Collab 20

by Ezra Soulthief

Collab with andy2396 edited and completed

andy2396: Heya guys, it's a me, not Mario! Cheesy, I know, but I'm feeling silly. Like any other day. Only today I'm just feeling extra silly. Ahem. Anyway, our good friend here Ezra Soulthief approached me with this idea of "Hey, let's do a collab!" I've never done a collab before now, except with stuff I'm doing with Xera Stark, which by the way, our collab is coming up soon. And believe, it'll be as glorious. So please, wait,a bit longer. We're near the verge of being done, in fact, were in the final planning stages. So expect that to be coming soon to a fanfic website near you! Again, cheesy, but I'm feeling extra silly. Anyway, back to the point. Okay, I've never done an actual collab before now, and technically this will be my first and finished one. I definitely found the idea interesting and worthwhile, so I said "Let's do it!". For the past...three or four weeks now? Let's just say four weeks. So for the past four weeks, Ezra and I have been working hard and diligently throughout the hours of the day to come up with ideas for this collab as well as "What's it going to be about?" And honestly, I found it very interesting and entertaining. And now, we present you with the final product. Hopefully you guys will enjoy it! Ezra, take it away my man!

Ezra: Hey guys! I hope you like this collab. Like Andy said, we've been working on this almost constantly for four weeks. By the way, I will be working this into my fic, Against The Darkness, eventually. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

---

"Master, there is no way I am better at cooking than you are!" spoke the girl walking alongside the boy on the snowy path through the forest ahead of them.

The girl appeared to be 16 and was three inches shorter in comparison to the boy, who stood at 5'10. She had snow white hair that matched the boys own color, her hair short and near shoulder-length. Her irises were blood-red, her skin tone slightly pale. She wore a sleeveless, white, collared shirt, the zipper pulled all the way down to the center of her more than average chest, revealing she wore a sleeveless black top underneath. However, she also wore detached white sleeves that reached slightly above her elbow with skin tight black sleeves underneath the white ones. She also wore a sort of black sash around her waist, where on the right side of her waist, the sashes ends dangled on her right side. Furthermore, she wore a black skirt, with white patterns, that reached down to the middle of her thighs. For footwear, she wore white shoes with black laces, the bottom soles colored black, as well as white thigh high socks that had black bands. In addition to her appearance, she had animal ears on the top of her head, white fox ears to be precise, accompanied with a completely white fox tail that protruded from just a little above her rear where her skirt began. Tucked away on the left side of her sash was a katana that had only two black prongs on both sides, both two inches long, that acted as a guard. The handle was completely black with some white wavy patterns, while the sheath she held in her left hand was colored white with a few black patterns.

"What? No way Inuba. You are literally ten time better at cooking than I am. That's a proven fact."

The boy who spoke, Dante, who also appeared no older than 16, had dark blue irises and hair colored as white as snow. He had chin length hair that was completely brushed down, his hair parted towards the left side of his face, slightly covering a part, but not all of his left eye. His outfit consisted of a white button up coat with black trimmings and six shiny, black buttons, the teen also wearing a sleeveless, grey collared shirt underneath that had a zipper that was zipped down to the base of his neck. The coat had tail ends that reached his calves, and from what could be seen, the inside of his coat was black. In addition to his overall outfit, Dante wore a pair of grey jeans and black running shoes with white soles. Currently, he wore a black sling for his right arm, which appeared to be injured considering his entire hand was bandaged, the bandages spanning all the way up his arm under his coat.

"How about this Inuba. When we get all settled in at the next town, we'll have a small cook off to determine who's the better cook. Deal?"

The girl, who in actuality was a fox yokai, pondered her Masters challenge for a few moments before smiling. '

"Very well Master. Challenge accepted."

"Egg-cellent! Get it? Egg? Celent? Cause we're having a cook off later?"

Inuba only laughed in response, much to Dante's embarrassment.

Dante and Inuba walked along the road through the snow-bound forest. A dark figure silently leaped from tree to tree, following the pair. On the next leap, it vanished. A minute or so later, Dante saw light reflect off something, and he pushed Inuba to one side, then deflected the bullet with his sword. "Master?!" Dante quickly turned his blade upside down so that he could raise his index finger in front of his mouth, telling her to keep silent. Immediately, she understood as she went back to back with him, the two scanning the area very carefully with their eyes.

A hooded person appeared with a puff of black vapor behind Inuba, then reached for her with one clawed hand. Inuba took note of this and attempted to attack, but her foe was quick. Fortunately, Dante was faster. Before the clawed hand could reach her, the point of Dante's longsword pierced through the clawed hand to stop it, the figure leaping backwards seconds later. It shook its hand, splattering blood on the ground. Black vapor rolled out from its robe, temporarily blinding the pair. When the cloud dissipated, the robed, hooded attacker was gone.

"What was that Master?!"

"I...have no idea. But it felt as though it had a bone to pick with us." The white of Dante's eyes had turned black, his irises white as they gave off a giant white glow. He could see a Dark trail in the direction their attacker teleported in.

"Think you can head into town?"

"You...do not wish for me to accompany you?"

"It's not that. It'll just save time for us. You go into town and find whatever inn has available space while I go and...figure out what the heck that thing was. And by the time I get back, we'll be all settled in. Simple, no?"

"Please be careful Master. As it is, you are unable to use your right arm unless you use Shadow Skin. Though it may restore function to your right arm, it will set back your recovery."

"I understand Inuba. I'll do my best not to use Shadow Skin. That's unless it's unavoidable. Look at it this way...at least it gives me the excuse to try to beat a tough opponent using only one arm."

"Master! Please don't be so reckless!"

"Sorry, sorry... I'll be sure to be careful." Dante sheathed his sword and followed the trail of Dark Energy as Inuba continued the original path towards town.

---

Dante picked up the trail of the attacker, which was surprisingly easy to follow. He followed it to a clearing and saw a masked teen wearing a black leather robe in the center with his hands folded inside his sleeves. A beowulf charged towards him, only to be shredded by a flurry of icicles.

"Strange," the mysterious teen says as he slowly tilts his head to one side. "Your mind bears no evil intent, yet your Aura reeks of it," he said as he got to his feet.

Dante lowered his sword slightly, keeping his eyes trained on the figure at all times while keeping steady awareness around him.

"Let's just say I'm a special case... Speaking of which...mind telling me who you are and why you were targeting my partner?"

The teen smirked, then said, "In answer to your first question, yes. In answer to your second question, I didn't want to deal with her while we fight."

He pulled his hands out of his sleeves, revealing a pair of black metal gauntlets that burned with black flame.

Dante's grip tightened on his sword as he raised it once again. If his opponent was a complete close range fighter like Yang, he'd be at a disadvantage considering he can only use one arm currently.

"So you were after me... Answer this then, are you with that witch?"

"And if I am?" the teen says as he drops into a crouch, his fingers stiffened into claws.

"Then you just made the biggest mistake of your life. I'm a little surprised Cinder wouldn't come and find me on her own, but it doesn't matter. She's pretty fond of sending lackeys to do her dirty work, so if you're with her, I guess I'll take my sweet tearing you apart!"

"I AM NO ONE'S LACKEY!" the teen roared as he charged toward Dante.

"THAT'S WHAT THEY ALL SAY BEFORE THEY END UP KISSING HER FEET!" Said Dante as he quickly dashed forwards and lashed out with his sword.

The hooded teen sidestepped, then lashed out with his claws, slicing deep into Dante's side. He then vanished with a bamf and a puff of black smoke. He reappeared back where he was standing, then swiped his claws to either side, flinging the blood off.

"Damn...still a little slow..." Dante whispered to himself as he looked up towards his attacker.

"He's fast... I just have to be...faster!" As he said this, the whites of his eye turned as his irises turned white, pulsating with a white glow as he engaged his attacker once again, landing an overhead strike that was blocked by his opponent's metal gauntlets, burying his feet in the ground.

"Brute force isn't going to get you anywhere, I'm afraid," the teen said as he lifted one leg, then slammed his foot into Dante's gut with an explosion of black energy.

Dante coughed up blood as he was launched up into the sky spinning until he recovered midair and searched for his opponent, soon spinning behind to deliver a backwards slash that his foe blocked using his forearms, soon grabbing hold of the blade with his right hand as he feared back his left to deliver a devastating punch. Before he could do so however, he found that Dante had managed to break free of the hold and spun his body in a vertical motion to deliver a powerful heel kick to the top of his enemies head, sending him plummeting back down into the ground that created both a miniature shockwave, making a haze of snow that obscured his sight momentarily. When the haze cleared, his opponent was nowhere to be found.

Dante began looking around as he heard a voice that seemed to come from everywhere, and nowhere, say, "I vanish, like a shadow, into thin air. Where am I?"

An icicle shot out of the trees and embedded itself in Dante's right arm. When Dante looked in the direction it came from, he saw only a slowly dissipating mass of black vapor.

"Two can play at this game!"

As he quickly tore out the icicle from his shoulder, Dante quickly dodged another icicle as he grabbed his sword and began defending against an onslaught of icicles coming from numerous directions at once as he only saw black vapor wherever he looked in the direction the attacks came from. His eyes continued to search for their target as icicle after icicle threatened to pierce him from numerous directions. It was in the next attack he found his opportunity to counter attack the onslaught, doing so by using his sword to touch the side of one icicle he dodged while directing it towards another icicle, forcing the two icicles to ricochet off one another as they traveled in different directions. His opponent appeared in a puff of black vapor, just in time to see an icicle head straight for him as he shot out another to counter. As he did so, he reared back his arm to shoot out another, barely noticing the other icicle get heading for his head. With what time he had, the unknown attacker quickly tilted back his head as the icicle only managed to break off a piece of his mask on the left side, the attacker flipping twice in the air before landing on the ground. As he looked up at him, Dante could see strands of silver hair within the mask, also seeing a purple eye glaring at him.

"Big mistake," said a voice in Dante's head.

The purple eye that he could see flashed, then turned red and began to burn with a manic light. He reached into his robe and pulled out a pair of giant, double-barreled pistols. He pulled the triggers, and Dante was sent flying back as a pair of .50 armor piercing bullets slammed into his chest. The hooded teen began to laugh insanely as he pulled the triggers over and over, making Dante's body jerk back and forth. Dante allowed the bullets to hit him one after another, letting his Shadow Skin take the full force and damage. But the sheer force and impact of the bullets, as well as being shot at numerous times began denting his skin.

