This isn't really the time to do so, but really quick I'm going to plug my newest Stream on my YouTube channel: Kingdom Hearts Symphony of Sorrows. Why am I calling it that? Well… you'll just have to tune in and see, won't you. I have all of my Streams saved on Youtube (Storm) so check it out if you're up for it. And now, here are the responses.

Memememe: Perhaps not

GM9000: Place was torn to shreds and now Ragna's like this… something up.

P3R50N4: Well here I am to deliver.

The Unplanner: Oh, I know what you mean.

Yuki terimi: Well the title of this chapter is… you know.

pendragonZx: Glad to be back.

Alucard19910: What?

SacredKoopa: Aw, thanks. And I guess there have been hints of this element.

Bismarck Alexander: A lot to unload, but you'll see how it plays out.

WARMIND: That's why I'm doing all of my Streams from Steam games (plug plug)

Wlyman2009: Yeah, lame that.

And please, enjoy the chapter.

Crimson XXIX: Broken

At the very least, Ragna could have warned her before he toppled over from exhaustion. He'd been running for ten (Ruby guessed) of the fifteen minutes they'd been offered by Messiah to flee and while Ragna's movement seemed shaky, she hadn't thought it would be bad enough to topple over completely. Adding to their growing list of concerns was the bruise Ruby got, her aura not countering the blow at all. In fact it was like her aura wasn't there at all, and even if she'd lost it in her fall it should have regenerated by now.

"Ugh…"

Ragna had barely been still for a moment before he was fighting to get back on his feet again. The effort looked like it was taking a toll on him, his face strained with both pained and sweat before as he tried to make it to his feet. Slumping forward, Ragna gripped his side where Ruby saw blood seeping through his coat.

"Ragna stop!" she order as she finally went into the backpack she brought for the original rescue mission. "I've got a First Aid kit right here. Let me patch that up before you tear those wounds open again."

"No…time…" he said through his heavy breathing. "Got to keep… moving."

'Okay, I've had enough of this,' Ruby said as she finally got to her feet, made her way over to Ragna, and promptly pushed him over with little effort.

"The hell, Ruby!?" he demanded.

"Adrenaline and sheer willpower alone isn't going to keep you alive and your coat is more blood than blood red!" she yelled at him before glancing towards the way she came. "We still have some time before that guy starts chasing after us. Once I patch you up you'll at least be in better shape to face him down."

"…Ugh, fine. Give me the kit," he demanded as he held his hand out to take the medical supplies, only Ruby didn't hand them over. "I'll get myself patched up, so give me the damn kit!"

"With the poor self-care skills you've shown, that's not an option for us," Ruby said, giving a glare that looked too serious to be cute. "Shirts. Off. Now."

'Damn. If I argue this with her it's just going to waste time and get both of us killed." "…Fine," Ragna conceded as he stripped off his top clothes. Ruby didn't so much as blush before she went to work, not like Ragna's corpse like body was much to marvel at, at least in a positive light. "How the hell are you even down here? This feels like a damn nightmare."

"Nightmare's probably the best word for it we have; it almost feels surreal," she agreed as she used the antiseptic solution and a cloth from the kit and started to clean Ragna's wounds of the blood. The Reaper grimaced at the contact, but otherwise didn't protest. "As for why I'm here, all four of us were out looking for you."

"I was afraid it'd be that," Ragna groaned, not looking Ruby's way as she continued to clean his blood (there was a lot to clean up). "Are the others down here?"

"I don't think so. I just got pulled off the ship when there was a cave in down below us. It's like there was some weird force sucking us in," she recollected. "And what about you? How did you fall down here?"

"…Not much to say; I just got too far into the wastelands and fell into one of the cave ins, same as you."

"But why did you bother to head into that unstable mess in the first place? Were you really that desperate to go hunting for Grimm?" Ruby wanted this chance to get her suspicions confirmed, of course that meant that Ragna had to cooperate.

"…Sure, let's call it that," he muttered. "Don't worry about making small talk, just focus on patching me up."

"Not working, I can do both." Indeed she could as Ruby brought a needle and some thread to begin stitches on Ragna's deeper wounds. "Sorry, but I think this is going to leave marks on you."

"Forget it. Nothing seems to leave any marks on me," Ragna grunted before glancing at his dark arm. "Well, almost nothing. Just hurry up, I don't like needles and we don't have long."

"You can't rush this if I'm going to do it right," Ruby argued as she finished her first stitch. "And I didn't think that you would be so scared of this. Do you have problems when you go in to get your shots?" It was hardly prevalent to their situation, but she figured that she might as well get him to open up.

"What? No, it's just… don't like 'em," Ragna argued back with a sigh. "You're probably sick of hearing this from me, but-"

"I get it, you're not up for talking to me about it," Ruby finished for him. "So what are you up for talking about then?"

"Right now I'd rather we get back to the situation we're in and-" It was then that Ragna's stomach let out a low groan. Fortunate for him, Ruby's hands were skillful enough that she didn't mess up her needle work on him. "Ugh…"

"When was the last time you ate?" she demanded crossly as she reached into her backpack and brought out a ration bar.

"…Friday, before I left?" he answered meekly.

"Did you grab dinner in town, because I'm certain that you didn't eat in the cafeteria."

"I didn't…?" He sounded genuinely surprised. "Lunch I guess… No, breakfast?" Ruby then forced the bar into his hands, and again he knew better than to argue with her right now. "I'll eat it later, once you're done with that patch work."

"You better mean that," Ruby said sternly. "And I've got plenty more of them in the backpack; we were expecting to be feeding Tao in our search."

"Wait, Tao's involved too? What's she doing out here?" Ragna asked in surprise.

"Worried about her best friend, like we all are?" Ruby answered before thinking back. 'Right, best friend… there's still that lie Ragna told me about…' She shook her head. 'In the state he's in, he probably doesn't even remember that-' "Huh?"

