A Huntress and a Huntsman covered each other's backs, looking around apprehensively as they kept a firm grip on their weapons. The room was dark, and only the dim lighting of a ceiling lamp gave them any visibility.
"Just what the hell are we facing..." murmured the Huntress, making sure to keep her finger hovering over the trigger. "It's not a Grimm, that's for sure."
The Huntsman kept quiet, ready to strike at a moment's notice, eyes darting as he tried to read where it would attack. His head snapped to the left and swung his sword, blocking against a wave of purple fire. The Huntress turned into that direction and immediately went trigger happy, trying to get a shot in.
Unfortunately, none of them hit as their target leapt across the room, kicking the Huntsman over the back of the head as he did so. Before the man could even recover, he was pulled into the darkness as he screamed.
"Shit!" she cursed out while she hurriedly reloaded her guns with Dust.
The Huntress froze up, feeling the hairs on her body stand up as she felt a hand clasp her shoulder and she could immediately tell it wasn't her partner. Glowing, red eyes peering from the darkness, just staring, almost like they're floating, focused on its prey. The Huntress screamed before it was abruptly cut off.
A Few Days Later
Jeanne passively watched as her son relentlessly sliced through his targets. He let out a deep sigh and tucked the Yamato back into her scabbard as every dummy were all cut down in half. She nodded approvingly, but wasn't quite satisfied.
"From the top, Jaune. Let's see you beat your previous time."
Jaune buried whatever complaints he had as he followed his mother's orders, wiping off the sweat on his face while he caught his breath. He asked for this. He couldn't just rely on Yamato's instructions forever. He had to learn how to use a katana. He closed his eyes and focused, the soft breeze brushing against the foliage.
Then, multiple growls reverberated from across the forest. He raised a single brow but still didn't open his eyes. A single Beowolf emerged from out of the bush, lunging at Jaune with its jaw wide open to chomp on bones. The blond reacted and drew out Yamato, before promptly tucking her back in her sheath.
The wolf let out a pained yelp as its head slid right off its neck. More Beowolves stepped out from the forest, growling at the cambion, completely surrounding him in all directions. Jaune mockingly bowed at the pack of Grimm, extending his hand as he grinned at them.
"Shall we dance?" He taunted.
The creatures of darkness didn't quite understand his words, but it infuriated them, nonetheless. All of them charged at him, with one attempting to attack him from behind. Jaune grunted and passed through the pack, already in the process of sliding the katana back into its scabbard. The Beowolf that tried to attack him from behind found itself cut in two, evaporating immediately.
They faced the blond, who merely regarded them with a smirk. Jaune zipped forward and attacked four Beowolves, needing only two strikes to cut them down. He tripped another one with the scabbard, before slicing it in half. The cambion deflected a pair of claws that threatened to impale him, before he bifurcated the wolf's hand then decapitated its head.
Jaune moved back his head, narrowly dodging the jaws of another Beowolf. He shoved it back with the scabbard, and struck it down before it could think of attacking again. He rolled to the side, evading more claws and jaws snapping at him. Feeling another smirk tug at his lips, he rushed forward and rapidly slashed at the remaining Creatures of Grimm until he reached the end.
The Son of Vergil sheathed Yamato back with a flourish, all of the Beowolves falling apart in a heap, waiting to evaporate into nothing. He was surprised when an Alpha appeared out of nowhere, charging right at him. He flipped out of its path as it crashed against a tree. With the Beowolf discombobulated, Jaune quickly took advantage. The Yamato crackled with energy as he hopped back and tucked the sheathed blade by his hip, before tugging at the blade's handle to release it. The air around the Beowolf momentarily distorted before ripples of energy slashes shredded down its defense.
Charging forward, he sliced through its midsection, along with the trees behind it. Without turning back, he cast off the Grimm fur on the blade as he sheathed it back with a satisfying click. Both the Alpha and the trees slid in two halves, as the former slowly dissipated.
"Well done." His mother commented, landing down right next to him. She smiled at her son, ruffling his hair "You're steadily improving more and more with how you use your father's blade."
The Yamato briefly glowed, airing her thoughts. "I agree with your mother, young master. It won't be long until you can wield me at maximum efficiency. I'm sure master Vergil would be proud st your progress."