This guy's a maniac! I need to find a way to throw him off balance!

A bullet had slammed into the left side of his face, rocking his head with great force as he soon feel to his knees, the attacker stopping his blaze of bullets and mad laughter, soon growling with disappointment.

"Come on...was that it? Tch... What a waste of my time..." He said approaching the kneeling and bloodied Dante.

He reloaded, then slipped the pistols back into his robe and kicked Dante full in the face, knocking him over. He crouched at Dante's side, then said, "Thy soul is by vile fear assailed, which oft so overcasts a man, that he recoils from noblest resolution, like a beast at some false semblance in the twilight gloom."

As he said this, he slowly rolled Dante over. He found the teens white blade aiming for his heart, but quickly grabbed hold of the blade with both hands to stop the blade, Dante slowly inching his way closer and closer.

"Nice try...but that's not gonna work!"

Dante only glared with an equally menacing look that he had received. "Sorry."

"It's surprising to me that you're not dead...but it doesn't matter. You'll be dead soon en-"

Before he could finish his sentence, four white Aura swords outlined in black had pierced his backside, only one of the blades managing to pierce through his body completely, Dante's attacker coughing up blood in his mask as it slowly seeped out, dripping onto the teens coat as the droplets disappeared with each drop, as if the coat ate away his blood.

"Normally…I'd avoid using dirty tricks like what I just did. But you've caught me in a bad mood... And frankly, anyone too stupid or too unfortunate to cross me during a bad mood is going to suffer greatly."

Dante managed to bring up his foot and kicked his attacker in the face with enough force to shatter both his mask and the swords that were embedded into his backside, save the one that had pierced through his body. His enemy's body crashed into the snowy ground with a loud thud as blood seeped out into the snow, turning it red. As he turned to walk away, Dante stopped suddenly, his eyes widening as he heard growling behind him and turned to see his attacker slowly trying to raise himself off the ground.

"He's still alive..."

His body began to burn with a black, flame-like Aura as he slowly got to his feet. His hood fell back, revealing his face for the first time. The lower half of his face was black as night, with veins of the same color stretching into the rest of his face. He reached for the sword in his chest, grabbed the blade, and with a sharp jerk, shattered it.

"That was your second mistake," said a voice in Dante's head. "I was hoping not to have to use this," it said as the teen reached into his robe and pulled out a black katana and sheath.

"This is Chaoseater," the voice said. "I don't typically use this weapon."

"Why?" asked Dante.

"Tell me, would you use a nuke to kill a spider?"

"How big?"

"What?"

"How big of a spider?"

"Never mind."

The teen shot towards Dante, moving faster than ever. He unleashed a barrage of blindingly fast slashes, then in one fluid motion, swiped his blade to one side and sheathed it. Numerous parts of his body had been cut apart, his body bleeding profusely until his wounds closed seconds later.

Damn...no wonder he rarely uses that thing! He's incredibly fast! Judging by the way he's been fighting, he's one who likes to toy around with his enemies until he's bored! And since I've been putting up a fight more than he really expected, he's more than interested in fighting me now! Just how strong is this guy?! Dante thought to himself.

Dante landed and used his sword to slow himself to a halt.

"Like I told you before..."

Dante plunged his sword into the ground as he used his left hand to take his right arm out of its sling, the right arm soon becoming blanketed in black Aura, three horizontal, glowing white lines appearing on his upper right arm, claws forming shortly after instead of fingers. He clenched his hand a few times and twisted his wrist around.

So my arm does work when I Shadow Skin it... But still...

He could feel a strong burning sensation throughout his entire right arm as his longsword transformed into its katana form, the sheath on his back soon forming the sheath for a katana as he sheathed his weapon and held it in his left hand, sliding his left foot backwards as he got into a stance and had his right hand hover the handle of his katana.

"Two can play at this game."

"Then perhaps it's time to change the game," the teen said.

He pulled a small trigger on the hilt of the katana, and the entire thing shifted into a six and a half foot long, foot wide black sword that the teen hefted onto his shoulder effortlessly. He lifted his free hand with a "come on" gesture.

What's with this guy? Dante thought to himself. Just a minute ago he was a laughing maniac. And now he's this…cold, calculating living machine. Dual personalities? No...

His Shadow Eyes glared directly at his opponent, focusing his vision to see something slightly intimidating. He had two souls.

What is it with people and two souls these days..? Doesn't matter... His speed will either have a significant decrease or a minor decrease now that his weapon is that big. Either way... I need to be prepared for any alterations to speed. His strength will definitely be boosted... he thought to himself.

As Dante was thinking this, his enemy shot forward, faster than before, and sent him flying with a home run swing.

"Keep your eyes on the fight," the teen taunted. Quickly finding a tree in his flight path, Dante grabbed hold and spun around it, quickly planting his feet on the tree as his kicked off it, dashing directly for his enemy as he raised his sword up once again and swung at the approaching Dante, only to miss as the teen shifted his body midair to barely avoid the swing, smacking his sheath across his enemies face for some decent damage. Dante attempted to slash downwards on his enemy as he drew his sword, only to find that he dodged backwards and prepared another full force rapid swing that Dante blocked allowing the two to head-butt each other with tremendous force.

"Just who the heck are you?!" asked Dante.

The teen grinned again, the leaped away as his eyes turned the pure red of a Grimm. Clouds of dark vapor enshrouded him, and he began to grow taller and bulkier. The cloud vanishes, and Dante found himself staring in the face of a giant, humanoid Dragon Grimm with a gigantic sword. It roared at him, black flames visible at the back of its maw.

"Human...Grimm..? You're another survivor..?" asked Dante as he slightly lowered his blade.

"Hardly," the giant Grimm growled. "My name is Abaddon, and I am a Grimm Lord!" It lifted its sword, then growled, "And you... are dead!"

It swung its sword down on him, and a massive cloud of dust was kicked up by the impact. The dust cleared, and the humanoid dragon grimm was shocked by what he saw. Dante remained unharmed as the massive blade was caught by a Shadowy clawed left hand, the rest of Dante's body now blanketed by black Aura, forming a second skin. The top portions of the Shadow Skin was like segmented armor, small gaps located in between to allow maximum mobility. His eyes were simply perfectly round circles that gave off an ominous white glow, an equally eerie white glow emerging from inside the maw of numerous shadowy teeth part of the Shadow Skin. His white hair was absent, two large horns that bent inwards and outwards on the sides of his head now taking their place, the same type of horns located on the edges of his jawline, only smaller. The maw opened up to reveal the glowing white energy within its mouth as Dante spoke in a distorted voice.

"Abaddon...huh? Sorry to say that you're confusing yourself with someone else..."

"INCOMPETENT BRAT! YOU DARE QUESTION MY IDENTITY?!" asked the humanoid dragon as it continued trying to overpower the transformed Dante.

"I do...because..."

The teen then moved his arm back as he slashed the massive humanoid dragon across the chest, sending it skidding backwards on its feet. When it stopped, its gaze met Dante's as they readied themselves for combat yet again.

"THE REAL ABADDON VANISHED ALONG WITH MY OLD POWERS!" he said charging the humanoid dragon.

The dragon charged towards Dante, bellowing, "I AM ABADDON!"

The dragon swung wildly, and Dante easily dodged the clumsy slash. Abaddon fell to his knees, clutching his head and began to shrink. He shrunk back into the teen, who got his feet and said, "Thanks a lot! You just caused an identity crisis for Abaddon!"

The teen reached for his sword, but found a Shadowy foot step on it to hold it down to the ground, the teen turning his head seconds later to see the white katana blade inches away from his throat.

"Start talking before I consider letting my hand slip. Who are you, why are you after me, and most importantly, why are you claiming to be Abaddon?"

The teen's hand shot out and wrapped around the hilt of his sword, and both vanished with a bamf and puff of black vapor. They reappeared several feet away, and the teen hefted his sword to his shoulder again.

"I'm not sure of your meaning. Abaddon is one of a kind in my books," said the strange voice in Dante's head.

Then he raised his hand to his ear, and Dante heard a chatter of a comlink.

"What? What do you mean, he's not the one?" he said.

One of a kind..? Wait... He said Grimm Lord... Then...

"Hey! Answer my questions! Who are you, and why are you here?"

"Excuse me a moment," the voice in Dante's head said as the teen lifted a finger. "You better start talking, Serena," he heard.

Serena? Who's that?

Dante transformed his weapon back into its longsword form as he invisibly attached it to the left side of his back. He kept his right arm Shadow Skinned in case he were to be attacked again, despite the painful burning that coursed throughout his entire arm. It was better to be safe than sorry later.

He attacks me out of the blue then all of a sudden stops? What the heck is going on here..?

"Are you sure this time?" said the voice. "Ok. Bye."

The teen turned to Dante, then pulled another mask out of his robe and slipped it on.

"Sorry about that, Dante. I believe some introductions are in order. My name is Hunter Rose, leader of the Horsemen," he said as he extended his hand.

Dante was hesitant at first, unsure if this was some sort of ploy to force him to drop his guard. But considering he raised his left hand to shake with him, he was certain "Hunter" had taken note of the condition of his right arm and was being considerate to use his left. He...seemed sincere. So he thought it would be rude not to shake his hand.

"Well...you know who I am apparently. And Horsemen?"

"The Horsemen are my team. Hunter, Raven, Serena, Mors, and Navi. Together, we make up Team HRSMN, the most powerful team of Huntsmen and Huntresses Remnant has ever seen," he said with a proud smirk on his face.

"Hey, so, um... are you gonna be okay after that beating?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Dante said.

"Good. You're lucky I didn't use the big bullets."

"Yeah...lucky me... Wait a minute...did you say your name is Hunter Rose?"

"Um, yeah?"

Dante hesitated at first with his next question, but asked it anyway. "You're from the future...right?"

"Yes. And no, you're not my dad, if that's what you're wondering."

Dante took an extreme sigh of relief. "Oh good...good... Wait, if that's not the case, what's your relation to the Rose family then?"

"When I arrived in Remnant, team RWBY took me in. Eventually, Ruby legally adopted me."

Adopted...

"Did anyone ever mention my name in the future? Do I even exist in you Reality?"

