387Ruby watched in concern as Cinder walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Since they couldn't start the HISHE without her, everyone just talked about all their favorite parts from the final battle and the rest of the ending. Ruby, however, couldn't shake the feeling that the half-Maiden wasn't okay and decided she should check on her. Waiting a minute or two to make sure everyone else was fully engrossed in their conversations, she made her way to the bathroom, silently opening the door, stepping in and closing it just as silently.
"Cinder?" She asked, genuinely shocked to see what she did. Cinder Fall, who would've went on to be the terror of Beacon and a force of evil through the rest of Remnant, was now at the sink, sobbing. Ruby slowly and carefully walked up to her, placing a hand on her back. "What's wrong? If something's bothering you, I want you to know that you can talk to me about it." She told her former foe.
Cinder sobbed a bit more, before bringing herself up and calming herself enough to be able to speak. "All my life, I've worked to get stronger, so that I could be free and no one would ever torment me again the way the Madame did. But it seems like every decision I've ever made just puts me right back where I was. I'm no better than Loki. I was jealous and angry at those with more power than me, so I tried to take more power by force, but wound up losing everything I ever had and wound up serving someone infinitely worse than the person who hurt me in the first place. I just traded the Madame for Salem, for power that I thought would set me free, but just made me more desperate and easy to control, failing over and over again. And in the end, I would've ended up beaten and captured, just like Loki. Probably executed as well. And if I helped Salem get her way, all that power would have been for nothing. I don't want to end up like Loki." She explained, before sobbing again.
Ruby put a hand on Cinder's and took it in both of hers. "It doesn't have to be like that now. You've learned. You saw for yourself what chasing power is and what it costs. And you turned away from it. That means you've already gotten better than Loki. And Salem. You already agreed you weren't on her side anymore, but now you want to stop her. That means you made the right choice. And you've got us here, too. So if you ever think there's a chance you might turn back to the way you were, you could talk to us. Emerald and Neo, too. They definitely care about you. We'll make sure you stay on the right path. Me especially. I promise." Ruby told her.
Cinder was shocked at this. Someone truly accepting her for who she was for the first time in her life and willing to take care of her and help her be a better person, because she believed that she had value. Not like Mercury, who just went along for the hell of it, or Emerald, who simply did whatever Cinder said in order to please her and gain favor. Cinder smiled at this and hugged Ruby. "Thank you, Ruby Rose." She said, still sobbing a bit.
"You're welcome, Cinder Fall. I'm happy to help." Ruby said with a smile. The two then looked at each other, once despising each other, but now they'd grown to accept each other, enjoy the other's company and felt for them on levels they hadn't for anyone else before. Then, they pulled each other in and shared a passionate kiss. Not an awkwardly long one or insincere short one, just long enough to get their feeling for each other across. [1]
They then placed their foreheads together for a moment, collecting themselves, before smiling again and collecting themselves, heading back outside. Everyone had apparently realized both of them had been gone for at least five minutes and became concerned, having turned towards the door. "Ruby, is everything alright?" Yang asked.
"Better than alright." Ruby said happily. "I think Cinder has something she wants to say." She declared, looking to Cinder.
Cinder herself looked a bit nervous at this, before swallowing and steeling herself. "You all know I gave up Salem's side after Captain America, but I still hadn't agreed to fight against her. Well, now I am. I want to do the right thing and the right thing is standing up to her and making sure she can never get her hands on the relics or the Maidens." She said resolutely.
The adults were shocked at this, but Ozpin recovered first and smiled. "Well done, Miss Fall. I had hoped you'd make the right decision. And you did not disappoint me." He told her.
"Agreed. You are quick-witted and cunning, with a devious side thrown in, along with incredible talent. I believe you will be a worthy ally." Glynda agreed.
"Welcome aboard, Spitfire!" Qrow said, raising his drink. Everyone looked at him questioningly at this. "Hey, years of drinking killed a lot of brain cells, that's the best I got." He defended.
"It's not bad." Cinder accepted the nickname.
"And, what's with that?" Blake asked, pointing at their hands, which were still locked together.
"Well, uh... We're together now." Ruby stated.
"What?!" Weiss asked in shock.
"Isn't that a bit far?" Winter asked.
"It was Ruby's decision to come to a combat school two years early. And she's training to spend her life risking it by fighting deadly beasts. I'd say she's more than capable of making such a decision." Ironwood stated.