Ragna's voice had barely been a whisper when he'd spoken, he hadn't so much as turned to face Ruby, but if that had been real…

"Come on, there's nothing else that you can do. The rest is going to have to heal itself naturally," Ragna told her before grabbing both of his shirts and hastily throwing them back on. Forcing himself to stand, he winced. "We need to get moving now before that bastard starts coming after us."

"But if you move too much your wounds are going to reopen and you'll just be back to square one," she reminded worriedly. "Let's just hurry, but not rush like you were before. If Messiah finds us and we're too tired to fight then we're dead anyways. I couldn't use my speed semblance earlier."

"I haven't been able to use anything aura related since I've been down here. Fine, but we need to come up with something," Ragna agreed as he forced himself to his feet. He seemed to be able stand much easier thanks to Ruby's handiwork and was walking at a much better pace. Ruby came up beside him, looking expectantly. "What?"

"You should eat that while you have a chance," she said point to the rations bar, though her tone made it clear that this was far from a suggestion. Ragna didn't protest and began fumbling with the wrapper. "And don't hesitate to ask for more, I still have plenty for you."

'Don't give them out too quickly, I don't have any idea how long we're going to be down here,' Ragna thought before taking a bite, wincing at its flavor. 'Better than nothing, but this won't keep us going for long.'

"So what's our first move now?" Ruby asked. "Anything you've managed to find out so far?"

"No, nothing's led me to believe that there's any way out of here. First couple of days I didn't have a chance to really observe my surroundings since I had that asshole after me, but once he finally got bored with me there wasn't much that I could find… in terms of escape at least. Some other stuff that I found down here that doesn't make much sense and I haven't had much time to process. Like that cushioning you fell onto to break your fall? Everything here seems to be hella old, but they seem to be in pretty damn good condition." Ragna then went for a second bite of the bar, tearing off a much larger section than his first.

"I guess you have a point; this place is supposed to be ancient so it would only make sense that all of those mattresses would have rotted away by now. You wouldn't think that there would be much air down here either and those crystal seem different than the dust that we're used to. There's a lot of-" Before Ruby finished her though, she glanced over and glanced at Ragna who had already devoured the rest of the bar. Reaching into her bag while they walked, she brought out both another bar along with a water canteen. "Here, eat up while you have the chance. You'll need your strength when he comes for us… besides that, where does that Messiah guy keep his own food?"

"I haven't seen any kind of food around here, so I'm not sure what the guy's eating to stay alive, much less keep up that absurd strength of his. It's suicide to take that monster on in head to head combat like that. And when I'm forced to stand up to him with my back against the wall, any damage I managed to do to him heals quick like you saw earlier when I shot his damn hand."

"Right, thanks for that save by the way; the way he was looking at me with those eyes was… haunting." At Ruby's shiver, Ragna's eyes tightened into a scowl. She picked up on this and saw his dark and almost powerful complexion. "What are you doing?"

"…Making a promise; I'm getting you out of here," he told her sternly. "I don't have any idea how for right now and I can barely come to terms with the situation we're actually in, but you're making it through this. You'll be safe on a ship back to Beacon and that asshole won't have any say over that."

Just for a moment, in spite of the ghastly condition he was in, despite the terrifying and unknown setting that the two found themselves in, Ruby swore she could have seen some of the old Ragna there… the one that she knew was still her best friend.

"…Great, then I'm making a promise myself. You're going to be on that ship with me." Ragna's scowl completely broke as he seemed taken aback. "The others are up above and unlike you they know here where I fell. With any luck they should have gotten word out so that I need to be rescued, so we just have to hang on until then. Got it?"

"Right…" Ragna said, though he didn't seem too convinced.

"Just be honest with me for one thing," Ruby asked. "Grimm related or not, if you really had been able to fix your condition, would you have come back to the Academy?" Ragna didn't say anything. "I just want a solid answer to that."

Ragna let out a long sigh. "You and me both…"

Later

"He's not coming after us," Ragna noted as he glanced around, standing guard for Ruby. "That asshole was probably scouting us out to see if we'd go into a panic first thing. But so far it doesn't look like he's going to go charging down the corridors after us. Don't know how long that's going to keep him off us though."

Ragna then brought out his sword, Aramasa. Glancing carefully at the deep nicks along the blade and the gashes against the flat of the metal. Without his Drive's ability to keep his gear in perfect condition, his gear had gone to shit with the person he'd been fighting. He'd been prepared when he fought Azrael during the break; well rested, fully equipped… and he didn't have anyone else to worry about. Placing his remaining blade back, he looked back over to Ruby.

"Well, is it what you think it is or not?"

"There's no way, but there's also no doubt what this is," Ruby said as she brought up a perfectly kept longsword with a dark gem on the hilt, one with an infinity symbol. "This is exactly like the Blade of the World Conqueror, otherwise known as the Genesis Blade. The same ones that Nora told me about from Oobleck's class."

"And in perfect condition no less," Ragna noted as he looked over the longsword. Compared to his own blade, this one looked like it was fresh from a weapon developer or blacksmith. It was likely a lot lighter than his current blade or even his now broken Clarent rifle, but in his state less weight might only be a boon. Grasping the handle to replenish his armory, his eyes grew wide and his teeth grit painfully in his mouth. White lightning expelled from the blade, streaking out and piecing into Ragna. The Reaper only held the blade for a moment before he dropped it back to the floor, the lightning abruptly stopped as soon as he ceased holding it. Breathing heavily at the further damage that his body had just taken as the room was filled with the smell of scorched flesh and discharged air.

"Damn, the hell was that?" Ragna groaned as he struggled to stay standing.