"You wanna know the truth? I've never heard of you," Hunter said. "The truth is, in the future timeline I'm from, you were never a part of Remnant's past."

"So not only are you from the future...but you're from a different Reality... Your friend must really be someone special if she can not only send you to a different reality, but a different time period within that reality... I thought my colleague was the only one who could breach different Realities... So in that reality, I've never crossed over to Remnant... How's the state of affairs in your Remnant?"

"Well, when I showed up in Remnant, the Grimm were becoming more plentiful. My team and I were getting ready to take on a Grimm named Absalom. If we fail to destroy him, the world is as good as dead. No biggie."

"End of the world scheme? Heh...some days I miss my old job killing things that would end worlds..." said Dante.

"Your old job?" asked Hunter.

"Story for another time. Right now though...you attacked me because...what? You thought I was some sort of threatening anomaly?"

"Exactly. Serena, my time-traveling colleague, traced the power to you. However, when I stopped fighting you, Serena told me that the power around you was being projected from somewhere else. I need to find the source of the power and eliminate it."

"This source of power wouldn't happen to be Absalom...would it?"

"We won't know until we find it. I have an idea for that, actually. One of the more obscure uses for Dust is tracking power sources," Hunter said as he pulled out an unfamiliar Dust crystal and began fiddling with it. "Let's see... add a little Aura... etch this into the surface... and voila!" he said as the crystal began to glow and float above his hand.

"Oh, wow! I didn't know Dust could be used for tracking... But the basic idea is you have no idea what the anomaly is at this point?"

"Only that it's evil and powerful. This crystal should lead us to the source. I infused it with a little Aura, then inscribed an infinite feedback loop to keep it powered."

"To think people from the future would actually know what they're going to be dealing with concerning something in an almost similar past..."

"Everything isn't so clear cut as you think it is. We can't foresee or predict everything from the past. There's still many undiscovered anomalies that we might or might not know about."

"No need to get angry. It's just...if I were you, I would have tried to search for slightly similar cases in the past and trace them back to a point of origin, regardless of timeline. It would make things a whole lot easier."

"Again, not as easy as you make it sound. And you think we didn't try that already?"

Yeesh... So defensive... "Before we head out to find...whatever it is we're looking for...mind if we make a stop at the village nearby so I can take care of this?" asked Dante using his left hand to point to his still injured right arm.

"What even happened to your arm?"

"Oh. Well...I kinda did something my colleague considered stupid..."

"The fox girl?"

"What? Oh no, not her. My other colleague. She just kinda...comes and goes as she pleases, but she's been a big help when she's meant to."

"What did you do exactly?"

"I...uh...discharged all of my Aura through one punch?"

Hunter was shocked when he heard this. "How are you still alive?!"

"Ehehehehehehehe... I've got a secret or two up my sleeve..."

Hunter sighed before pocketing the crystal. "Fine. I'll drop you off at the village and head out afterwards."

"What do you mean? I'm going with."

"Thanks. But I don't need your help."

"Look...I know for a fact you're strong. Really strong. But if you guys accidentally picked me up as the anomaly at first, then that means whatever you're tracking is pretty nasty. I wouldn't want to just send you off by your lonesome when there's something my partner and I could do to help."

"Fine. I could use some more Dust and ammo. Let's go," Hunter said.

A pair of giant, bat-like metal wings, as well as a long, thin metal dragon's tail unfolded from a small metal box on his back. He leaped off the ground, his wings holding him aloft, and tossed a small black earpiece to Dante.

"This'll allow us to stay in contact while I'm flying."

"Got it. See ya in a bit."

---

As soon as Hunter took off, Dante sighed in relief as he painfully placed his right arm back into sling. It seemed as though discharging his Aura through his arm was enough to put his right arm in not only a constant state of pain, but also rendered it completely unusual or mobile. But when Shadow Skinned, he could use his arm fully, though it would bring him a great amount of pain. Deciding he didn't want to walk back, Dante brought up his left arm while also bringing it in towards his body as he squeezed it into a fist, soon instantly vanishing in a stream of white and black Aura, reappearing in a cozy, double bedroom room near Inuba.

"Master!"

"Heya..."

"Master, your arm..."

"Um...yeah...I'm gonna need you to help me out with that...if you don't mind that is."

"It's alright. I'll take care of it immediately, but what of our attacker?"

"Oh him? Turns out it was an honest mistake. Who knew?" Said the teen shrugging his shoulders.

"Master..."

"It really was an honest mistake. Whatever...tracking gear he has accidentally pointed in my direction. So technically, he wasn't at fault." As he spoke, Inuba had taken off his coat and went about unwrapping his entirely bandaged arm, where numerous parts of the bandages had been torn.

"We won't be seeing that rude boy anymore at least."

"Actually...we will."

"What? Why?" She asked rubbing a special ointment over his entire arm, soon beginning to wrap up his arm with fresh bandages.

"That anomaly he was tracking was strong. Strong enough that it got confused as me for a bit. We can't just let him take a swing at it by himself. Who knows what kind of damage they'll do... So why not help him out and minimize the damage as much as possible? That...and he can go home a lot quicker and leave us to relax a while before we head out again."

"If you say so, master... How is your arm feeling?"

"Better thanks to you."

"O-Oh! T-Thank you master! Think n-nothing of it!" She said as her fox tail happily whipped about.

"What kind of ointment was that by the way?"

"It's a special ointment my mother taught me how to make. Unfortunately, my Cleansing Flame doesn't seem to able to heal your arm, so I had to resort to making the ointment. It not only works to heal wounds, but also serves to relieve pain."

"You're right...my arm doesn't feel like it's on fire anymore... Thanks..." Said the teen as Inuba helped place his arm in the sling. There was a knock at the door seconds later, Inuba rising up to open it.

"Ya know, I might be able to help with that arm," Hunter said as he invited himself in.

"How-"

"-did I know about that? I'm a telempath. I can sense your thoughts, feelings and emotions. That includes pain."

A shadowy being with blazing purple eyes appeared in the doorway, and Inuba immediately grabbed her DarkLight Antithesis and raised it to cut down the creature. Hunter vanished, then reappeared in front of her, catching the blade of her sword on the tips of his fore and middle fingers.

"Hold it you two. We're not here to fight one another." Said Dante getting in between them.

"But-"

"Relax Inuba. It's him."

"Still-"

"It's okay. Trust me." She hesitated for a moment but removed her sword from between Hunter's fingers, sheathing it.

"If you try anything at all, be sure of the fact that I will be the first to respond." Said Inuba as she took the ointment and moved to back of the spacious room to enter the restroom.

"I'd like to see you try..." Said Hunter.

"I wouldn't make her angry if I were you..." Said Dante whispering to Hunter.

"Why not?"

"To be honest with you...she's actually a lot stronger than I am. Not to mention scarier when she's angry and is really trying to defeat you. Or trying to do worse."

Hunter was yet again surprised.

She's stronger than he is? "I don't believe you. I stopped her blade easily."

"Truthfully, she wasn't really trying. Though if she did...well...this place would be a wreck right now."

Knowing what he did now made Hunter shudder a bit when she entered the room once again.

"Now...what business do you have with my master?" She asked.

"We're hunting for something," he said. He turned to the shadowy being, then said, "What did you find, Ariel?"

"One, that the disturbance originates from a mountain to the north. And two, that youkai tend to think with their weapons rather than their heads," it said in a dry voice.

"Mind your tongue vermin...or I will take it from you..." She said.

Hunter looked over to see Dante standing behind Inuba, using his left hand to silently but rapidly plead to tell Hunter to not have his ally provoke Inuba further.

"Hehehe... I'd like to see you try," Ariel said as he drifted closer to her, only to stop with a jerk. Hazy tendrils of shadow had attached to his arms, stretching back to Hunter's gauntlet. His eyes flashed, and Ariel drifted back towards Hunter, grumbling the entire way.

"Ariel, if you don't start acting your age, there will be some serious consequences," Hunter said.

"Anyway, I meant what I said earlier," Hunter said. "My Semblance allows me to heal someone by transferring their injury to my body. This includes mortal wounds as well. If I die from it, my Aura will heal, then resurrect me."

"It's not so much that I don't believe you...but Inuba's Cleansing Flame is one of the best kinds of healing magic out there. If that didn't work...well..."

"It couldn't hurt to try," Hunter said with a shrug. "It might speed the healing process, at the very least."

"We could try... But don't blame me if it doesn't work..." said Dante taking out his right arm from the sling.

Hunter's hands began to glow with his dark Aura, and he held them over Dante's arm. The pain flared up suddenly as Hunter's Aura sank in, then slowly began to lessen as the Aura faded.

"Wow... you were right. I did all that could for your arm, but the nerves have been overloaded with Aura. There's not much I can do for Aura-damaged nerves except slowly drain the excess Aura away so they can heal. However, I did manage to speed up the healing some," he said as he sat back. "If you'll excuse me," he said as he reached up to his right shoulder, then tore his arm off.

Dante lunged forward, only to see metal and wiring, instead of muscle and nerves. "I overloaded the Aura feedback circuits," Hunter said as he put the metal arm in his satchel. "Luckily, I always carry spares," he added as he pulled out another one and attached it to the socket in his shoulder.

"Fake arms... Definitely something to carry around spares for... Anyway, thanks for trying... What happened to your arm? If you don't mind answering that is..."

"I was fighting the White Fang... got both my arms sliced off by a masked katana wielder named Adam Taurus... later, I had a building fall on top of me and crush my legs... both had to be amputated and replaced," he said.

"Dear me that's brutal... And that guy chopped off both your arms?!"

"Yeah... I removed his Aura and Semblance permanently for doing that, so he'd never be able to fight again."

"Wouldn't removing his Aura kill him since...you know...your Aura is essentially your soul?"

"For some people, yes. But Adam's will was too strong for him to simply die like that."

"So you just 'Avatar Aanged' him?"

"Basically," he said as Ariel drifted close again. "Master, I have one other thing to report," the demon said. "There was also evidence of an Adept in the area."

"You're joking, right? Adepts shouldn't exist in this timeline. Especially since I don't," Hunter said.

Dante and Inuba looked to each other questionably before Dante asked the big question.

"What's an adept and why is it important whether or not it exists in this timeline with or without you being here?"