"Well, congrats!" Neo cheered.
"Yeah. I'm happy for both of you." Emerald agreed.
Yang and Qrow then got up and walked over to the half-Maiden. "Well, then... Welcome to the family!" Yang said, hugging her.
"Yeah. If you want to and think you can make Ruby happy, then we're happy to have you." Qrow said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
However, Cinder suddenly felt an overwhelming, deadly aura coming from them both. "Just now, if you hurt Ruby in any way, you'll wish you were suffering the worst Salem could do to you." Yang warned, Qrow's maniacal grin furthering the threat.
"O-of course..." Cinder said, shivering in fear.
They immediately brightened up after this. "Awesome! Then let's not waste any more time and get to this HISHE already!" Yang said, grabbing both of them and putting them back in their spot, Ruby sitting on Cinder's lap as Yang took her place again, Qrow turning to a bird, flying back and turning back into a person, falling perfectly into his spot.
The classic HISHE logo was seen as Thor's voice could be heard shouting. "You want me to put the hammer down!?" He demanded. There was a bright flash of light and Captain America was sent flying across the screen.
The wreckage from the hero's battle was shown as they got up and regrouped, coughing a bit. "Are we done here?" Steve questioned the God of Thunder.
Suddenly, Iron Man looked up, the others doing the same, where it was revealed Loki was still on the mountaintop where Thor left him. "Hello." He greeted the heroes, sounding rather giddy.
"Okay, now he's not even trying to act like he's not up to something!" Weiss complained.
"Agreed. It should've been a red flag when he didn't run in the fist place. Now, it's just insulting how obvious he's being." Winter agreed.
"Is this what it means for someone to have their creep alarm going off?" Penny asked.
"Yeah, I'd say this is a perfect example." Neo confirmed.
"You're still here?" Tony asked.
"Yes." Loki said, chuckling a bit.
"Why didn't you run away while we settled our differences?" Thor questioned, gesturing to the other two heroes with his hammer and taking a step closer to them.
"I'll never tell." Loki said, giggling and crouching back down.
"Oh, come on! I was better at acting like a sweet, kind, innocent girl than he is at acting like he's in a situation where he doesn't have the advantage!" Cinder complained.
"Yeah, we really should've caught on when it took so long for you to say what charity your cake was for. And looking back, while it was still a sweet idea, a cake for a kitten charity is weird." Ruby agreed.
"Jeez, kiddo, I thought I taught you better than to be so trusting." Qrow said.
"Yeah, but Dad taught us to be sweet and kind and give everyone the benefit of the doubt." Yang explained as Qrow facepalmed and grumbled about Tai being a goody two-shoes.
Red flags immediately went up for the three heroes. "Okay, we are NOT taking him back to base, he is DEFINITELY up to something!" Cap said suspiciously, Thor nodding in agreement.
"THANK YOU! Finally, you realize it!" Glynda cried out in relief.
"Really. Tony's a genius and Thor's known Loki as a trickster all his life. Between them, they should have known something was amiss." Ironwood said with a nod.
"But don't forget, Loki is also known for being a very talented liar and could easily fool others. Natasha only found his plan out because she let her guard down." Ozpin reminded them.
THE AVENGERS
How It Should Have Ended
Steve was shown running through the streets as the battle was going on, laughing and enjoying the action happening around him. "Shield!" He declared, leaping for something off-screen.
"You're at war, soldier! This is no time for having fun!" Winter snapped.
"Hey, you've got to enjoy your life. Especially if you're putting it in danger by fighting a bunch of robot-aliens." Coco told her.
"Gentlemen, right this way!" Tony declared as the Chitauri chased him, Hawkeye shooting one of them down while not even looking, making a noise to emphasize the epic kill.
"Still such a cool kill!" Cinder said in awe.
"And I still want those archery lessons." Ruby told the half-Maiden.
"You'll get them." Cinder assured her knew girlfriend.
Hulk the roared as he leapt onto a Leviathan's back, fighting more Chitauri with Thor. "Here comes the hammer!" Thor declared as he smacked a Chitauri away with it.
"Oh yeah! Epic team-up!" Yang cheered, fist-bumping Nora.
Black Widow was seen shooting her pistols, going "Pew pew!" with each shot. Steve then leapt up into the air, balling up and guarding himself with his shield like he did in the movie. "Captain-Ball!" He declared before he was sent flying.
