Hello all, I don't want to put any more A/N notes in here than is necessary so let me briefly explain what's going to happen.
Do expect: A huge focus on the DMC characters, particularly their interactions with one another as well as the members of team RWBY. An all new storyline that is never before seen! This will take place alongside the events of RWBY V1-?, however it will mostly be about the DMC dream team trying to get back to their universe.
Do not expect: Ships of any kind that aren't canon in the show (nor any ships regarding DMC characters). Also don't accuse of me of "hinting at ships" because there is drama between two characters. A lot of action. I find reading long drawn out action scenes to be incredibly tedious and boring, so I won't be writing them myself except when it's necessary, and if you clicked on this then you can get your action fix by playing the DMC games or watching RWBY (in a nutshell I want this story to be character driven). JNPR, SSSN, and Penny will be an absolute, incredibly minimal focus in this fic, if they appear at all. I'm not going to novelize the episodes of RWBY, because as before if you want to experience the episodes you can go watch them yourself.
The only change I'm going to make to RWBY is Aura; it's threshold is undefined all throughout the show and I'm not gonna bother writing around it when I don't have plan on having many fight scenes anyways. Therefore, don't expect it to make an appearance here.
Don't expect a set schedule for this fic at all. I use the title of the story in between dashes to denote scene breaks, just fyi. All that said, let's go!
-The Devil Hunters in Remnant-
Arkham was defeated, and the twins of Sparda fell further into the demon world, each grabbing an amulet left behind by their mother. The sword of the legendary dark knight himself fell in between them, and Vergil rolled forward, grabbing it and pulling away from Dante. Narrowing his eyes, he saw Dante's amulet dangling around his wrist. Extending his hand he gave one simple order to his younger brother. "Give that to me."
Dante quickly put his hand behind his back. Despite the stakes, he kept a light tone and said, "No way, you got your own." It was a small joke, but he couldn't deny that somewhere in the back of his mind hoping Vergil would just let it go.
Vergil leveled his sword, the tip pointed at Dante's chest. Calmly he replied, "Well I want yours, too." He was so close to attaining his father's power, so close to attaining ultimate demonic power. Nothing would stop him, not even his brother. Dante started chuckling, shaking his head as his right hand came to rest on Rebellion. "What's so funny?"
"You know, after everything you still don't get it, do you?" Dante raised his hands in a shrug. "Pops was a powerful demon, but he wasn't the strongest. You and I just overcame that power a few minutes go, didn't we?" Dante lowered his arms to his side as Vergil's gaze narrowed. "If you ask me, it can't be worth all that much if it was overcome that easily."
"Oh please. Arkham couldn't handle that level of power; I don't think either of us would've fared so well if he had absolute control over it." Vergil responded. "I won't say it again, brother. Give that to me." He raised his hand once more.
Dante sighed. "A demon awoke to justice and single handedly sealed the demon world away from humans. It goes something like that, right?" When Vergil didn't respond he continued. "Sparda wasn't powerful because he was a demon, or because he was some goody two shoes, he was strong simply because he did the right thing, Vergil. No matter how hard you try, you won't be like father because you don't care about what's right and wrong. But if you did, maybe-"
"You're wasting time!" Vergil shouted, running forward and clashing with Dante. The two caught each others sword mid-swing, blood dripping from their wounds. "I tried to do the right thing, the night we first separated. I failed, because I wasn't powerful enough to overcome my enemies. I will never suffer that humiliation again."
The ground shook beneath them, and the two leapt backwards from each other. Vergil raised his hand, clenching his fist and blue swords manifested in a circle around him. "I need more power."
Dante closed his eyes, gripping the handle of sword tightly. "If that's how it's gonna be, then let's finish this. I have to stop you, even if it means killing you."
The two brothers sprinted at each other, blades clashing as they battled over which ideology was the right one; Vergil's pursuit of power, or Dante's desire to do the right thing regardless of how difficult it was. But their fight was cut short; both brothers stopped as the air around them seemed to hum, then in a flash everything suddenly went white.
