Hunters of Justice (RWBY/DC)
Chapter 34: Hellblazer, Part 2
As Pyrrha, Jaune, Weiss, and Yang continued searching through the House of Mystery, it quickly became apparent that Pyrrha's prior summation was accurate. They really were now in the second part of the test, with the house itself being their adversary. To Pyrrha, adversary might have been too strong of a word, but at the same time it felt accurate. What else could one call the constant shifting of hallways, doors that lead to nowhere, and the ever present sense that they were walking in circles?
"Why is the house doing this?" Yang asked, her iron-bladed axe at the ready.
"If I had to guess," Weiss replied, shifting her eyes back and forth, "the House of Mystery is trying to show us just how alien magic can be. How it can bend the laws of physics like a plaything."
"Well, that's not terrifying at all," Jaune sarcastically said.
As they passed by a dark window, they could hear a thick, torrential downpour striking the house. Rain slammed against the glass, and the occasional thunderclap caused the house to shake. Yet the storm wasn't what they were focused on. Instead, they looked out the window to try and spot the creature from earlier, but to their simultaneous alarm and relief, it was nowhere to be found.
"What do you think that thing was?" Pyrrha asked as they rounded yet another corner. "Could it have been a demon?"
"Maybe. Constantine did say that this place was a crossroads between the arcane and the mundane, but I'm not entirely sure," Weiss admitted. It was obvious from her tone of voice that she was nervous. Both from the sense that they were being stalked by a predator as well as the dark magic the house was exuding.
"Well, once we find Blake, Ren, and Nora, we head straight back to Ruby," Yang insisted. "Then we can take this thing down, if need be."
"Assuming, of course, it isn't part of the test," Weiss suggested.
Yang hadn't thought of that, but now that it was put out there, she supposed part of it made sense. She shrugged in mild acceptance, then they rounded another corner where they saw the hallway had ended in two single doors right next to each other. The teenagers studied the doors for a few moments, trying to figure out what to do, when they heard a groan coming from behind them. They quickly shot around, only to find that the hallway they had just walked through was now completely sealed off with a wall. Once again, they were trapped and forced to go only one way, and all four let out a groan.
"Alright, which one do we take?" Jaune asked, resting the top of his bat on the ground before leaning on it.
Yang nodded and pursed her lips, then she pointed at one of the doors and switched while saying, "Eenie-meenie-miney-moe."
"Ugh," Weiss groaned, resisting the urge to slap herself on the forehead as Yang continued to alternate. Finally, the Golden Dragon ended on the right door, and with a smile and skip in her step she walked over to it.
"I say we go here," Yang declared as she opened up the door. It had only opened a few inches before, to her surprise, a mass of slimy, dripping tentacles shot out and reached around the door towards her.
"AAGH!" she shrieked in fright. Weiss immediately used a glyph to bar the door while Yang, still screaming, grabbed her axe and began chopping away. Each blow caused the creature, whatever it was, to roar in pain, and only once Yang had completely cleaved through a thick tentacle the size of her waist did it retreat. The appendage wiggled and writhed on the ground while Yang forced her entire body weight onto the door, slamming it shut. With the threat subsided and her back to the door, Yang slid down and hugged herself while shivering.
"I hate tentacles…" she muttered under her breath. Pyrrha walked over and patted the top of Yang's head sympathetically while Weiss and Jaune awkwardly looked on. After a moment, they looked at the other door, and with a loud gulp Jaune walked over with his bat at the ready. Everyone else, including a recovered Yang, prepped themselves for whatever horror might emerge.
Instead of a dark void, however, they saw a bright pink room with a single bed against the wall. Sunlight illuminated the room from the window, and across from the bed was a vanity mirror. Scattered all around them was a collection of porcelain dolls neatly lined on shelves. The dolls themselves were dressed in a variety of different dresses, and looked to be at least decades old. Jaune stared at the room for a moment, then he immediately tried to slam it shut.
"Yeah, no," he declared, but Yang stopped him. He regarded her with a raised eyebrow for a moment before saying, "Yang, we are not going in the creepy doll room."
"Yes, we are," Yang insisted, glaring harshly at the boy, "because we are not going in the tentacle room."
