Sorry for the delay guys. Having too much fun playing as Vergil against Dante... in DMD. Getting my a$$ wrecked 8 out of 10 times XD. Worth for combo practicing though. And yes I know the Void is to practice, but fighting against our wacky woohoo pizza man is ALWAYS fun, even if you're losing.
To NobuNepu: I did actually write an extra chapter before. I might write another one after the main story ends.
To Pirohiko-Baltazar: In context, it would be easier to invite them when starting to play as Dante, so them joining from mission 12 is acceptable.
Enough ranting, let's continue the party!
Mission 13: The Devil Returns
Drive down the dragon that spreads its wickedness through the forest!"
"Huh? So the developers call her a dragon?" Jaune leans back on his seat while throwing some popcorns into his mouth.
"Her?" Velvet asks in curiosity.
"The boss demon. You will see soon enough..."
"Are we really back-tracking the mission?" Ruby scratches her head. "Isn't it a bit repetitive?"
"Well... the production had some problems." T.O replies simply. "At least it didn't get backlashed like a certain reboot. And no, we agreed to not 'play' that game." The end statement causes Nora to pout a bit as she's about to ask a question.
"Reboot? You mean the fifth one?"
"Nobody counted it as part of the main series, Weiss."
Since there is nothing to buy, Ruby starts the mission.
The power of the forest's master is preventing you from escape.
In many exits, there are some sort of purple mists covering them. Thankfully, Dante just enters the Ancient Training Ground before it happens.
"So... we can't return." Ruby decides to walk back to the mist... and it teleports her to the area right after she fought the viper boss as Nero. "Wait what?" Thinking that she could just walk back and fight her again, Ruby does so and ends up being teleported away to Forgotten Ruins by the same mist. "...Is it random?"
"Not sure." T.O shrugs. "We didn't bother testing it."
Jumping off the bridge, Ruby faces the Scarecrows and the Chimera seeds. She quickly kills the seeds first with Shotgun blasts then returns her attention to the Scarecrows. Some of them stand behind the mist, and Ruby tries to use Air Trick to get through the mist... and ends up failing. "Aw, I thought he can teleport through that."
Now she's ended up on the cliff of Windswept Valley. Deciding not to walk back (because she thinks it would just return her back to the previous location), she jumps down and faces three Assault Chimeras. "Oh for... Why?"
"Those things don't look so strong." Coco comments.
"The real problem is that bushy demon on its back." Weiss explains. "We can't really melee them constantly since there is nothing to tell when it would attack."
Thankfully, Dante's Trickster helps him dashing around and avoiding taking damage from the demons while he attacks them with his guns. However, E&I Charged Shots only improve the damage a tiny bit, and Coyote-A only deals high damage up close so it's very risky. Using Dante's DT Stinger helps, but the random attacks of the bush demons would just stagger him now and then. And if he takes it a bit too slow, the reptiles would dig underground and move to attack him from below.
Thankfully, it only takes a minute, and a couple of health bars, to deal with the demons.
"I would be annoyed like you if I have to deal with them in a mission." Coco comments.
"Just imagine having Ruby zooming around you while trying to aim your gun at her. Same energy." Yang replies, earning nods from the others including the girl herself.
"Where's next then? I see three exits." Looking at the map, Yatsuhashi asks the direction Ruby is planning to head to.
"The mist. The other ways lead to dead ends if I remember it right."
This time, the mist teleports her to Ancient Plaza, where Ruby faces the reptile demons again. Thankfully, this time there is no bush demons possessing them so she can go style on them with her Swordmaster. Doesn't stop the others she isn't attacking yet to cheaply fire projectiles to her.
"I know it doesn't work like in real world, but shouldn't the demons stop attacking if you are attacking the others?" Jaune has played a few games, and that does happen.
"In this one, the demons will attack as long as they are in 'your' view." T.O explains the game's mechanism.
Entering Lapis River, Ruby sees two red scorpion demons appear, and the teleporting mist under the bridge. With the shotgun charged, it only takes two shots up close to knock the demon out of its protection cloak. And since they won't do anything once they lose the cloaks, Ruby completely wrecks them in a few seconds.
She then goes down to the river and aims her guns at the seeds under the bridge. However, for some weird reasons, the shotgun blast doesn't hit everything. She goes near the bridge and starts jumping up in place to try to shoot the seeds... and ends up being teleported away for some reasons. "Not. Funny."
"I said no words." T.O replies, though everyone clearly sees that he sees Ruby's mistake funny.
Though, the mistake seems to be a good one, because Ruby's now in the other side of the mist in Windswept Valley, with the Ruined Church in front of her and the Adjudicator inside. Going inside the Church and taking the Blue Orb Fragment which turns into Blue Orb, she then remembers about one location... "Wow, we have to also repeat that puzzle? The developers need to fix that."