"It just had some sort of reaction to you. Was that a trap?" Ruby asked as her eyes darted around, checking if Messiah had used it as some sort of an alarm. A few stress filled minutes later revealed nothing, yet gave Ragna the chance to catch his breath. "Would that… have had something to do with your Semblance?"

"I told you that I can't use my Semblance or Aura, neither of us can while we're down here," Ragna reminded as he glared down at the weapon. 'Is that thing… magic? Rachel and whatever the hell she does aside, what in the hell is it doing in here? My master told me the stuff was supposed to be extinct and-!' He then saw Ruby carefully touch the blade's handle, only to find that there was no such reaction. "…And what were you trying to accomplish with that?"

"I was curious to see how it plays into everything?"

"You mean that even now, you're still an all-out weapons freak?" Ragna asked in annoyance, but was betrayed by the corner of his mouth lifting into a smirk. He then glanced at the weapon that had resulted in an attack on him. "Wonder why it likes you."

"Because it knows how much I love weapons," Ruby said as if it were a pure fact. "Still to think we'd have a legendary artifact here of all places."

"Legendary artifact?" Ragna repeated. "Huh… That… wait, no. That doesn't add up."

"What doesn't add up?" Ruby asked before looking at Ragna's empty scabbard. "Mind if I use that?"

"Not gonna do me any good, so go ahead," the Reaper admitted as he handed it over to her. "The part of this that doesn't make sense (on top of everything else) is what I found a bit ago. While I was running from that asshole, I came across this huge ass library. Now I didn't recognize what language this stuff was written in aside from a couple of glyphs that might've been a coincidence, but one thing I did recognize looked a hell of a lot like the poem dubbed Dawn's Battle Into Twilight."

"Am I supposed to have heard of that?" Ruby asked honestly as she put the sword at her side. "It doesn't transform and I'm not the sword kinda girl, but I think it could still suit me."

"If you say so, just keep it the hell away from me," Ragna demanded. "Back to the poem, I remember taking a look at it from Noel and Azrael's history projects. Supposedly it was written by some sort of warrior poet. Now we don't know a lot about the piece that had been recovered, but I remember them saying that there were signs it was only a copy."

"So then that could have been the original version? I mean I don't think those two are supposed to be super well connected, but we're supposedly in ancient ruins. Finding artifacts is kinda the name of the game."

"Right, but that doesn't explain the asshole that's after us. They've somehow survived down here for who knows how long, wears recognizable but outdated gear, is tough as shit, and we can't use our Semblances. What's really going on down here?"

"Is it really on us to figure out? Once we get out, I can imagine Oobleck having a field day at this site… in fact shouldn't we try to reason with that other guy, try to see if he'll listen if we can get him out too?"

"That kind of sentiment is gonna get you killed, I doubt they're the type to listen to reason," Ragna told her bluntly. "You let your guard down here and you'll bring us both down. Almost happened to me, so I didn't make that mistake more than once."

'Right, Ragna's had experience out in the badlands. He's probably come across people like this before and had to deal with them.'

Deal with them.

As soon as Ruby thought that phrase, she realized what it might imply. It wasn't like Huntsmen or Huntresses wouldn't have to kill in order to stay alive, but Ruby stayed away from those stories for good reason. Ragna wasn't a Huntsman, in fact he hadn't even been old enough to be a proper Beacon student when he'd supposedly started traveling. Had he really been killing people when he was that young?

Sadly, the idea didn't sound all that outlandish to Ruby.

"Well, let's just do our best to stall for time!" she offered quickly. "Everyone up above should be looking for us! That means that we just have to keep moving and wait for them to save us!"

"That might be true, but there's no telling how long that's going to take. He's going to get tired of waiting and come after us eventually," Ragna reminded. "And besides, once the others get down here he'll just go after them. I'm not saying we fight them now with the shape I'm in, but we need to be smart about this." 'Maybe he lost interest in us? Either way, I can't let my guard down for even a second, especially now that Ruby's here too.'

Meanwhile -The surface-

"Well, are they coming or not?" Yang asked less then patiently over her scroll. "It's already been a whole hour and we have no idea what condition Ruby is in."

"I'm moving as fast as I can, Miss Xiao Long. Rest assure that I'm doing everything on my end to assemble the excavation process," came Ozpin's voice on the other end of the call. "There is simply much to consider in a process like this; I already have to call in several favors in order to move this quickly, the ground could cave in during the excavation, we need to clearly pinpoint where your sister fell… and then there is the hidden factor you discussed. You are sure that your account is accurate?"

"I told you exactly like I saw it; one moment we're flying fine through clear skies tracking the only Grimm we've seen all day, the next our ship is out of control and being pulled through and opened hole in ground, and my little sister saves Weiss and Tao before getting consumed herself," Yang replied.

"I trust what you say of course, but that truth is only going to make things difficult for the rescue effort. Without reliable air coverage we'd have to work our way in. Your sister fell a decent way into the danger zone and there's no telling how far we're going to have to dig to get her out. For all we know, the excavation process may take as long as a week."

"A whole week!?"

"Any other project of this magnitude could take months to complete, we should just consider ourselves lucky that the Grimm activity in the area has ceased, unknown as the reason may be. Have you let your family know of current circumstances?"

"Not… not yet," Yang admitted. She'd been there when her father heard about Summer Rose's death, how it had affected him, the depression he'd fallen into as a result. She wasn't in any hurry to put him through that again, so while there was still a chance no matter how slim it appeared, she'd hold faith that they'd find her sister.

"…I'll leave the decision on where to inform them on your shoulders and…" Ozpin paused. "There's a call on another line I need to answer; and this one's going to cut into this year's budget. Hold faith, I'm not about to abandon your sister."