"Creepy dolls are worse."
"Um," Pyrrha cut, politely raising her hand, "I don't—"
"Porcelain dolls are horror staples. Uncanny valley and all that," both blondes reported while they continued glaring at each other.
"Ah, I see," Pyrrha replied. She really didn't, but she felt no desire to cut in. Weiss didn't have such compunctions, however, and with a groan she stomped forward.
"Seriously, you two are acting like children," Weiss chastised, placing her hands on her hips.
The trio began to argue, trying to determine where, exactly they should go. Rather, Jaune was insisting they take their chances with the tentacles while Yang insisted otherwise with the dolls. Weiss merely wanted them to make up their minds as she didn't care which route they took so long as they could get a move on, especially since the tentacle Yang cut off earlier was beginning to smell foul. Pyrrha stayed back with a plastered smile on her face while shifting her gaze between all three, wondering just how and when to go in.
"Well, this is a sight, isn't it?" a voice next to Pyrrha asked. Not registering the new arrival, Pyrrha nodded.
"Yes, it is," the Crimson Guardian admitted. "But, I don't know enough to—"
Pyrrha finally registered what was going on, and with a yelp she jumped back and pointed her fence post towards a woman who had appeared next to her. Her appearance was certainly strange, yet oddly familiar. Her skin was a corpse pale with raven black hair reaching to her lower back. She wore a silver ankh around her neck over a black sleeveless dress, and a studded belt looped around her black pants. Under her right eye was a small tattoo of a swirling eye. Pyrrha was immediately put off by the woman, which was only partially offset by the soft smile she was giving.
"…Hello there," Pyrrha finally said, glancing towards her friends. They were completely oblivious to their new arrival, continuing to argue among themselves.
"Hello, Pyrrha," the woman replied, turning around to completely face Pyrrha and leaning against the wall. Pyrrha, with her fence post still raised, took a step back and raised an eyebrow.
"You know my name?" she asked, and the woman nodded.
"I do. I know everyone here," she revealed, then pointed at her friends. "That boy is Jaune Arc. The girl in white is Weiss Schnee, and the other girl is Yang Xiao Long."
Pyrrha was alarmed now, and she was fully prepared to shout to the others when the strange woman in black raised her hand placatingly. "Don't worry, I'm harmless. Just wanted to talk, really. I'm a people person."
Pyrrha stared at the woman questioningly, frowning in suspicion. The woman merely smiled back, remaining completely calm despite the fact that a pointed iron rod was in her face. After a moment, Pyrrha finally relented and lowered her makeshift weapon, and the woman smiled again.
"So," Pyrrha began, "what did you want to talk about? And how do you know who we are?"
"That is a good question, isn't it? You guys have been very keen on keeping that hidden," the woman said with an amused chuckle. "Not that I don't blame you. To answer your question, I was there when you all were born."
Pyrrha's eyebrows raised in surprise, then they lowered in suspicion as she said, "That's impossible. I know everyone who was there when I was born, and you weren't one of them."
"Oh, but I was," the woman insisted. "I'm there whenever anything and everything is born, welcoming them into the world. It's one of my favorite things to do, really. The birth of new life is always so special. Each one is different and unique, and it warms my heart."
Now Pyrrha was confused, narrowing her eyes as she tried to make out what the woman was talking about. She was certainly very strange, yet at the same time she seemed nice enough. Certainly not overtly threatening. Before she could say anything else, however, the woman continued.
"You're very lucky, Pyrrha," the woman suddenly declared. "Both here and elsewhere, you've touched so many people's lives in so many ways. Friends that will last a lifetime, some of which you haven't even met yet. Not everyone can say that."
"Uh, thank you?" Pyrrha said, more confused than ever. She then asked, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I got your name."
"Oh, don't worry," the woman chuckled. "You already know my name."
Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "What do you-?"
She stopped and froze. She studied the woman more closely, and slowly began to realize that she actually did. Her eyes narrowed, but before she could say anything, the strange woman laughed.
"Hahah, don't worry," she insisted. "Your time hasn't come yet. We'll see each other again eventually, but that goes for everyone. I just hope that when we do meet again, you don't leave any regrets behind."