"Already did in the next game, Ruby."
"You don't like puzzles?"
"Would you like to repeat a puzzle over and over, miss Coco?"
"...No, professor Oum."
Entering the Lost Woods, Ruby has to face two more Assault Chimeras. Deciding to be enough of these things, she turns on DT and Stinger both of them into oblivion. "None of those cheap attacks again."
"You are the one to talk, Ruby. Your speed is basically for that reason."
"At least my attacks still have a small moment to notice, unlike those bushes T.O."
"So where's that puzzle?" Fox asks.
"The forest itself is the puzzle. One wrong turn and you have to do it all over." Ren explains.
Ruby decides to open the hint again so team CFVY can read the 'riddle', then finishes it within seconds while telling them about the shadows.
"That's... okay-ish. It could be improved better."
"Given the time the game was made, miss Coco, it's in the acceptable level."
"Just giving my thoughts, professor Oum. Besides, this looks better than the games I knew of."
The exit is... right at the entrance that leads to the boss fight...
Walking into the Den of the She-Viper heading to the Hell Gate which is opening, Dante then feels something behind him. He turns back and sees the boss flying on the sky while shooting her seeds everywhere in the forest.
"She just doesn't learn, doesn't she?"
"You guys have beaten her once, right?" Velvet asks. "But, she didn't, well, die?"
"Eh, she ran away, and... thinking about it, why did Nero let her live?"
"Plot armor, I think." T.O replies.
"Yeah, like the one you have." Blake accuses the person.
"Busted." And he just shrugs, comically.
Shaking his head, he then runs towards the seeds and kicks them into the forest. Somehow, his alignment and accuracy is so high that the seeds bounce off the trees, the stones... and head straight to the boss who just pops her human form out, and hit her to the face.
"Again, stylish!" Yang shouts excitedly. "I would like him as a Combat Teacher! No offense, professor Oum."
"It's fine." The former animator takes it with a dismiss wave. "Just don't say that in front of Glynda."
"Noted."
"Who the hell are you?" The boss, after being smacked mercilessly by her own 'children', turns to the real culprit and asks in a very irritated tone.
Smirking, he turns back (his back is facing her when she asks) and jokingly replies: "Glad I got your attention. I was beginning to feel a little ignored."
Seeing that the person before her is NOT afraid of her at all, she has a plan: "You may jest, but the kindest fate I offer is to unify... and spend eternity with a child of mine!" The human part of her then retracts back, the dragon rushes towards Dante with its mouth opening wide, planning to eat him alive. Then Dante just turns and puts Rebellion back on his back...
"Wait a second." Yatsuhashi notices a strange detail. "Since when did he put the sword in his hand?"
"Eh... maybe during the boss' speech?" Even T.O is uncertain. "That's... really excessive of his part, really."
"Yeah..." Team RWBY and JNPR don't have an answer either.
The boss then bites down, leaving only Dante's right leg hanging out of its mouth. Then, with his own strength, the Hunter opens the boss' mouth out. "As appealing as that sounds, I think I will pass."
"How is that appealing at all?" Ruby grunts. "Having those things on you is the worst thing possible! It's like that Geist trying to..."
"Think a bit out of context, Ruby." T.O says only that and smirks.
That takes the group a whole ten seconds, before Coco, Yang and Nora laugh; Weiss, Jaune and Ren grunts; Blake, Ruby, Pyrrha and Velvet blushes up, and the others are confused. Oum then also understands and chuckles.
He then jumps off the boss' mouth and points his sword to the boss and taunts: "Though a fight every now and again does make life more interesting. Don't ya think?"
And with that, the fight starts.
Switching Trickster and Swordsmaster, Ruby keeps herself in the air while trying to ditch out as much damage as possible to the boss. However, due to not having the same Act like when she plays as Nero, she can't pull out a lot before the boss flies away, making her use either Trickster to dodge, or Royal Guard to sometimes block the head rush attack.
When the boss is in her 'spider' form, Ruby tries to Trickster up, but her position makes it fail every time, so the only choice to deal decent damage is to slash the purple sag while using Coyote-A Close Charged Shot. She does get to the top one time... and accidentally jumps down much to her dismay.
Then, when the boss' HP goes down to half, she flies up and then stabs her tail through the ground, immobilizing her. Thankfully, a DT Stinger causes the boss to stagger. Ruby immediately uses Dance Macabre to reduce two bars of her health. Unfortunately, she is stuck in the end animation, so when the boss flies up after the staggering, Ruby takes damage, which is mitigated thanks to DT.