"When I entered the universe of Remnant, a new species of Grimm came into existence. These Grimm were known as Adepts, and resemble me when I have my hood up. They're incredibly powerful. Also very bad news that they showed up here."

"Bad news how? Like end of the world bad news or..?"

"They can strengthen and evolve Grimm. So, yeah, they're bad news," Hunter said.

"Oh that does sound bad... Well, we should go find them then. Unless we have something else to track down."

"Dante and I need to find and destroy the power source. The Adepts move invisibly and intangibly during the day, only appearing at night. Ariel, however, can track them."

"I'm assuming this miserable excuse of a creature is only capable of such?" Said Inuba as she shot the shadowy being a cold glare.

"Yeah. However, he can't kill them. I had to give him an incorporeal body when I summoned him, or he would have killed me. If you two can get along, Ariel can track the Adepts, while Inuba kills them."

"Sounds like a plan." Said Dante.

He then quickly took Inuba to the side away from Hunter and Ariel.

"Be nice. Ariel seems like a bit of a troublemaker and...very sassy. But be the better person in this instance. If Ariel is being rude, just ignore it."

"I...I will attempt to do my best master..."

"Good."

"Though I'm not sure Ariel will escape without a burn or two..."

Dante only chuckled to himself nervously before both of them returned to Hunter and Ariel.

"I heard that," Hunter whispered to Dante. "We'll be lucky if Ariel comes back alive," he added in an undertone.

Dante chuckled silently alongside Hunter.

"I told you man...you make her angry...it'll be the last thing you do..." He said still chuckling.

"Right. I need to do some maintenance on Chaoseater," Hunter said.

He pulled out his giant sword, and it shifted into what looked like a very large cannon.

"What, last checkup didn't go so well?"

"Yeah," he said as he disassembled the gun. "Couple of the focusing lenses are slightly out of alignment... gotta fix those, or the gun'll go nova if I try to fire it."

"That would be bad."

"You have no thing uses a miniaturized Dust reactor to produce a beam that, at full power, is strong enough to blow the top off a mountain from a proximity firing. As soon as I finished building it, I destroyed the blueprints completely."

"I did the same with my weapon, Anvil. If people ever figured out how to mass produce it, we'd be in a lot of trouble."

"Either way, the process in and of itself is extremely complicated and would take scientists years to understand the process. Still, I'd rather it not fall into the wrong hands."

"How long do you need?"

"Couple hours? Then I need to test fire it."

"You know, if you explain how it works to me, we could cut hours into a few minutes... I mean, it's not like I'm gonna use a giant laser cannon in the near future. Not my style anyway..."

"Not gonna happen. It's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't trust anyone but myself when it comes to the specs of Chaoseater."

"Suit yourself. Inuba and I are going to head into town then. Want anything?"

"I'll come with. If you're gonna be fighting side by side with me, might be a good idea to get to know each other better."

"Alright then. Works for me." said Dante, much to Inuba's surprise.

---

Ariel darted into Hunter's gauntlet, and the odd group walked into town.

"Master, are you sure you do not wish for me to hide my tail and ears?"

"What? No way. You don't need to hide your cute fox ears or your cute fluffy tail because of some jerks."

"C-C-Cute?!" She said as her face reddened, slapping her hands over her face to hide her face, soon opening up her fingers slowly to peek through them as she saw him chuckling.

"Oh wait, you got a little smudge on your cheek." He said turning her to the side.

"Where-?"

Before she could finish her sentence, a rock made its way where she was previously, where Dante stood currently. The rock made impact with the left side of his forehead, shattering into pieces as seconds later, blood trickled down his face as he continued to smile, despite the look of shock on Hunter and Inuba's face. Dante simply turned around and approached the perpetrators in a slow paced walk, stopping only a few feet away from them as they dropped whatever rocks they had, waiting for what could have been a beating that they would never forget.

Instead, Dante simply leaned forwards a bit with his eyes closed and said "Boo."

They jumped back with panicked shouts and ran away as Dante kept up his smile, wiping the blood off of his face with the left sleeve of his coat, the blood vanishing seconds later. He walked back to Inuba and Hunter, Inuba slightly shaking before an angered expression took hold. No one else saw it except for Hunter and Dante, but her hand began to flow with a small burst of white fire until Dante's hand began holding her flaming hand, the flames slowly dying down.

"How can you let them do that Master?! Much less let them walk away?!" She said with her voice slightly raised while in a whisper.

"Violence isn't always the answer Inuba. It's a lesson I should've taken fully to heart a long time ago... Besides...a little old rock isn't enough to take me out." He said giving her a thumbs up before walking ahead of her.

"Is he always like that? Forgiving I mean..." asked Hunter.

"Not until recently, no... He always fought back to ensure someone would understand the message but... Now...he's changed. And for the better."

Hunter growled, then said, "Excuse me a moment," as he stalked towards the offenders hiding in a nearby alley. Dante heard several cracking noises behind him and turned to see Hunter reappearing next to Inuba, the group of Faunus haters collapsed in the alleyway, each nursing a broken bone of some sort.

"Sorry," Hunter said. "My team is made entirely of Faunus, so I really don't like racists."

"Neither do I...but was it really necessary to do that much damage to them?"

"Yes," Hunter said, his voice changing and actually coming from his mouth, instead of his mask.

"Sorry about that," Hunter said. "When I get angry like that, Abaddon likes to take control. It was him who injured them that badly."

---

The group finished their errands in town, and Hunter finished the repairs on Chaoseater.

"You wanna watch?" Hunter asked as he hefted the beam cannon.

Dante and Inuba watched as he drew a bead on a distant Goliath that was heading towards the village. He twisted a dial on the side, and energy began to glow from deep within the barrel with a low hum. He hefted the cannon into position, then pulled the trigger as his mechanical tail jabbed itself into the ground. The hum scaled into a high-pitched whine, and a massive beam of black-tinged energy blasted out of the barrel towards the giant Grimm. It carved a trench in the ground as it traveled, then slammed straight into the flank of the Grimm. Hunter released the trigger, and the beam slowly shrank and vanished. The goliath had been completely vaporized by the blast, leaving nothing but the smoking trench behind.

The beam cannon transformed back into a giant sword, which Hunter attached to his back as he said, "That was only 35% percent of its full power. Now you see why I destroyed all the blueprints."

Dante whistled in an impressed tune. "I can only imagine what it'd be like at a hundred... So...we all ready and set?"

"I'm ready whenever you are," Hunter said. "I've already locked in the coordinates for our destination," he added as he pulled a small rod out of his robes.

He snapped it, then tossed it on the ground. It expanded into what looked like a mechanical horse with a mane and tail made of black flame, which Hunter jumped onto with the skill of an experienced rider.

He rode over to Dante, then lowered his hand and said, "You coming?"

"Yup. Just a second." He then turned to Inuba. "Remember the plan. As soon as the Sun sets, head out with Ariel and track down however many Adepts there are. Find them and take care of them quickly. Afterwards, have Ariel guide you back to us. We might or might not be done by the time you are. Got it?"

"Understood Master. Please be safe." she said with a bow.

"Thanks. You too."

Hunter grabbed hold of Dante's left hand and slung him atop the horse.

"Onwards noble steed! To freedom! And glory! Yeehaw!" shouted Dante as the horse raised itself on its hind legs before taking off into the night.

---

They reached the mountain just as the sun finished setting, and dismounted. The horse collapsed back into its storage, and Hunter picked it up and slipped it back under his robe.

"There should be a cave somewhere around here," Hunter said as he pressed a small button on the side of his mask.

"There," he said as he pointed at a cliff. "The cave should be right here," he said as he felt along the cliff.

He reached into his robe and pulled out a small device, then placed it, backed away and triggered it. A small sphere of energy expanded from it, then collapsed on itself, revealing a tunnel that lead deeper into the mountain.

Hunter bowed to Dante like a doorman and said, "After you." With that, the two of them vanished into the dark depths of the mountain.

"A big nasty hiding underneath a mountain... It's like the Dragon all over again..."

"Huh?"

"I don't know if this happened in your Reality and future timeline, but a while ago...Beacon fell. A majority of Vale has been overrun with Grimm, but there's been safezones established for survivors. From what I know, Vale is slowly being retaken and the safezones are expanding. As to what caused it...Cinder Fall... She incited panic amongst the crowd during the Vytal tournament, which made the Grimm bold enough to attack. Ships were hijacked and defenses were turned against us as well as White Fang within the city. Amongst our friends, I know that we only lost Pyrrha and..."

"What happened to Pyrrha?"

"Killed by Cinder from what I know... And...Yang's out of commission."

"Out of commission?!"

"She lost her right arm to Adam Taurus. I paid him back in kind by taking his right arm too. It was afterwords that the Dragon Emerged from a mountain range near Vale. After a...difficult struggle...I managed to kill it."

"Is that why your right arm is injured?"

"No...I...uh...injured it fighting something else... After my 'other colleague' picked up both Inuba and myself, we managed to find clues that pointed us towards Haven, which is why Inuba and I aren't in Vale re-taking the city. Whatever's in Haven is what started this mess. And I'm more than determined to find out who or what exactly was responsible."

"Mein Gott," Hunter muttered to himself. "None of that happened in my timeline."

"You're lucky it didn't... There's a lot of things that's happened in my Reality. The one 'true reality' as my colleague puts it. Things you don't know about. Secrets hidden from plain view. I'm not talking about the ones in Remnant..."

"You mean like the demons?" I said. "Ariel's one of them."

"Not just demons... Frankly...anything you call a demon is just a...by-product of the actual thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Would you like me to show you? It'll take no more than a few seconds."

"Go for it."

"I need you to cut something on that's actually flesh and that will bleed. Just a minor cut."

Using his metallic finger, Hunter made a cut on his cheek, blood trickling down the right side of his face.

"That will do. Can you..uh..?" said Dante extending his left hand.

Hunter nodded made a small cut on Dante's palm, blood trickling from his hand.

"You might want to take a deep breath. Some of the things you're about to see will be...shocking..."