A brief frown appeared on Jaune's lips at the mention of his still absent father, before being wiped away as he smiled humbly down onto the dark-forged blade.
"It's all thanks to mom's teachings, and your advice, Yams. Couldn't have done it without you guys So thank yourselves too." He reasoned out, making Jeanne smile and ruffle her son's hair once again.
"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
Mother and son turned around to see Lady standing there, Kalina Ann strapped around her shoulder. The lady devil hunter walked up to the pair as Jaune waved at her in greeting.
"Hey, Lady. I just got done with some training. What's up? You need anything?"
The Walking Arsenal nodded, giving him a smile. "I got a job, and I think I might need some backup. You interested?"
Jaune tilted his head in slight confusion. "Wait, why are you offering me? What about Trish or Uncle Dante?" He asked.
"Dante is busy training Ren how to fight, while Trish is busy with Nora to help her better control her powers. Besides, you did good back in Fortuna. Wouldn't mind you backing me up. So, interested?"
The blond seemed hesitant to accept, looking over to his mother who seemingly returned his look with an encouraging nod. "I think you're old enough to make decisions for yourself, Jaune. It's up to you if you want to accept."
The cambion smiled, before turning to Lady and accepted the job offer. "Alright, I'm in."
The female devil hunter smiled back, gesturing for the blond to follow her. "Perfect. Now come on, we got to go."
The motorcycle that Lady and Jaune were on came to a screeching halt right in front of what appeared to be a seemingly abandoned two-story building, though it showed no signs of disrepair or weathering. The two got off the bike. Jaune stretched out his limbs while Lady parked her motorcycle. He looked over to the older woman, asking her for the details of the mission.
"So, what do we got?" Jaune asked, cracking his knuckles.
"This place has been abandoned for a few years now, and some real estate agents have been trying to get it off the market for as long." Lady informed while she made sure each and every one of her guns were loaded. "But, every time they try to go in, they get scared off by glowing red eyes and something scraping against the floor boards. They thought it was a Grimm that managed to get inside and hired some Huntsmen to deal with it, but…"
Jaune cocked an eyebrow, hazarding a guess. "It wasn't a Grimm, and the Huntsmen got their asses kicked?"
The Walking Arsenal nodded in affirmation as she secured her guns on to her person. "You got it. By now, the real estate agent is getting desperate in getting this property out of her hands, so she resorted to hiring us. If a Huntsman can't beat what's inside, then it has to be a demon that's haunting this building."
The cambion smirked in excitement, itching for a good fight. "I see. We going in guns blazing or are we going with a stealth approach?"
"We're gonna try stealth." Lady said, double-checking her ammo. "The real estate agent still wants to sell this building, so we need to minimize property damage if possible. If all else fails, I'm sure we can convince them otherwise."
Jaune nodded at the information, drawing out Blue Rose. The two devil hunters approached the building, entering. They were more than shocked to see that the room was completely furnished, looking very much like a bar of sorts.
"This... isn't what I expected." Lady admitted, looking around while she kept her guns up. "Before she hired us, she tried to have Huntsmen do it first, and they apparently broke a lot of stuff when they went in. But nothing looks even remotely damaged."
The blond agreed, walking up to one of the couches. "Yeah. Everything looks brand new, smells like it just came out of storage too. Where did they even get this?"
He went over to the shelf, looking over the bottles of what he could only assume to be alcoholic drinks. He grabbed one of them, closely inspecting it to notice that, like with the furnishings, it had nary a speck of dust, as if it was regularly cleaned or it was completely brand new. Jaune placed back the bottle and went to regroup with Lady to discuss their plan.
Play – Misery Comes on Beat
Faster than their eyes could see, a wave of purple flames came out of nowhere and surged right at them. Jaune and Lady rolled out of the way, the flames crashing against the wall, starting to slowly spread across it. Before any of them could make a move, a man leapt from out of a corner and slashed at them with ethereal claws wreathed in purple flames. Jaune managed to react in time and brought forth his Aegis Shield, defending himself.
Mysterious Assailant
The man backed away and jumped over the counter, swiftly evading Lady's gun shots. He clenched his fists and threw out another wave of fire, forcing them to separate and dodge. Jaune's eyes widened as the man was immediately upon him, reaching out for his head. With luck, he managed to evade and kick away his hand, righting himself into a better position as the stranger slowly stood up, staring him down.