And now, when the boss' HP has two bars left, she gets enraged and turns yellow. Ruby continues attacking her, but the boss swings her tail and swats her away, while firing seeds out of the side of the tail as well. Even when the boss swings her 'hair-tail', the seeds are also fired. And when the boss flies away as well.
Combining the two fights, Ruby concludes that the only time to get real damage on the boss is when she immobilizes herself into the ground. And thankfully the boss does so after a few flights away from slashing range. Ruby turns DT and uses Dance Macabre, but she uses Quick Drive midway to stop the animation, then Stinger to end the fight.
"My forest! My children!" The boss can only mutter her last words before Dante pulls out Ivory and shoots her dead to the chest, causing her to turn into stone/wood and explode.
"...How does that work?" Weiss questions. "I mean, the whole changing and exploding parts."
"Eh... cinematic reason? But for real, it might relate to the power of the demons." T.O explains. "Like, if you are a fire demon, you will explode into flame bursts when you die. About explosions... well, like I said in first statement. More reasonable explanation is that Dante charged his demonic power into the shot, and it bursts out from inside the boss' body and makes her explode."
"...Since when are you an expert of demons?" Coco is now a bit skeptical. "There is only Grimm here, and demons are just fairy tales..."
"I remember that there are some explosive Grimm which have Elemental Dust in them. Think of it that way."
"...True." Coco did encounter things that sound similar.
"I think that look suits you better." Saying to himself, Dante puts Ivory back and walks to the closing Gate, where now a green orb floats in front of it. Dante reaches his hand towards it. The orb shines brighter as he says: "One down..."
When the light goes away, Dante is now seen wearing a silver metal mask with color-changing lines covering his lower face, a pair of gauntlets with drills and a pair of metal boots with circle-like saws, and wing-like armor on his back.
'...What's the purpose of that back armor in-game? And in context as well?'
*Whisper* Eh... not sure. I tried to find why, ended up with nothing.
The mask then disappears, as Dante looks at the Gate and walks to it. He makes a stance and places the tips of his right hand barely in front of the gate, with his left arm retracting back and the left hand forming into a knuckle...
"Huh, I thought he's going to punch with his domaining arm." Weiss comments, remembering that Dante seemingly always uses Rebellion with his right hand.
Then, in a quick succession, Dante's right finger retracts back and forms a punch before he immediately punches the Gate and shatters it.
"...I stand corrected, again." The last word is directly towards T.O who's smirking at her.
The others are surprised that Dante could actually do that, and their excitement fuels up.
When the pieces of the Gate fall on him, Dante does a Shoryuken to break them, then kicks the pieces away with the saws cutting them into smaller pieces. Landing on the ground with style, Dante then waits for the pieces to stack up, and cuts them all in half with one chop from his left hand, which also creates a huge impact when the hand reaches the ground and flings the pieces away.
Looking at the gauntlets again, Dante says in satisfaction: "Two to go." And with that, he continues his journey to defeat the evil man.
"Who wants to ask him for a spar?" Yang asks, which earns EVERYONE's raising hands. Except T.O and Oum, but only because they are busy chuckling at the students' enthusiasm.
"Even if I am getting floor-wiped, it worths." Jaune says, knowing both the ending and the great price for it.
"Agreed." Everyone replies.
"Oh, just for you know..." They turn to T.O. "A person with no Aura can actually train and perform that punch which can break a wood plank. No kidding."
"Really? Do you have the video?"
"I do, Fox, but maybe after we finish the game."
They then sees the that the weapon, which called Gilgamesh, can be changed anytime mid-fight. After the hint, they see that the purple mist also vanishes.
Ruby immediately checks the weapon:
Gilgamesh has two combos: two punches followed by a left rising kick and a right chopping kick, or two punches followed by consecutive kicks and two double kicks in the end. Every attack can be charged to two levels, and the sound effects are satisfying.
To Swordsmaster: Dante can punch the ground (the air version has no charge level) that creates shockwave, three power levels of Shoryuken (T.O calls it midway of testing), one slow Shoryuken that... does one punch only (though Ruby thinks it might only work when hitting the enemies).
And without a style, he can dive down from the air with a kick, quickly step back while being able to follow up by a straight punch if hold the button long enough.
"I... honestly don't think I can keep up with him now." Velvet giggles nervously at Dante's performance.
"I think you can. Just a small practice and you can be as stylish as he is." Coco cheers the girl up.
Seeing that there's nothing see can do more, Ruby ends the mission.
Mission 14: Forest Of Ruin
Get through as quickly as possible!
"...So basically..."
"We're back-tracking the entire game." Weiss confirms Blake's theory.
"Well, at least we will be able to show team CFWY the areas they missed." Ruby gives out a good point.