-The Devil Hunters in Remnant-
When Dante came to his senses, there was an annoying ringing in his ears that persisted for what felt like several minutes. He pressed his hands over his ears and slowed his breathing, trying to get a grip on what had happened. The last thing he remembered was fighting with Vergil and now… Slowly opening his eyes and sitting up as the ringing faded, he took in his surroundings.
"Hmm… Guess I'm not in Kansas anymore." It was the middle of the day now, and Dante found himself in the middle of the forest. Which was weird considering there wasn't a forest anywhere near Capulet city, and if he wasn't in the demon world then he could be anywhere on Earth. "Just my luck." He muttered, turning around and walking away. He came to sudden stop when he saw that Vergil was unconscious on the ground a few feet away, the Force Edge still in his hand. He put his hand on Rebellion, not sure if he should attack.
His choice was made for him when Vergil woke up a couple of seconds later, putting his hands over his head in a manner similar to how Dante had a moment ago. Then he stood up slowly, and made eye contact with Dante. "What just happened?"
Dante lowered his hand from his sword. "Beats me." He said with a shrug. "Guess the demon realm threw us out when the portal closed." He took in his surroundings again, sighing when he couldn't see any high-rises nor the Temen-Ni-Gru anywhere in sight. "Though I don't know where we've ended up." He faced Vergil again, and then jumped in the air with a flip as his brother swung at him with the Yamato and fired several spectral swords at him. Landing on the ground, he readied Beowulf and took a fighting stance. "Alright!" But Vergil merely looked past him and sheathed his sword. Dante turned to look behind him.
On the ground, something was disintegrating behind him. A slightly large demon, by the looks of it. Evaporating slowly, too. "Never seen a demon die like that." Dante said.
"I haven't encountered a demon that I couldn't sense." Vergil added. Dante's brow furrowed, his brother was right. Whether in Hell or on Earth, most demons and devils gave off an ominous vibe that could be sensed by other demons, an ability that Dante was luckily able to tap into thanks to his demonic heritage. But he hadn't sensed this creature at all, and it may have gotten the drop on him if Vergil hadn't spotted it.
"Well, don't think I owe you one." Dante retorted. And for the second time in three minutes, Dante wasn't sure if he should draw his sword and attack.
"Hey, are you guys doing alright?"
And once again his choice was was made for him when two girls about their age walked through the brush and into the small clearing. The first girl was smiling, with long yellow hair and lilac eyes, wearing two yellow gauntlets around her wrists. The second girl was dress mostly in black, with amber eyes and a bow on top of her head. A sword was strapped to her back, though when she got closer Dante could make out a trigger and trigger guard, and he realized she must've had a rifle with her.
"We're fine." Vergil answered evenly as he assessed the two girls in front of him.
"Awesome. Glad to see you two have partnered up. We heard an explosion nearby and came to investigate." The yellow girl said. "Oh, I'm Yang!" She extended a hand, and Dante reached forward and shook it.
"Blake." The other girl said, keeping her arms crossed.
"I'm Dante." The younger brother supplied. "What was that about partners?" He asked, glancing at Vergil.
"Ozpin put us in a straight line that extended fifty people down, and then spoke in a calm voice to just a few of us." Yang said with a laugh, placing a hand against her forehead. "The first person you make eye contact with is your partner for the next four years. Now come on, we got to go find those relics." She started walking, but when she passed Vergil, she stopped and said, "By the way, I haven't got your name yet."
"Vergil."
"Did you hear that Vergil? We're gonna be stuck together for the next four years!" Dante said with a laugh, wrapping an arm around his older twin.
Vergil quickly pushed him away with a curt "Get off." and the two started following behind Yang and Blake.
Dante tapped his brother with his elbow, then leaned in and whispered, "So when do we ditch these two and get back to fighting?"
"Hmm. I'm thinking-" Before Vergil could fully respond, another loud explosion came from somewhere ahead of them.
"Sounds like someone else is fighting a Grimm! Let's go!" Yang said, then she and Blake took off ahead of them. Dante and Vergil made eye contact with each other, then Dante shrugged and took off after them. The four of them ran for a little under a minute, before coming across a strange sight.
Lady was up in the tree branches, her white shirt clearly contrasting with the green and brown of the forest. Another large, black creature was at the base of the tree trying to climb up to her and now that Dante could get a good look at it, it seemed to be like a large, spiky bear. Lady pulled the pin on a grenade and let it casually drop to the forest floor, creating another large boom. The creature's back legs were gone but it wasn't done fighting yet.
