clear shot, take it.” Another said.” “Agent Hill.” The first said. “We have a problem.”The large monitor switched to that of the first’s bodycam. He had a clear view of Castle engaging Ruby in hand to hand combat. She had somehow disarmed him, and was swinging at him with her armored hand. Yang angrily sighed, but said and did nothing.“You have a clear shot,” Hill said. “Take it.” Yang’s aura flared and she rushed towards Hill. She was met with not only Hill’s gun pointed at her face, but also everyone else in the control room’s as well. “Rose isn't qualified to take down Castle.” Hill said. “Either we risk the chance of shooting her, or Castle kills her and escapes.” Yang’s red eyes drifted back to the large monitor. The snipers’ bullets could be seen entering the frame from all directions. Most missed, but the ones that came close simply hit Ruby’s armor and bounced off. [Shift]Rain pounded down on Ruby as she swung at Castle with her armored hand, and he ducked, hitting her in the chest a few times before working his way up to her face. Bullets flew at the two from every possible angle. Ruby cried out in pain as a bullet suddenly pierced her shoulder. She fell to her knees, but Castle just kept hitting her in the face, over and over again with the ferocity of an angry Yang. Blood cascaded down Ruby’s face, mixing with the rain and pooling in front of her. Frank grabbed a bunch of Ruby’s hair and pulled her head back, making it to where she was looking upwards. He pulled back his other fist, but before he could deliver the final blow, he took a bullet to the chest. While, he was wearing a bulletproof vest and this didn't hurt him, it still stunned him, giving Ruby the opportunity for a second wind. She quickly used her repulsor to launch herself at him, grabbing him by the waist and tackling him through a nearby skylight. The two both impacted the glass covered floor, both seemingly out for the count. The glass cut Ruby’s face and hands just from her laying on it. There were cuts on her in armored arm and various parts along her legs from her crash through the skylight, but she was for the most part, fine. Frank and Ruby both stood at the same time, but Ruby quickly fired her repulsor at him, launching him into the wall and knocking him out. He slowly slumped down the wall, and Ruby looked at her hand. She spit out some blood.“Why didn't I try that earlier?” She asked. [Shift]When Frank came to, he found that Ruby was attempting to carry him through a graveyard, but was having trouble due to blood loss from her gunshot wound. She was shaking, but there wasn't much Frank could do. She set him down, leaning against a nearby gravestone, then did the same herself.“Hey.” Frank said. “Not bad.”“Thanks.” She breathed heavily from having to carry a man such as Frank such a far distance.“Guess I was wrong.”“About?”“You bein’ a pussy.”“Don't get all sweet on me now, Frank.” Ruby quietly said. He laughed, but this soon became a coughing fit. Ruby guessed the repulsor must have done more damage than she had anticipated. “Help’s on the way.” She told him.“You’d have made a hell of a marine, Red.” He said. He was silent for a bit more, but eventually spoke up. “Sometimes I think you might be the devil.” Ruby chuckled weakly.“Maybe.” She said, sadly. “One Batch, Two Batch/Penny and Dime',” Ruby gave him a confused look. “It was her favorite book.” He told her. “Y'know, you...You gotta cross the ocean and go fight. You see, whole time you're thinking you're gonna be scared, right? But then...you're not. See, that part of it was always easy for me. Killing. Even watching my buddies die, it just...it didn't mean nothing.” She looked down at her feet. “The first time I got scared was on a plane on the way home. I kept thinking God was gonna pull the rug out from under us, y'know? Shit, that's his kind of funny, y'know.” He laughed, but she just sadly chuckled. “But the plane landed safe and we were home, driving through traffic. Yeah, you pass fast food and donut shops and all that...that greasy shit. It's the shit you fought to protect...and then the car stops. We were outside her school.” Ruby looked back up at him. She could tell that this was a painful memory for him. But she didn't stop him. “I get to her classroom, right? She's in there but she's got no idea. She's got no idea that Daddy's home. I walk in, these kids, they're not even studying, they're doing some kind of yoga. Yeah. Y'know? She's there. She's doing her poses, y'know. She's bending and, y'know, she's moving. She looks like a flower.” He smiled, and Ruby looked away again. “Yeah...and, y'know, you can't even understand it, y'know, how does something like that have...How does something that beautiful...How does that does that come from me, y'know? And she looks up and she sees me. I see her.” He sounded so happy, yet so sad at the same time. “By God, that's real. That's real, Red.“Boom. In an instant, she's across that classroom floor, she's in my arms. She's squeezing me so tight, I swear I was gonna bust a rib, y'know? We just stayed there like that, we're holding each other. Teacher, she's filming the whole thing on her phone, y'know, she's gonna put it on YouTube or some shit. She can't hold the thing steady, because, you know, she's...she's bawling so hard, and the kids are all wailing, y'know, they're screaming. And me? Shit, I'm the worst of all. I'm a...I'm a rubber-face clown, y'know. I cried so hard.But not my baby. Not my girl. Y'know, she's my girl. She's...she's not crying, she's holding me up. My girl, she's keeping me on my feet. She says,'I knew it, Daddy. I knew it.'“And then we go home. Wife, the boy. Place is the exact same. It's like it was just holding its breath waiting for me to get back, y'know? Then it hit me. All of it, y'know? The first time I felt how tired I was, y'know... I was just tired, y'know? You...You ever been tired, Red?" Ruby nodded.“Yeah.”"So you know. It's just... I couldn't do nothing, y'know? All the things... I couldn't take my wife to bed. Ball with the boy. Shit, I was too tired, I couldn't even drink a goddamn beer, y'know? But not her. My girl was up.“See, she wanted me to... uh, she wanted me to tuck her in. She...she outgrew it, she knew it, but she didn't care. She wanted it. She had that book.“Her favorite book was out on the pillows. 'One Batch, Two Batch/Penny and Dime.' Yeah. I read her that book every night before this shit. I read it every single night, but, see, that was over now because Daddy's home now. She looked at me and she begged me, Red. She begged. She begged. I said, 'No. Daddy's too tired, see. But I'll...I'll read to you tomorrow night. I'll read to you tomorrow night, I promise.' Yeah.“Never think that for her there was not gonna be any tomorrow, see. The last time I'd see her, I'd be holding her lifeless body in my arms.” Ruby could feel his sadness, his pain. It was radiating from him. She felt a single tear move down her face. “Meat was spilling out of her, Red. The place where her face used to be. Yeah. I think I'm done, Red. I think I'm done."