"Oh, we can show Weiss' new home!" The moment she stops, she immediately ducks to avoid an ice knife to the head thrown by T.O, then jumps out of her chair and runs away to avoid another barrage thrown by the Heiress herself.
"So a castle? Or a church?"
"A castle. One in the middle of winter, Coco." T.O replies.
"That's a really bad joke from you." Yatsuhashi shakes his head as Yang returns back to her seat.
"Worth it."
Unfortunately, the last fight with the boss doesn't give Ruby enough Souls to buy Kick 13 or Flush, so she starts the mission.
The dam reactivates and stops the waterfall from flowing, then the bridge reappears and connects the cave and the castle.
"It's fixed in the future, right?"
"Yeah, Oum."
Ruby starts her journey to exit the forest. However, from afar something comes out of the ground with its mouth atop. It then closes up and retreats back to the ground.
"Unless you want to play around, you don't want to go anywhere near them."
"Why? Is it hard to beat?" Ruby asks T.O.
"No. But, imagine that the result would end like when you go in the wrong way in the Lost Forest."
"...Ok, not going to touch that." Ruby concludes.
She then avoids the thing like plague, and enters the first forced battle. The enemies are just the the bush demons and the Scarecrows, which thankfully don't combine... yet.
However, in the middle of fighting, Ruby accidentally stands in one place a second too long... and that purple demon grabs her and drags her into the area she has purposely entered to check, with no intentions this time.
The worst part: She has to deal with the Chimera Assaults.
Pausing the game, she places the controller down to the table and takes a cookie and eats. "T.O, can you take it from here?"
"Scared already?" T.O chuckles as he picks up the controller.
"Just annoyed."
"Well, have to warn you I'm no better than you in video games."
What happened in the rest of the mission is just everyone watching T.O dealing with the annoying teleporting demons while trying to avoid the cheap shots from the Chimera ones. And even he is not able to avoid every teleportation.
Well, except the last part.
"I think it's time for your timing skill to be challenged, Blake."
"Me?"
To answer her confusion, T.O runs towards the ruined structure in the middle of the Forest Entrance and...
Secret mission 08: Royal Blocker
Successfully execute a Royal Block 5 times!
"...No wonder you said nothing here." Ruby remembers.
"Yeah, this secret mission is a spoiler so I said nothing." T.O confirms, then gives the controller to the Faunus girl. "Your turn."
Taking the controller, Blake starts the mission.
It happens in the first 'puzzle' of the game, and there appears two flying scorpions. Thinking that it would be easy enough, she decides to let both of them to be on the camera at the same time and tries to time the Royal Guard properly.
Turns out, it's MUCH harder to do than she thought. The two coordinate their attacks so both their attacks would come out nearly simultaneously, making the perfect blocks nearly impossible. And to make it harder, the '5 times' here means '5 consecutive times'. Royal Release and normal block would also reset the counter as well.
After taking too much damages, Blake decides to reduce the difficulty a bit by killing one of them so she needs to focus only to one. However, that's still a bit hard, so she decides to exit the mission once to heal then returns.
"Now I'm glad we can't sell the Vital Stars." The Faunus girl says.
"If that thing is real, I think it would take a fortune to buy one." Weiss comments. "And I don't think anyone would sell it, though."
Retrying the mission, Blake immediately goes and kills one of the demons so there would be no sucker hits. Though, five consecutive perfect blocks is really a challenge, because one wrong timing and you have to do everything all over again.
Thankfully, DT regains her health back, and it's a bless that Dreadnaught actually negates the penalty even if she takes full hit. So once it's exploitable, the challenge is easier to deal with in no time.
And once it's over, the scorpion is served punches and kicks to the face before it turns into dust.
"The timing of this is even harder than Nero's Act skill." Pyrrha comments. "But the reward is good."
"Well obvious." T.O shrugs. "Also, a small challenge in the next mission for you girls."
"Oh really? Now you're making bets?" Oum chuckles.
"Just a little fun."
"So what is it?" Weiss asks, as Blake starts heading to the end.
T.O says nothing until she crosses the bridge:
"Block direct-hit thunder."
"...EH?"
Chapter 13 end!
The reason this chapter was released so late is because I was considering if I should include mission 14 in or not because it's very short in term of normal length without a hitch. The only annoying thing is the goddamn Fault =.=. I swear, I got grabbed by them EVERY. SINGLE. FORCED BATTLE. at LEAST once. And the goddamn Chimeras.
Also, I will have to warn you if I decide to write DMC5: team RWBY will have a sh!t tons of Red Orbs so basically they're accessing all skills from the first missions. I don't like deleting my whole data after managing to get to Dante in DMD.
That's it for now. See you in the next chapters!