'You weren't exactly jumping at the chance to help Ragna,' the blonde thought bitterly as the call ended. No, that was just her frustration talking. In fact out of everyone at Beacon, Ozpin appeared to be one of Ragna's biggest backers (Port also came to mind, but that was more of respect in Grimm studies). If he really hadn't cared, he could have easily turned down their expedition to find their friend. For now she could believe that he was doing everything he could to save her… which unfortunately left her alone with her own thoughts. Knowing that silence was only going to drive her crazy, she headed back to the landed carrier where Blake was standing guard.

"Did Ozpin have anything to report?" she asked her partner.

"Only that this is going to take a lot longer than we thought," Yang answered with a sigh. "It's… hard to cope with. Just this morning I was ready to head out and look for Ragna, but now Ruby's trapped below in maidens know what condition and… I'm stuck up here, trying not to think about it. Normally not thinking about stuff is my specialty, but this…"

"Don't. You'll just drive yourself crazy. Just be there for her when she needs as us. That's all any of us can do." The two heard movement from the brush just before Weiss and Taokaka emerged. "Any luck?"

"Only in getting Goodwitch progressively more annoyed at us the further we separated from you. We barely made it a half mile out before she threatened me with a mark on my permanent record."

"Meow. Tao wasn't able to sniff out any trace of good guy," Tao moaned sadly. "Now Good Guy's still missing and Hooded Lady is underground. Tao doesn't know what to do."

"There's a lot of that going around right now," Blake informed before glancing to the sky. "Night's going to fall pretty soon."

"…I'm staying here until Goodwitch forces us back; and then I'm going to call Ozpin whenever he can talk for updates, and be back here first thing in the morning," Yang promised. "I'm not losing my sister. Count on that."

Back Below

''What the hell is he doing?' Ragna thought to himself as he watched Messiah exit a room separated by tall and wide double doors, glance around and only barely missing himself and Ruby as they ducked away behind the corner, before heading off in a different direction down the hall. The two waited a few long minutes until they were sure he was gone before heading over to the door. Ragna tried the door, surprised to see it was unlocked. "I'm pretty damn sure I couldn't get in here before."

"Maybe he was inside?" Ruby guessed. "There could just be a way to lock it from the other side, might make for a good way to play keep away until the others arrive."

"Right or he could be hiding something," Ragna agreed. "This room seems to be dead center in the palace, so chances are good that there's something important here."

"All the more reason to check it out quickly before Messiah comes back," Ruby said as she threw open the doors.

One the other side appeared to be an inner court of sorts with a low and large center area with stands for diplomats on either side and a throne at the far end. In his haste of running through the rooms, Ragna hadn't realized just how much space this center area really had. In fact the open center looked big enough to be an… arena.

"…Dammit. Ruby-!"

A dark shadow suddenly cast over the both of them. Messiah, now carrying a large battleaxe, descended on the two. Ragna grabbed Ruby and leapt back, knowing that he couldn't deflect the attack by any means. The sent them further into the room, their escape cut off by Messiah himself.

"Welcome, did you two enjoy your brief respite?" he questioned mockingly before eyeing Ragna. "Oh? It seems the little one's medical kit did its job on you after all."

'This guy has a battle lust comparable to Azrael and making that comparison in this state is shitty news for me,' Ragna thought his eyes darting as he didn't seem to realize he was still protectively holding Ruby against him. 'We have to get around him to get out, if we can just-'

"Thinking of your escape? Unfortunately for you that's not happening." Swinging his battleaxe above him, he struck and destroyed an odd support beam. Stepping forward, be avoided the small debris of the cave in behind him, trapping the three in the room. "So you see, now you truly have nowhere else to run. Enjoy that loving embrace while you can. I can give you another minute."

"Asshole. You're just as trapped as us. Don't think-" Ragna had been about to say before Ruby got out of his protective hold.

"You don't have to do this, there's a way out where no one has to die," she offered. "And all you have to do is put your weapons down."

"Oh, and why would I do that?" Messiah questioned. Ragna could tell by his tone that he was mocking Ruby and his scowl tightened.

"Because I have friends that know I'm down here. They're going to dig their way through to us," she explained.

"Is that right? Good, I can expect more company later," Messiah considered, an almost hopeful glint in his eyes. "But until they do, I'm afraid you'll have to entertain me."

"You don't understand. I'm telling you that you're about to get out of here," Ruby explained. "We all can leave if you don't take this any further."

"Get… out?" Messiah's face was blank as the news registered to him. Ruby let out a sigh of relief as the message took hold. Behind her Ragna's scowl had yet to loosen as his hand gripped firmly on the Aramasa's handle. "You think… we can escape this wretched prison?"

CLANG!

Had Ragna's guard been raised any slower, his head would have been taken off by Messiah's sudden handaxe throw. As it stood he still stumbled back from the impact as his guard was completely broken. The sudden echo of the clashing metal was then replaced by Messiah's laughter.

"You still think there's any leaving this place!? After everything you've seen so far?! What fools! What complete and utter fools!" He smirked. "Did you really think you were the first to find me!? Look around you! You're not even the first civilization!"

The court room seats were filled with corpses; lifeless husks with empty socket where eyes should be with leathery flesh. Their equipment were from what Ragna could only guess were differing ages and nationalities and they all had signs of a fatal blow inflicted on each of them. Risking a glance behind, his eyes landed on a large throne with another figure. This one appeared to be larger than the rest, well armored, as well as four armed. Ragna recognized it immediately.

"That can't be…" he growled. "Those ancient markings of the imprisoned monster I read about earlier..."

"Imprisoned Emperor more specifically. I also see that the girl has one of my old blades that I left to give anyone who found it a fighting chance. And you, you mewling brute. Did you really see fit to go through my personal study just to leave out an old poem?"

"That's still three of the oldest and some of the most mysterious treasures in the world down in this cavern. There's no food, all these corpses are from some time ago, and you… who the hell are you!?" Ragna demands were met with a shake of his aggressor's head.

