Chapter 7: The Secret Behind the Devil Arms (1)

Blake Belladonna woke up feeling not quite rested. To be specific, she didn't feel rested at all. Nor did she wake up, since she had spent the night tossing and turning in bed, never falling asleep in the first place. It wasn't strange. One tended to have a difficult time relaxing when the nightmare world they live in, besieged by nightmare creatures, suddenly turns out to be host to another kind of nightmare creature too. A stronger, deadlier kind. And unlike the first, which preyed on humans out of compulsion, this one did it just for the kicks. Indeed, not a revelation that was conducive to sleep.

Sitting up, she got off her precariously positioned "bunk bed", aware that she had a backache, probably from sore muscles. She dragged her feet into the bathroom. The rest of the team was still sleeping, for which she was thankful. She really wasn't in the mood to wait for Yang to be done with her ages-long hair routine. Closing the door, she examined her reflection in the mirror. Red-rimmed eyes stared back at her, framed by a rather wild case of bed hair. Groaning, she decided a shower might help. Might as well get the day started. It wasn't as though she could avoid what was coming.

It's not like I can run away from this too, right?

If one kept running away, eventually, one would be out of places to escape to.

And if she couldn't be safe here in Beacon, where she was learning the skills to confront her nightmares, while surrounded by the best hunters in Remnant… then there probably wasn't anywhere she was safe. Feeling trapped, she mechanically turned the knob and felt the water wash over her.

It was morning, but the nightmare hadn't ended.

By the time Blake was done, her three teammates were waking up too. Coming out of the bathroom fully dressed, she saw them all getting out of bed in their own ways. Noticing her, a still sleepy Yang spoke up.

"You look like hell."

In a rare moment, Blake came back with a quip.

"Fitting, then."

It took Yang a second to realize what she meant.

"Point taken," the blonde brawler conceded. After the things she had seen the previous day, she couldn't really argue.

She thought back to the experience of fighting those grim reaper-like figures, armed with scythes. And then, their leader, who had been an entirely different animal altogether. She was still in awe of the battle between him and their combat instructor.

Dante.

Who are you, really?

"Well, he did say he'd explain," she said out loud.

"Only to put it off for later once we got back," complained Weiss. "Honestly, that man is not cut out to be a teacher."

"Hey!" protested Ruby.

Before the youngest of them could say anything further though, the heiress continued.

"Despite the fact that he's basically a monster in battle."

A monster, huh?

Blake didn't say out loud that Weiss might be far closer to the truth than she intended.

Still, there was nothing for it. They'd be meeting him anyway in combat class. But before that, they were supposed to see him for breakfast.

Together, team RWBY made their way out of their dorm once they were ready. Out in the hallway, they ran into three of the members from JNPR, and exchanged looks with them.

"You guys on the way to meet him too?" asked Yang.

They nodded.

"Indeed," said Pyrrha.

"Hmm. Might as well go together then."

The group made its way over the dining hall, where they picked a table and brought their food over it. They didn't have to wait long. A few minutes later, they saw Dante entering the hall as well, wearing a simple pair of shorts and a sleeveless gym vest. The training attire did nothing to hide the spectacular shape the devil hunter was in. His silver hair was slightly slick, and the tiniest hint of sweat coated his body. Next to him, to the surprise of the two teams, walked their one remaining member. Jaune Arc was also wearing gym gear, though he looked considerably more worn out by whatever training he had done. This was actually the first time RWBY was seeming him in anything other than his regular clothes and his pajamas. While a little on the wiry side, the boy looked to have a good natural frame. Pyrrha in particular noted that he looked slightly fuller than usual, most likely the effects of a pump from working out.

She wasn't complaining one bit about it.

"Hey, already here, huh? Been waiting long?"

"Eh, just arrived a while ago," said Yang. "Don't mind us, just enjoying the view."

She didn't try to hide the fact that she was looking the silver-haired warrior up and down. Dante, who was by now used to her antics, chose to ignore it.

"I'll get some food," he said, walking towards the table where it was arranged. "Hey, Jauney, you should come too. Got to get that protein."