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Jaune stared wide-eyed at the sight before him. It made him want to puke. It was gruesome, and it was personal. Laid out before him, was a very pale Ruby, leaning against a gravestone. Ren and Nora were both pressing bandages on her wound, trying to stop the bleeding. She had gotten a lot blood on her hands and a little on her face already, the red being a stark contrast to her pale, white skin. Jaune knew that Ruby was already pale, but this… this was different. She looked ghastly, like she was liable to die at any second. “Trade off with Jaune.” She told Ren and Nora. Her voice was so quiet, so tired that it was just a little lower than a whisper. “I need to talk to him.” Nora moved over to Frank, but Ren waited for Jaune to move to Ruby before he removed pressure from her wound. Jaune hesitantly dragged his feet through the grass, kneeling down in front of Ruby and taking over for Ren. The bandages made a wet, squishing noise and Ruby groaned. He moved his eyes away from her wound before he got sick, and his eyes landed on hers. Tears fell from her silver eyes, and Jaune felt a pang of sadness. She choked back a sob. “I'm sorry.” She said. Tears were flowing now. “You don't have anything to be sorry for.” He told her. She shook her head.“I'm sorry I couldn't save Pyrrha.” She sobbed. “Wherever I go, people get hurt.” The tears mixed with the blood on her face, carrying it down her face. Jaune’s expression changed from confused, to mournful. “There's nothing you could have done to stop that.” He told her. “You were unconscious.” “I shouldn't have been.” She told him, looking away in anger “If I had just stayed in that Goddamn armor, I wouldn't have gotten shot. And if I hadn't of gotten shot, I could have saved Pyrrha.” Jaune shook his head.“Nope.” He told her. She looked back at him. Her eyes were no longer producing tears, but they were red, and her face was still wet. “I believe in destiny; the idea of a set path that we all walk on. And you can't change destiny.” Her face softened.“You're a good friend, Jaune.” She told him. “We should get going.” Ren said. “She could bleed out.” Jaune put Ruby’s hand where his had been, and picked her up, bridal style, paying no attention to the inscription on the bloodied tombstone.‘Pyrrha Nikos, Do You Believe In Destiny?’ [Shift]Weiss, Blake and Yang all sat in one of many SHIELD interrogation rooms, Maria Hill seated across her. “Tell us where Rose would have gone.” Hill said. “And you'll be free to go.” “We told you already,” Yang said. “We don't know where she went.” Weiss stood.“Now, unless you're going to charge me and my teammates with something, we’ll be leaving.” Weiss started to move towards the door, but two SHIELD agents blocked her path and Hill grinned cockily.“You're in our protective custody.” She told them. “Whether you want to be or not. Sit your ass back down, princess.” Weiss shamefully slunk back into her seat. “Now, Ruby Rose is currently a fugitive, if you knew anything about what she was planning and you refuse to tell us, I will be obligated to arrest you.”[Shift]As Jaune quickly carried Ruby through an alleyway, he felt as though he was being watched. He took a quick look around, but saw no one, so he just sped up. Though, when he rounded the corner, he stopped, shaking. Standing not too far away was a man dressed as a devil.“Matt.” Ruby spoke weakly. The man, Matt, smirked.“I came all the way from Vale for this, and I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed.” He joked.“Holy shit, Matt!” A short, black woman with brown hair stepped out from behind him. She was wearing scrubs, she was a nurse. “Is that—?!”“Yep.” Matt said. She pointed at Ruby.“You're—?!”“Yeah.” Ruby weakly said. “And I need your help.”“This is my medic,” Matt said. “Claire.” Jaune's nodded, and Claire politely waved, starting to take a few steps towards Ruby. “Take a look at her.” Matt said. Claire quickly walked towards Ruby, and Jaune moved his body so that he wasn't blocking the light. Claire put her hand atop Ruby’s bloodied hand, and moved the bandage out of the way. She examined the wound, looking on either side of the girl. “The bullet’s still in there,” Claire said. “I'll have to get that out before I stitch up the wound. Get my bag.” Jaune looked up at Matt, only to find that the man was gone. He saw a bit of red in the corner of his eye, and turned. Matt was walking up from behind him, Claire’s medical bag in hand.“Are we gonna do this here?” Jaune asked. Claire looked over at Matt.“We don't have anywhere to take her.” Matt said. “It would be near impossible to get her into a hotel, and even if we could, she would bleed out long before we arrived.” Jaune sighed.“Set her down.” Claire motioned towards the ground, and Jaune raised an eyebrow.“Really?”“Yeah. Do it.” Jaune shrugged and set his friend down on the cold concrete. Ruby hissed in pain when he removed his arms from underneath her. Claire kneeled down beside her, a pair of tweezers in hand. “This is gonna hurt.” She said.“It's imperative that you don't scream.” Matt almost whispered. “Someone might hear.” Ruby nodded, and Claire removed the bandage once more.Ruby hissed again as the tweezers went into her wound, moving the bloodied flesh out of the way. She could feel Claire reaching around for the bullet, pinching flesh in attempt to grab it. “You've tapped the bullet several times now.” Matt said. Jaune looked over at Matt, about to ask a question, but the man spoke before he could. “I have good hearing.” He said.“Hey.” Claire said, not looking away from Ruby. “I don't tell you how to beat up bad-guys.” Matt said nothing, and Claire resume her work. After a while of fishing for the bullet, she finally pulled out, holding the blood soaked bullet with the tweezers. She put it in a ziplock bag, and pulled out the resources needed to stitch Ruby’s wound. Ruby hissed and began breathing heavily as the needle pierced her skin, weaving in and out like a shoelace, and pulling the skin together. Once Claire was done, she tied off the stitches and cut the remaining thread, putting it on a spool. Finally, she placed a fresh bandage atop Ruby’s wound, and used medical tape to keep it in place. “Done.” Claire proudly stated. Ruby sighed in relief, and the two helped her sit up, bringing her closer to a nearby wall to allow her to prop against it. Matt walked over to Ruby, and kneeled in front of her. “I take it you didn't call me all the way to Mystral because you were really hoping I knew a medic that would help a fugitive.” He said.“Fugitive?!” Claire asked.“It's a long story.” Jaune told her.“No.” Ruby told Matt. “I called you here in case I died, and Frank Castle was still on the loose.”“Where is he?”“It's under control.”
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“Ruby!” Jaune suddenly walked back into the alleyway. Ruby hadn't even seen him walk out, but from the looks of it, he had gone to take a phone call. Jaune looked at her kindly, but also with a hint of worry. He could see that the color was slowly returning to her face, but even then, she looked like crap. There was still a ton of blood all over her clothes and hands. “We have a problem.” Matt suddenly stood from his seat against the wall opposite Ruby. Claire had told them that they needed to wait for Ruby to recover before they took her anyway. She had also said that in most cases, Ruby would have gotten a blood transfusion. But they didn't have the resources for that, so they just had to wait for her body to regenerate the blood. She said that it should take about ninety minutes to fully regenerate the five liters she needed. “What's going on?” Matt asked. “Ren and Nora just called. They said Castle escaped.” Jaune told him. Ruby attempted to stand, but Claire stopped her, giving her a concerned look. Matt didn't look in Ruby’s direction, but seemed to have heard what happened.“Jaune and I will go after Castle. Claire, stay here with Ruby.” He said. Jaune gave Matt a confused look. Why would the Devil of Vale want him of all people to help? Ruby must have caught this look, and motioned for Jaune to come to her. He reluctantly did so, kneeling in front of the girl. Claire stood and stepped away to allow the two some privacy in their conversation. Ruby slid her hand out of her gauntlet and held out the weapon in its compact form, which, since she added the Arc Reactor, wasn't all that compact.“Take this.” She told him. He gave her a confused look.“What?” He asked. “I trust that you can handle this, Jaune.” She told him. “You are one of my best friends, and I didn't call you here to act as a nurse.” She forced the gauntlet into his hands. “I called you here to take my position in The Avengers were anything to happen to me.” His face saddened. “I'm out of commission, Jaune. And I don't think Frank Castle will ever stop. I can't defeat him. But you can. I need you to be the war machine I could never be.” “I'm not a war machine, Ruby.” He told her. “Maybe Nora, maybe Yang, maybe even Blake. They could be your war machine. But not me. I'm not strong enough.” He felt the stinging pain of her hand across his face, and he heard the loud slap. “Shut the hell up, Jaune.” She said. She looked angry. “The only reason you're not strong enough, is because you've convinced yourself that's who you are. You won't let yourself be anything more. Maybe it would be easier to get Nora, Yang or Blake to do it instead, but I can't trust them the same way I do you. I trust them, of course, but I don't trust that they will always do the right thing. They are blinded by their emotions, Yang’s rage, Blake’s vengeance, and Nora’s…” She suddenly paused, and cracked a smile. “Nora’s just crazy.” He chuckled at this, and her smile disappeared. “I won't always be around, Jaune.” She said. “And I need someone who I know will not only do what is necessary, but what is right, regardless of whether or not it's easy. You came to Beacon for the same reason I did. And I know everyone told you that you weren't good enough, that you didn't belong there. I know you faked your transcripts. But you cannot let your failures define who you are. You need to forget who you think you are, who you were, and become who you want to be.”Jaune’s face hardened and he stuck the gauntlet on his arm. It immediately extended to cover his hand and forearm. [Shift]Bullets flew in every direction, piercing bodies and causing blood to splatter all over the walls. The damage was catastrophic, but it was caused by only one man, one man holding an automatic rifle. Frank truly enjoyed this part of his work, he loved all of it, in fact. He loved the tracking, the interrogating. The killing. But this time… this time was different. As he mowed down one of the three gangs that killed his wife… his children, he felt something different. For the first time in his life, he felt remorse upon killing these men. Not because they were dead and nothing was bringing them back, not because it was immoral, but because he had promised a girl that he was done. He had lied. “Frank Castle!” Someone shouted over the gunfire. Frank’s body immediately swirled to face the intruder, aiming his rifle at them. Stood before him was a blonde, teenage boy and a man who looked to be just slightly older dressed as the devil. “Everybody’s got a gimmick, huh?” Frank asked The Devil. The boy raised his hand and Frank could see that he was wearing the same gauntlet Ruby had been wearing the last time he saw her. He turned pale. “She ain't dead, is she?” He asked. The Devil shook his head.“No.” He said, his voice almost a whisper. “She's fine.”“You came here to arrest me, didn't you?” “Put the gun down, Frank.” Frank dropped the rifle’s clip and put a new one in. “I ain't goin’ without a fight.” Frank said. “Not till I kill everyone responsible.” The Devil suddenly pulled out two batons. “I can't let that happen, Frank.” He said. Frank suddenly opened fire, but The Devil leapt out of the way and the boy’s aura absorbed the bullets. The gauntlet fired a blast at Frank and knocked him onto his knees. Frank began to stand again, but one of The Devil’s batons hit him in the head. It bounced off of his skull and The Devil caught it. Frank fired his weapon at The Devil, but he was too fast, dodging each barrage of bullets. Frank’s gun clicked. It was empty. Not having enough time to reload, he tossed the rifle aside and pulled out a handgun. He fired at The Devil again, but again, missed. Frank gave up the futile effort to kill The Devil and turned to the boy, unloading his final gun into the boy’s aura. The boy was unphased by this attack, and fired the gauntlet at him again. Frank dove out of the way and tossed the handgun aside. Frank suddenly pulled out a large, combat knife and rushed at The Devil. He swung the knife at the man, but he ducked and punched Frank in the stomach. Frank stopped mid swing and brought the knife down. The Devil jumped back, narrowly missing the blade. Frank swung his unarmed fist at the man, but the man brought up his forearm and blocked the hit. Frank swung with his other hand, but the man moved both of his hands and wrapped them around Frank’s arm. He shoved Frank’s arm backwards, Frank moving back with it. The Devil took this opportunity to unleash a barrage of punches upon Frank’s face, pushing him back further and further. Finally, Frank was able to block one of The Devil’s hits, leading into him blocking another and another. Frank managed to land two hits on The Devil’s face. He was pushed back, and Frank rushed at the boy. The boy was unable to block a lot of Frank’s hits, but his aura absorbed them and kept him from feeling the pain of the hits. Angered, Frank shoved the boy against a wall, pressing the knife to his neck. “Tell me.” Frank said. “You Red’s brother, or boyfriend?” The boy tried to push Frank off, but the man was too strong for him. “Neither.” He said. “I'm her war machine.” Frank heard the sound of the gauntlet about to fire, and tried to move out of the way, but he was too slow. The gauntlet fired and Frank was launched across the street, into the side and over a parked car.
