Chapter 3: The Savage Initiation
For the past few hours Vergil has been in the library, learning as much as he can about this new world. There were a total of 12 books stacked to the side of the table, all of them big and those were the ones he has already read.
"Jesus Vergil don't you think you're over doing it?" Vergil brought his head up to see Dante and Nero along with some new faces and Blake.
"Alright everyone this is the third and final member of team NVD and my brother Vergil Sparda."
Vergil raised an eyebrow and turned to Nero "team 'envied'?"
Nero shrugged "every team is named by combining the initials of the first names of team members."
"Oh" Vergil glanced up to see a certain brunette "It's nice to see you again Blake." He smiled
Blake allowed a small smile to grace her lips. Dante introduced both teams to him and they all went to sit with their teams.
Ruby and Yang started setting up a game called World of Remnant enthusiastically for their team to play, while Weiss was skeptical of the game Blake didn't seem interested. She glanced at the three boys sitting just a few tables behind them, Dante looked to be serious for the first time they met, Nero and Vergil's expression reflected this.
"I held the dust in my hand and the thing just disappeared and I know it sounds weird but I swear it felt like a Devil Star." Dante concluded.
"That's not possible," Nero spoke up "those things only exit in Limbo or the demon world."
"Dante you said it felt like Devil Star, what was the difference?" Vergil asked curiously
Dante cupped his chin "guess I'd have to say it feels, I don't know, purer I guess?"
Ever since he fought the Grimm Vergil has had a feeling that something was off about this world and the revelation that Dante has just presented only serves to amplify his suspicion.
'Should I talk to Ozpin?' he mentally shook his thoughts 'no I need more before I confront him about my hunch.'
Suddenly all three boys turned to the new presence before them.
"Uh, h-hi Nero" Ruby said shyly, she was still socially awkward.
"Uh, hi Ruby" Nero responded normally "you want something?" Nero could feel Dante enjoying himself.
"Yeah um I was wondering if" she perked a little "you'd like to play a game with us?"
Nero cocked an eyebrow "us?"
"My team" she corrected
Nero's face fell to a neutral one "Sorry Ruby, I don't play games." He responded flatly
Ruby's face fell at his words "oh, well sorry I bothered you." She said dejectedly and walked away her head held down.
Thinking nothing of it he turned towards the twins who were now giving him disappointed looks.
Nero looked between both of them "what?"
Dante slowly shook his head with his eyes closed then arched closer with both palms on the table "that was weak Nero" he said in an equally disappointed tone.
He pushed his chair back and stood up glancing at Ruby before going over to her "hey Ruby"
The girl stopped about halfway and turned around to an approaching figure "Dante? Whoa!"
She was placed in a headlock by the older teen "I'd like to play this game you've got. So what're you playing?" Dante spoke completely ignoring the younger girls struggling.
Nero watched the scene unfold completely oblivious as to what he did wrong
"What's his problem?" Nero asked only to hear a sigh in return. He glanced to see Vergil's expression even more disappointed like he did something and the answer was right in front of him.
"What, what'd I do!?" he asked honestly.
"Nero" Vergil began "Dante is disappointed in how you shot Ruby down like that and so am I."
"What!? All I said was I didn't play any games. It's not like I told her to take a hike." He exclaimed.
Vergil shook his head "you could have let her down more gently than you did."
Nero gave him a baffled expression "what was I suppose to say? I just told her the truth, what more do want from me?"
"It's not what you said but more like how you said it" Nero's expression remained baffled so Vergil continued "it's obvious she just wanted to be friends with you."
Nero looked at him for a moment then he scowled "whatever I'm going back to the dorms."
Nero began walking towards the door, the scowl ever so present as he passed by team RWBY's table just in time to hear Dante exclaim how he is about to overrun Ruby's army and said girl giving a dramatic 'no' just like Darth Vader.
He spared a single glance at their table and met Ruby's gaze as she laid her head on the table with cartoon tears trailing her cheeks. That immediately stopped when she saw him, his scowl not going away he turned to the door and left the library and suddenly Ruby's fake sadness turned to a real one.
"Told you he isn't the 'making friends' type" Ruby turned to Dante who gave her a solemn look. Ruby seemed downcast by this.
"Don't worry about Nero he's just blunt like that, if you're socially awkward then he's just plain anti-social." Somehow Ruby looked even sadder like a puppy waiting outside its master's doorstep in the rain sad which managed to penetrate Dante's wall of nonchalance and so he continued "keep trying though I'm he'll at least try to be your friend if you're persistent enough" Dante reassured her.
"Now I think it's about time for Remnant's new ruler to ascend to the throne" he smirked
Yang started sweating "oh no"
Ruby's eyes widened
Weiss just looked between the three of them "um what's happening?" she asked, completely lost.
While the rest of her team and Dante were disrupting team JNPR's time in the library Blake couldn't help but be curious about what Vergil was doing, she doesn't know why but something about him seemed familiar to her. Curiosity getting the better of her, like a cat, she decided to approach him.