"Right!" said the boy, following his master.

Pyrrha blinked.

"Did… I miss something?" she said.

She watched as the two of them loaded up their plates and carried them back to join them.

"I didn't know you were giving Jaune private lessons, Professor," the redhead said as they sat down.

"Well, now you do," said Dante, cheerfully. "I ran into Jauney here during one of my workouts, so I thought, why not train together?"

For some reason, hearing that made Pyrrha feel considerably relieved. As much as she liked Jaune, she was very aware that the boy lacked the skills to defend himself against the kind of threats he would face as a hunter. Knowing that Dante of all people was training him personally erased all her worries.

"Ooh!" said Yang. "I wouldn't mind private lessons either, Dante."

"Yang!" said Ruby, face red. "Gross!"

Dante sighed, then decided to start eating. There was no dealing with this girl.

"I believe I had told you to moderate your interactions with students," cut in a new voice.

He turned to see Glynda standing behind him. Also putting her plate on the table, she sat down next to him. Along with her, the Velvet also joined the group.

"Looks like we're all here," said Dante.

"Indeed," replied the blonde witch. "Now, about that explanation you owe us…"

"Right."

He consumed the boiled egg he was holding, wondering how to begin.

Might as well be direct, he decided.

"Demons. They're from a world of their own," said the silver-haired warrior. "It's an entire universe in and of itself. Parallel to this one, of course. I guess you could think of it as another dimension."

He kept his voice normal. Whispering would only draw attention, and make people wonder what he was trying to hide. This way, his voice blended into all the other conversations happening in the hall, and none of the other students or teachers paid any attention to them, busy as they were with their own matters.

"Wait, demons?" said Jaune. "What are you talking about?"

Dante shot him a look. At first, he hadn't been sure whether to let him in on the secret. But ultimately, he decided this was the best way. Team JNPR were pretty close to each other, and it was only a matter of time before the rest of them told him. It was better that he give him the information himself, and prevent any kind of misunderstanding.

"Demons, kid. Not the metaphorical kind."

The blond's face paled slightly.

"Right," he muttered. Hearing it from Dante, who didn't seem to be joking, there wasn't really much room for disbelief. This was backed up by the fact that all of the others were listening carefully to him without voicing any disagreement.

"Wait, you guys already knew?" he asked.

"They did," Dante answered. "Listen, you shouldn't be mad at them for keeping it a secret. I was the one who insisted on it. This isn't something that you want the public hearing about, y'know? Mass panic might be a bit of a problem in a place like Remnant."

Understanding sunk in.

With panic and fear came the Grimm.

Of course, Dante had other reasons too. Ones that he would get to.

"If they're from another world," said Yang, "how do they end up here?"

"Through portals. Rips in space and time, connecting different worlds. They're extremely rare. There are small ones scattered everywhere, but only the tiniest grunts fit through those. The bigger guys, like Lightning Face from yesterday-"

Hey! Protested Raijin's voice in Dante's head.

"- they need larger openings to pass through," finished the devil hunter, ignoring the demon. "The good news is, like I said, these larger openings are pretty damn rare. So you don't have to worry about too many overlord types roaming around here."

Glynda, of course, knew that while they might be few, they were still there.

"But some of them have gotten through," she said.

"That's right," Dante replied. "And that's where we come in. Our job, of course, is to take out the ones that slip through."

He paused.

"Well, technically, it's actually my job. But Oz wanted me to pass the ways along to some others, so I hand-picked you. After all, I gotta make sure the right people do this."

A brief silence followed as all of them digested his words.

"That still doesn't explain everything that happened," said Glynda. "The demon we fought, his body… transformed. And… you seemed to absorb it."

"Hmm. It'll be better if I show you. How about we finish up here first? The training facility is probably a suitable place for what's coming."

A few minutes later, they entered an unused combat simulation room in the training facility, all of them in their battle gear.

There was an air of anticipation, but also apprehension. No one really knew what to expect, except that it would probably be something impossible again.

Dante looked at them all.