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Jaune quickly rushed over to Frank, aiming the gauntlet at the man’s unconscious form. Matt suddenly appeared beside him.“Take him to SHIELD.” He said. “I'll get Rose.” Matt began to walk away, but Jaune grabbed his shoulder.“What do I tell them?” He asked. Matt slowly turned around.“Tell them…” he paused. “Tell them Daredevil helped you apprehend him.”[Shift]WBY watched the numerous SHIELD agents leading both Ruby and Castle through the long jail hallways. Hill told them that it was temporary for both of them. Frank had a right to a fair trial and Ruby… Ruby was just waiting for Fury’s ruling on her actions. She was no longer wearing a tshirt and jeans, but now white scrubs. Frank was wearing similar attire, yet there was no blue glow emanating from the center of his chest like there was Ruby. Frank suddenly turned and clocked one of the agents. The man in the suit fell, and his associates rushed to aid him, leaving Ruby alone just behind the pack. Frank fought each of the agents with ease, dodging every attack and hitting them while they were open, regardless of the fact that he was handcuffed. It wasn't long before each of the agents lay on the ground, unconscious and most likely with broken bones. “Just you and me, Red!” Frank shouted across the hallway to the younger girl. “Guards!” Ruby shouted, looking around. All the guards were standing on the same catwalk WBY was, not moving, and unsurprised by Castle’s actions. Frank also looked around and laughed. “Somethin’ tells me they ain't gonna help you!” He said. “You said you were done, Frank!” Ruby shouted, trying to stay as far away as possible. Her back soon found the door, and Frank kept moving in on her. “And you didn't tell me that you would me behind bars, Red! I guess we both lied!” He shouted back. He suddenly stopped and leaned down, grabbing a set of keys off one of the agents. He unlocked his handcuffs and dropped them to the floor with a loud clank. Then he did the unexpected, he slid the keys to Ruby. “Fair fight.” He told her. She quickly unlocked her handcuffs as well, making sure that her eyes stayed on him the whole time. Her cuffs hit the ground with a loud clank and he chuckled. “The only way for you to get outta here alive…” he began. “Is to kill me!” He threw his hands up in a ceremonial manner. “You wanna make sure I don't ever hurt anyone again?!” He asked. “You'll have to kill me first!” Frank suddenly charged at Ruby. Realizing that she didn't have much of a choice, Ruby did the same, running at the large marine with the same ferocity that he had. When the two met, he swung at her and she dove under his fist, hitting him in the chest a few times. Frank was unphased by this attack and grabbed both her wrists, head butting her and making her stagger backwards. He managed to hit her twice before she blocked his third hit, holding his fist in her hand. She shoved his arm back and he staggered back. She hit him once and he swung again. She jumped back, and he made an attempt to elbow her. She caught his elbow, and attempted to force it towards his body, but he slammed it into her face. She staggered back, blood trickling from her nose, down her upper lip. Frank took this new opportunity to attack her quickly and vigorously. Ruby put both of her forearms in front of her face in an attempt to block the endless stream of blows, but it did not good against Frank’s strength. Ruby had known from the start that there was no way she was going to win a fist-fight against someone like Frank, but she was at least a little satisfied that she had lasted this long. The force of Frank’s blows pushed Ruby against the wall, but he didn't let up then, he just kept the hits coming, one after another with crushing brutality. Ruby could feel the blood beginning to flow down her face, but she didn't attempt to surrender, nor did she give up. With a loud grunt, Ruby pushed her forearms forward and nailed Frank in the face. He staggered back and she began to give him the same treatment he had given her, but with much more emotion behind the punches. She let out a primal scream as she just kept hitting him over and over again. Frank kept moving backwards, seemingly stunned by each and every punch. There was now blood running down his face and out of his nose and lips. But before Ruby could finish the fight, she felt several people grab her arms and drag her away. She tried to jerk away, but their grip was strong. WBY watched with shocked expressions as their blood covered leader gave up struggling, and just rested, breathing heavily and grunting at the end of every breath. Frank had fallen to the ground, and there were several guards rushing to where he lay, but when they arrived, they were not greeted by an unconscious man, but a man ready to fight. Ruby heard the fighting as the other guards dragged her out of the jail, but paid no mind to it until the guards dropped her. Seconds later, Frank was holding her against a wall by her shirt collar. She braced herself for a punch, but it never came.“You did good, Red.” He whispered. “I'm sorry you had to get hurt.” She was confused to say the least. “I don't understand.” She said. “That fight,” he began. “It wasn't real. I was using you to escape.” Ruby nodded. “And I'm real sorry about this, but I'm gonna make sure they don't think you're an accomplice.” Ruby furrowed her eyebrows. Why would he be sorry? Frank’s fist suddenly contacted Ruby’s face and she fell limply to the ground.