He was reading a rather large text much like the one Ren was currently reading with Nora sleeping on one half of it. His expression portraying him in deep thought while trying to figure out a puzzle.
"You read a lot" she said standing a few feet away still approaching him.
He glanced up with a small smile "oh just catching up on the school curriculum" he answered.
She was now standing in front of him the table separating them, she raised her eyebrow and looked at the stack of presumably already read books.
"The topics on some of these books are way more advance than what they are teaching for first years." She commented while sitting down.
"Well I don't really have anything else to do right now" he glanced at the amount of books he has around him and Blake's skeptical face "okay this is more for research than recreation I admit."
"What do you mean?" She was now curious.
"Well our enrollment into Beacon is….special, we aren't exactly from any of the kingdoms nor did we go to any school before this one so we didn't take any tests."
He looked at the text he was reading about the Faunus rights revolution. "We were raised very far away so we don't really know much about anything that's been happening in Remnant on a whole." He concluded.
Blake's eyes widened for a moment before they subsided with interest, she herself was a part of white fang and so did not have a formal education in any of the kingdoms but from what he has just said and the fact that Dante didn't even know what Dust is then she could only imagine where they grew up.
"Then how'd you get accepted into Beacon." She asked.
Vergil knew this was coming, he didn't necessarily mind telling Blake about that time, she looked like someone who could keep a secret but still better safe than sorry "can you keep a secret?" he asked
Blake didn't say a word but looked at him funny and he just realized how dumb that question was "point taken. Well while we were travelling through the badlands," Blake's eyes widened slightly "a Faunus village was being overrun by Grimm so we defended it and managed to evacuate everyone with no casualties. Afterwards general Ironwood came with a fleet of airships accompanied by Ozpin. They were both impressed by how we handled the situation they both wanted to enroll us in their respective schools, we chose Beacon and here we all are."
Blake took in the story with a grain of salt and judging by how he's acting, he was telling the truth, but she felt that he left some parts out. How can three boys fend off a Grimm attack by themselves with no casualties? If it were somewhere near the kingdoms then that story would have checked out but in the badlands? Something was wrong and he was a little suspicious.
Blake has been in the badlands before when she was younger and the White Fang were a Faunus rights group instead of a terrorist cell. They were aiding a village in the badlands when Grimm started attacking; they came in droves of all different species. In the end about half of them survived by escaping and she was lucky to be alive.
Blake later learned that the Badlands were the most dangerous place in all of Remnant, Grimm of all kind run amuck there; new, more dangerous species are discovered. Worst of all are the Grimm attacks, somehow the Grimm in the Badlands are even more dangerous than the one's in the Emerald forest and when they form on a village they attack in no less than 10.
Most hunter and huntresses do not dare venture into the Badlands because of the frequent Grimm attacks and even if they do it's not for long or alone. The only hunter to frequently go into the badlands alone is Qrow the scythe master and only because he is one of the most skilled hunter in all of Remnant.
The way how Vergil described his story made it seem as if going into the Badlands was nothing and that defending a village from an army of Grimm is a walk in the park. This could only mean two things: Vergil is lying or him, Dante and Nero are just that skilled.
"Are you alright?" he snapped her out of her thoughts
"Uh, yes I'm fine. I was just thinking how…implausible your explanation seems."
He sighed "I know, from what I've read in these books about the badlands, most people would dismiss what I say as a lie."
She nodded but didn't press it, she could relate to what people would think if they found out about something that would make them seem different. She took out her own book and began reading, with Vergil somehow talking with him made her forget about her troubles, it was a nice feeling to be had.
Over with Dante and the rest of team RWBY it was very clear that Weiss had no idea how to play the game but she refused to admit it, especially since Dante didn't understand the game either yet in just less than 30 minutes managed to grasp it and has even beaten Yang and Ruby who have been playing for years. Her pride refused to submit and Dante's bragging and Yang's teasing coupled with Ruby's snickering at said bragging and teasing didn't help.
At this point Jaune saw her plight and offered to play her hand for a bit so she would have an edge. Weiss was less than responsive to Jaune's help though
"Trust me Ice Queen, they're gonna be safer in the hands of someone who actually knows what they're doing." Dante interjected
Weiss was offended "Wha, I'll have you know that I know exactly what I'm doing" she shot back with an "hmph" at the end.
"Really, then how come you had the perfect opportunity to take Yang's and Ruby's kingdom yet lost most your own army the very next turn" Dante pointed to Weiss's army pieces currently in Yang's possession.
"And you attacked your own naval fleet two turns ago" Yang added
Weiss groaned and Jaune used this opportunity to gloat "bring it on Ice Queen I'll have you know that I've been told I am a natural born leader."
"By who, your mother?"
"And Pyrrha" he pointed to the red headed Spartan who waved.
"Aw come on just let me play your hand for a turn" he begged
"I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo"
"Why not? You've trusted me with way more important stuff before I mean you told us all how Blake is secretly a Fauuumph"
"Fun loving person whom we all admire and respect" Pyrrha finished while covering Jaune's mouth.