Yang ran forward, swinging her arms as though she were in fist fight with the creature, which was at least 40 feet away. Dante's eyes widened when he saw projectiles launch forward, making contact with the creature and finishing it off. Running forward, he saw smoke rising forward from her gauntlets, and that there was an ammo belt running between two layers of metal. "Where'd you get a weapon like that?" He asked.
"Made them myself." Yang said, pointing a thumb at her chest proudly. "It only took me three months, too." She leaning forward, peering at the sword and rocket launcher on Dante's back. "I see someone's old school."
Dante shrugged. "Nothing wrong with the classics." He said with a grin.
"Nothing's classy about you."
Dante and Yang turned, and they saw that Blake had gone on ahead to help Lady, and the two were now standing before them. "Glad to see your attitude made the trip, too."
"Hmph. Where are we, anyways?" Lady asked, and she missed the confused glance that Blake and Yang shared. When Dante just shrugged, she tilted her head. "I'd like my weapon back, if you don't mind." She held out her hands, taking the weapon back when Dante pulled it off his back.
"So… what's your name?" Blake asked as Lady inspected her weapon.
"Lady." Was all she responded with.
"... Your name is Lady?" Yang asked, holding back a laugh.
"This one dubbed me with it, and since…" She halted, not about to divulge her troubles to these strangers. "Well anyways, that's what I'm going with from now on." She said resolutely.
"Fair enough, I guess. Have you partnered up with anyone yet?" Yang asked, sensing the seriousness behind her words.
Lady turned to Dante, who shrugged and shook his head. Turning to Yang, she asked her, "What are you talking about?"
Yang sighed, and Blake smiled a bit, then stepped forward to explain in her partners place. "Our partners are apparently the first people we make eye contact with, as long as they aren't partnered with someone already. Then we have to go find the abandoned ruins in the north, retrieve a relic, and make it back to Beacon cliff before nightfall. Since Dante's already got a partner, you can come with us and partner up with someone who's free."
Dante felt himself freeze when Lady turned back to him and asked who he was partnered with, then went rigid as Vergil came up beside him, having strolled up to them at a slow pace.
Lady instantly drew her guns and aimed at Vergil, causing Blake and Yang to both jump back in shock. Dante quickly grabbed her wrists and pointed the guns at the ground, but Lady ignored him as she glared at Vergil. "What are you doing here?"
"Took a wrong turn, it seems." He replied dryly.
"Look, we're all in the same boat right now, so we may as well get along until we figure out what's going on. Then we can all get back to killing each other later, alright?" Dante asked.
"You can't be serious!" Lady shouted.
"All three of you, knock it off!" The three turned to Blake, who had gotten in between Vergil and Lady. "If you don't calm down, we're only going to attract more Grimm. And we don't need to fight the Grimm to get through initiation, alright?"
Lady glowered at Dante, then turned her attention back to Vergil. "You try anything and I will end you."
Vergil wasn't one to boast, but even so found it hard not to mouth off some retort to the girl. He simply rolled his eyes, then said, "I'll play nice if you will."
Gritting her teeth, Lady put her guns away, and then turned to Blake and Yang when they relaxed their stances a bit. "Lead the way, you two."
With an uncertain glance, Yang and Blake started walking forward, and the three started following them, Vergil on Dante's left and Lady on his right. "I thought he was dead." Lady muttered, turning and looking up at Dante.
"I wasn't sure where he was." Dante admitted. "But then he showed up while I was in the middle of fighting Arkham and helped me kill him. Then we started fighting each other, but then got zapped here."
Lady was silent for a moment before she told him, "I killed Arkham, not you two."
Dante laughed. "No, Verg and I put a bullet through that overgrown zit."
"Whatever you did wasn't enough. I found him at the top of the tower, and I put a magazine through his head." It was hard to get the words out, but it was the truth. No matter how much she hated him or how evil he was, Arkham had been the last of her family. Dante didn't respond, pursing his lips together as he thought. They all three fell into silence as they walked, and after several minutes of silence they eventually emerged into large clearing, much larger than the one that Dante and Vergil had appeared in when they'd woken up. And at the far side…
"Are those the relics?" Blake asked, then she and Yang started running, crossing the distance in a few seconds.