"Don't take that tone with me, mortal. I already told you that I am the Messiah. The Undying Messiah even. Clearly you can see that name's not just for show. But since you bothered to ask, I will also tell you…" He then made the very grandiose show of spreading his arms wide. "I am everyone you see here."

"Everyone…?" Ruby started to question. "What does that even mean?"

"I'm afraid I've answered more than enough of your questions. I need to turn my attention to the present, to the both of you. If the young lady hasn't reconsidered my offer…" Ruby quickly readied her weapon to go on the offensive, showing that she had already made her point clear. Messiah, however, had his eyes focused on Ragna who moved to get in front of her. "Oh. So you weren't just trying to save her earlier out of the goodness of your heart. You actually know that girl, and what's more; you're lovers."

'Is the universe just trying to make that issue front and center? At least save it for when we get out of this place,' Ruby said, keeping her mind on the present.

"Young love will always be so cliché, even when I've drowned in the eons of boredom, but it can still lead to an entertaining…" A long pause as he studied the two thoroughly. "No… It's not love you feel for her. There's something else there. Something that's-"

"You think we're stupid enough to fall for that shit? You and that damn mouth of yours are just trying to get us off guard! If you want a fight, then bring it you son of a bitch!" Ragna shouted as he drew his sword, a little too eager to commence the battle given the state he was in.

(Cue DragonBall FighterZ -Merged Zamasu's Theme-)

"You hardly needed to ask. I shall grant you the most honorable death of them all; you shall fall to the blade of the Messiah itself. I do hope you prove worthy of this honor."

Messiah quickly drew their second handaxe before throwing it at Ruby, though she was still able to avoid this attack as the axe impaled itself in the wall behind her. The attack did temporarily prevent her from firing the Crescent Rose and gave him a large enough opening to charge her. Ragna of course stepped in to intercept this rush, having already failed to deflect the second throwing axe. The Reaper's sword made solid contact with the battleaxe and the two entered a blade lock.

While Ragna put every bit of effort he had into the clash and sweated as he struggled to push forward, Messiah barely looked like he was trying. Realizing it was no use to gain ground that way, Ragna took his right hand off the blade's handle before slamming his fist as hard as he could into his opponent's chest. Messiah didn't even flinch before battering Ragna's sword aside, leaving the Reaper stumbling as the madman leaned back before slamming into Ragna's face with a headbutt so powerful that its shockwave deafened Ragna's shout of pain.

As the Reaper staggered back, Ruby came in with a Fire Dust enhanced shot from her rifle. Whatever was keeping them from using their Semblances thankfully didn't interfere with the Dust and the result explosion was brilliant enough to have gotten a few prideful remarks from Weiss. From the flames came Messiah, already regenerating the hair and skin lost from the attack. Swinging his massive axe, he just barely missed Ruby who was still unused to fighting without aura or Semblance and had to force herself to adapt quickly. Shifting her weapon from its rifles form to its scythe one, she blocked the blunt strike Messiah had used to get her off balance.

Ragna considered attacking someone in their back as a shitty thing to do, but up against this level of an opponent with his life on the line he'd been taught to throw those reservations to the wind. Coming up behind Messiah with an overhead slash, the attack proved useless as Messiah batted it away while barely turning. Using this moment, Ruby tried to slash from her angle but her scythe was just as easily deflected. The two came with an additional slash from opposite sides, but their target blocked Ruby's with only a single hand on his weapon while his other remained open to pummel Ragna in the face with three punches in only the blink of an eye. Screaming Ragna was sent flying back while Ruby struggled against the blade lock.

Using the blade lock to throw Ruby to the side with ease, Messiah reaching inside his armor brought out a whip and stuck the staggering Ragna across the chest with it. Ragna yelled in pain as the attack cut deep into his flesh and sprayed the ground with his blood. Hearing a sudden gunshot, Messiah moved his axe to defend only to realize that Ruby was used it to propel herself forward so she could spin into a buzzsaw with her scythe. Clashing with her blade easily, Messiah smirked hauntingly before striking Ragna again with his whip, this time with enough precision to cut between the Reaper's mismatched eyes.

"Ragna!" Ruby screamed before using her gun blast to rush over to her friend. "Are you alright!?"

"Idiot! Worry about yourself!" Ragna shouted as he struggled to his feet, though Ruby was facing down their opponent with her guard raised. Using his whip once more and aiming for Ruby this time, Ragna finally managed to move and intercepted the harsh blow by guarding with his sword, though the attack was still enough to leave a mark on his damaged blade. "Dammit! Just stay back and support me! You're the one with the Dust!"

"You can't fight him head on like that! You're not strong enough!" Ruby complained while Messiah retrieved a previously thrown handaxe imbedded in the wall.

"That's why I need you back here helping me," Ragna told her while breathing heavily. "I can't focus on him if I'm so worried about you."

"He's right," their opponent taunted. "Why not stay back out of this, little girl. Let the men fight for the right to enjoy your-"

Ruby's growing temper was too much as she fired off a lightning based dust attack. Though Messiah dodge this attack, they still effected by the shocking discharge and grimaced very slightly at the pain. Ragna took that chance to rush forward with his sword drawn while Messiah threw their gathered handaxe at him, only for the attack to be blown out of the way by Ruby's skilled marksmanship. Sparks flew as the Aramasa met the seemingly ancient axe head though Ragna grimaced as his weapon was put under further pressure and elected to step back and dodged the next swing at him.

Ruby readied a follow up rifle shot while Ragna was out of the way, but as Messiah reeled his whip to go for her, Ragna moved into the way both intercepting the whip with his sword and blocking Ruby's shot. As Ragna swiped up his sword from the ground to throw distracting debris at Messiah, Ruby leaped up to the stands around the room. While it was pretty unnerving being so close to the corpses, she could at least secure a good vantage point so she wouldn't end up like they did.