Hunter did so, closing his eyes as seconds later he felt Dante's cut hand touch the right side of his cut cheek. It was then Hunter felt a surge of energy course through his body as his mind drifted off. He saw it. He saw everything. All the battles. The blood. The tragedy. The heartbreak. It was like watching a cinematic reel going by quickly. Then he saw something else. Memories of friends. Triumphs. Beautiful sights. Happiness. And finally, he saw it all. The Worlds. The Plane. The Dark World. Gods. Angels. Dark Entities. Everything that Dante knew and had seen, was now viewed by Hunter in full depth. The images ceased as Hunter felt himself return to his senses, breathing heavily while he clutched his chest.

"What... what was that?" Hunter panted as he sat down.

"The truth. Not that you've been told lies or anything like that. What I showed you...is what lies out there. Beyond here. Beyond Remnant. In all honesty, this is privileged information, something that would get you in trouble with the birdbrains up in the Heavens. Seeing as they're not monitoring me anymore due my exile status, I'm at liberty to tell and show you whatever information I possess. There are greater things out there Hunter. Things bigger and far older than both you and I. And I've seen almost all of them."

"Why show me all that?"

"Well for starters, it was to cast off any lingering doubts. Secondly, information like that which I've passed on to you might or might not benefit you in the future. Either or. As I said, this is privileged information. I strongly recommend you don't go back and start telling everyone that Gods and the sort exist outside of Remnant and other Worlds."

"Wasn't planning on it," Hunter said. "Allow me to return the favor and show you what made me this way."

Dante felt a mental pressure briefly, then was engulfed in the chaos of a shattered mind. Anger, hate, sadness, and dozens of other emotions and memories surged through his mind. This continued until he couldn't take anymore, forcing to take a knee.

Seconds later, he groaned as he raised himself off the floor with his left hand, soon receiving help from Hunter. "Wow..."

"This is why I'm like this," Hunter said. "This is why I lose some of my humanity every time I die. This... this is why I'm slowly turning into a Grimm."

"You can say that all you want Hunter. But in truth...no matter what happens...in the end..." He used his left hand and tapped his finger on Hunter's chest, saying "Your humanity will always remain. Even if it's buried neck deep in the Dark. Believe it or not...there will always be someone, or a group of people ready to dive in after you and pull you back. Remember that. Heck, even I'll come over and drag you out if need be." said Dante as he walked further into the cave.

"Good to know," Hunter said as he grinned, revealing his razor sharp fangs, then followed Dante deeper into the tunnel. The two walked in silence for a while, until they walked into a large, ice-filled cavern.

"Well well...what do we have here?"

The ice began to crack, and Hunter dropped into a crouch, black electricity crackling between his fingers. The ice shattered, unleashing a torrent of icy Grimm. Hunter leaped forward and slashed down a group of Beowulves, then began to float in midair. He extended his gauntleted hands, and black electricity roared from his fingers. He played the electricity back and forth over the ranks of Grimm, burning them to ash almost instantly.

"Not bad, not bad!" said Dante drawing his sword before turning it upside down, watching as more Grimm came their way.

"Watch this!"

Dante raised his held sword high into the sky as white Aura outlined in black engulfed the entirety of the blade. After a few seconds, his Aura surrounding the sword grew larger and larger until finally, he plunged his sword deep into the ground, unleashing a sea of Aura swords that tore apart the masses of Grimm as more and more fell by the second.

"Fun! I can do ya one better though!" Hunter said as he spread his arms.

Dozens of black Aura swords, each one crackling with electricity, appeared behind him. They shot forward and embedded themselves in the ground between the Grimm. Hunter spread his arms wider, and electricity arced from sword to sword, frying any Grimm in between.

Dante nodded up and down to show he was impressed, summoning a pair of spectral arms from his Aura that clapped a few times before disappearing into thin air. Hunter lifted his arms, then brought them down.

The mouth of the tunnel collapsed, and Dante turned to him and said, "Hunter?! What are you doing?"

Hunter crossed his arms, then said, "I collapsed the tunnel so we wouldn't have to deal with Grimm attacks from behind. This power source has to be attracting them."

"Like the Dragon... Okay, I'm basing this off of your statement, but whatever it is we're tracking is a very large and powerful Grimm. That Dragon I told you about not only created Grimm, but drew in existing ones to the battlefield. And since there's no mass of humans with negative emotions or feelings in the cave, I'm kinda going with that theory right now."

"Right. Let's keep moving."

The two continued onwards throughout the cave, remaining cautious as they walked deeper into the Darkness. Though the threat behind him was taken care of, what lied in wait was the concern of the two teens. They battled their way through multiple icy, Grimm filled caverns, until they reached a cavern much larger than the others. In the middle was a massive rock formation that seemed to ooze darkness.

Hunter drew his sword, then said, "That's it. That's the source of the dark power I was sent back to eliminate."

He walked closer to it, then said, "I don't like this. Too quiet."

"It's always too quiet..."

The rock formation uncurled with a roar, revealing itself to be a giant, draconic Grimm. Dante jumped back as it snapped at Hunter. He vanished with a bamf!, then reappeared and doubled over next to Dante.

"Holy crap!" he gasped as he fake-gagged. "Dude, or dragon, you need a TicTac, or Altoid.. or... or something. Your breath reeks!"

Dante waved his left hand back and forth across his face to hopefully rid himself of the smell.

"I concur..."

Hunter turned to Dante and said, "When I distract it, attack it. And don't hold back."

He vanished in a puff of black vapor, then reappeared on the Dragon's neck.

"Hey, ugly! Up here!" he shouted as electricity crackled through his hands into the Dragons neck.

"Now, Dante!" he shouted as the Grimm flailed its head around.

A spectral right arm appeared next to Dante as he sprinted towards the Dragon, the creature slightly focusing on Dante for a few moments as orbs of flame shot up into the sky and homed in on the teen. He swatted the orbs of flame out of the sky with Anvil in its longsword form, soon jumping towards the creatures chest, using his spectral right arm to sink its claws into the shoulder of the dragon as he soon went to work slashing away at scaly hide in horizontal and vertical motions. When the hid had been cracked apart, he turned his blade upside down and proceeded to stab the creature in the chest numerous times as it bled black blood profusely.

Hunter leaped off, his sword shifting into a huge scythe. He swung around one of the Dragon's wing joints, landed on top, and severed the wing. The Dragon screamed as Hunter's scythe shifted back to a sword. His fist smoked with icy vapor, and he slammed it into the Grimm's back, freezing its armor. He capitalized on this, and ran down its back, shattering the armor as he went.

When Hunter leaped off, Dante jumped off as well, summoning a massive, white outlined in black half body specter resembling his newer Shadow Skin form. The specter, along with Dante quickly approached the Dragon, landing a powerful uppercut to its chest to send in up into the sky, almost touching the roof of the cavern. As the Dragon fell back down, the specter unleashed 20 or so lightning fast punches to its chest and belly, suspending it further in the air until the specter landed a solid, final punch to the creatures chest, sending it flying backwards as it crashed through numerous rocks in the cavern.

"Throw me!" Hunter shouted.

Dante nodded, then picked him up in his massive spectral hand, reared it back and spear tossed Hunter towards the Dragon. Just before Hunter hit the Grimm, he whipped out one of his pistols and pulled the trigger, sending him into a spin. He drilled into the Dragon's chest, emerging from the back with the Grimm's heart in his hand. He opened his mouth, then dug his teeth into it and drank the blood that rushed out.

"Jeez Louise! Cannibal much?!" asked Dante.

Hunter swiped the blood off, then said, "Sorry. I got hungry."

"Your excuse is that you got hungry?! You just ripped that frickin things heart out and ate it! Mind you it was kinda cool how you ripped out its heart, but still! Eating it?! That's just gross man!"

"What can I say? My Grimm instincts took over."

"There are days I'm thankful I'm part Dark Entity instead of Grimm..."

"Right," Hunter said. The body of the Dragon heaved suddenly

"Um...what?!"

The body of the Dragon heaved again, then bulged and exploded outwards. Hunter had been covered in the Dragon's remains, while Dante's specter had fully shielded him from all the blood and chunks of meat, vanishing seconds later.

"Um... ew," Hunter said.

He burned off the viscera, then looked at the being which rose from the corpse. It looked like a Dust Knight turned Grimm, with a giant black sword and a cape made of viscous darkness.

"What the heck... Um, that's new!" Shouted Dante.

"Thank you for destroying my prison," the towering Grimm said in a deep, menacing voice.

"Who are you?" asked Hunter.

"I am the Grimm King, Absalom," it replied.

"So...you're the miserable excuse of a Grimm threatening my Reality...I thought you'd be taller. And slightly more threatening." said Dante.

"I could say the same for you...child..."

"The way I see it...you've got two options. Give up, and by that, I mean kill yourself, or stay and die by our hands. The choice is yours pal."

"And if I refuse?"

Dante grinned menacingly at Absalom, sporting a vicious grin.

"You will make me a very happy camper today."

"Insolent brat. How-"

He was cut off by Hunter, who said, "Hey, dude. I don't think you need that sword."

"What?" said Absalom.

"Yeah. Cause, right now, you're boring me to death."

"Like I technically said, all bark and no bite." Said Dante as he plunged his blade into the ground and leaned against it for support.

"Yeah. I mean, he's like the ster-"

Absalom interrupted by clearing his throat, and Hunter turned to him and shouted, "SHADDUP! WE'RE TRYING TO HAVE A CONVERSATION HERE! Now, as I was saying, he's like the stereotypical villain. Complete with cheesy world destruction rant."

Dante cocked his head with confusion, then said, "But..."

Hunter interrupted him by jabbing his thumb over his shoulder, where Absalom was ranting about something.

"I see your point."

"STOP IGNORING ME!"Absalom bellowed.

"Oh boohoo. Is the big baby gonna cry?" asked Dante using his left hand to rub the corner of his eyes.

"GRAAAAAH!" Absalom screamed as he swung his sword down at the Huntsman and Horseman.

The duo dodged to the side in opposite directions, then quickly darted forwards to slash past his ribs.

"Aw, what's wrong? Are we frustrating you?" Hunter taunted.

"ENOUGH OF YOUR TAUNTS!" Absalom raised his massive sword into the air to slam it down on the two teens, but Dante had re-summoned his upper body specter to catch the blade between its two spectral hands, allowing Dante to run towards Absalom full speed as his specters hands created sparks while it ran with him, still blocking the blade. The Grimm managed to break free and went for a horizontal slash that Dante avoided, dematerializing his specter as he spun vertically in the air with Anvil and took away a massive chunk of its armored arm, the teen slowing himself to a halt with his sword as he passed by.