Hmm. I could start with my sword, but that would be a loooooong story.

He decided instead to pick a Devil Arm he used quite frequently.

Finding the demon within his soul, he pulled out his power.

The metallic gauntlets and greaves of Balrog manifested on his body.

"Woah!"

"That… is so cool!"

"What are those, Dante?"

That last question had been from Glynda Goodwitch, who was viewing the situation more analytically, trying to understand what she was seeing.

"This," said Dante, raising an armoured fist high for all to see, "is Balrog. Former big boss of a place called the Fire Hell."
It took a moment, but what he was saying sunk in, and everyone's eyes widened.

"Wait, are you saying…"

"That's right. This is the transformed body and soul of a devil."

For demonstration, Dante faced away from the group, and threw a right cross. His fist burst into flames as it travelled, culminating in an explosive burst of a punch that would have blasted whatever it struck.

"This guy can control flames," the devil hunter explained. "Makes sense if you're the ruler of the Fire Hell, after all."

Glynda shook her head.

"Dante. Do you mean to tell me, that the weapon you are wielding right now, is the dead body of a demon?"

"No. This is a one hundred percent, still alive and breathing demon, with all his power intact."

Immediately, everyone backed several paces away from him, reaching for their weapons.

"Woahoh! Relax, he's not going to bite."

He decided to not mention the fact that Balrog was gleefully suggesting in his mind that a boxing combo of liver blows and hooks be performed on the humans.

Hey, knock it off.

Ignite the Flames, now!

Come on, we've been over this. No attacking humans, remember? In exchange, you get to fight all the monsters you want.

With a disappointed sigh, Balrog became silent once more.

Outside, everyone was still looking at him cautiously.

Tentatively, Yang, ever the risk taker, took a few steps forward.

"This is weapon you used to fight that lightning bastard, isn't it?" she said. "It's got a lot of power."

Dante nodded proudly. Balrog was lighter than Beowulf and heavier than his old Gilgamesh, and had excellent mobility and attack power.

"How do you get one of these?" Yang asked, bending closer to examine the Devil Arm.

"Well, the only way is for the devil to agree to give you their power. That either happens when they want to help you, or when they realize they can't beat you. Sometimes both."

Yang looked up at the silver-haired warrior, realizing suddenly that she had never actually seen him go all out, or even fight seriously.

"So you acquired these…"

"Devil Arms," Dante supplied.

"Right. Devil Arms. You got them by beating demons into submission?"

"Pretty much."

Yang took a moment to digest that.

"So when you beat the lightning guy yesterday…"

In answer, Dante, dispelled Balrog, and summoned Raijin.

A collective gasp of awe went up.

The new set of armour had the same parts as Balrog, a pair of armoured gauntlets and boots, but it looked radically different.

Come to think of it, I haven't tried you out, have I?

Die, scum! Shouted Raijin in his head.

Dante sighed. Ignoring the futile shouts, he raised his hands and took a couple of practice swings, then tried a spinning heel kick, noting the differences with Balrog.

The feel and usage of the weapon was indeed quite distinct.

With Balrog, the boost in power and speed was due to his ability to control fire. Basically, hot air currents were generated in the opposite direction to that in which Dante was moving his limbs. Essentially, all his punches and kicks had more force because it was as if they were being helped along by rockets. This also had another effect, since Balrog's propulsion effect ensured a steady and constant amount of power to every blow, Dante actually needed to apply less force of his own when fighting, which in turn reduced the exertion. Although it barely mattered to someone with his level of stamina and endurance, it certainly had benefits. With the actual movements being easy and relaxed, his mind was free to focus on observing and reacting to the fight, as well as coming up with creative strategies. Once the flames were ignited, the explosions that accompanied each impact increased his damage output even further.

Raijin, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.

Instead of helping his punches and kicks along, it actually felt as though it was resisting him. Each piece of the armour felt heavy. The result was interesting, though. When Dante began the movement for an attack, say by drawing back his arm for a punch, his fist would encounter a moment of resistance, as though someone was holding him back. He would then apply more of his strength and break through the resistance. As soon as that happened, invisible force holding would disappear, and his fist would shoot forward. Similar to a bowstring being drawn back to build up potential energy, the release was stronger. Further, once his fist actually started moving, he felt electricity coursing through his body, making the hit even more powerful.