Everyone looked warily at Dante, hoping that he wouldn't get suspicious but the Nephilm only smirked
"Oh I already know about the 'bow' on her head, pretty obvious actually" everyone looked at him in disbelief "don't worry I'm cool with it." He assured them
Everyone turned their attention to Blake who was sitting with Vergil, her bow twitched a bit and she glared at everyone but sent an approved nod to Dante before re-focusing on her book.
Jaune chuckled nervously whilst rubbing the back of his head "yeah, that." He then did an elegant bow "ladies, enjoy your battle."
"Sup' losers" came the voice of Sun Wu Kong behind Dante with a peace sign.
"Hey Sun" Ruby chirped
Sun began "Ruby, Yang, Dante" he fist bumped him "Ice Queen."
"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" Weiss asked no one in particular.
Sun then went on to introduce his blue haired friend Neptune who started to flirt with Weiss much to Jaune's chagrin. Before it could go any further Sun interrupted
"Uh where's Blake?"
"She's with my brother" Dante pointed towards Blake sitting next to a blonde Dante. Sun looked back at him "my twin brother." He reiterated.
Vergil glanced at Blake and bit his bottom lip in frustration before eventually speaking "Blake can I ask you a question?"
Blake looked up from her book and nodded
"I don't mean to imply anything but" he paused "as a Faunus, what do you think of the actions of the White Fang?"
Blake recoiled in her seat. Where did that come from?
"What do you mean?" She asked curiously. He couldn't be implying but then again he said that he wouldn't mean to.
"Well I was reading about their history, how they started and then I remembered them being on the news and it just didn't make any sense to me." He looked down and narrowed his eyes, then looked at her again. "How could something that started as a Faunus rights group become a terrorist organization" he snapped his fingers "just like that." He turned to her
Blake could see the clear curiosity in his expression and even though it brought about some of the recent memories that she'd rather forget for now but clearing the air for the Faunus was worth it.
"What the white fang originally stands for wasn't getting much result and the members got desperate for equality. When the old leaders stepped down, the new leaders started campaigning for complete dominance instead of equality." She explained with a heavy heart.
Vergil still looked deep in thought "something still doesn't add up." He responded much to her surprise.
He looked at her and began to explain "I thought the same thing too, if there's a regime change then it would take time for it to take effect with the members." Blake looked confused.
"Three months" he said "it was three months after their last failed non violent protest before they attacked a shipment of dust and stole it, why? If it was Faunus right group then most of their members shouldn't be capable of robbing an armed shipment like that."
"What are you trying to say? There were a lot of Faunus who could be capable of things like that." Blake hadn't really thought of something like that but was curious as to where he was getting at.
"Yes there most certainly are but would any of them join a non-violent movement? I'm thinking that whoever took over leadership had this all planned and specifically chose the White Fang organization to carry out a plan on a global scale."
"Look," he took out his scroll "behind all the bombings, riots and attacks carried out there were always dust shipments being stolen in bulk, everyone has always assumed that because of the war they were just using it to arm themselves but they still lost the wars, so where did it all go?"
Blake eyes widened in realization and suddenly it all made sense, Dust, the moment the new regime took effect most of the old members who couldn't fight were kicked out. Any Faunus who could fight were inducted, they were looking for soldiers. In fact while she was in White fang, most of the job she did one way or another involved stealing Dust but they never actually used it all. The big question was
"Why would they need that much Dust if they aren't using it?" she thought out loud. Blake looked at Vergil to see if he had an answer
"I don't know?" he said biting his thumb.
Vergil didn't know why but this was eating at him, it was right in front of him and he couldn't figure it out. Blake was also in a similar predicament because even now the white fang were collaborating with Roman Torchwick to get their hands on more Dust and if what Vergil just told her is true then either they are getting desperate or they don't care who they work with to get it.
"Hey Blake" they were both cut from their thoughts by Sun who eyed Vergil suspiciously "so you're Dante's brother right?"
Vergil raised an eyebrow and leaned to the side to see Dante give him a thumbs up.
"Yes I'm his older brother Vergil"
"I'm Sun Wu Kong and that blue hair guy flirting with the Ice Queen is my friend Neptune." He pointed out Neptune next to a giggling Weiss.
Vergil looked at him in surprise for a few seconds then noticed the monkey tail. Then his scroll started beeping. He took it out to see a text message from Ozpin, informing him to get his weapons, change into suitable battle attire and meet him at the cliff overlooking Emerald Forest.
"So Blake what's going on?" Sun asked leaning closer to her.
"Nothing" she said while standing "I need to go, see you later Vergil, Sun."
"Where are you going?" Enquired Ruby to Blake as she passed by
"I need some time to think" she replied to her leader without losing pace.
Dante was reading the exact same text that Vergil had and a wide grin spread across his face that everyone around the table noticed.
"Why are you so happy?" Yang asked coyly.
Dante glanced at Vergil who was packing up to leave and turned to everyone.
"Well guys it's been fun but uh, I've gotta go." Dante placed his cards down and went with Vergil who passed by.