Running just above the edge of the arena, she found and angle to attack and quickly fired her shot. Instead of guarding with his weapon like she'd expected, Messiah merely took the bullet shot with his forearm. The attack Ragna had intended to do using Ruby's gunshot for cover was bashed to the side as Messiah used their still healing arm to grab out their whip and make a swipe towards Ruby while Ragna wasn't able to interfere. Ruby managed to dodge the attack with apt timing, only to see the whip retreat while wrapped around the hilt of a bastard sword belonging to a corpse.

"RAGNA WATCH OUT!"

Too late of a warning as the edge cut across the ill prepared Reaper's back in yet another spray of crimson. Ragna yelled in pain and lurched at the attack as Messiah brought up his battleaxe for the next strike. Hastily leaping back, Ragna was still cut across the chest as he stumbled back rolling on the floor as he landed to his knees. Ruby quickly fired another explosion based shot which Messiah easily dodged, only to return to the arena floor as she hastily ran to her downed friend.

(End Theme)

"How pitiful! This is all both of you are capable of!?" Messiah shouted in rage. "You shall die either way here! Through starvation or through my blades you both shall perish! So at least grant me a meaningful battle at your end! STAND UP!"

This was directed to Ragna who bleeding from grievous wounds and unable to stand. All of Ruby's earlier patch work had already gone to waste as his wounds from earlier had reopened. The formed cracks on the Aramasa had spread and deepened, while it remained Ragna's only shaky support from falling over completely. Glancing up at Messiah, his gasps for air and dead eyes made it clear that he was all but dead already… yet the fire in him still shone through as his teeth grit in rebellion. The little good it would do.

"…Bah! All that's left is your arrogance! You've disappointed me for the last-!"

CRACK!

Deflecting the sudden shot blasted at them was hardly an issue, Messiah's overbearing battle axe covered more than enough area to easily deflect yet another bullet. He cast a questioning gaze in Ruby's direction. Ragna was in slight shock himself; not that Ruby had come to his aid, but that he could tell that the bullet had an explicit intent to kill behind it.

"Get. Away. From him," she demanded, her rifle pointed right at Messiah's head. Ragna didn't think he'd heard Ruby this furious before; it frighteningly carried a similar weight to his own rage.

"I see he's not the only arrogant one here," their attacker returned almost mockingly. "You're going to defeat me, little girl? The only reason you haven't died yet is due to this idiot's meager efforts to keep you alive; efforts which I've graciously humored. If I wished it, you both would be dead in-"

CRACK!

Another shot fired another shot deflected, only this time Ragna took the chance. Forcing his body to rise to his feet before rushing forward, he brought the Aramasa down in a mighty swing. Messiah managed to deflect the attack with enough force that it sent the Reaper sliding back, though he kept his blade ready.

(Cue RWBY Season 2 Time to Say Goodbye)

"Then you better be able to back that talk," Ruby said seriously again. "You've already given up, but I haven't! I'm never going to stop struggling forward, not while there's still a fighting chance! So leave us out of your pity party!"

'That's…' Ragna began to think before smirking despite their doomed outlook. 'Dammit. This is just another reason why, isn't it?'

"Pity? The only pity here was for both of you AND THAT JUST RAN OUT!"

Starting the second round with his now bladed whip, he attacked Ruby first for her upstart comments only for the girl to dodge the attack with a gun blast propelling her out of the way. Messiah then brought the blade around to try and catch Ragna in his back again, but this time the Reaper had wised up to the trick. Using strength that he shouldn't have had at this point, he roared as he swung behind him and broke the sword into pieces. Scowling at the loss of a weapon, Messiah charged in for a follow up battle axe swing at Ragna's exposed back only for Ruby to fire a second gunblast and counter with her own swing. Even with this added momentum in her favor Messiah's blow was strong and knocked Ruby back, but this gave Ragna time to turn back and counter with his own swing which Messiah was forced to dodge before being shot in the leg by Ruby using Ice Dust.

"Tch. How basic," Messiah muttered as the crystal formed around his leg and kept him anchored in place. This aided Ragna as he came back for a second slash, clashing with the axe head and coming in for a blade lock. While Ragna managed to hold him there, Ruby came up for an overhead slash. Messiah again went for his whip while being forced to hold Ragna back, but Ruby used another gun blast to avoid the whip as Messiah pushed Ragna out of the blade lock. Ragna and Ruby gave powerful yells as they heftily swung their weapons in counter to Messiah's axe, resulting in yet another of his weapons shattering from their combined strength.

The force was too much for them though as they were sent flying back, an opportunity that Messiah once again tried to use to scar Ragna with another whipping. Only this time the Reaper with ready and caught the rope in this gloved had at the last instant. Messiah tried to pull him back, but the moment the rope went taut Ruby came in with her scythe and cleaved the rope in two.

"THAT… WAS ONE OF MY FEW FAVORED TREASURES!" Messiah shouted at the both of them.

"Not so fun when your sick toys get broken, is it asshole!?" Ragna shouted, fueled with nothing else than pure adrenaline. Messiah scowled at him as he broke his leg out of the ice and grabbed his final remaining weapon in range, his lance from earlier. Risking a glance at Ruby, Ragna cold tell that she was determined but little else. "Be careful, this monster's managed to stay alive this long for a reason."

"Yeah, because he hadn't tried to kill us yet," Ruby said sternly. The two gave each other sharp nods before charging forward while Messiah appeared to be waiting on the defensive.