Essentially, while Balrog made fighting easier, favouring effortless, flowing movements, Raijin was like fighting with weights on. The attacks were slower, but several times heavier.

Reaching into his well of martial arts knowledge, Dante raised his front leg up on its toes, keeping his hands high.

A weapon like Raijin was perfectly suited to the hard hitting style that was said to be one of the strongest stand-up martial arts.

Muay Thai.

Rotating his foot and hips, he delivered a roundhouse kick, turning all the way through. His leg felt like it had an anvil attached to it as he swung. It was an exhilarating feeling.

He'd underestimated the power a little though.

The force of the kick was such, the air pressure from it dented the reinforced metal wall of the combat room, twenty feet away. It looked like a cannonball had smashed into it at full force, bending it outwards.

"..."

He rubbed the back of his head.

"This one might be a little too much for this room, but you get the point."

Glynda rubbed her temple. At this point, denting a wall built to withstand anti-Bullhead fire was nothing unexpected about the man.

"Try and don't break the school," she muttered.

Dante mentally decided to not show off the combined Balrog and Raijin Devil Arm, which he estimated had anywhere between five to ten times the power of either one separately.

As for the others, their reactions to the new weapon varied.

Ruby immediately went into hyper-mode, observing it from all angles, trying to understand its design.
Nora speculated whether or not this was a weapon to surpass pancakes.

And as for Yang…

"Dante. Do you think I could get one of these too?"

She had asked the question seriously, so Dante decided to answer it the same way.

"You ever heard the expression 'making a deal with the devil'?"

Yang nodded.

"Just keep that in mind. I'll say it out right: the only thing keeping a Devil Arm in check is the amount of control you have over it. And let me tell you, control isn't something they let you take easily. If you aren't careful, your soul will end up being the one in their control."

This was true.

He had hunted down so many humans who had tried to use Devil Arms, before ultimately losing their minds and becoming mere meat-puppets being used by the souls of the demons concerned, to wreak havoc.

Yang frowned.

"Aren't you at risk for the same thing though?" she asked.

"I am. But I'm older, more experienced." And chock full of demon blood, he thought, though he didn't say that aloud.

He looked around at all of them.

"As far as hunting demons goes, I won't deny that ordinary weaponry isn't very effective against them. Fortunately for you, though, you have something that does make your weapons work pretty well on them."

"Aura, isn't it?" Pyrrha realised.

"Right again. As expected of the best. But yeah, Aura. Although as you saw, it won't guarantee protection against demon attacks, it will enable you to damage them. But you still need to learn where to strike, and when. And that's where the training comes in."

He dispelled Raijin.

"We'll be going out on more of these hunting missions. Not right away, but soon. And we'll get you used to it. In time, you should be able to handle most demons by yourselves."

He didn't mention the nagging thought at the back of his head.

That there were demons they wouldn't be able to handle.

If one of those jacked up king types come through… well, I guess it's a good thing I'm here, then.

While all this was happening, one member of RWBY was simply watching, carefully noting the abilities Dante demonstrated, and putting together the unmentioned clues from what he said.

With every new thing revealed, Blake's suspicions grew stronger.

But she wasn't sure. And getting ahead of herself wasn't a good idea.

And even if she was right, it didn't make sense.

If he really was what she thought he was, why was he helping them?

She shook her head. More information was needed. There was one person she could approach for that, actually.

Later that day:

Blake approached that person. The one who might be able to give her what she was looking for. To be honest, it wasn't a lot of information. But it might be enough for her to confirm her theory.

Velvet Scarlatina was part of the group that were being trained to kill demons. But this wasn't something Blake could ask her in front of the others. So she'd found an opportunity to meet her after classes. Currently, she saw the second year Faunus on her way out from Oobleck's lecture hall.

Taking her chance, she walked up to her.