"Where are you going?" Yang called out
Dante turned back "Ozpin wants to meet us at Emerald forest for a 'party.'
"Emerald forest?" Ruby said absentmindedly
There was a few seconds of silence where you could hear the clock ticking.
"Initiation!" Yang, Ruby and Weiss shouted in unison after which an irritated Ren gave them a "shh."
Nora jumped up "pancakes!" she rubbed her eyes to see team RWBY headed out and shouted "hey what's going on?"
Ruby zipped by her "Team NVD is doing their initiation right now" Ruby then used her semblance to zip away in a flurry of rose petals.
Nora beamed and shot up from her seat "come on Ren!" before the boy could protest she grabbed his hand bolted out the library followed by Jaune and Pyrrha.
They immediately left Neptune looked at Sun who shrugged before they too went to catch up to them.
Meanwhile Blake was walking towards her dorm, her thoughts still on the White Fang working with Roman Torchwick and the Dust robberies. The door in front of her unlocked revealing Nero only he wasn't in his Beacon Uniform instead he wore a long red and black coat over a red zip up hoodie, long dark blue pants and a pair of brown boots.
He also had a gun holstered on his left thigh but what caught her attention was the large black case he had in his left arm that was held over his back.
"Nero" Blake addressed him.
Nero looked at her and shut the door "hey"
"Where are you going?"
He shrugged "Ozpin wants to meet us on a place called Emerald Forest, told us to bring our weapons."
Blake immediately knew it was the Beacon initiation, suddenly Vergil's story about how they defended that Faunus village entered her head and she became interested.
"Mind if I went along?" Blake asked catching up to him.
Nero stopped and turned around to looked up at her "why?"
She shrugged "no reason, I have nothing else going on right now" she lied.
He looked to be contemplating then turned around "do whatever you want" He concluded
Blake followed Nero towards the oh so familiar cliffs and much to her surprise along with professor Ozpin and Goodwitch, teams RWBY and JNPR along with Sun and Neptune were also present.
Blake heard Nero silently groan upon seeing them, as always Ruby was the first to notice their arrival
"Blake" she called out with glee but upon Nero's gaze her smile lessened somewhat.
Nero rolled his eyes and sighed but nonetheless ignored everyone else and made his way right in front of Ruby. He looked her straight in the eye, his light blue eyes meeting her silver orbs and at this moment she realized how tall he was. He was Nowhere near as tall as Jaune or Dante just a few inches taller than herself but up close like this made her feel smaller than normal.
"H-hi Nero" she said meekly with a weak smile averting her eyes every now and then.
Nero closed his eyes and exhaled sharply then looked at her again before saying "I'm sorry okay."
Ruby looked at him "Huh?"
"In the library, I'm sorry for shooting you down like that, I'm just not used to dealing with..people who want to be friends with me" he concluded.
Ruby immediately smiled at him and Nero admittedly realized how close they were and his cheeks turned a faint color of red. He immediately bypassed Ruby to get closer to Ozpin and Glynda. Ruby took note of the huge case in his hand and realized that must be his weapon.
Meanwhile Yang met up with Blake "so I guess you're curious about what the new guys can do too huh?"
Blake maintained her stoic expression and nodded "yeah, you could say that."
They both watched as Ruby looked over Nero unlocking his case only to stop and look over his shoulder at now giddy Ruby was.
"What are you doing?" he asked with no offense
Ruby blushed lightly "I-I'm sorry it's just that well" she brought her two index finger together "I'm a weapons nerd, I like seeing other people's weapons, I'm sorry."
"It's fine" she looked at him and he was grinning, it was a foreign sight to her, she didn't even think he could smile.
As he unlocked the final latch he said "Ruby Rose, I'd like you to meet" he opened the case and Ruby's eyes widened "Red Queen!" He finished.
You could swear the golden light of heaven itself shone from that case the way Ruby was eyeing it. In her opinion it looked like a really big sword but not a sword, it looked more like a knife and is that a motorcycle gear-shift!?
It wasn't so much the sword itself as it was the pristine condition it was in that had Ruby near speechless. It had an ornately etched base and the blade shone like it was just made, it looked like it was a rare artifact belonging in a museum or in a maximum security archive vault of the coolest weapons ever made that should not be touched by mortal hands.
Nero watched her expression and couldn't help but show off a bit, he took the blade out of its case spun it once in his hand for everyone present to see then stuck it in the ground. He revved the gear-shift twice and the loud roar of a motor cycle echoed through the cliff as the blade glowed an ominous red before dying down.
Ruby was sputtering at this point "Th-th-th-th-that was so AWESOME!" Ruby exclaimed with a sparkle in her eyes and some drool at her lip side.
She started using her semblance to zip around the sword checking every inch of it while asking questions rapidly.
"I've never seen a sword like this before what is it? Did you build it yourself? Does it use Dust?"
"Is that an actual motorcycle gear-shift?" Yang asked now curious.
Nero pulled out Red Queen out the ground and held it horizontally.