The two devil hunters got a good look of their assailant, and they were slightly surprised to see what looked to be just a regular man. Crimson red hair, yellow eyes, wearing what they could only surmise to be the latest fashion trends.
"Who are you?" Lady demanded, keeping her guns trained at him, ready to shoot if he made any wrong moves.
The man tilted his head, as if the question that was just asked confused him. "Who am I?... I'm your prey, am I not?"
The stranger suddenly zoomed towards Lady, aiming to incapacitate her first. He twisted and turned himself around to dodge her bullets only to be surprised when she pulled a shotgun out of nowhere and blasted him in the face. Their target was pushed back, right into Jaune's range as he leapt forward and slammed down Red Queen onto the man. He grunted and parried the attack by backhanding the blade, throwing the cambion off balance.
His hands coated itself in the purple flame as he launched Jaune up into the air with an uppercut. The demon grabbed hold of the blond by the face, slamming him down onto the floor and started hammering it in. Lady moved in quickly, drop kicking their target off the poor teen and started riddling the redhead with bullets.
While she reloaded her gun, Lady tossed a few grenades at the demon, flinging him into the air. Jaune recovered, just in time to jump up and Buster their assailant. He grabbed him by the face and barraged him with a flurry of punches, before kicking him back to the floor.
Jaune landed back down, cranking Red Queen's handle as he charged forward for a sweeping strike. The redhead grunted and quickly pushed himself up into a handstand, kicking back the blade to stun the cambion. With a grunt, he went for a spinning hook kick, hitting Jaune right on the back of the head. The cambion crashed against the wall, feeling his ears ring from the blow, struggling to stand up with how disoriented he was.
Their target clenched his fist and his flames burst into life. Before he could make another move on Jaune, he spread the fire across him and melted the bullets that sailed his way. Lady was then behind him, gun pointed over his head. The stranger ducked his head, narrowly dodging the bullet before twisting around and smacking aside the gun, burying his fist into the devil hunter's gut.
Lady gasped, the air leaving her body, allowing for their target to grab her by the head and hoist her up into their air. "Burn!" He screamed, and she was launched back by a brilliant explosion of flames, reducing a chunk of her Aura.
She grunted, pushing herself up, rolling to her right to avoid the axe kick. She drew out her combat knife, momentarily looking at Jaune to check up on him. He was still disoriented from the blow, unfortunately. Lady frowned and focused on their target, tightly gripping the knife. With a dash, she swung at the stranger. He evaded her strikes, before Lady finally managed to get a slash in and stabbed him right in the stomach.
Smiling at her fortune, she kicked her gun up into her hand, aimed before smacking him with her gun, and then unloading its magazine inside of him and then hitting him in the jaw with the butt of her gun. The female devil hunter rolled back, reaching out for her shotgun, only for it to be pushed away by her bloodied knife.
Gritting her teeth, Lady activated her Semblance and engaged in a fist fight with it, punching the demon right in the face. He wasn't amused. The redhead struck an unusual pose, bringing her apprehension. Faster than she could anticipate, the mysterious stranger slid towards her and started attacking at a ferocious speed, delivering eight blows to different vital points in her body. Once done, the man grabbed her by the chest and blew her off with his purple flames, knocking her into a shelf.
Lady was thankful her Semblance was active, otherwise, her Aura would've surely shattered from that attack. The assailant growled and leapt forward for another attack. Before he could even get closer, Jaune put himself in between them and activated his Devil Trigger, stunning their pray as the Yamato came into his hand. He drew out the blade and immediately struck, slashing him dead on the chest.
The demon hissed in pain and clutched his wound. He glared at the cambion until for his eyes to widen in recognition at the Devil Arm. "The Yamato…? And that scent… Hold on a moment, are you related to Sparda?"
"And if I am?" Jaune posed, keeping the katana trained on the mysterious man, while Lady joined him, her hands hovering over her guns.
The redhead stood straight and brushed off the blood on his body as the wound closed up, looking apologetic at the duo. "I…suppose I've made a serious lapse in my judgement. Would any of you care for a drink? I'm perfectly willing to explain everything."