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Ruby’s body roughly shook, and she could feel someone lightly smacking her. “Ruby!” A voice said. Female “Ruby! Wake up!” Ruby strained to recognize the voice, to open her eyes and see who was speaking, but she couldn't. “Jesus Christ!” A new voice. Male. “Is she okay?! What happened?!” “Frank Castle happened.” A third voice said. Female.“Shit.” The first voice said. “I don't think she's breathing. Something warm touched Ruby’s upper lip.“She's not breathing.” The third voice said, sounding panicked. What? She wasn't breathing? Upon realization that she wasn't breathing, Ruby also realized that she felt extremely light headed and dizzy. Her vision was slowly fading from black to white and she felt the feeling slowly disappearing from her body. She felt someone roughly push her down, and lay her out. There was a slight pressure on her chest now, getting lighter and lighter with every second.“Don't do this, Rubes…” the first voice pleaded, now faint. “Please…” Ruby could now see two people’s silhouettes among the bright whiteness. She could no longer hear the pleading, nor could she feel the pressure on her chest. Her lightheadedness and dizziness ceased and she was now standing amongst the white. She began to step towards the silhouettes, the things she had heard and felt now long forgotten. But then someone grabbed her before she could reach the silhouettes. A woman who looked exactly like her. Her mother. Summer’s hand was resting on the center of Ruby’s chest. Ruby ignored the absence of her Arc Reactor, and looked back at her mother, who said nothing as she shoved Ruby. The girl felt as though she was falling, and she saw the white leaving her sight, the black returning. But the pressure did not return. But she could hear sobbing. Ruby suddenly took a deep breath and her eyes shot open. Her breath was ragged and she could feel the blood on her face, and the cold concrete underneath her. Yang suddenly dove to the girl’s side, tears staining her face. She pulled her younger sister into a bone crushing hug.“We thought we lost you…” she sadly said. And then, everything Ruby had seen hit her. She had died, and been resurrected. She slowly pulled out of the hug and looked Yang in the eyes, slightly grinning.“Mom says hi.” She said. Yang chuckled and hugged Ruby even tighter.[Shift] Ruby’s face was all bandaged up now. There was a bandage running across her nose, and cuts and bruises surrounded her eyes. There was even a large bruise on one of her cheeks, as well as a small cut on her upper lip. Her forearms were heavily bruised as well, but other than that, Ruby was fine. No broken bones, no permanent damage. SHIELD’s council had made the decision to drop all charges against Ruby, given that she was an Avenger and just doing her job. Hill left Mystral soon after, saying that Fury needed her for something called “Oversight”. RWBY and JNR simply returned to the helicarrier, and Ruby managed to construct Iron Rose Mark IX, as well as War Machine Mark I. She didn't tell Jaune about this of course, but held onto it for safekeeping. She would have to calibrate it to the boy’s brain so that no one other than Jaune could use it, but for now, she kept it locked away. She didn't tell the others about her experience of being dead, she simply told them that she didn't know what she saw, which was true, to a degree. She kept a lot of things from them, and while she didn't like it, she'd have to learn to live with it as long as she was an Avenger. Currently, Ruby was interested in learning about the X-Men. They were mostly faunas with very interesting semblances. For example, there was one who could read minds, and another who could siphon others’ semblances and aura. On top of her interest in the X-Men, she felt an obligation to disband the White Fang since they had failed in their quest to find any of Cinder’s associates in Mystral. So they were headed to Menagerie. Blake had seemed a little alarmed when this was mentioned, but she wouldn't tell anyone why. Ruby just shrugged this off as her being wary about this White Fang. Ruby was glad that Jaune was coming along, she didn't like the idea of him having an opportunity to sit and dwell on Pyrrha for an extended period of time. She wanted to help get his mind off of the things that bothered him by keeping him busy. During the day, he aided her with building Mark IX, and while he was asleep, she built War Machine. She didn't sleep much herself, anyway. When she did, she had horrible nightmares, of Frank, of Cinder, of Salem, and of The Hulk. She had been having the occasional nightmare of the Hulk ever since Culver, and of Cinder and Salem since The Battle of Beacon. But Frank was new. And he was terrifying. Whenever Ruby had a nightmare about The Punisher, she always woke hyperventilating, and it wasn't a pleasant experience for her. So she just avoided all possibilities of experiencing it by avoiding sleep. Her teammates didn't know about this of course, but she didn't think they needed to know. She just spent her time designing armors that she intended to build someday in the future. Like an armor that gave her the ability to run just as fast as she had when she had her semblance, or one that made her invisible, and even one that allowed her to go into space.
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As Ruby slowly stepped towards the X Mansion, she noticed many of the children staring at her and her armor from the windows. She had told her team to hang back for a bit while she did this. Blake went off to do something, and Weiss and Yang went somewhere else. The front door suddenly swung open and a man wearing an odd visor over his eyes stepped out, cautiously stepping towards her.“You're scared of me?” Ruby asked. The man slightly jumped.“Not me.” He said. “Them.” He motioned towards the windows and Ruby opened her faceplate.“I'm just a girl. No older than they are.” The door suddenly opened again, and a large, muscled man stepped out wearing a white tank top, jeans, and a brown leather jacket. He had black hair that pointed up on either side of his head like ears. He also had messy muttonchops, moving down from either side of his angry face. “You again.” The man growled.“Logan, don't!” The first man tried to stop “Logan”, but he jerked away.“Stay outta this, Scott.” He said. “You ain't man enough to take care of this.” “I just came here to talk to the professor.” Ruby told Logan, dropping her faceplate. “After you attacked me, I don't think you're getting anywhere near the Professor.” He told her. Long, metallic claws suddenly extended from his knuckles, and he charged her. “What are those claws made out of?” Ruby asked Jarvis.“Just a moment.” The AI said. Ruby could see him scanning the claws on her hud, as she dodged Logan’s flurry of attacks. “Adamantium, ma’am.” Jarvis told her. “It can only be breached by Adamantium.” “Shit.” Ruby quietly cursed. Logan managed to catch her chest with his claws, but only scratched it. Ruby suddenly fired her unibeam at the X-Man, launching him into the side of the mansion. But it didn't stop him. He lunged at her again, but didn't make it before a voice stopped him in his tracks.“Logan!” The man spoke with an accent similar to Velvet’s, but Ruby did not see him. She could not tell where the voice was coming from, but it seemingly came from her head. “Let her in! She seeks to cause no harm.” Logan annoyedly rolled his eyes and motioned for Ruby to follow the one he had called Scott. [Shift]Ruby now sat in the office of Charles Xavier, her armor standing in the corner of the room. Xavier was a man who could have been tall, had he not been bound to a wheelchair. His bald head showed the signs of age, as he looked at her. “You are curious about the X-Men, are you not?” He suddenly asked. Ruby nodded.“How did you—?”“I can read minds.” He told her, grinning. “It's my semblance.” “Your people have a lot of odd semblances.” She told him. He nodded.“Yes.” He told her. “Most people believe that we are just faunas with odd semblances. But those who are educated on the topic of mutations would know that we are the step after faunas. We have semblances, but not auras, and some of us even have physical mutations.”“Like Edward Scissorhands?” Ruby asked. Charles nodded. “Yes. Logan.” He said. “You have to forgive him, he's been through an ordeal.” “So,” Ruby said. “You're not faunas?” He shook his head.“And neither are we human.” He said. “We’re mutants. Are semblances are much more powerful than that of most people, yet we have no aura. It causes some confusion and fear among the average people, so we pretend to be a school for children who are having trouble developing their auras.” “That's… Confusing.” Ruby told him.
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Ruby yawned. She hadn't slept in a few days, and while it was tiring, she didn't want to experience another nightmare. Her teammates still didn't know about her becoming an insomniac, but she had a feeling Yang suspected something was wrong. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up—She yawned again—even after just seventy two hours without sleep, she was extremely tired and felt as though she was due to pass out at any given second. If her teammates knew that she hadn't slept in three days, there was no doubt there would be a negative reaction. Weiss would call Ruby a dolt, Blake would relate it back to the time she herself was an insomniac before the dance, and Yang would probably start putting melatonin in Ruby’s drinks just to get her to sleep. Ruby shook her head. She pitied Yang’s future children. Sure, they would be loved and taken care of until the day Yang died, but Yang’s methods were a little… unorthodox to say the least. Her teammates her bound to find out soon, anyway, as Ruby was now using her nights to not build armors, but instead use the technology she had invented to help out the common person. She was currently in the hangar of the helicarrier, attempting to install an Arc Reactor into a bullhead. She had of course, gotten permission from SHIELD first, and there was a team of scientists watching her work. “I don't see why she’s got to do this at night.” One of the scientists whispered. He looked young, with short, brown, curly hair. He wore a plain blue dress shirt with a black and grey striped tie and a navy blue sweater vest. He was well-spoken, but he had an odd accent that was foreign to Ruby. His speech was oddly lilting, sing-songy, and he pronounced his vowels oddly, pronouncing don't like “dun’t” and got like “goot”. It was very unlike Velvet’s accent, yet the way he spoke reminded her of that same accent. “What accent is that?” Ruby suddenly asked. She could barely see the young man out of the corner of her eye. He immediately paled, as did his partner, who was equally as young. His partner was a brown haired woman that was just as tall as Ruby had been before the cave. She dressed similarly to him, but instead of blue, she was wearing light gray. Ruby managed to hide a grin at their reactions.“Come on.” She said. “You're not in trouble. What kind of accent is that?” The young man stuttered, but his partner answered for him. “They call it Scottish in Vacuo.” She said. She had an accent that resembled Velvet’s but definitely wasn't the same. Despite the fact that she had spoken for her friend, she seemed just as nervous as he was. Ruby lightly chuckled at this. “Well, Scotty.” She quickly rolled herself out from underneath the bullhead. “You can lighten up a little bit. I'm technically not SHIELD, so I can't do anything to you.” With that final statement, Ruby stood. “I'm all wrapped up here. Wanna double check my work?” She pointed at the two, and all the older scientists quietly grumbled. Ruby rolled her eyes at this, and the Scottish boy pointed at himself and his partner. “U-us?” He stuttered. Ruby nodded.“Yeah.” She said. “I owe it to you for almost giving you a heart attack.” She motioned for the two to come to the bullhead, and they both crawled under it, rather than using the roller seat Ruby had been using. “You have a Schottky diode,” the boy said.“You need a Tunnel diode.” The girl finished. “No,” Ruby said. “I don't need one with the Repulsor Tech Node. It transfers the reactor’s energy to the appropriate type of energy that the bullhead requires. If I used a Tunnel, the bullhead wouldn't be able to handle that much intake from the Reactor. And would most likely explode.” “I thought these things were powered by dust.” The girl said. “They are.” Ruby said. “Which is why I had to rework a lot of the inside.” “But it still shouldn't work.” The boy said. “The engines need dust to ignite the dust in the chamber.”“I know,” Ruby said. “I had to replace the engines with my repulsor technology. So, if this wasn't just a simple flight test, I would have built an all new bullhead.” The two suddenly emerged from the underside of the aircraft, both looking at her with huge smiles on their faces.“I would love to study your technology—”“This is the coolest thing—”“—it’s the future of energy!”“—I have ever seen!” [A Few Weeks Later]Ruby quickly tapped the keys on her keyboard, writing out paragraph after paragraph with incredible speed and intelligence. She was currently writing a paper on the existence of mutants in Remnant. She planned on putting this through academic publishing, where it would most likely be published in an academic journal or book. Up until she had begun selling her Arc Reactor technology, she had very little respect in the academic community as well as the scientific community. But now it seemed that she was dominating every aspect of energy, be it business, science, or the academic prospects of her work. Ruby had already sold a few hundred bullheads to SHIELD for quite a lot of money, though she didn't get to keep most of it. She used most of the money to procure the supplies to sell these bullheads for commercial use. She had even begun production on an airship powered by an Arc Reactor. Ruby now planned on moving to Atlas once she finished her research on mutant-kind. Things seemed to be on the up and up for her. She was able to get a little sleep, not much but at least twelve hours every five days or so. It kept her from collapsing while she was working, she also found that after five days, she began experiencing the nightmares while she was awake.[Shift]Ruby spoke with Charles almost daily, gathering as much information on mutants as she could, but today, when she walked into his office, he looked at her differently than he had before. He still smiled kindly upon her arrival, but his eyes looked at her differently. They looked concerned. Before Ruby could ask him any questions, he began speaking to her. “As I have told you before,” he began. “I have telepathic abilities, and I know what you are thinking at this moment.” Ruby raised an eyebrow and he continued speaking. “Until today, I have respected your privacy, but now that I see inside our mind, I see that you are not sleeping because you are afraid of it.” Ruby nervously laughed.“That's absurd.” She said. She opened her mouth to speak again, but he spoke over her.“Ruby,” he said. “You cannot hide your thoughts from me. I know when you're lying.” Ruby quietly grumbled and quickly stood. “I think I should get going.” She told him, turning towards the door.“It will serve you no good to internalize all this!” He called after her. “If you keep up your current behavior you will die!” He quickly rolled his chair after her. “I am just trying to—”“Stop it!”“Ruby!”“Just stop it!”“Ruby!”“I don't want to talk about it!” She suddenly growled, spinning around to face the professor. He scowled at her, and she dashed out the door.