"This is Red Queen and she's a GroBes Messer."
"A what?" Jaune asked scratching his head.
"It's German, translates directly into 'Great Knife' that's why it looks kinda like, well, a giant knife."
"I built it myself and specially customized a motorcycle gear-shift inside. It doesn't use Dust but when I pull the gear it release a custom propellant I made myself using different chemicals, works just as good if not better than Dust and it's cheaper to make." He concluded with a smug grin.
"That's preposterous!" Weiss spoke up. "There are no other chemicals in all of Remnant that are potent enough to compare to Dust!" The heiress shouted.
Nero smirked "oh yeah" he pointed Red Queen at her "how about if I use it crack open a giant Deathstalker's shell and drive it inside to kill it with a 'bang'? Would that convince you Ice Queen?" The look in his eyes meant that Nero was deathly serious and Weiss suddenly had lump in her throat.
Ruby was still entranced touching the blade but then snapped out of it when she realized something
"Wait I don't see a barrel or trigger for you to fire your gun through?"
The half demon looked at her funny before placing Red queen on his back and reached for his holster
"Of course not, Red Queen is a sword, if I want to shoot something I use this" he pulled out his pistol "meet Blue Rose."
Again Ruby was mesmerized by the ornate features and its intricate design of a blue rose carved on the side.
"This is my personally modified Smith and Wesson model 500 double-action revolver."
He turned to Ruby "I showed you mine, when can I see yours?" Yang immediately covered her mouth to hide her snickering.
Ruby instinctively reached behind her back where her weapon should be but was dishearten to find nothing there.
"Sorry Nero, I didn't bring Crescent Rose with me."
He looked disappointed "ah that's alright. I'll see it one of these days" he spun Blue Rose on his finger before holstering it.
"I didn't realize this was show and tell" sounded Dante's voice from behind everyone.
They turned to find Dante wearing a black ¾ length hooded jacket with red interior linings worn outside a grey tank top, black finger-less gloves black faded jeans and black military boots. A red necklace could be seen dangling around his neck.
Behind him was Vergil, he wore a dark buttoned up coat with blue interior linings, a large collar on the left side, a brassard can be seen on his left bicep. He wore white gloves, wore a blue dress slacks with black dress shoes. He carries a sheathed sword in his left hand.
Blake's eyes widened "Taurus" she whispered at the sight of Vergil as it was replaced by the visage of a red headed man with small bull horns wearing a Grimm mask.
"What's up Oz!" Dante greeted casually to the grey haired man sipping from his mug.
"Dante" his brother snapped "we are in his academy and he is the headmaster, treat him as such."
Glynda approved of Vergil with a small smile but Dante shrugged it off.
"So why did you bring us out here and if it doesn't involve killing something then I'm outta here." Dante remarked
"Well I suppose you'll be staying then Dante." Ozpin remarked. "For your initiation you will be launched into the Emerald forest where you must traverse north, you must find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing three relics. Each of you must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. Are there any questions?"
"Yeah, is there a time limit?" Dante asked
"No there is no time limit for the duration Dante and you are advised to destroy everything in your path."
Dante grinned brightly "works for me."
Glynda pushed up her glasses "may I remind you that the goal of this initiation is to collect the relic and return here and not hunting Grimm, young man."
Dante and even Nero gave her a bored expression
"You know" Dante began "I think I know why Ozpin goes through his coffee like running water. It's because he spends so much time around you and you keep sucking the joy out of him that he literally has to keep himself from falling into a coma by being high on caffeine 24/7."
The snickers of everyone except Ren, Weiss, Pyrrha and Vergil could be heard, Nero high fived Dante and even Ozpin smiled at the young Nephilm's joke. Glynda's scowl deepened if that was even possible and she raised her crop duster slightly but was stopped by Ozpin
The headmaster coughed to get everyone's attention "finally your progress will be monitored and graded by us-
"Whoa, whoa wait a minute. You're going to watch us?" Nero asked
"Well, we can't really evaluate your capabilities without seeing them." Ozpin responded taking another sip of the black nectar.
"Are they going to be watching too?" Nero pointed to everyone else. "And don't lie to me Ozpin!" the boy spat.
Ozpin was unfazed however and calmly responded "yes, they will be viewing your progress via their personal scrolls."
As if on cue several beeps were heard and everyone checked their scrolls to see a live video of their current actions.
"Nero" Ozpin spoke to the boy now glaring at him "I assure you, these students are trustworthy" he turned to the students attentively listening "and they are not one to judge someone because they are different." The headmaster concluded.
Nero glanced at Blake "yeah" then at Weiss "well maybe not all of them." He said looking directly at her. Nero didn't have anything to back up his implication of the heiress; it was just a gut feeling.
"Anyway" he turned to Ozpin "it's my call."
Ozpin sighed disappointedly "as you wish Nero."
The entire conversation Dante has been paying close attention to everyone and turned to Vergil
"What do you think? I mean since they're our friends they're gonna eventually find out."