"Pyrrha, do you think we can do that with our shields?" Jaune asked.
"I don't know, Jaune, but I am GOING to try!" Pyrrha declared.
Thor was then seen on the skyscraper again, launching lightning at the portal. "From whence it came!" He declared, firing the lightning and pushing the Chitauri back.
"Aww, yeah! Dad being awesome!" Nora cheered.
From the bridge of the Helicarrier, Fury was shown aiming a pistol at the council members on the screen. "Say 'what' again! I dare you! I double dare you!" He threatened them.
Everyone laughed at this. "I feel like that's referencing something else." Glynda said.
"Pulp Fiction, one of Mr. Jackson's most famous roles." Katana explained.
Black Widow was then seen stabbing the Chitauri to control the Chariot, his eyes bulging as he cried out in pain. Hulk was then seen slamming Loki around, although far more than he did in the movie. "Puny God! Puny God! Puny God!" He repeated as he smashed the poor Frost Giant.
Everyone laughed again. "Still so hilarious!" Velvet said.
"Oh, my god! I'm about to pee myself!" Neo giggled uncontrollably.
Then finally, Tony was seen carrying the missile into the portal. "Tank missile!" He cried out, before he went through and a flash of white was shown, the scene returning to when Hulk, Cap and Thor stood over Tony, who just woke up. "Hey, you guys ever had Shawarma?" He asked.
"Very entertaining, but wasn't this all simply things that happened in the movies? I see no real difference, other than the first scene." Ozpin stated.
"Must be the action was just to epic to make fun of." Qrow said with a shrug.
"Yeah. It even looked epic in this cartoon style!" Ruby agreed.
They were then seen in the Super Café, just barely fitting in a booth with Batman and Superman, Cap even having to sit on Hulk's lap.
The Marvel heroes were all enjoying their Shawarma. Superman looked shocked at the fact they had these meals. "This place serves food!?" He asked in shock.
"How long has he been here?! He should know this by now!" Weiss scoffed.
"Every respectable café should have at least some form of breakfast and lunch option." Winter stated.
"Maybe I'd trust a nice-looking café like this one, but otherwise the food will either be really basic, or come out looking disgusting." Velvet said warily.
"Yeah. You've never had Shawarma either?" Tony asked.
"Shawarma!" Hulk said happily as he devoured his wrap.
"Uh, why do I have to sit on Hulk's lap?" Cap asked uncomfortably.
"Try not to make him to excited!" Yang said with a smirk and looking at Blake.
"Yang!" Blake cried out, blushing madly.
"Miss Xiao Long!" Glynda reprimanded.
"You've got to stop letting her get to you so easy." Emerald told the Cat Faunus beside her.
Thor was enjoying his quite a bit, making noises of enjoyment. "Another!" He declared, slamming his fist on the table, rocking Tony and Clint a bit.
Black Widow was closest to Batman, something he took full advantage of as he leaned in. "Hey! I'm Batman. Wanna know my... secret identity?" He offered.
"Why?" She asked, uninterested.
"Agreed. It is quite unwise for a superhero to reveal their secret identity." Penny agreed.
"Oh, prince charming just got rejected!" Coco laughed.
"He just forgot the prince part. And the charming part!" Cinder said with a smirk.
"Impressive, Miss Fall. You didn't even need your Scorching Caress for that burn." Ozpin said with a smile.
Superman then cleared out his throat. "So, you guys had a weekend." He said to the victorious heroes.
Cap chuckled at this. "That's an understatement." He told his similarly colored counterpart.
"First you were all against each other, then your buddy got killed, so you're suddenly friends-" Supes said questioningly.
Hulk did a spit take at this. "Someone die!?" He asked in shock.
"Oh, yeah, he missed that part. Coulson dying in general was such a shock, we kind of figured everyone knew it." Qrow stated.
"So it was so lucky that Bruce was willing to help despite how reluctant he was." Pyrrha stated.
"He's a hero. He knows that when there's a big threat going on, he needs something big as the Hulk to stop it." Jaune declared.
Tony looked hesitant at this part. "Uh, yeah, um... You kinda missed out on that part." He explained.
"But, luckily you still wanted to be friends later." Black Widow reminded him.
"Oh." Hulk said in understanding.
"Yeah, right after you fell from the sky and conveniently learned how to control your rage." Batman said as if he was being fed some BS.