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A SHIELD MDX sped across the landscape of Menagerie, surrounded by many other SUVs of the same type. Ruby sat comfortably in the back of the vehicle, her scroll pressed to her ear.“I just want to make sure I'm not asking you to pick up and leave in the middle of something.” She said. “Yeah. Of course. Why do you even have to ask?… Tomorrow if that works. Okay. See you then.” Ruby tapped the hang-up button, and slid her scroll into her pocket. That had been Blake. It was the first time Ruby had really held a conversation with the faunas in a few weeks, so she had been unsure of whatever it was she had been up to. But now that she actually talked to Blake, she found that she was visiting her parents. Ruby felt a little bad at making her leave so suddenly just because someone offered her help she didn't want, but Blake assured her that it was fine, so Ruby felt a little better.Ruby turned her gaze to the car window, it was supposedly bulletproof, and you could only actually see through the side that she was on. It was for V.I.P.s like herself, to protect them. But as the convoy sped past the SHIELD outpost that they usually took her to, she began to doubt that the men and women in the car with her were actually SHIELD. She quickly swiveled her head to keep an eye on her guards, but she was soon met by the sight of a gun pointed at her face. “Scroll. Now.” The guard demanded, holding out his hand. Ruby hesitantly placed her scroll in his hand, careful not to press any of the buttons that would turn it on. [Shift]WBY and JNR sat around a round table with several other people, there was a young man with short, curly hair, a two young women, both with brown hair, but one looked a little nerdier than the other. There was another man who looked just a little older than the others. He had short, black hair and a ton of muscle. Next to him was an older man and an older woman. WBY recognized the older man as Agent Coulson from when Ruby was captured. The woman next to Coulson looked a lot like an older, female Ren, but no one said anything. Stood in front of the table was none other than Director Fury himself. “I have some bad news.” He began. “Miss Rose’s escort has gone rogue.” Yang titled her head.“What do you mean, ‘rogue’?” She asked.“They have maintained radio silence for the past twelve hours, and have not returned as scheduled.” He said.“Dead or captured?” The black haired man asked.“Presumably captured.” Fury said. “If they had killed her, they would have returned with some bullshit story about how there were, ‘too many of them’.” “Wait, wait, wait.” The less nerdy of the brown haired women said. “You're telling me that the Iron Rose got captured, and you're going to send us to get her back?” She began to nervously laugh, but stopped when she saw everyone glaring at her. “Skye’s right.” The youngest man said, speaking in a Scottish accent. “With all due respect, Sir, Rose is a technological visionary. She defeated the White Fang in a cave. With a box of scraps. I graduated top of my engineering class, and I wouldn't be able to make half of the things she's made. She might be better off without our help.” Fury slowly leaned onto the table.“You are the best of the best. I selected the six of you for a reason. You are our best chance at getting Rose back alive.” He said.“May I suggest something?” Jarvis’ voice suddenly echoed through the meeting room. Fury looked up at the ceiling in annoyance. “Sure.” He annoyedly said. “Why not?”“Miss Rose does have protocols for situations like this.” Jarvis said. Fury immediately straightened out.“Like what?”“She has a backup suit for Mister Arc in case of emergency.” Jaune suddenly jumped at the mention of his name. “M-Me?” He asked.“Yes. You.” Jarvis said. “It's in her workshop if you would like to go and retrieve it.” [Shift]As Jaune stared at the armor before him, he began wondering if he was really ready for this responsibility. The armor Ruby had made was mostly black with small strips of silver at different places on the body, as well as the faceplate. The Arc Reactor was red instead of blue, and was shaped like a diamond rather than Ruby’s round one. Finally, there was a rather large gun strapped to one of the shoulders. The suit was much unlike the others Ruby had designed, but it was obvious that was because it was made for Jaune. The aforementioned blonde boy nervously gulped and stepped towards the armor.
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“Any idea who took her?” Taiyang asked Fury. Fury tilted his head slightly. “Maybe.” He said. “But I hope to God I'm wrong.” Taiyang paused for a moment before saying anything.“I hope you're wrong too.” He said.[Shift]Ruby didn't know where she was, all she knew was that she was tied to a chair with a bag over her head. She could feel the presence of someone nearby, staring at her, burrowing into her soul. “You are the great Iron Rose?” A woman’s voice amusedly hissed. “I expected more of a fight.” The voice circled Ruby, but made no noise when she walked. The bag was suddenly torn from Ruby’s head, but the room she was in was dark, so she didn't need to adjust too much. But she didn't see the woman.“Who are you?!” Ruby demanded. “What do you want with me?!” The woman began laughing. Behind Ruby. Ruby strained to turn herself around, but it was futile. The woman suddenly slid into Ruby’s view, and the girl froze. Stood before her was Salem, grinning. Ruby began shaking as Salem stepped closer and placed a hand on Ruby’s cheek. Ruby attempted to jerk away, but only gasped as visions began to flood her mind. The first vision was of herself lying in the center of a crowd with a bullet hole in her chest. She wasn't dead, evident by the fact that her teammates were still trying to stop the bleeding. In the next vision, Ruby was lying dead on the steps of a courthouse. Her Arc Reactor had been torn out, all of it, even the shaft that went into her chest. Blood pooled around the girl, cascading down the steps as her teammates rushed to her body. Finally, came a vision of Remnant colliding with another planet. Ruby let out a horrific scream as Salem let go of her. Tears rolled down the younger girl’s face as she struggled to move away from the demon. “What do you want from me?” Ruby weakly asked again, sobbing. Salem smiled.“I want to see you broken, begging for death.” Salem told her.[Shift]Jaune had to say, even though he felt horribly scared for his friend, he was greatly enjoying his suit’s flight. Jarvis had managed to trace the last known location of Ruby’s scroll, and it wasn't too far away either, so either these guys were amateurs, or they had killed her. Jaune suddenly made the suit swerve downwards, barreling towards the ground at what seemed like terminal velocity. At the last second, he suddenly pulled up, and landed feet-first with a metallic thud. Ruby’s captors suddenly surrounded Jaune, firing their weapons at him. Jaune didn't even have time to react before Jarvis began firing the gun on Jaune's shoulder, incapacitating almost all of the guards, except for one who seemed to be the leader. Jaune quickly strode towards the leader, who hadn't let up on the trigger since the moment Jaune landed. The War Machine slapped the gun away from the leader and grabbed him by the throat.“Where is Ruby Rose?” He asked, holding the man above his head. The man screamed and gasped, but Jaune was not cutting off his oxygen supply. “I-I don't know!!” He fearfully screamed, flailing his arms and legs. Jaune tried to drop the man, but the armor would not let him. “That's not what I wanted to hear.” The armor spoke without Jaune now. The gun on his shoulder swiveled to point at the man, and fired a round into his shoulder. This time using lethal rounds. The man screamed.“You fucking shot me!!!” He shouted.“Jarvis,” Jaune said. “Please tell me that's you doing that.” Jarvis didn't respond.“If you don't begin telling me the truth, you will wish that's all I did to you.” The suit told the man.“Jarvis?!” Jaune asked again.“Sorry, Mister Arc.” Jarvis suddenly said. “I got a little carried away, didn't I?”“I-I’ll tell you what I know!!!” The man shouted, holding a hand to his wound. “Don't be.” Jaune told Jarvis. “It worked… Just don't do it again.”