Instead of going straight for the opening slash, Ragna plunged his sword into the ground before ripping it out to throw debris at Messiah. His target managed to disrupt this cover easily by twirling their weapon like a propeller blade, but that was when Ruby's came up from behind Ragna and fired a shot of Fire Dust creating an explosion that threw them off balance. While Ragna brough his blade down and Messiah side stepped, this time the Reaper's blade finally found its mark and drew blood. It was far from a fatal cut, but Ragna still saw it as progress. Messiah came around as block Ragna and Ruby's attack from either side using both ends of the spear, but they weren't leaving him with any opportunities to counterattack with the weapon.

As Ragna went for an overhead attack as he was blocking Ruby's scythe swing, Messiah instead went for a roundhouse kick straight to Ragna's side. With the damage Ragna had already taken and his current state, the attack was enough to interrupt his own. Now that he could focus on Ruby the advantage was his. Shoving Ruby's scythe back he went for a quick but vicious swing that was too fast for Ruby to gunblast out of, though she did manage to guard it. Still, she was sent flying back and the booming crash that her impact into the wall made Ragna's blood go cold.

"RU-"

He could hardly finish or check on her before Messiah was on him again, pushing him back ever further and unlike last time he wasn't going to have the chance to retreat. Ragna barely managed to block the spear stab with his sword and even that caused him to skid a short distance on the ground. Flipping his spear around, Messiah managed to uppercut Ragna with the blunt secondary side of his weapon sending him stumbling back before sweeping the Reaper's legs and sending him airborne. Swinging down his spear Ragna countered with an upward slash of his own clashing and barely managing to land on his feet. Ragna's next clash with the spear actually sent his opponent reeling back as he made solid contact. Putting both hands on his sword, Ragna let out a final roar as he swung his blade as hard as he could… only to see Messiah to quickly recover from his feinted imbalance.

"Another worthless distraction."

Ragna felt trapped in time's slow, agonizing crawl as he watched Messiah's spear cleave through the metal on Ragna's sword, finally causing the metal that had been through much abuse without some much as a scratch… to shatter before him very eyes. Unable to move as his opponent brought their spear up to stab down and finally bring an end to him…

…only for a gunshot to ring out as Ruby's body launched in view with her scythe finally making for Messiah's neck.

(End theme)

"Ru… by?"

The attack hadn't landed.

Messiah still stood poised to strike, only now with one hand out to catch the Crescent Rose by its handle. Supporting both it's weapon and wielder in midair, he turned his attention to the wide eyed Ruby. The young girl who had given him more trouble than he'd been expecting, but little else… and sighed.

"Slowly."

"RAGN-!"

…There were no words to describe Ragna's mind as Ruby Rose's blood splattered across his face.

"Ru… Ruby… RUUUUUBYYYY!"

Kicking the young Huntress-In-Training off of his spear in pure sadism, he launched her back while she still maintained a light hold on her weapon. Flying into Ragna who was also launched as he attempted to catch her, the impalement wound in her chest left a long trail of blood as they flew. Ragna was barely down for a second before he was back on his feet.

"NO! COME ON! STAY WITH ME!"

Ruby's eyes were already dulling over as she coughed blood. Messiah had made a point not to hit a major organ, if only to draw out her suffering as she lay dying. The threat completely forgotten; Ragna opened Ruby's top to examine the wound before he dived into the first aid kit. Looking for something, anything that could stop her bleeding. Hastily, he threw on what little he could, struggling to remember all of the first aid lessons Jubei had beaten into him…

Messiah just stood back and watched.

"See? You're alright now… You're gonna be alright… Ruby…" Ragna's patch job was far from effective, but what else could he have done with the limited supplies he had and so grievous a wound? Closing Ruby's top, he struggled to smile at her blank eyes through his own teared ones. "Just… Just don't…"

"R…" Her voice was little more than a rasp.

"DON'T TALK GOD DAMMIT! JUST HANG ON! I PROMISED YOU'D MAKE IT THROUGH THIS!"

"I… Be… lieve…"

Ruby then faded into shock right before his eyes. Her laying there like that… Damaged… Helpless… Dying… And for what!? That she still cared about him!? That she trusted him!? WHY!?

Still she lay there.

There wasn't anything.

Nothing else Ragna could look at.

Nothing else Ragna could feel.

Just a hollow void.

But then…

Then he heard it.

He heard it.

Slow clapping.

"…Quite the performance," Messiah rated. "For a second there… I almost believed that you actually cared about that worthless dunce."

"You…"

"But then why would you? I already know what you really think of that girl. She's just been a means to an end for you this whole time, hasn't she? It's written all over your face. So my… condolences for whatever you needed her to ach-"

CRACK!

(Cue Final Fantasy X -A Fleeting Dream-)

As the bullet wound in Messiah's arm slowly began, he took another look at the shakily rising Reaper. Ragna grit his teeth while he gripped Crescent Rose tightly. A beaten body. Bloody clothes. A seemingly dead aura. But those eyes…

…they weren't human eyes any longer.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

Ragna launched himself at Messiah, who barely had to move to block his attack before slamming his fist into Ragna's face. Stumbling back but refusing to fall, Ragna swung again with an inhuman roar and Messiah blocked just as easily.

"Why are you getting so emotional? You couldn't bring yourself to feel a thing for the girl before!" Messiah taunted gleefully as he swiped upward across Ragna's chest to draw yet more blood, but abstained from the killing blow. "Even when she loved you!"

"SHUT UP!"

Ragna's rage blinded slash was easily dodged by Messiah as they side stepped it before Ragna went for his next attack and Messiah didn't even have to move to avoid it before kicking Ragna back.

"I'm speaking nothing but the truth! I'm not the one at fault for leading her astray! I'm not the one who played with her heart! And don't you dare try to defend yourself… you damned well knew."

Ragna's response had devolved into a roar of pain and agony mirroring what was running through his head as he charged forward, his blade entering a lock with Messiah's… out of pity.