"He was thrown off by the scepter! They all were! That was perfectly justified." Emerald, surprisingly, defended.
"Wow. That one got you going." Neo noted.
"It messes with minds, just like me. That deserves credit." Emerald explained.
"And did you steal a motorcycle?!" Superman demanded.
Hulk looked nervous at this. "Um... Details not important." He dismissed.
"Details like Thor being able to send Odin back to Earth?" Superman questioned.
"What?" Thor asked as he heard his name.
"Hey! They said Grandpa Odin could send Dad to Earth with Dark Magic!" Nora snapped.
"Indeed. They may have only been passing comments, but if you pay attention, everything is explained." Ren agreed.
"True. Still, I've never been a fan of information you only learn through obscure sources, or ones that are difficult to find." Ironwood stated. [2]
"Or the professor conveniently making a way to close the portal? That worked out well for you guys." Batman added.
"Or the Chitauri all dying, Phantom Menace style after the nuke!?" Superman said as if it were unbelievable.
"Okay, I suppose that one was pretty convenient if you didn't know about the Chitauri being part robot, which wasn't immediately obvious." Weiss admitted.
"Yeah. You would've thought they were just wearing some tough armor." Blake agreed.
"Well, these movies are based on events from comics, that presumably already happened in their world, so maybe they expected it to be common knowledge." Pyrrha suggested.
"Yep. One convenient thing after another." Batman called them out.
"Hmm... Kind of like your utility belt." Cap countered, the Avengers voicing their approval.
"Burn!" Hawkeye told the Dark Knight.
"Exactly. Don't complain about other people's convenient excuses if that's all you bring to the table." Cinder agreed.
"There's nothing wrong with a convenient way out once in a while, as long as you don't solely rely on them." Ozpin said.
Iron Man then spoke up. "You know what I think? I think you guys are all jealous because we knocked it out of the park." He declared, the other Avengers voicing their approval once again.
"Sorry, guys." Hawkeye told them non-triumphant heroes.
"I'm not jealous... I'm Batman." Batman denied.
Superman challenged them one last time to try and save face. "I guess I would be jealous, if I wasn't, like, all of you combined. If I couldn't fly or shoot lasers or catch missiles or see really far, smash buildings and wear red and blue..." He listed how he was basically all of them at once.
Jaune groaned at this. "Yeah, but there's also a thing called being overpowered, which is what that is. If you can do everything, there's no challenge! And that's boring!" Jaune declared. Katana smiled at this and snapped her fingers, putting Jaune in a Captain America outfit with a shield just like the Captain's.
"But yeah, that's what happened with Perfect Man. He was Perfect and could solve any problem, so you always knew, no matter what, he'd win with no problem, so he got boring and nobody reads his comics anymore." Ruby agreed.
"It's not fun when a character's only struggle is complaining about how bad their powers are when they're actually awesome. Flying at the speed of light and lifting planets is awesome. What are you complaining about when I couldn't take five steps without a car's tire blowing out if it was within ten feet of me." Qrow added.
Suddenly, a rumbling could be heard as money started to pile up around the Avengers. "What's that? You're fading out!" Iron Man said mockingly, putting a hand up to his ear to try and hear.
"We've broken too many records!" Cap cried out as the money was now putting a wall between them and the DC heroes.
"We can't hear you through all this Box office money!" Thor cried out, all the Avengers laughing as the money completely hid them from view.
"Holy crap, that's a lot of money!" Emerald said, her and Neo practically drooling.
"Did they really break that many records?" Jaune asked.
"Yep. Third highest-grossing movie of all time. And highest-grossing for the year." Katana confirmed.
Batman sighed at this. "Shawarma!" Hulk declared one last time.
Everyone laughed at this.
Clint and Natasha were seen in the medical bay, Natasha looking shocked at something as Clint was seen from behind, speaking with a bit of a slur. "Natasha? Do I have a mark on my face? It really hurts." Clint explained, a front view revealing he had a MASSIVE, bruised welt on his head where she slammed his head into the rail. "Not here, or here so much, but riiight here." He told her as he pointed to his right cheek and the left side of his jaw, before going right to the welt.
"Oh, MY GOSH! WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS FACE?!" Ruby cried out in shock and horror.
"Natasha bashed it into a rail, remember?" Cinder reminded her.
"Ugh. Maybe they should bash the rest of his face into it, it might even him out and make him look pretty." Yang suggested, not wanting to look, but was unable to look away.