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“You're sure?” Fury nervously paced back and forth in front of War Machine. Jaune nodded. “Do we have a location yet?” Jaune shook his head.“No,” he said. “But we have a name of someone who can get that information for us.” Fury nodded.“Good job, Arc.” He said. “But now, the professionals have to take over.” Jaune tilted his head. “What?!” He asked. “I can do this! I just need to know what I'm after. Or who I'm after.” Fury shook his head.“Sorry, kid.” He said. “Only the Avengers are cleared to know what Salem is.” “But—” A blue, gloved hand suddenly landed on Jaune’s armored shoulder. “Son.” The owner of the hand said. “Just don't.” Jaune shook angrily as he quickly made his way back to Ruby’s lab, his boots making a metallic clanking with each step. He wasn't very surprised to see WBY waiting there for him. They all quickly sat up as he entered the room.“Did you find out where she is?!” Yang asked. Jaune stepped into the same case that he had found his armor and stepped out of the back.“Sorta.” He told her. “Aren't you going out there to get her?” Yang asked. Jaune shook his head.“I don't have the clearance.” He said. “What is going on with SHIELD?” Blake asked. Jaune shook his head.“I don't know.” He said. “But this has to have something to do with Cinder, I know it. This Salem character, maybe she's Cinder’s boss or something.” “Ruby did say that we were looking for Cinder’s boss.” Weiss added. Yang held out a hand to keep Weiss from saying anything else, and Weiss huffed.“If you're not going to help Ruby, then who is?” She asked. Jaune sighed and leaned against the wall next to his armor case. “The Avengers.” He told them. “But I just don't have a good feeling about all of this.” “Neither do I.” Yang agreed. [Shift]Ruby’s hair draped in front of her face as her head hung low, her chin pressed against her neck. Her face was covered in dried tears, and her hands heavily shook. “If you're going to kill me, just do it already.” Her voice was weak and shaky, but it was also extremely hoarse from all the screaming she had done these past few days. Every day it was the same thing; Salem would torture her until she became bored, and then Ruby would sleep until Salem returned. The witch hadn't fed her, but she wasn't hungry anyway. If anything, starving to death would have been preferable over what she was currently experiencing. Salem lightly laughed. “Before I break your body, I will break your mind.” The witch’s pale hand suddenly clasped Ruby’s cheek and the visions began again. Ruby screamed at the painful mental intrusion, but it didn't stop. This time, she saw a SHIELD helicarrier falling atop both her and Steve. Then, she saw Jaune with his armor’s Arc Reactor torn out and his armor destroyed. Blood covered his face and Ruby felt tears beginning to move down her own. Finally came a vision of all of her friends, WBY, JNR, and The Avengers laying dead on a flight of stairs. This vision was much more realistic than the others; she felt as though she was actually there, moving towards the stairs. She could see that Steve’s shield was torn in two and that the Hulk lay with dozens of arrows in his back. Natasha laid not too far away from Ruby, her lifeless eyes staring right at Ruby. Yang suddenly gasped and Ruby sprinted to her side. Yang was missing an arm and blood covered her usual combat attire.“You failed.” Yang hoarsely said. “You let this happen to me. You're a horrible sister.” And then the life left Yang. Ruby could feel more tears moving down her face, but they did not obscure her vision. Ruby could see dozens of dragon like Grimm heading towards the many cities of Remnant. Ruby stood in a futile attempt to do something. Anything. But Cinder stood in her way. An arrow suddenly flew from the woman’s bow and contacted Ruby’s chest. Ruby fell backwards, back down the stairs, blood leaking out of her chest. She gasped for air, but she just couldn't breathe. She knew none of this was real, but she could feel the pain, she could feel the blood staining her clothes and pooling under her body. The vision suddenly flew away, and Ruby saw Salem grinning evilly at her.“Why me?” Ruby sobbed. “Why can't you just leave me alone?!” To this, Salem gave no answer, she just smirked and left Ruby all alone, heavily sobbing. Long after Salem left her all alone in that room, Ruby began quietly singing to herself, just trying to calm herself down.“Did you lose what won't return? Did you love but never learn? The fire’s out but it still burns. And no one cares, there's no one there. Did you find it hard to breathe? Did you cry so much you could barely see? In the darkness all alone. And no one cares, there's no one there. Well, did you see the flares in the sky? Were you blinded by the light? Did you feel the smoke in your eyes? Did you? Did you? Did you see the sparks filled with hope? You are not alone, because there's someone out there, sending out flares.” Her voice eventually gave way to even more sobbing. There was no doubt in her mind that someone, whether it be Yang, or Jaune, or even the Avengers, was on their way to save her from this hell. “Please hurry.” She whispered.[Shift]Arthur Watts sprinted through the streets of Mystral, trying desperately to escape his pursuers. But he wasn't fast enough. Captain America bounded across the rooftops above him, Hawkeye beside him. Behind Arthur was the Black Widow, trying to navigate the twisting streets on a motorcycle. He thanked God that there were so many turns on these streets, otherwise Romanoff would have caught him by now. Cap suddenly threw his mighty shield, and it nailed Watts in the back, causing him to fall onto his face. Natasha turned her bike in a hockey stop, while reaching out to catch the shield, and toss it back to the Captain. Before Watts could get back on his feet, Cap leapt off the roof and tackled the poor man. Steve roughly pulled Arthur to his feet and slammed him against a nearby building.“Get your hands off of me, you brute!” Arthur cried, struggling against Steve’s grip. Steve gave no response to this and just silently sheathed his shield on his back. “I'm sure we can work this out like gentlemen.” Steve told Watts. Watts gave him a shocked expression.“After what you did, you think there's any chance of me being civilized about this?” Watts asked. Steve silently stepped away and shrugged, allowing Romanoff to take his place. The red haired woman scowled at Watts, as she grabbed his jacket collar and threw him to the ground, almost making him do a cartwheel. Once he was in the ground, Romanoff pressed her heel into his shoulder blade and lifted his arm off the ground, taking it behind his back. Steve kneeled in front of Watts as the man cried out in pain, struggling to break Romanoff’s grip. “Where is she?” Steve asked him. Watts looked bewildered.“Who—?! Ah!” Romanoff pressed his arm further behind his back.“Ruby Rose.” Steve calmly said. “Where did Salem take her?”“I— I don't know! I'm sorry! No one knows other than Salem herself!” “Where’s Salem?” Steve asked. The man looked at him like he was crazy.“She’ll kill me!” Steve didn't look sympathetic.“You don't tell us,” Romanoff began. “And I’ll kill you myself.” She suddenly cocked her handgun and pressed it against Watts’ skull. “Fine!” He shouted. “Fine! I'll tell you! I'll tell you what I know!”