Lady and Jaune looked at each other incredulously, not really believing what they were hearing. Nonetheless, they were willing to hear him out. The phantom that enshrouded the blond faded away while he slid back Yamato into her scabbard.
"You got any Gin Fizz?"
Jaune quietly sipped his drink as the redhead prepared Lady's, just a simple whiskey on the rocks. He handed over it to the Walking Arsenal, who took a swig of it immediately. She let out a groan in contentment at the burning sensation in her throat before finally getting to the matter at hand.
"So, who, or what are you exactly?"
"I am Su-" The demon thought it over before shaking his head. The color of his hair slowly changed, from crimson red to a light brown. He cleared his throat and started over. "I am Bacchus. Long ago, I was a vicious beast who relished battle and loved to shower in the blood of my enemies. But, I grew to hate such a thing. Fighting was something I began to abhor, and so I swore off it."
Lady quirked a brow, bringing down her glass to speak. "Sounds pretty contradictory, given the fact how savage you were when we were fighting earlier, not to mention the reports I got from how brutally beaten some of the Huntsmen that came before us."
Bacchus flinched in embarrassment, adopting a sheepish look. "Yes… I had gone a bit overboard, I admit. But I engaged in battle, so I can swiftly end it. All of my attacks were to incapacitate someone as quickly as possible without killing them. I'd prefer not to draw out the battles, if I'm able."
The two devil hunters looked at each other, somewhat understanding his reasoning. Lady took another sip before speaking up. "Alright, that's taken care of, but you do know you're trespassing, right?"
"Pardon?" the disguised demon asked, looking at woman in confusion.
"She means how you're setting up shop here, even though you don't own this place." Jaune clarified. "I don't know how properties in the demon world works, but here, we gotta go through a lengthy process to make sure that place is ours."
Bacchus blinked, processing their words. "Oh." He simply said, realizing his mistake. "So that's why that woman constantly kept on sending Huntsmen to drive me out. I had forgotten to pay. Can you call for her, so we can get this straightened out?"
"Sure." Lady obliged, once again, taking another sip of her whiskey. "I'll go and call her now, get you settled in."
"That would be greatly appreciated."
And so, Lady left the establishment to contact the real estate agent. While she did so, Jaune was content with sipping his drink, enjoying the vibes and the atmosphere of the place, notwithstanding the mess they've made. It didn't take long for Lady to arrive with a stern-looking woman in a suit. She sat down and stared blankly at Bacchus.
"So, you're the one that's been causing all of this ruckus?" she asked calmly.
Bacchus flinched, before straightening himself out and nodded. "Correct. I'm... not from around here, and so I was ignorant of some things that are common sense. I had no malicious intent, I swear, but I did want to own this property."
The real estate agent raised an eyebrow, leaning in forward with a gleam in her eye. "So, what you're saying is that you want to buy this building?"
He nodded. "Yes, I-"
However, before he could even finish his sentence, the agent had procured a piece of paper out of nowhere and slammed it on to the table. "Please sign here, here and here, and this property will all be yours."
Bacchus owlishly blinked, confused by the woman's reaction. He looked over to Lady and Jaune, who shrugged, just as confused as he was. The demon attempting reformation decided to just go with it and did as what the woman told. Once he was done, the real estate agent snatched the paper out of his hands and slammed in another one.
"Congratulations. This building is now yours. Here is the deed as proof of your ownership. And as for your payment, Mr. Nero and Ms. Lady. The money has already been transferred to your accounts. Thank you, and have a good day."
The woman immediately made her exit, crying out in sheer joy that she no longer had to worry about the property anymore and that she could finally focus on others. Bacchus looked over to the two devil hunters, expression still etched with confusion and befuddlement.
"Was that normal?" he asked.
Once again, the two just shrugged and Bacchus simply accepted it.
"I see. Well, I suppose another round of apologies is in order, and some words of gratitude as well." The demon said as he got out of the counter, grabbing a broom and a bin to start cleaning up the mess they've made.
Jaune got up from his seat, reaching out for the broom. "Hey, let us help you."
Bacchus shook his head, continuing on to sweep. "No need. I can do this on my own. You two have done enough for me. You're also welcome to come back here when I properly open up shop."