"You've been watching too many cartoons." Neo told the blonde brawler.
"Nope! Ship shape!" Natasha lied, looking a bit nervous as she knew someone would likely point it out to him later.
"Yeah, that acting's definitely not as good as what she did on Loki." Blake said.
"Can you blame her, looking at that thing?" Weiss asked.
"That's mean, Weiss." Velvet told her.
"I would recommend immediate icing of the area to bring down the swelling." Penny advised.
Cap then walked in. "Hey, guys! It's time to suit up!" He declared, before seeing Hawkeye's condition and leaned in, shocked by what he saw. "Oh, my gosh! What happened to your face!?" He asked in concern.
"I KNEW IT!" Clint cried out.
Everyone burst out laughing. "Oh, my god! Just the way he said it!" Coco laughed.
"I KNEW IT!" Nora repeated, everyone laughing again.
"So goofy, but it makes so much sense!" Emerald said.
Everyone finished their laughing fit, before Katana finally recovered. "So, what did you guys think?" She asked.
"Do you even have to ask?" Yang asked.
"It was AWESOME!" Ruby cheered.
"Definitely the best one so far." Jaune agreed.
"Yeah! Dad was awesome! And so were Hulk and all the others." Nora declared.
"Indeed. It had something for all of us." Glynda agreed.
"Yeah. They're interactions were really genuine. And pretty funny a lot of the time." Blake noted.
"Right? They really felt like a team. They argued and bantered, but at the end of the day, they came together to do what they had to, for the good of everyone." Velvet said.
Coco smiled at what her partner said, putting her arm around her and pulling her in close. "Yeah. I think they did Coulson proud." She agreed.
"The tactics and strategies they employed were incredible. Some of our best fighters in Atlas aren't that coordinated." Ironwood praised, highly impressed.
"And the way they fought to protect people the way they did should be how every Huntsman and Huntress strives to be." Winter added.
"Truly, when they come together, the Avengers are a force like no other." Ozpin declared.
"Yeah. Iron Man may have started all this, but Avengers was the one that pushed it to a whole other level." Katana said.
"Indeed he did. But that being said, I'd rather not stick around for his next one." Orion declared, getting up to leave.
"Well, it's always a pleasure to have you here." Katana gave her farewell to the fellow deity, the two shaking hands before he vanished.
Katana then fell down to her knees. "Katana, what's wrong!?" Ruby asked worriedly.
"Y-your main timeline. Events just... hit me VERY hard. If you'll excuse me for a second." Katana said, walking towards her room. "And I'll need to borrow you two for a moment!" She said, clearly highly irritated as she grabbed Cinder and Neo by one of their ears and lead them to her room despite their protests, the door slamming shut behind them.
Ten minutes later, the three women exited the room, Neo and Cinder very teary eyed, tenderly holding their rears until they made their way back to their seats, slowly and carefully sitting back down. "What... exactly was that all about?" Winter asked. Katana thought for a moment and hesitated, then sighed and had the events of Volume 8 flood into their minds, leaving everyone shocked, with several glares being sent towards Cinder and Neo, but the Schnee's also sending glares at Ironwood for straight up murdering their father. Yes, he was a cruel, manipulative bastard, but he was still family. They did briefly consider viewing the accusers as villains once again, Ruby and Yang almost questioning their relationships with the two, but were able to pull back and remind themselves, once again, this hasn't happened yet. No reason to throw their chances away because of something that hasn't occurred and now most likely won't.
"L-let's just get to the next movie, please." Weiss said, a bit shakily, before she was embraced by Winter and Penny.
Katana then sighed. "Unfortunately, the next one is still pretty good, but doesn't nearly live up to the hype. But still, it shows a lot of the growth Tony's gone through and is a huge stepping stone for him, so I think you will still all enjoy Iron Man 3." She said, preparing the movie.
A/N: And there is the Avengers done. I hope you all enjoyed it and will be looking forward to the next one.
[1] Yep, that's about the biggest middle finger I can give to the Cinder haters and all the annoying people that keep calling me a pedo or saying that de-aging Cinder is at best, meaningless or at worst, even worse somehow than leaving her at her canon age. Seriously, if you don't like it, that's fine, but stop complaining about it! Do you really have nothing better to do?
[2] If you got that reference, congratulations! You get some Shawarma!