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Ruby pushed her way through a large crowd of people, unsure of her destination. Hell, she didn't know where she was or why she felt the need to move so quickly. Then it struck her. Literally. Three bullets contacted her body. One in the chest, near the heart, one in the shoulder, and one in the head. When she didn't die from her wounds, she knew that this was one of Salem’s “projections”. Everything was in slow motion for her, as she felt the red hot bullets tear through her body. She felt each shatter her bones and push aside the flesh within her body, tearing blood vessels and moving through her skull. It hurt. The sensation was like no pain Ruby had ever felt before. It burned, and it stung, all while torturing her mind. And she screamed, louder than she had ever screamed before. She felt her throat burning from the scream, but this didn't stop her, as it was nothing compared to the pain she felt in her skull. Outside, in the hallways of Salem’s palace, Cinder, Emerald and Mercury listened to the screaming. As much as they each disliked Ruby, even they felt disturbed by the sound. The scream didn't last very long, however, being cut off abruptly and followed by an awful, wheezing cough. [Shift]Now that the Avengers knew where Ruby was, they needed to figure out how to get the girl out alive. If they attempted to fight their way in, this could give Salem a chance to kill Ruby, but if they sent one person in stealthily, they ran the risk of walking into an ambush. “May I suggest something?” Jarvis asked, so suddenly interrupting the Avengers discussion on this. There was a moment of silence between the heroes before Jarvis spoke again. “Perhaps you could send me in to retrieve Miss Rose.” He said. Steve raised an eyebrow at this.“Do you even have a body?” He asked.“No.” Jarvis told him. “However, I am able to control Miss Rose’s suit without someone inside.”“He could go in and allow her to fight her way out.” Bruce said, realization dawning on him. “We could create a diversion on the outside as well,” Steve added. “To spread them thin.”“This may not be a suicide mission after all.” Clint sarcastically said. [Shift]The Avengers sat several hundred yards away from Salem’s palace, all staring in awe at the large building and its surroundings. It was a large, purplish-red building that covered the horizon. It was surrounded by a crimson landscape and hundreds of Grimm. They sat, waiting for Jarvis to give them the go-ahead. [Shift]As Ruby sat, defeated and tied to a chair, she certainly didn't know of her friends waiting outside. Or that her armor was closing in on her location. The door suddenly flew open and in stepped the armor. It immediately burnt her restraints with a small, focused repulsor blast. Ruby smiled as she stood for the first time in a long time, and strode over to the armor. The back slid open and she stepped in, allowing it to close behind her. She quickly began to sprint down the hallways, only to stop when she came to the cell of a large, bearded man with long, golden hair. He looked like royalty, yet he wore rags. She tore his cell door off and he leapt to his feet.“Thank you, metal man!” He said, his voice sounding like that of an ancient warrior. She knew who he was.“Metal woman, actually.” She corrected. He nodded.“My confines were keeping me from reuniting with Mjolnir!” He told her, holding his hand out to the side. A large, metal hammer came from nowhere and landed in his hand. Metal appeared on the man, covering all but his hands and head, complete with a cape as red as Ruby’s that stretched down to the floor. Once his transformation was complete, he held out his hand to her. “I am Thor; god of thunder!” He told her. She shook his hand.“Ruby; Rose of Iron.” She retorted.“You saved me.” He told her. “And for that, I am grateful. I owe you my life.” “Tone it down a bit.” She told him. He paused for a minute before rephrasing his previous statement. “I owe you a great debt.” He said. She just rolled her eyes and moved on.“Alright, well you can repay me by helping me and my friends defeat the woman who put us here.” She told him. He grinned.“Gladly.” He said.
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Ruby and Thor raced to Salem’s throne room, passing through the sickly purple hallways. The countless doors that lined the walls faded into a blur as they picked up speed. Thor was surprisingly fast, and was able to keep up with Ruby, even with the girl traveling at full speed. “Rose.” Steve Rogers’ familiar voice cut into her earpiece. “Hey, Cap!” Ruby said, pretending to be her usual, perky self. She had experienced so many traumatic incidents over such a short period of time, and it was really taking a toll on her. “What’s up?” She asked. She heard a collective sigh of relief from several voices.“You okay, kid?” Steve asked her. She rolled her eyes. “Yeah,” She said, hiding her annoyance at him calling her a kid. “I’m fine.” “Good.” He said. “Fall back. The rest of us will take it from here.”“No.” She sternly said. “I’m fine. I can do this.” And with that, she clicked off her comms. “Rose?” Steve asked, pressing two fingers to his earpiece. “Ruby? Ruby?! Dammit!” He quickly pulled his shield from his back and motioned for the rest of the Avengers to follow him as he sprinted towards Salem’s palace. [Shift]When Ruby and Thor finally arrived at Salem’s throne room, they saw the evil woman herself, standing alone and facing away from them.“I wondered how long it would be before your friends came to your rescue.” Salem said, all too smugly. She slowly turned, facing both Thor and Ruby. And then she laughed. It unsettled Ruby. “You honestly think you can win.” The witch said. Ruby said nothing, and just stared at Salem. “You May be able to defeat me,” Salem said. “But you cannot possibly hope to defeat him.” A wicked grin spread across her sickly white skin as she said this. “Let’s not play the pronoun game.” Ruby taunted. “Who are you talking about?”“You will learn soon enough.” Salem simply said. The witch suddenly swatted Thor out the window and lunged at Ruby, tearing the girl’s helmet off and placing a hand on her cheek. Ruby dropped to her knees and cried out in pain. “Show me your power, girl!” Salem shouted. The skin on Ruby’s face began to decay and she closed her eyes as she screamed louder. Suddenly, she stopped screaming and she opened her eyes, which were now glowing white. “Finally!” Salem laughed. “A challenge.” Ruby’s eyes exploded in a flash of white light that launched Salem backwards.[Shift]Steve was suddenly thrown into the air, as a white light enveloped Salem’s palace. Even the Hulk was launched backwards. “We gotta get in there,” Romanoff said. “And fast.” The Avengers all scrambled to their feet, and sprinted into the palace, or what was left of it, at least. Most of the walls and all of the ceiling was gone. When they finally reached the throne room, they saw Ruby, standing in the center of the room, her armor in fragments around her. She still wore parts of the armor, like the right arm, the left leg and the top half of her chestplate. Her eyes were glowing white, and her heavily bleeding face wore an angry expression. She spotted several cuts and gashes all over her face, with a large gash covering her left cheek. The gashes seemed more like her skin had cracked and peeled away, with indications of that in the cracks that lined her face. A stream of energy flooded suddenly from her eyes, into Salem, causing the witch to scream and writhe in pain. For a minute, it looked as though Ruby was about to defeat Salem, but Emerald suddenly appeared behind the redhead and smashed her gun into the back of Ruby’s head, causing the girl to collapse on the floor, unconscious. And as if on cue, Cinder, Mercury, Hazel and the rest of Salem’s lackeys appeared in the doorway. Steve sighed, “Of course it’s not gonna be that easy.” He said. “Barton, grab Rose and take her someplace safe, then provide covering fire from there. Romanoff and I will take care of Salem’s lackeys. Hulk.” The aforementioned green monster turned to look at Steve, who simply pointed at Salem. “Smash.” The beast grinned and began to stride towards Salem. Emerald tried to intercept him, but he simply kicked her away. Steve noticed a distant crack of thunder, but decided to ignore it to focus on the task at hand. Clint ran over to Ruby, dragging her off to the side and quickly looked her over. She seemed to be fine, aside from the previously mentioned skin issues on her face. Upon further inspection, he found that her eyes were no longer glowing, but didn’t really have anymore time to look over her before lightning struck the center of the throne room, revealing a blonde man with a hammer and a cape. “Everybody’s gotta gimmick these days…” he muttered to himself. Clint knelt over Ruby, quickly shaking her awake. She drowsily looked around, taking in the surrounding battle. Then she remembered what happened. She quickly sat up, and slowly brought herself to her feet. “Hey,” Clint said. “Maybe you should take it easy for a bit.” “Not gonna happen, Mark Nutt.” She told him, earning an eye roll from the man. Ruby examined her armor, and sighed; it looked like this was all she had for now. Unless… She looked around the room for a moment. There! Her helmet was still somewhat intact. She had planned for something like this, and had a detachable earpiece inside the helmet that could extend over her eye as a temporary HUD. Ruby flicked her left arm in front of her to call the earpiece to her with her keypad, only to find that the armor on that arm was gone. She quietly cursed to herself, and made a run for the helmet. It laid near the center of the room, just between the fight between Thor, Hulk and Salem and the fight between Romanoff, Steve and the rest of Salem’s lackeys. As Ruby neared the helmet, she did a baseball slide, narrowly avoiding Thor, who had been thrown across the room at some point during the fight and was now making his way back into the fray. However, before Ruby could reach her helmet, she felt a chain wrap around her waist and pull her back. She flew through the air, but landed on her feet nonetheless. The girl looked around frantically for her assailant, finding it to be Emerald. She cringed at the green haired girl’s appearance; she looked as though she had just been thrown by the Hulk—actually, that would explain it, and was probably what had happened. “Can’t let you get your gear back, Red.” Roman Torchwick suddenly stepped into Ruby’s line of sight. She hadn’t thought he would have gone this far up the chain, but here he was. “Roman,” Ruby said. “Long time no see. How’s the scumminess coming along?” Torchwick cracked a smile.