---

"Well, youkai?" Ariel hissed. "Shouldn't we be going?"

Inuba glanced once outside the window, seeing that the sun had finally set as night took over. She unsheathed her sword halfway and gazed at her reflection before quickly sheathing her sword and tucking it in on the left side of her black sash.

"We are now. Lead the way."

Ariel drifted up into her face and said, "You don't give me orders, youkai."

He drifted back, then turned, drifted back through the door and headed outside. Inuba followed after the creature of the Dark, eyes on it at all times.

"The way I see it...I am the only one capable of killing these adepts currently... Besides, words from one such as yourself have no real presence amongst me. If anything, I am the one in charge."

"Watch yourself, youkai," Ariel hissed as a ball of crackling black energy formed in his hands.

He fired it at her, and she drew her sword. Then, she heard a pained screech behind her, and she spun to see a hooded figure falling back. Sheathing her sword, Inuba formed an orb of white flame in her right palm, soon shooting it past Ariels head, missing the creatures face by a few inches as another pained screech sounded off into the night, another hooded figure that had now burned to ash.

"Watch yourself...Darkling..." she said with a smile.

"That one behind you is still alive... let me see what I can do to find the rest of the Adepts... also, I am no Darkling," he hissed as he drifted closer to the paralyzed Adept.

Inuba approached as well, drawing her sword to soon turn it upside down and stab the Adept where its spine was located to prevent it from moving any further.

"Be quick about your work." she said to Ariel.

"What did I say about giving me orders..." Ariel growled as he drifted closer to the Adept.

He grabbed the Adept's head, and it screeched in pain as Ariel ripped its memories from its mind.

"Follow me. And try to keep up, youkai," he said as he rapidly glided away

"How many are there and how far away are they?"

"At least 10, maybe more. All roughly 3 miles away," Ariel said. "Along with an army of evolved Grimm between us and them."

"Are some of them in groups?"

"Of course they are! Grimm travel in packs. The various packs are spread out over a mile, all protecting the coven of Adepts," Ariel snapped, sounding exasperated.

"I meant the Adepts you fool. I know full well from my Master that normal Grimm travel together in packs. I was asking whether or not there are Adepts bunched together."

"Of course they're together, you stupid fox! Except for the ones they've sent after us," Ariel snapped.

Inuba spun around with blinding speed as she grabbed hold of Areil by the neck, smoke emerging from her grip as she slowly burned its neck.

"Be sure of one and one thing only. My master instructed me to 'play nicely.' As such, were it not for his instructions, you would have most likely lost one of your arms by now. Here is how the rest of this venture will be. You will address me respectfully at all times henceforward. You will not sabotage my efforts or insult me due to petty quarrels. Do so...and I'll be sure to return you to your master. All limbs attached. Are. We. Clear?"

Ariel dissolved in her grip, then reformed a short distance away, rubbing his neck. "As crystal," he growled.

"Good." She said dusting her hands off. "Now, if you would be so kind, lead us to the closest group. After we clear out the first we group, we repeat the same pattern by going after those closest in the vicinity, all the way until we eliminate all groups of Adepts. Afterwords, we will make our way back to our Masters."

"Fine," he growled as he drifted off.

Inuba followed him into the forest for a few minutes, then stopped and said, "Something is not right."

Dark figures dropped from the trees and surrounded her as Ariel slowly dissolved.

"Oops. Did I forget to warn you?" he said with a malicious cackle as he vanished completely.

"How mature of you..." She said with her hand hovering over her katana.

Four of them lunged at her full speed, but from her perspective, they slowly moved in the air as they tried to reach her. The fox yokai quickly removed her weapon from her sash with her left hand and went about smacking away the three in front of her first, unsheathing her weapon as she stared at its reflective surface to see the other behind her ready to strike. Inuba then quickly slashed downwards on the first foe, splitting it clean in half before spinning around once to deliver a horizontal slash that chopped off both the arms and heads of the other three. As their bodies feel to the ground, Inuba had slowly sheathed her weapon and waited silently until five more charged in after her. With great speed, the fox yokai smacked around the figures with her sheathed weapon, soon allowing her blade to drink deep of their blood as she hacked off arms, legs, heads, bodies. The center was simply one huge meat grinder as she spin around and delivered a final rotational slash that put her behind the rest of the enemies. Before the figures could readjust their view, the fox yokai had already dashed in between them, rapidly slashing around and in front of her as she continued making minced meat of the figures until she lashed outwards across from her body. With that, Inuba had placed her sheath behind her back as she lashed out to side once more to clean her blade of the blood, soon twirling the sword around twice before placing it behind her back and dropping the sword back into her sheath, moving it form behind her back and tucking it back into her sash. And so, she took a sigh of relief.

"You can stop hiding now Ariel."

He re-materialized well out of reach, then said, "Shall we continue?"

"After you."

Ariel drifted off, inuba following close behind as they headed deeper into the woods

"How did a creature such as yourself come into servitude under your Master? From what I know and have experienced, your kin are not particularly friendly."

"I don't think that's any of your business," he said as he drifted ahead of her.

"Very well... Suit yourself then... How far until the next group?"

"Right... now," he said as he faded out again.

This time, it was a pack of Beowulves, as well a giant Galapagos, a colossal turtle Grimm.

"Brilliant..."

The Galapagos roared loudly, signaling the rest of the Beowolves to charge forwards and attack.

"Weaver of Light!"

Inuba lashed outwards in front of her, unleashing a massive wave of flame like white Aura that crashed into the masses of Beowolves, the flames soon turning into flaming webs that bound them in place. She then turned her blade upside down and plunged it into the ground.

"Abyssal Light!"

Black flames erupted and merged with the white web of Aura, soon setting off a chain reaction of explosions that killed the Beowolves ensnared by the webs as numerous body parts had taken to the skies, Inuba moving her head out of the way as the leg of one of the Grimm passed by. A surviving Beowolf that was missing its entire lower half crawled towards her, but she simply lashed outwards and decapitated it, walking towards the Galapagos as its mouth glowed with red energy. Inuba sprinted forwards at blinding speeds, dodging the orbs of red energy that made their way towards her, soon dashing in the air towards the colossal turtle Grimm as it opened its jaws to devour her. Shifting her body upwards, the fox yokai dodged the snapping jaws, and in one fluid motion, delivered a horizontal slash, soon spinning vertically to deliver a vertical slash, landing on the top of the turtle Grimm's shell. Twirling her blade twice, Inuba sheathed her sword as the Galapagos' head exploded into numerous bloody pieces, its body dropping to the ground before beginning to evaporate.

"Well... that was fun," Ariel said as he reappeared. "Let's keep moving."

---

-Meanwhile, back at the cavern-

"Man! This guy's relentless!" said Dante dodging sword swipes while dealing some of his own.

"It seems like he's getting stronger!" Hunter said. "Time to bring out the big guns," he added as he pulled out his hand cannons.

He started running circles around Absalom, firing the entire time, until his guns clicked empty. The empty mags dropped out of his pistols, and another pair floated out of his robe and slammed into place. He pressed a small button on the sides of his guns, and a pair of triggers flipped down. He lifted the guns, then pulled the triggers. There was a deafening boom, as a pair of 25 mm, high velocity, armor-piercing rounds blasted out of the larger barrels of his guns. They slammed into Absalom, making him stumble back a few steps. Hunter clicked another button, and a pair of electromagnetic fields inside the bullets shut down. A speck of antimatter in each, no larger than the width of a hair, floated up and touched the inside of the bullet. Instantly, Absalom was sent flying by a pair of matter-antimatter annihilations.

"Now, aren't you glad that I didn't use the big bullets when we were fighting?" Hunter said to Dante.

"Okay... Even if I don't use guns, at all, that was still pretty neat."

Hunter broke the barrels of his hand cannons and ejected the used shells as another pair floated out of his robe loaded themselves in. He flipped the barrels back up, then slipped the guns back under his robe.

"Here's a little trick I learned from a close friend of my family," Hunter said.

A set of eight swords floated out of his robe and began to orbit behind him. He gestured, and the swords shot forward and began slashing at Absalom, breaking some of his armor.

"Two can play at that game kind sir!" said Dante in an English accent.

He then shot his arm out towards Absalom as it glowed with white Aura outlined in black. Hundreds of Aura swords soon materialized around the Grimm, forming a cage of swords. Dante soon clenched his left hand as all the Aura swords pierced Absalom's body from all directions, turning him into a literal pin cushion as he fell to his knees. Soon after, two massive Aura swords nailed the Grimm's hands to the floor to keep him in place.

"I'm assuming Penny taught you that?" said Dante as he sheathed his sword.

"Yeah," Hunter said. "So, what's your Penny like?" he asked as he waved his hand. His swords began to circle Absalom, stabbing and slashing.

"She was probably the same as your Penny. Energetic, slightly overactive because...well...you know... The whole synthetic thing... And she really loved her friends..."

"Did...something happen?"

"She... She was dismantled during the tournament..."

Hunter's swords clattered to the ground. "W-what?"

"It was during her match with Pyrrha. You could only imagine my concern even considering those two fighting against one another. But I knew Pyrrha would fight fairly. Even so...that didn't stop that witch, Cinder. One of her allies...Emerald...she used her illusion Semblance on Pyrrha and made Penny's swords duplicate into the thousands. Any sane person would immediately freak out on the spot, which is what happened to Pyrrha. My eyes can see trhough illusions once I know for a fact its an illusion. I tried telling Pyrrha to stop...but it was too late. She let out a magnetic pulsewave to counter the thousands of swords she saw, when in fact, it was only eight swords. Since the swords were connected to cables, the pulsewave pushed the swords back towards Penny and missed her. But not the cables. The cables...they...tore her apart. From what I know, her 'dismantling' was a part of Cinder's plan to incite fear among the crowd. And as I explained to you earlier...it worked. Whether or not her body was retrieved is unknown to me. If it was though...hopefully they're putting her back together as we speak."

Hunter's head drooped, and he reached up and pulled off his mask, then crushed it in his hand.