"Chess pieces?" Lady asked when they'd caught up. They were displayed on top of broken pillars, but they definitely looked new and deliberately placed. She turned to Dante, who shrugged and grabbed one of the black knight pieces. After inspecting it a bit, he placed it in his back pocket. "Wonder what the deal is…" Lady muttered, grabbing the other black knight piece. She saw Yang stuff the white knight piece in her pocket, and Lady did the same with her piece.
"Guess we go back to Ozpin and let him know that we've accomplished our mission." Yang said. "Come on, let's go."
"Uh, Yang?" Blake asked, pointing up at the sky. Everyone turned to look skyward, and saw that a girl in white was falling, a large bird shrieking as it flew overhead. "How in the world did she climb on top of a Nevermore?"
Yang let out an intelligent, "Uh…" Before the treeline seemed to explode, a girl in black and red appearing and seemingly getting chased by a massive scorpion the size of a house.
"Did she just get chased all the way here by a Deathstalker?" Blake asked.
Dante stepped forward, spreading his arms and bracing himself as he got in position to catch the falling girl in white. The girl drew her weapon, and suddenly several platforms appeared beneath her, and she used them to control her fall by angling them and jumping off them. She landed a few feet in front of Dante, then scowled at him and said, "Not on your life," before turning around and observing the other girl.
"Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!" She shrieked as she ran. "Incoming!"
"Ruby?!" Yang shouted, completely stunned.
Suddenly large feathers the size of streetlights rained down on the girl, and everyone looked up to see that the Nevermore had returned and was now attacking the brunette. "Ruby, get out of there!" Yang ran forward, but the giant scorpion was closing in faster than she could. Dante started after her, but the girl in white suddenly rushed forward faster than either of them. Looking at the ground, Dante could see the same glyphs from before under her feet and along her path.
"Alright, I'm officially lost." He thought to himself.
Yang, Ruby, and her partner introduced as Weiss all came back together after Weiss froze the tail of the creature in ice. Ruby was introduced to be the younger sister of Yang, and then the seven came up with a plan. "We need to get back to Beacon Cliff. There's no point in fighting these things."
"We might be able to lose the scorpion, but that bird won't be lost so easily." Lady pointed out.
The Deathstalker broke free, then started after the group. "I have a plan. Can you three take care of the Deathstalker?" Ruby asked.
"Leave it to us!" Dante said, turning and heading towards his target, Lady and Vergil following after him. He heard Ruby explaining her plan to the other three girls, but Lady spoke up, drowning out the other girls voice.
"Get it's face open and I'll blow it away." She crouched down, readying the Kalina Ann and letting the other two continue ahead of her.
"Alright. Vergil, take care of its tail." Dante said, summoning Agni & Rudra.
Vergil said nothing, but placed his hands on the Yamato, charging up demonic energy within it and holding steady as Dante approached the creature. It clicked its pincers together, then swiped at him with its left, then its right, then thrust its tail forward to strike. Dante easily avoided both swipes, and Vergil used a judgement cut to prevent to tail from reach Dante. Pulling the twin swords off his back, Dante summoned a storm of fire and wind, causing the creature to reel backwards. Seeing its face exposed, Dante jumped upwards, then a moment later a rocket came and exploded on the creatures face, leaving it cracked. Seeing his opportunity, Dante summoned Beowulf and let his foot fly forward, landing squarely on the creatures face and breaking the bone armor. Another judgement cut prevented the tail from getting to him, and Dante pulled Rebellion of his back and thrust it into the creatures exposed face. A third judgement cut severed the creatures tail, and a rainstorm of spectral swords embedded themselves in the creature face as well, killing it. It evaporated, and Dante picked his sword out of its remains.
"That was it?" He asked with a grin, turning back around to look at the other two. He let out a whistle when he saw that the large bird had been pinned against the cliff, then got dragged up it. As it reached the top, its head came clean off its body and evaporated as well.
Dante sheathed his sword on his back and the three started heading towards the cliff where the other four girls were.