Seeing that he wouldn't budge, Jaune obliged, giving him a nod. "Alright, fair enough. And yeah, we'll take you up on your offer, Bacchus."
The two devil hunters left the building, bidding the demon farewell, leaving him alone to clean up his newly owned shop.
A week later
Nora let out a drawn out groan of frustration, as she and her friends walked out of the building. Jaune, Ren and Pyrrha also sported similar expressions of annoyance, while Kyrie simply held a frown on hers. Tonight was one of the rare occasions they could all come together and hang out. And they all made the collective decision to hang out at a karaoke bar. Unfortunately, each and every one they went to rejected them for being minors, despite some of them not even serving any alcohol drinks, and not even Pyrrha's minor celebrity status could get them in.
"Man, this night is such a frigging bust." Nora complained out loud. "We were supposed to have a good night tonight, just singing cheesy and terrible songs while we all cheered each other on!"
"Guess things don't always work out." Ren voiced out, having already accepted that their plans were ruined. "Maybe we can still salvage the night and play rounds of board games?"
As everyone descended into an argument whether or not they should just go home and play board games, Jaune tuned out their voices, looking around the area, before his gaze landed on a particular building. His eyes lightly widened in recognition and made his approach. Their arguments slowly died down when they took notice of Jaune walking up to the establishment. They wordlessly followed after him, curious as to what had gotten in to him.
Jaune pushed open the door, the bell above jingling, as he took stock of the interior. To his correct suspicions, he saw Bacchus on the counter, cleaning up a glass. The man didn't even need to look up, having senses the blond's presence.
"Ah, Nero! Good to see you again." He hummed in curiosity and looked up, seeing the others walk in and look around in awe of his bar. "Your friends, I assume. Out for a night in town?"
"That was the plan…" He nodded in affirmation, his expression soon twisting into displeasure. "But it kinda got a little derailed because no karaoke bar wants to let us in, even if they don't serve drinks."
Ren approached his cousin, eyes narrowed with distrust aimed at the brunette. "Jaune, he's a-"
"I know." He cleared his throat to grab everyone's attention. "Guys, this is Bacchus. I met him on a job with Lady. Bacchus, these are my friends. Pyrrha, Kyrie, Ren and Nora." Jaune introduced to the demon, gesturing to each one as he went down the line.
The bartender smiled and gave them a brief nod. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
The group returned the nod, giving him a variety of greetings, making the demon chuckle. Placing down his glass, he went back to the matter at hand. "Now, you said you five wanted to have a fun time singing karaoke, correct?"
All of them nodded, making Bacchus smile. He pointed over to the corner of the bar, wherein a karaoke machine was stationed, along with a platform for the singer to perform on. Their eyes brightened, feeling hope that their nightly plans weren't ruined.
"Technically, my bar isn't opened yet, but I'll allow you five to have early access." said Bacchus, very much giving them permission to go and have fun.
While Nora and Kyrie went up to go and decide on their songs, Ren, Jaune and Pyrrha sat down by the bar. Bacchus walked up to them with a bottle in-hand.
"Would any of you like a drink?"
Pyrrha looked up and responded for the three of them. "O-Oh! I'm sorry, but we're still underage. We're not allowed to drink yet."
Bacchus simply chuckled, giving the tournament champion a reassuring smile. "Worry not. I don't need to see any ID. I'll keep it a secret, if you guys can."
"Hey! Stop talking over there and get to cheering! Kyrie is about to start singing!" Nora shouted, using the microphone from the karaoke machine to make sure everyone heard her.
She cheekily smiled and handed back the microphone to Kyrie as she bounded on over to sit by Ren as the song started playing. The former priestess gave them all a smile, prompting her friends to start cheering.
Bacchus chuckled to himself, relishing the feeling of seeing people happy instead of making them suffer. He hoped that he'd never go back to his old ways.
And so, this is how I repurposed Iori. I turned him into a demon looking for redemption and away from the violence, just living live peacefully as he can. The bar is supposed to be modeled after the Survive Bar in LAD and LJ, if you guys have trouble trying to think of an image for the bar. That's what I've been using as a basis.
I've only made Bacchus appear briefly in the 'TAS' arc, and so I've made the decision to give him some characterization here. For reasons you'll find out once I finally update the main story.
Stay safe, as usual, everyone. Take care.