"SHE WOULDN'T BE DOWN HERE IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU! WOULD SHE!? SHE WOULDN'T BE DYING BECAUSE YOU BROUGHT HER HERE! YOU'RE THE ONE AT FAULT!"

Throwing Ragna out of the blade lock, Messiah impaled his spear deep into his shoulder, causing Ragna to let out a scream in pain before being kicked back and falling to the ground.

"AND YOU CAN'T EVEN AVENGE HER!? YOU'RE NOT EVEN FIT TO BE CALLED A MONSTER! NOT EVEN A THING!" Messiah taunted as he towered over Ragna. "NEVER IN MY COUNTLESS MELLENIA HAVE I FOUND ANYTHING AS WORTHLESS AS YOU!"

Ragna couldn't find it in him to care.

"But… you've proved an entertaining distraction from my prison. Even if it was only thanks to that girl," Messiah said as he glanced to Ruby before raising his spear above Ragna. "Might as well steal that from her too, since you've already stolen everything else."

"…No."

A scowl formed on Messiah's face as Ragna continued his defiance. As an Emperor, he decided when the show was over. And he deemed this the Reaper's curtain call.

…But Ragna wasn't done yet.

At the last instant that the blade would have impaled Ragna's head, the Reaper unleashed a gunblast that carried him across the floor, skidding his back painfully across the surface before he slammed into the wall. Having to impale Crescent Rose's point in the wall just to stand, he forced himself up.

True true, but then I guess it's a good thing I'm taking you with me. After all, if I've got you with me I think you can still count on seeing the beaming face you love so much.

'Yang won't be smiling now… not after this.'

"I'm not done…" Ragna heaved through his gasps.

"No. You ARE," Messiah insisted. "All of this posturing is somehow even more demeaning to you. And that shouldn't be possible from what I've seen."

"…Ruby… Just… hold on," Ragna promised weakly.

"Yes hold on, you'll be seeing her soon… oh what am I saying? You're hardly bound for paradise after what you've done."

Unable to begin a run on his own, he blasted forward with Crescent Rose before his feet shakily took up the momentum afterward.

I… I can't keep doing this… I… I've held onto so many secrets… I've j-just been running… A-And I could've killed you… I… I can't do this…

'I'm such a damn hypocrite.'

Ragna might as well have been moving in slow motion as he charged Messiah, the old warrior had no trouble striking him through as the ground became further soaked by Ragna's blood… only for Ragna to grab the spear with his left hand and force the weapon to stay in him with a death grip.

"WHA-!? AURRRGH!"

…He couldn't even find satisfaction when he took the eye. As Messiah's finally shoved him off, Ragna used the force of the push to hook and cleave the scythe blade against their side. Now Messiah was the one bleeding from his mouth.

I suppose that every Queen must have her Knight. You did promise me a dance after all.

'Promises… like I can keep those.'

"YOU DARE TO STRIKE AT ME WITHOUT MY SAY!? YOU DARE TO WOUND ME!?"

Messiah's lance swing caught Ragna right in the chest and sent him flying in the air, losing his grip on Ruby's beloved scythe as it impaled itself in the center of the arena. Ragna himself fell right next to Ruby. Gagging from the impact he turned his head over to her, to look at what he'd caused… those pale eyes weren't the last thing he wanted to see. Shakily reaching over with his right arm, he gently closed them. There… now it looked like she was sleeping… all of this… just a bad dream.

"FINE THEN! YOU WANT TO INSIST THAT SHE MEANT SOMETHING TO YOU!? THEN YOU CAN DIE WITH HER!"

As Messiah leaped through air to finish them both, Ragna felt his eyes close for what felt like the last time. He'd failed. Not even in a good way. He'd dragged someone else with him. And once Yang and the other got down here, there was no telling what else might happen. He couldn't even shoulder all of that blame meant for him. It was a terrible punishment, still far better than he deserved…

…but fitting for a Reaper.

Like I'm going to leave you out of a group get together; you're as big a part of team RWBY as any of us… We wouldn't want to leave you out of anything.

Messiah descended and gruesome spray of blood covered both of them... but it was not their blood being spilt.

"No… not… you…"

Ragna, gripping the Sword of Conqueror that Messiah had decided to 'leave out', with painful electricity filling his every nerve and only killing him further, had brought it out of Ruby's sheath in one desperate final swing. It had cleaved roughly through the spear and impaled Messiah's deep in their gut.

As Messiah's faltered back, trying to take the sword out of his body, he carried Ragna up who refused yet again to let go of the swords grip even as its bolt struck his every nerve. The Reaper's face was emotionless, he was already coated in so much blood, his blood reddening hair covered his eyes… and with an inaudible scream as Ragna swung the sword skywards to vertically bisect Messiah.

(End theme)

As the corpse of the creature that had hunted them fell to the floor, Ragna finally let go of the sword allowing the lightning to finally fade. His body was too numb to even feel pain the shocks had caused him and it was a miracle he hadn't already toppled over. Without his healing factor it was painfully clear; he was about to die.

And soon he'd be followed by…

Casting a glance to the side as his conscious started fade to oblivion, he took in once last look at Ruby's dying… sleeping body. So peaceful, if not for the blood she was covered in.

"I… I… G… Got… 'Im," he told her… like she could hear him. Like it mattered. Like he hadn't gotten her killed.

"…"

Was that… a sigh?

"No you didn't."

Turning his head back to corpse he'd created, Ragna saw a different body standing in its remains. A silhouette of standing body, covered in white flames, looking straight at him. He didn't even have the energy to scream as the white flames grew and covered him, couldn't even fight it… not that knew what to fight. His thoughts muddled through numbness, he only heard one final line before he succumbed completely.

"What part of 'Undying' did you refuse to understand?"

Next Time

BLOODEDGE