"Hey. Can we talk?"

Velvet turned and looked at her.

The second year was polite and friendly enough, and one of the easier to approach students in the school. Blake had spoken to her before.

"Sure," the older girl replied.

"In private," Blake added.

Velvet's expression sharpened minutely, but she nodded.

The two of them made their way to another hallway, which was empty.

Here, the two Faunuses stared at each other, Velvet waiting for Blake to reveal what she wanted.

Blake, not one to waste time on small talk, decided to get to the point.

"Your team went on a mission with Dante a while back, didn't it? If I'm not mistaken, that was also when you learnt that… demons existed."

Velvet nodded, not really sure where this was going.

"That's true. We barely made it out alive," she said.

Blake steeled herself, and asked the question on her mind.

"You worked with Dante, and you were the only one who came out of that mission unhurt, besides him. Did you notice anything… unusual about him?"

Velvet's expression, which had been hardening for a while, immediately became guarded.

"Is there a reason you're asking me this?" she said.

Blake almost took a step back, not expecting the sudden hostility.

"N-no. It's just, he's a strange man. I suppose you could say I'm curious, that's all."

"That's a lie," Velvet pointed out, with uncharacteristic harshness.

"I'm- excuse me?"

"You wouldn't go out of your way to risk finding out about someone. Not unless there was a reason."

It surprised Blake how accurate that observation was, despite the fact that she and Velvet barely knew each other.

Seeing now that being tactful might not work, she decided to be direct.

"You're telling me you haven't noticed? An incredibly strong warrior appears out of nowhere. He's skilled, but has never fought Grimm before. He arrives, saying that demons exist. Those demons start to show up, though they've never done so before. And then, he reveals that the weapons he uses are the transformed souls of those demons."

Velvet gave no sign of surprise at these statements.

Looking Blake in the eye, she gave her answer firmly.

"Dante saved my team's life. He saved my life. Is there something you're trying to say?"

This time, Blake did take a step back.

Having said what she had to, Velvet walked away. Of course, the older Faunus knew exactly what Blake suspected.

She had seen it herself, during the battle with Orion.

Something immense, a shadow, crimson and black, concealed within.

A glimpse of something within Dante.

Something best left alone.

In truth, Velvet didn't know what he was, though she had an idea. But it didn't matter. His heart was human, and that was all that mattered.

Hopefully, Blake would get the message, and not pry further.

As for Dante himself, the half-devil was in his quarters, done with classes for the day, enjoying a rare free evening.

He'd managed to figure out how to browse the CCT Net on his Scroll, and decided to use it to read Remnant's various comic books. So far, he liked what he saw.

Pausing briefly in the midst of a particularly good series, he looked up, and sighed in contentment.

All things considered, life was good right now.

The demon problem here would probably be under control soon, and there was plenty of adventure to be had. Plus, this was a world where he could operate far more openly than he had back where he came from.

And, there was the fact that people wanted him around here.

That was a nice change.

I mean, it's not like I didn't know people back in my own world.

A part of him did miss the crew from the Devil May Cry.

Even if I could find a way back… do I really want to return?

Nero was married now, even had kids. And he was carrying on the Devil May Cry legacy quite well. The Earth was safe with him taking care of things.

There was his brother, Vergil, but Dante had a feeling his days of hungering after power were over. He'd probably settle down with his son, or maybe get a place of his own.
There was Lady and Trish, but neither of those two would be waiting for Dante to come home. Like he'd said before, these ladies worked fast, and they lived the same way, always keeping themselves busy.

As for Dante himself, when he was younger, he'd fought for vengeance. After maturing a little, he'd started fighting to protect humans. Maybe a part of him was doing it to make it up to the family he'd lost.

His father and mother were long gone. But Vergil and Nero were fine.

Maybe, after all this time, it was okay for Dante to move on too.

In the course of these thoughts, Dante had wandered over to the window. Looking out, he saw a certain blonde witch taking a walk out in the grounds.

A slight smile on his face, Dante returned to his comic book, eyes set firmly on his own future for the first time.