"Let me tell you something," he said, his mental voice sounding slightly echoey. "I rarely get truly angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

He laughed insanely, and a pair of swords shot out of his sleeves. Chains shot from the pommels and wrapped around his forearms, His eyes flashed, before turning red as he shot towards Absalom, cackling insanely. He began spinning and slashing, never faltering in his attack. That is, until Absalom shattered the sword in his right hand and grabbed Hunter's head in his fist. The Grimm King slowly stood up, and the Aura swords were consumed by tendrils of darkness.

"Pitiful insects," he said as he grabbed Hunter's feet with his other hand and twisted savagely. Dante heard the sound of bones snapping, and Absalom threw Hunter's twisted body at Dante.

As soon as Dante turned around, he found himself in the grasp of Absalom as he raised him in the air.

"You... You are his child? Pathetic... I expected...well...more from you."

"I...have no idea what you're talking about...but..."

Dante's right arm transformed into its Shadow Skin form as he removed it from his sling and dug his claws deep into the hand that held him, forcing Absalom to drop him.

"You're about to be in a world of hurt!"

Absalom raised his sword in the air and swung down, only for Dante to block it overhead by putting his arms in an x formation, his left arm soon Shadow Skinned as well. Dante pushed upwards and stabbed his hand into Absalom's wrist that held the sword. The white haired teen then grabbed hold of the sword and pulled with all his effort as the Grimm charged at him. Dante picked up the blade and slashed Absalom across the chest, delivering another slash that brought him to his knees as Dante spun around and went for the stab. Absalom quickly grabbed hold of the point and prevented his impalement, but Dante continued pushing, quickly forcing the Grimm to slide backwards on his feet. Before his back hit the nearby wall, Absalom moved his body to the side as the blade entered the wall, allowing the Grimm to attempt to grab Dante. The teen quickly dodged to the right and jumped on the blade soon leaping into the air to deliver a powerful punch to the Grimm's jaw, forcing his head into the ground first. Dante then quickly grabbed hold of Absalom's right arm and raised him into the air above him before turning around and slamming him back down into the ground. With a loud roar, the teen spun the Grimm around a few times before leaping into the air with his enemy still in tow, still spinning him around before tossing him back down into the ground. Dante then dropped down upon his enemy with another punch, this time between his mouth and nose. With that, the teen reared back his right leg as it transformed into Shadow Skin mode, then delivered a kick directly under his jaw as he sent Absalom flying, Dante flipping in the air vertically once before gently landing on the ground, standing back up seconds later.

"Where you expecting that?"

Dante heard movement behind him, and he spun on his heel to see Hunter's body slowly rising on its feet. It straightened up, and its upper body flopped limply forward. Dante heard the sickening sound of bones snapping back into place as Hunter slowly straightened up. He tilted his head slowly to one side, eliciting a series of loud cracks from it.

"You can't kill me that easily," he said. "Dante and I are alike in that respect. He can't die; I refuse to stay dead."

He reached into his robe and pulled out his black, sheathed katana, then slammed the end of the sheath into the ground.

"Rise, O dwellers in the darkness," he said, his mental voice taking on a peculiar choral quality. "Rise, and serve your master."

The ground all around his katana cracked, and shadowy hands reached up and clawed their way to the surface. The hands belonged to tall, thin, shadowy wraiths, with blazing purple eyes like Hunter's.

"What in the world..?"

Hunter pulled his katana out of the ground, then wrapped his hand around the hilt and charged forward. The wraiths followed suit, and began slashing at the Grimm King with suddenly razor-sharp fingers.

---

Inuba had sliced the last hooded figure in half, taking a deep breath before lashing out to the side to clean the blood of her blade, sheathing it seconds later.

"Was that the last of them?"

"No. This is strange. Normally covens of Adepts are much smaller. This must be several different covens gathered together. This way," Ariel said, sounding slightly concerned. Ariel drifted off, then stopped and said, "How are you holding up, youkai?"

"Just fine. Thank you for asking. But what has you so concerned?"

"Adepts aren't like your typical Grimm. You seldom find more than one anywhere at any given time. When they do gather in their covens, the reason is never good. I can sense power flowing from the central coven to that mountain our masters descended into."

Inuba closed her eyes and concentrated. She could feel Dante's presence, as well as Hunter's. Then, she felt an extremely powerful presence colliding with the two.

"They're feeding power to some sort of creature in the caverns of the mountain! Quickly! Lead us to the central cavern!"

"Right!" he hissed as he darted off.

Inuba followed close behind, until they reached a large hill with a cave in the side. They ran (or in Ariel's case, floated) into the tunnel, until it opened out into a massive cavern. There was a circle of Adepts with their arms raised in the center, surrounding a crystal that was swirling with red and black energy. At their head was an Adept with red markings on his hood, and a black katana at his side.

"See the Adept with red markings?" Ariel whispered to Inuba. "He's an Arch-Adept, the evolved form of the Adept. He must be the leader of the coven."

The Arch-Adept's hood lifted slightly, and he lowered his hands. The other Adepts followed suit, getting into fighting crouches as their leader stepped forward.

"Greetings, demon. And to you as well, youkai," he said courteously in a deep voice as smooth as silk, bowing slightly as he did.

"I am Balthazar, leader of this coven. Welcome to our humble abode."

"You won't have the pleasure of staying long...monster..."

"Am I really? Would a monster have greeted you in this fashion? I may be a soulless Grimm, but I possess knowledge and intelligence, greater than any other of my kind," he said, gesturing to make his point. "Tell me, what defines humanity? Is it a soul? Or intelligence, sentience, free will?"

Inuba kept her hand steady over her sword, thinking of the conversation as some sort of ploy to catch her off guard. But nonetheless, she would answer him.

"I have asked my Master the same question numerous times. What makes a human? What defines being human? He himself has searched for many years to find the answer. Questioning whether it'd be the soul, their sentience or their free will. And from what he tells me...he believes all of the above. But the most important, determining factor...is ones actions."

"An excellent answer, Inuba. Am I any less human? All I've done was to gain some sort of equality for my people. Would you condemn me for that?

"Equality?! You consider destruction as a means of equality?!"

"I will do whatever I have to," he said. He looked at the other Adepts, then said, "Kill them."

"Then I will do what I must as well."

"Do your worst."

"You may wish to stand behind me for now." said Inuba to Ariel.

The demon did so as Inuba slid her left back, her right hand hovering over the handle of her blade as white, flame like Aura surrounded her entire body, the flames growing larger and larger as the minor Adepts ran towards her.

"Kitsukami Secret Art: Fox Goddesses Holy Flame."

Her flaming white Aura condensed to her right arm and sword, the fox yokai opening her eyes as they flashed red briefly. As the Adepts drew in closer, Inuba lashed out with her katana, unleashing a sea of brilliant flame that turned the Adepts to ash upon contact. After ten seconds or so, the flames died down as Inuba stood up normally and held her sword tightly, waiting in anticipation.

The flames cleared, revealing Balthazar to be completely untouched. He slowly drew his katana, the blade of which was red. He crouched, then shot towards Inuba.

"Reap what you've sown, youkai!" he hissed before slashing at her.

They came to a clash as sparks emerged from the point of contact, each trying their best to push the other back.

"There are better ways for equality than resorting to destruction! You claim to be different, but in truth, you are no different than all the others I have faced!"

He blurred, then vanished. He reappeared behind her, lifting his sword to cut her down, until he was struck in the back by a bolt of black energy. Inuba heard the boom, and she spun to see Ariel floating behind her, his hands crackling with dark energy.

"Watch your back, youkai," he said dryly.

"Shouldn't you be watching your own, demon?"

Ariel turned to find the Arch-Adept behind him, ready to take his head. This would have been the case had Inuba not stuck out her blade to block then push back, delivering a slash that the Arch-Adept blocked, sending him skidding backwards on the heels of his feet. The Arch-Adept blurred again, then reappeared immediately in front of Inuba, his sword lifted to stab her.

"No!" Ariel said as he darted in front of her and took the stab directly in his chest.

Inuba's eyes widened in surprise, as did the Arch-Adepts. But instead of remaining completely stunned, Inuba took the chance to slash the humanoid Grimm across the chest while avoiding Ariel, leaving the creature with a nasty cut as she soon placed her foot on its stomach, grabbed hold of Ariel, and kicked off the creature, taking Ariel with her as they distanced themselves from the Arch-Adept.

"Why would you..?" started Inuba.

"Go... kill that...that bastard," he said weakly.

He slowly dissolved into a pile of black dust, which swirled around Inuba's feet. The dust swirled higher and higher, then was pulled into her body.

"Really now? Do you truly believe yourself capable of killing me?"

"I do... As my master used to say, 'It's my job you see...to rid the world of scum such as yourself.' Believe me...you will not leave this place alive. That...is a fact."

"Hehehehehehe... heheheHAHAHAHA!" Balthazar laughed. "I killed your little darkling friend easily enough. I'll kill you just as quickly!"

"Is that what you think? Foolish creature... You have no idea...who you are truly dealing with."

"Oh really? Show me."

"Gladly."

Inuba vanished in a quick burst of white flame, reappearing behind the Arch-Adept as she drew her sword and lashed out at him.

He spun, and deflected her slash effortlessly with the armor on his arm.

"Pathetic," he said. "Why don't you use the power your darkling friend gave you. At least then you'll be more of a challenge."

"First of all...he is not a Darkling..."

Inuba shot her hand forwards as numerous bolts of black energy struck at the Arch-Adept, the Grimm dodging the first few blasts before being struck by the quick barrage of black bolts. As he lowered his arms from blocking, the Arch-Adept could not see Inuba, soon feeling a blade pierce through his abdomen, the white katana blade with a black sharp edge crackling with black energy, the Grimm slowly turning its head back in surprise to see the fox yokai.

"Second...when an external source of power is integrated with my own, my overall power and abilities is tripled. In the case of my Master however, since I am connected to him constantly, his power alone increases mine tenfold of what it originally is. And considering the years we've been connected to one another...this effect has become permanent, meaning my power, regardless of being connected to my Master or not, will always be ten times of what it normally is. You lost this fight before it even began." she finished as she plunged the blade deeper into the Arch-Adept's abdomen, a cry of pain emerging forth as blackened blood began dripping profusely onto the floor.

The Arch-Adept spat up black fluid, then slowly began to dissolve.

"Thank... you," he whispered as he dissolved into a pile of black dust.

The dust swirled up, then was absorbed into Inuba's body.