Vergil cupped his chin in thought before going on a limb and approached the group. He glanced at Blake and gave her an apologetic look.
"What do you all think of Blake being a Faunus?"
Everyone recoiled at his words
After a few moments of silence Ruby asked "y-you know?" clearly dumbfounded. Vergil nodded
"Since when!?" Weiss exclaimed
Vergil turned his attention to Blake, his expression soft "since I first laid eyes on her."
"Oh come on!" Dante chimed in "her bow twitches for God's sake. If we can't even notice something like that then we'd be dead years ago."
Vergil coughed, "what my brother is trying to say is that where we originally came from was not a friendly place and we were frowned upon to the point where if any of us were seen we would be killed on sight."
The number of times they have been surprised in one day must have hit a record mark at this point and Vergil's solemn look meant that he wasn't lying.
"Blake, I'm sorry for just calling you out like that but as you can see, the importance of my question and how you answer it will determine if we can trust you." Vergil was deathly serious.
"We don't care" Jaune was surprisingly the first on to speak up. "I mean, I don't know Blake that well because, well we don't really talk but" he turned to her "whether she's a Faunus or whatever me and the rest of my team would consider her a friend any day." He stood his ground with a determined expression.
The rest of team JNPR all nodded with Nora shouting "yeah" with a smile and her fist in the air.
"Nice one vomit boy" Yang teased to which Jaune's expression turned to that of weariness and he sulked a bit. "As for me, Blake's my partner and frankly" she glanced at the Faunus girl "I don't give a damn she's not human and if anyone makes fun of her because of it" she cracked her knuckles "I'd kick their ass" she concluded with a grin.
"Rawrr" Dante purred to which Yang winked playfully.
"Same goes for me" Ruby said, looking directly at Nero "as a leader and a person, I won't treat any of my friends differently." Nero raised both eyebrows.
Vergil glanced at Sun and Neptune to which Sun's tail was raised for him to see
"Do you even need to ask?"
"Ditto" Neptune simply responded.
Vergil deliberately glanced at Weiss last because he could tell the heiress would be the most difficult.
Weiss glanced at Blake then Vergil and sighed "I will admit that it was" she paused to swallow "difficult for me to accept the truth, especially with her past affiliations" Vergil could see Blake's bow sagged a little "but, that's all in the past and right now she has our backs as a part of team RWBY and I have no qualms about that." Weiss concluded.
At the end a small smile graced Vergil's lips
"Soooo" Yang got his attention "what's the big secret?"
Vergil turned to Nero who looked unsure of the situation and hesitated
"Any day now Nero" Dante said
Nero glared at him "shut up Dante, we just met them a few hours ago!" he shouted
"It's alright Nero" Vergil got his attention "I trust them." Nero glanced to them as he said it.
Nero sighed in defeat and started undoing his sling whilst walking towards his sword case which was directly beside Ruby. He kicked it open in front of team leader and threw the sling inside then closed it and then with a small gulp slowly rolled up his sleeve.
Several gasps escaped the group and the record for being surprised in one day has now been broken.
Weiss pointed a trembling finger at his arm "y-y-your arm, it's-"
"Demonic?" Nero finished for her. He took a look at it, and raised for everyone to observe "don't remind me, thing drives me crazy." He casually began checking his arm
Blake approached him and laid her hands on his arm, she looked at him with her usual stoic expression "I've never met a Faunus with only their arm showing the characteristics of one."
"If only that were the case" he muttered. Blake was confused so he continued "I'm not a Faunus Blake, when I say my arm is demonic I actually meant it really is demonic because" he paused to sigh "I'm half demon."
"Th-that's preposterous!" exclaimed Weiss "Demons don't exist!"
"Then what do you suppose the Grimm are exactly?" questioned the calm voice of Vergil.
"What do you mean?" Ozpin asked joining the conversation, Glynda in tow just as curious.
"Yeah Verg what do you mean?" Dante questioned next to his brother" That's the first time I'm hearing this."
Now having the floor Vergil began "I've been researching the Grimm for most of my time and from what I've seen, the Grimm are eerily similar to some of the lowest chaste of demons we've fought."
"What, you mean like the lesser stygian or hell prides?" Nero asked.
"That's exactly what I mean."
"Well shit just got real" interrupted Dante.
"Okay I am completely lost here" interrupted Sun "what are you guys talking about?"
"Long story short, where we come from demons always have a social ladder and your Grimm are like the lowest of the low which means.." he paused and gestured to Vergil
"Which means" he turned to Ozpin "that there may be a group of powerful demons creating them." Vergil concluded.
Ozpin eyes widened a bit before they narrowed "we'll discuss this in detail after your initiation." Vergil nodded.
Weiss was left stuttering "what just happened? First he's half demon then it turns out the Grimm are demons and there are other demons creating them!" Weiss' brain was on over load; too much has happened in too little time.
"Wait, so are all of you half demons?" Blake asked.
"Close but no cigar" Dante said walking towards the platform "we're Nephilm."