“Just fine, Red.” He said. Ruby nodded before firing her repulsor at him. He dove out of the way and Emerald swiped one of her sickles at Ruby, who barely managed to roll under it.Ruby quickly fired a blast at Emerald, launching the green haired girl back, only for Torchwick to take her place. The red head stuck out her fist and two small rockets emerged from her forearm. She quickly fired them, but without a targeting system, she missed completely, instead hitting Steve in the back and launching him across the room.“Sorry!” Ruby cried out, cringing. Steve quickly got to his feet and nodded at her. His eyes suddenly widened.“Look out!” He shouted, throwing his shield at her. Ruby ducked, but heard the shield hit something behind her before she saw it return to Steve’s hands. The girl quickly turned around to see who he hit and saw Emerald imbedded in the wall a few feet away. Ruby was suddenly thrown across the room herself, feeling an intense heat in all the areas not covered by armor. She immediately knew what happened; Torchwick had taken advantage of her back being turned. Despite her ears ringing and her vision being blurry, Ruby quickly got to her feet. What little armor she had left was helping stabilize her very shaky left leg. It couldn’t do much for the exposed portions of her body, however. The girl slowly limped along, clutching her scorched stomach. She had tunnel vision on the torn helmet, and was hoping she could get to it before anyone else stopped her. Barton must have seen that she needed help, because when she glanced over to see where Torchwick was, she found the two fighting it out. Ruby dove for the helmet, grabbing it and rolling to her feet in the same motion. She picked the earpiece out of the inside of the helmet, and placed it in her ear. The small device expanded into a pair of sunglasses, showing Ruby her HUD.“Jarvis.” She said. “Send in Veronica!”[Shift]Ruby’s friends all sat around the helicarrier. It infuriated them that they couldn’t help Ruby, but they knew they couldn’t really join a fight between gods and expect to be of any use. A series of loud metallic clunks coming from Ruby’s lab caused them all to push aside any thoughts of worry they had and investigate. Stepping inside first, Yang saw a suit of armor exiting the lab. She turned to Jaune and pointed to the War Machine suit, then back to the suit that had just left. “Follow it.” She demanded. The War Machine suit immediately retreated into the floor. “I’m sorry,” Jarvis’ disembodied voice told them. “But Miss Rose has told me to keep you all out of this mission.” The AI paused. “It may not be one she will return from.”“Then help us help her!” Jaune almost shouted.“I’m sorry,” Jarvis repeated. “I cannot disobey Miss Rose. It’s against my programming.” “Dammit!” Yang shouted, punching the door frame and creating a significantly sized dent in it. [Shift] A large, array of metal wrapped around Ruby’s back. It looked a lot bigger than her, and upon entry looked like a large wingspan. It pulled her into the air, as the metal chestplate began expanding around her chest. A few seconds later, she returned; her head poking out of the large, robust suit. A dome suddenly expanded around her head, and her HUD came to life. “It worked,” she muttered with a small grin. Now that she had suited up, Ruby ran into the Hulk’s battle with Salem, and grabbed the witch. She took a pitcher’s stance and the Hulk grabbed a large column. Ruby tossed Salem and the hulk smacked her with the column. Salem stopped herself in midair, and quickly launched the hulk to the side. “Enough!” Salem angrily screeched. She put her hands together and a portal opened thousands of feet above her. The Avengers looked up in awe as Grimm began pouring from the hole in the sky. When Ruby looked back down, Salem grabbed her, launching her back for what felt like thousands of miles. Ruby’s back dragged across the ground, and a metal scraping sound filled her ears. She threw Salem off and stood, only for Salem to immediately hit her back three times as hard. “Incoming call from Ms. Xiao-Long.” Jarvis suddenly said.“Not now!” Ruby grunted, hitting the ground with a loud, metallic smash. “She insists it’s important!” Jarvis told her, “I’m inclined to agree!” Salem picked Ruby up before the girl could even stand. “Jarvis! I’m kinda fighting an evil—!” Ruby cut herself off with a gasp as she felt Salem drive a blade through both her armor and her body. She firmly planted her feet on Salem’s chest and pushed, launching the witch away. Ruby gasped and hissed as she fell to the ground.“The blade has entered your lower abdomen,” Jarvis told her, “But Nothing can be done until it’s removed. However, removing it could kill you.” “I’m hit.” Ruby groaned into her comms, “I can’t fight. But Salem’s still on me.” Ruby heard the hulk roar and the ground shook around her.“You again?!” Salem shrieked. Ruby was left with silence as she heard the Hulk’s roaring becoming distant. She looked around and saw that The Hulk had gotten Salem off of her. She looked down and saw Captain Rogers standing in front of her. Her armor opened up and she spilled out, the blade still deep in her side. Cap carefully caught her, and heaved her into his arms bridal style.“You’re gonna be okay,” Steve said, “I’m gonna get you to a medic.” Ruby weakly nodded, then coughed. And then Steve began to run. Fast. Certainly not as fast as Ruby had been with her semblance, but definitely faster than your average person. Ruby felt her eyelids becoming heavy, and when she woke, she found herself laying in the back of an empty bullhead. She groaned and sat up. Her wounds had been patched, but it still hurt. Bad. “Glad to see you’re awake,” Jarvis said in her ear, “Miss Xiao Long is still attempting to contact you.”“Answer it.” Ruby attempted to haul herself to her feet, but fell back onto the bed. “Ruby?!” Yang’s voice shrieked into Ruby’s earpiece.“Please don’t yell,” Ruby said,“Thank God, you’re okay!” Yang chuckled in relief.“How long was I out?” Ruby asked Jarvis.“Not long,” the AI told her, “thirty five minutes.”“What was so important, Yang?” Ruby asked, laying down and letting her eyes drift shut.“Atlas is under attack!” Yang told her. Ruby’s eyes shot open and she sat up.“Jarvis!” She shouted, “Get me Mark X!” Ruby ended the call and stood, having to lean against the wall to keep herself standing as she watched the ramp lower. Mark X then made its entrance, hitting the ground in the form of a blank, metal cylinder that lacked any and all color and personality. The girl immediately fell when there was no more wall to support her, hitting the ramp with a cry of pain. But she kept going, crawling to the new armor. She soon found the strength to lift herself onto her hands and knees when she got closer. The cylinder popped open with a hiss, and Ruby pulled herself up and into the center of the cylinder. It quickly closed around her and launched itself into the sky.
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The metallic cylinder suddenly fell from Ruby’s body, leaving her to shoot through the sky in her newest armor: Mark X, or as she liked to call it; Heartbreaker. The chest was bulkier than any of her other suits, and had a much bigger arc reactor than any of the others—besides the Hulkbuster, of course. The shoulders were much broader and the armor thicker. The helmet was even wider, sporting a self sustaining respiratory system. She had originally intended to use this armor to be the first person on Remnant to leave the atmosphere. She had already been the first to create a power source other than dust. Heartbreaker had a bigger arc reactor simply because it required a lot more power than any of the other armors.“Show me something, Jarvis!” She commanded. A video began immediately playing on her HUD. It showed Atlas, with a portal above the city, Grimm spilling out in every direction, “Not good! Jarvis, any ideas?”“Not at the moment,” The AI told her.Ruby sighed, then paused, “I got something,” she said, “We need to destroy the source. Protocol 7. Use the house party to clean up any stragglers. Destroy the armors when you’re done.”“Yes, ma’am,” Jarvis simply said.“Give Yang and Dad a call too,” the two she asked for immediately appeared on her HUD. “Hey,” She said, feigning a cheery attitude, “I’m gonna go away for a bit.”“What do you mean?” Yang asked.“Don’t tell me you’re seriously considering going through that portal?!” Taiyang asked.“Salem said something bigger is coming. I’m willing to bet whatever it is, it’s through that portal. I’m gonna hit it with the toughest I have.”“You don’t know where it leads!” Weiss’ voice distantly protested. Ruby suddenly met up with her newest weapon. It was a missile. But it was unlike any Remnant had ever seen; this one was capable of wiping cities off the face of the planet. Ruby grabbed the missile’s underside and began to angle herself towards the portal. WBY watched this all on VNN, which had been covering the entire attack. “Who knows,” Ruby said with a soft chuckle, “could be some—“ static enveloped her voice as she entered the portal, and Taiyang felt a numbness wash over him. Ruby saw her HUD fading and shutting down, just as the missile hit. The explosion that followed shook and rocked her, launching her around this seemingly weightless place. It was then Ruby realized that she was blind without her HUD, and it certainly wasn’t safe to open her visor. Ruby whimpered and cursed herself for only adding eye slits for show, as she felt herself being thrown for what felt like an eternity until she faded into unconsciousness. WBY and JNR waited with bated breaths, expecting Ruby to fall back through the portal seconds before it closed. But she never did. The portal closed, leaving Ruby trapped where it was she now resided, where ever that was.