"Hope you don't mind if I share your body while I gather enough power to reform," said Ariel's voice in her head.

Inuba lashed out her weapon to the side, twirling it twice before sheathing her weapon.

"Take however much time you need..." she sighed as she knelt down to the pile of black dust.

"Something the matter?" asked Ariel.

"He said thank you before he turned to dust... Why?"

"From what I gathered, this timeline's version of Adepts are corrupted humans. The process is excruciating, and the human part of them is locked deep within. They're only released once the Adept is killed."

"Which is why they had a humanoid shape... I suspected some form of corruption but...could not believe it when I saw it..."

"Precisely... the Adepts of my Master's timeline were a result of his entry into the universe of Remnant. The Grimm Overmind attempted to copy him, and created the Adepts as a result."

"Overmind?"

"The central intelligence behind the Grimm. They all have autonomy to a certain point, but all of their actions are caused by the Overmind. How else do you think they respond so quickly to attacks on other Grimm in the area?"

"A hivemind of sorts... Could that mean it exists here in our Reality since Adepts are here as well?"

"Possibly. The Adepts seem to come into existence wherever my Master goes."

"Then if he were to leave...they would be gone as well? Or would they remain?"

"They would remain. They're tenacious little buggers."

---

Dante stood and watched, waiting for a chance to do something. But Hunter and his specters seemed to do a decent job on their own

"He's starting to slow down!"

Hunter as he unleashed a flurry of lightning fast slashes. Absalom slapped him back, and his wraiths caught him and set him down gently.

"Maybe I spoke too soon," Hunter said.

Dante took a few quick steps forward until he reached Hunter, soon whispering in his ear.

"Really now?" Asked Hunter.

Dante nodded his head twice smiling.

"A little trick I picked up from a previous employer of mine. He taught me some of his moves so it'll work out nicely. Besides...I think it'll do the trick just nicely."

"But I thought-"

"I'll make an exception this time."

Dante quickly stabbed his longsword into the ground and extended his left hand as Hunter handed him one of the hand cannons he held. Dante drifted the cannon down to his left thigh as it invisibly attached itself to the side of his thigh, the teen soon grabbing hold of his sword as he walked slowly towards Absalom. The large Grimm charged at Dante full speed, as did the teen himself as he leapt towards Absalom. The Grimm tried for a stab with its massive sword, but Dante spun out of his way midair and tried for a stab himself. Absalom managed to jump backwards to distance himself a bit from the blade point, bringing up his own sword to block the stab and lash outwards. When his field of view was clear, he could no longer see Dante, only his sword twirling up high into the air. Panicked, Absalom quickly looked around him, still not able to see the teen. Then, he heard a clicking noise and looked to his right to see Dante standing atop his right arm, Hunter's hand cannon aimed directly at his head.

"You are indeed his son..."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I really don't care. Now...get the hell out of my Reality."

With that, Dante pulled the trigger as blast of white Aura outlined in black hit Absalom directly in the face, smoke covering the area where his head was as the massive Grimm's body began to slowly lean back, the teen jumping off and attaching the hand cannon to his thigh, shortly catching his sword midair before twirling it twice and placing it back in the sheath on his back. Hunter walked to his side as the wraiths surrounded Absalom's body, it's head now fully revealed as both teens stared directly at him.

"The honor is all yours." Said Dante as he removed the gun and twirled it three times before handing it to Hunter.

"Thank you," Hunter said. Black vapor swirled around him, and he transformed into his Grimm Lord form. His eyes changed from purple to pure red, and Abaddon picked up Absalom's sword.

"A fine blade," he said as he looked it over. He threw it at Absalom, and it embedded itself in the ground by Absalom's head.

"Pick it up. I won't dishonor myself by killing an unarmed opponent."

Absalom slowly got to his feet, and pulled the sword out of the ground.

"Abaddon... you were once my most loyal lieutenant. Now you are being controlled by some... human child," he said as he lifted the massive sword.

"I slaughtered millions of humans under your command... spilled seas of blood. By killing you, I can begin to make amends for what I have done," Abaddon said as he summoned his own blade. "I have seen the world through the eyes of a human, and I have seen the horrors wrought by the Grimm."

Absalom lifted his sword and swung it at Abaddon, who swatted it aside contemptuously with the flat of his blade. This continued for a while, until Abaddon created an opening. Then, the Grimm Lord lifted his sword high overhead, then stabbed Absalom through the chest.

"For the lives I've destroyed..." he said as he stabbed Absalom again. "For Remnant..." he said as he stabbed him again. His blade began to burn with black energy as he lifted it one final time. "For...my...FREEDOM!" he roared as he drove it through Absalom's heart.

Absalom coughed up black blood, then slowly began to dissolve into dust, which was absorbed into Abaddon's body.

The Grimm King leaned forward, then said, "You know... what...my greatest sin...is?"

Abaddon leaned in closer, then stiffened as Absalom stabbed his hand into the Grimm Lord's chest.

"That... I... never planned to... die... alone," the Grimm King said as he dissolved completely. Abaddon fell to his knees, then shrank back into Hunter, who slowly fell forward, black liquid leaking out of his wound.

Dante ran over, and turned Hunter onto his back. He saw the black veins in Hunter's face start to spread further, and bone start to protrude from the sides of his head.

"What the heck is going on?!" Dante said to himself.

He heard a weak voice in his head say, "Grimm blood... it's speeding the progress of the Grimmification…"

"Master!"

"Inuba?! What happened to you?!" Dante said.

Inuba's appearance had changed slightly. Her hair, ears and tail were now black.

She took note of this and answered quickly, saying, "Ariel took significant damage and needed to reside in my body until he is able to recuperate. He changed my appearance slightly. But what's wrong with him?!"

"It's his blood... He's turning Grimm. Inuba, can you do something for him?"

"I'm...I'm not sure Master... I've never had to treat anyone with actual Grimm blood in them..."

"Please, try!"

She gave a quick nod as she place both hands on his chest, white flames engulfing his body soon after.

"Please Master, hold him down!"

Dante quickly Shadow Skinned his right arm, soon using both arms to hold down Hunter as he kicked and screamed in agony. Dante's right arm was soon wracked with pain, his arm having the sensation of extreme burning as he fought the pain to hold down Hunter.

"Inuba!"

"His Grimm blood is resisting the treatment master! And his psychology state is not helping my efforts either!"

The white haired teen growled in frustration before raising up his left arm and punching Hunter in the face hard enough to knock him out. Dante took a sigh of relief as his right arm reverted to normal, going completely limp again as he leaned back and sat on the ground, putting his right arm back into the sling shortly after.

"We'll treat it later... Did that help?"

"Despite the method, it did. Now that he isn't thrashing about, it's making the treatment go smoother. In a matter of minutes, I can purify his blood completely and prevent further...occurrences."

"How so?"

"With you master, you were unaffected by the adverse effects of a Dark Entity soul, a King Class no less, because you are part Dark Entity yourself, rendering you immune. However, Hunter is only a human. A human with such a soul residing within, even if they have come to terms with another will still affect his body...and...from what we he's told us, will make him turn into a Grimm."

"And your Cleansing Flame will prevent him from turning...how?"

"Have you forgotten Master? The Kitsukami clan has combatted Dark Entities, evil magical creatures, and evil spirits for centuries. As such, we have developed effective means of combating them, as well as healing the effects they have of people of all varieties. Whether they be human, magical creature, or a spirit. This...Grimmification process isn't all that far from the effects of Dark Entity possession. Even so, it will take some time to completely purify his blood and his body. The purification is lasting, so he won't have any future instances."

"And 'his' Abaddon?"

"Their souls are intertwined. The purification will only negate the adverse effects, but will cause no harm to either of their souls."

"Good... If that wasn't the case...I'm pretty sure he'd be angry once he woke up," said Dante leaning back all the way to the ground to rest.

Inuba continued trying to purge the Grimm blood from Hunter's system. The bone at his temples receded, as did the black veins. However, they only receded to their previous orientation, before Hunter had been stabbed by Absalom.

"Is that it?" asked Dante.

"Yes. All done."

"Good. Now we can carry him back into town."

"But Master, your arm..."

"Ah, don't sweat it. I'll be fine. Besides, I left a sword back in our room at the inn. We won't have to travel far."

The trio made teleported back to the inn and laid Hunter on one of the beds. He was still unconscious, so Dante checked the inner pockets of his robe.

"M-master? What are you doing?" Inuba asked.

Dante pulled a mask out of one of the pockets, then set it on the bedside table.

"Figured he's gonna want this when he wakes up."

"What will we be doing then?"

"Well, we can't just wait around all day for him to wake up. We've got places to be. Clues to find. The faster we get there, the better. If you'd be so kind, can you square away the bill while I leave him a note?" said Dante, removing a few lien cards from his coat and handing them to Inuba.

"Of course Master. I'll get right on it," she said, taking the cards and heading through the door. Dante sat down in a chair and sighed in relief.

He found a piece of paper in the desk nearby and a pen, soon beginning to write out a note. After about two minutes, he put away the pen and place dryer corner of the note under mug near the bedstead were Hunter rested.

"Well...it's been fun Hunter. Glad to have met you. Take care of yourself, friend," he said patting the end of the bed before leaving the room.

---

A couple miles out of town, the pair found Hunter standing in the middle of the road.

"Hey," he said casually.

"Hunter. Wasn't expecting you to wake up so soon."

"Look, I need to be heading back to my time. Or Reality. Whatever you call it. Here, take this," he said as he tossed a small device to Dante.

"Thanks... Wait... How'd you get here so fast?!"

"Teleported."

"Oh yeah… Forgot you could do that…"

" That device will allow you to communicate with me across timelines. If you need to call in the cavalry, simply activate that and I'll bring my entire team to help out."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." He said pocketing the device.

"So long, and thanks for all the fish!" Hunter said as a white portal opened behind him. He stepped through it, and it vanished, leaving no evidence that he had ever been there.

"Fish?" asked both master and familiar simultaneously.

The two only shrugged their shoulders before continuing their snow covered path, snowflakes drifting peacefully in the air.

"Think we should have fish tonight?" asked Dante.

"If that is what you wish Master." Replied Inuba.

"Well, do you want fish?"

"As long as you cook and prepare it Master."

---

Ezra: So, did you guys catch the quote? PM me if you did. If so, you get virtual cookies!