"What's that?" Nora asked in her usual chipper attitude
Dante grinned while swaggering backwards "half demon" he turned around with two thumbs pointing to his back "half angel!" he concluded happily.
Just then a bright glow emitted from just below his neck, it spread down and to everyone's surprise formed a silver-colored double edged long sword. Nero rolled his eyes and scoffed while Vergil sighed exasperatedly, both of them walked towards the spring loaded platforms.
Ozpin turned to look at the group "I know you all have a lot of questions for them" he spoke "but for now, just watch."
Everyone then took out their scroll most of them anxious to see what they could do.
"Alright take your positions" Ozpin spoke and
Vergil was the only on e who didn't deviate from standing straight, Blake immediately knew what type of fighting style he used after all her former partner used it as well.
Nero was the first to be launched followed by Vergil Dante didn't bother with a combat stance instead he stood casually with a grin
"Alright let's get the party starTEEEED!" He was launched at the head of his sentence
[Play CombiChrist's 'Gotta Go' DmC OST] 2:57
Tick Tack Tick Tack
"Whoo Hooo" Dante exclaimed soaring through the sky at a hundred miles per hour.
He used angel lift to boost himself enjoying the feeling of flight for a few more moments until he finally focused on the task at hand and that is landing. So he placed a hand to his forehead to look over the forest while slowly descending, after a while his grin widened, he turned rebellion into Ophion's demon mode.
Down below a pack of Beowolves were slowly trekking towards a source they sensed in the forest when suddenly one of their ranks were pulled up into the air, the startled Grimm all looked up. Dante retracted Ophion from the Beowolf coming at him fast and turned it to rebellion before bisecting it in mid air.
Righting himself in the air he managed to change his trajectory and is now falling face first into the middle of the pack, but he wasn't finished yet, he pulled out Ebony and Ivory and began rapidly firing while spinning. Bullets began to literally rain from the sky and the Beowolf soon found themselves under a hail of fire.
Before Dante landed the pack had about 27 Beowolves, when did land there were now 18 members including the Alpha who stood 8 feet tall with spikes coming from its back. Dante smirked as the Beowolves surrounded him, he pulled out Revenant
"So who's next?"
[Song Time 1:00]
Meanwhile Nero was running through the forest heading North, he was using Blue Rose to shoot any resistance he met. A Boarbatusk came charging through the bushes in front, Nero immediately fired 4 bullets but they bounced off its thick armor. Suddenly an Ursa came out from his left, both Grimm looked to him and Nero immediately looked to his right arm
"This is such bullshit!" he spat, just then the Boarbatusk started spinning towards him, its quills poised to impale.
Suddenly an idea came to and he smirked and ran after the charging Grimm, he took a look at the Ursa who was going for his flank in case its companion failed, he revved Red Queen once and waited for the spinning Grimm to come within range until
"Batter Up!" he shouted with glee before he swung the sword blade first at it.
The blade connected with the thick armor but it didn't crack, instead sparks flew for a moment before Nero angled his body so he faced the Ursa, he smirked and an orange explosion from Red Queen and full swing propelled the spinning boarbatusk towards the Ursa, like a baseball.
"He shoots" Nero began as he pulled out Blue Rose and fired several times at the Grimm.
The Boarbatusk ended up launched right at the head of the Ursa with deadly accuracy, it didn't even have time to react. The Boarbatusk's quills impaled the face of the Ursa, killing it on the spot but before the body could even land from the impact, six bullets were shot into the soft underbelly of the Boarbatusk ending its life then.
"He scores" Nero finished as he began running up North again.
With his heightened sense of hearing he heard the familiar sound of glee and of bullets before he came upon the sight of Dante with his foot planted on an Alpha Beowolf's head, his shot gun aimed at it
"Lights out" he said before he pulled the trigger and Grimm blood and Brain matter painted the grass.
Nero paused to take a look around, evaporating bodies littered the placed "yep this is just about right" he muttered.
"Hey you gonna pose there all day or are you gonna finish this initiation?" He yelled which got the Nephilm's attention and shattered his after battle glow.
Dante looked at him annoyed before rolling his eyes "party pooper" he finally spoke.
Nero simply rolled his eyes and made for the ruins with Dante in tow they only made it roughly 20 feet before a horde of Nevermore came for them ranging in the tens.
"You have got to be kidding me" Nero grumbled. Not that he had a problem with fighting but the amount of Grimm attracted to his arm was becoming annoying.
Dante on the other was grateful "target practice, right on cue" he patted Nero on the back "good job Nero." He then whipped out Kablooey.
He fired several shots in the crowd and clicked a botton on the side, suddenly several explosions occurred, Dante kept doing this for ten more seconds until all the Nevermore were killed. He smirked and kissed the gun before holstering it
"Alright Nero let's go" he turned to see an outline of Nero where he used to be, he then heard several shots fired followed by animalistic sounds no doubt from the Grimm he's engaging.
"That sonnuva" he stopped midway to run after his teammate.
[Song Time 1:57]
Everyone on the cliff watching the initiation were thoroughly impressed by the kills shown, of course they would all be able to take on the Grimm they had fought but they did it with such apparent ease and flair that they would all admit to being at least entertained, even Weiss.
"Whoa" Jaune said "those guys are good" he had just watched Dante kill an entire pack of Beowolves with only his twin pistols and sawed-off shotgun.
"They aren't good" Yang began "they are bad asses!" she instantly covered her mouth while glancing at Glynda.
Glynda spared her a glance before turning her attention to the initiation, although she would not admit it, they surpassed her expectations. She glanced at Ozpin who was watching the proceedings with a small smile she then went back to it.
"It's surprising isn't it?" Ozpin spoke up
She spared him a glance "Sir?"
"They don't fight like they are hunters in training."
She hummed without a response and Ozpin didn't need one from her to know that she agreed. They fight like fully fledged and seasoned hunters as far as she could tell and somehow they have yet to scratch the surface of what those boys can do.
Theatrics aside Ozpin was observant the entire time and noticed that Nero has been hounded by the Grimm ever since he landed, as if they are drawn to him. She didn't get the time to question Nero about his arm and she is certain that it is the reason why they are going after them.
"Where's Vergil?" came Blake's voice.
Suddenly it just occurred to them that they have been so distracted with watching Dante and Nero that they completely forgot about him. Glynda then began to search the cameras but he didn't come up, what did come up however were the images of Grimm corpses now dissolving.
"Guys, I think I found him" sounded Neptune's shocked voice "He's on camera 12."
With that they all tuned in and everyone's collective jaws dropped except for Ren who stared wide eyed.
[Song Time 2:13]
Vergil was running nonstop towards the ruins he had a stoic expression the whole way, in front of him were two Ursa Majors, he didn't stop instead he grip the hilt of Yamato. The two Ursa were ready to kill their latest pray, Vergil seemed to running to the space between them, they both stood up on their hind legs. One of them readied his paw to come crashing down while the other one growled loudly.
In a flash Vergil was a few feet behind the two Grimm with a dark blue trail behind him. The two Grimm didn't move an inch and the growl was cut off mid way. Vergil straightened his stance, shaking the blood off and slowly sheathed his blade.
As soon as the blade snapped in the two Ursa began disassembling right before the eyes of everyone watching, resulting in the slack jawed, wide eyed reaction. In an instant Vergil was gone, just like Ruby when using her semblance.
For the remainder of the initiation they all watched as the boys hacked and lashed their way through the hordes of Grimm until they came into the familiar clearings. Vergil was the first because he never bothered to stop much, he just slashed and ran. He knew somehow that he would be first but nonetheless stopped to look around.
[Song Break 2:33]
In front of him were the fabled ruins he began jogging towards it and there on top of short stone pillars were chess pieces. He noted how all of them were kings and a smile graced his lips
"WHOO!" He was pulled from his musings by the sound of his brother's obnoxious voice.
"HEY THAT'S CHEATING!" came Nero's voice afterwards.
Vergil sighed and took up the chess piece, if there is one thing that he could agree on is that the only time those two truly got along is when they are fighting. That would explain why their arguments almost always involve violence. Vergil watched as they began running towards him almost as if it were a race, scratch that, they are racing.
[Song Start 2:34]
Dante and Nero began shooting each other but none of their bullets even so much as grazed each other. Between Dante's rapid firing and Nero's double barrel destructive power, to the uninitiated (ie, everyone watching on the cliffs save for maybe Ozpin) it would seem to be a nigh impossible feat.
At the last minute Dante flipped in the air and used angel lift to cover the rest of the distance Nero pulled out Red Queen revved it up and used it as a jet to glide across the field. Even with that Nero was a little behind Dante who landed half a second before Nero reached
[Song End]
"I win" Dante commented
"That race was bull and you know it" Nero enquired, irked at Dante.
Dante shrugged with a smirk and went towards what he thought was the relic since Vergil had one "you don't have to be such a sore loser Nero" he picked up the chess piece.
"You left me to fight the Grimm by myself" the white haired boy protested. He too picked up the chest piece standing directly in front of Dante.
"Details, details" was his nonchalant reply.
Before a full blown argument commenced Vergil interrupted with a cough
"If you two are done, we have an initiation to finish" he turned to walk away but smirked "besides its clear that I was the winner of that race since I came here before both of you." He concluded.
"Ok now that is bull!" Dante commented.
"Yeah" Nero agreed.
Vergil ignored their bickering and they all made their way across the now broken bridge where they were waited upon by their new friends and professors as official students of Beacon Academy.
To Be Continued
Author's Notes: No doubt you are wondering why reveal Nero's arm so early and why reveal the whole demon conspiracy in front of everyone, well honestly since Vergil was the one who spearheaded this and the fact that Nero and Dante aren't one for subtlety I figured better reveal sooner especially since the conspiracy may be bigger than anyone has ever thought.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that Vergil knows that keeping it a secret would not be beneficial to anyone plus he already knows he could trust them. I will explain everyone's new role next chapter and work out some of the kinks.