"I… I won't," Pyrrha promised, staring at the woman.
"You won't what?" Jaune suddenly asked. Pyrrha looked over to her partner, where she saw Jaune, Weiss, and Yang staring at her in confusion.
"And who are you talking to?" Weiss asked, placing her free hand on her hip.
"I was talking to—" Pyrrha began, pointing to her side, only to realize that the woman was now gone. She backed away in surprise, and with a concerned look on his face, Jaune walked over to his partner.
"You okay, Pyrrha?" he asked, rubbing Pyrrha's shoulder. After a moment, she nodded.
"Yeah, I was just…" Pyrrha paused, then admitted, "I think I just talked to Death."
"Death?" Yang asked, raising an eyebrow. She looked around, not seeing anything, but given just how weird the House of Mystery was, Yang didn't find it too far-fetched that Pyrrha saw something. "Alright then. What was Death like?"
"A very strange but nice lady, apparently."
"Huh. Neat," Yang shrugged. It was obvious to Pyrrha that she and the others didn't exactly believe her, so she let it drop. Yang continued, saying, "Now then, onto the creepy doll room."
"Oh, we're going there?" Pyrrha asked, and Jaune reluctantly nodded.
"Yeah, we are. I got outvoted," Jaune revealed, then gave his partner the stink eye. Pyrrha blushed and rubbed the back of her head, muttering an apology that Jaune merely sighed at.
Then they heard Weiss impatiently cough, and the duo quickly shuffled through the open door where Yang awaited them. Weiss followed suit right after, closing the door behind them. All four searched for another door, quickly finding one that looked like it belonged to a closet. While normally they would ignore that, with how weird the house was, they felt it was worth a look. As they walked towards the door, the hairs on the back of their necks rose, and they stopped to turn around where they saw that all of the dolls' heads had swiveled in their direction. Their frozen faces were boring into their own, and after a moment the four of them turned around again to open the door. When Jaune grabbed the door handle, he heard a ruffle right next to him, and he turned his head to see that the dolls had suddenly shifted position. Now they are all on the bed, staring the Remnantians down.
A heavy silence followed as everyone stared at the dolls, then Jaune threw open the door and they all sprinted through it. They slammed the door shut and braced their backs against it, allowing them to observe the new room they found themselves in as they calmed themselves down. As they thought, instead of being in a closet, they found themselves in a stone room with a large wooden door on the opposite end. Four torches along the walls cast the room in an orange glow, as did the four mirrors underneath them. On the floor was an ancient symbol of a horned circle with an upside down cross in its center. The Remnantians walked further inside, and Weiss knelt to rub her fingers along the symbol's edges.
"This is a symbol of Loki," she revealed, pinching her fingers together. The material was powdery, almost like charcoal.
"How do you know that?" Yang asked, eyeing two pairs of large, thick levers that were across from one another.
"Nora really got into Norse mythology and dragged me and Ren into it. The entire mythos is actually quite fascinating," Weiss admitted as she stood up, then they heard Yang try to open the door with a loud grunt. To their surprise, the wooden door and steel frame wouldn't budge.
"Ah, perfect," Jaune groaned. It was at that moment the door they entered in from disappeared entirely, leaving the entire back wall a stone veneer. They looked around the room, trying to find out what to do next, then Pyrrha got giddy and brought her hands together.
"Ooh, it's a puzzle!" she cheered. With a toothy smile on her face, she swiveled her head around the room to try and find a clue, where she found a rough piece of paper nailed to the wall by an iron dagger. Seeing it as a clue, she grabbed the paper and held it close as she began to read.
"'To pass this trial in time,'" Pyrrha read aloud, "another's eyes shall be your ally.'"
Everyone paused for a moment, trying to figure out what the riddle meant, then Yang asked, "What the heck does that mean?"
Suddenly, they heard a loud clank from above, and everyone turned their gazes upward as they saw the roof suddenly begin to descend.
"I think it means that!" Jaune shouted. Weiss immediately formed a massive glyph to try and hold the roof up as Jaune, Yang, and Pyrrha sprinted to the door to try and open it. Even with their combined strength, and the use of Pyrrha's Semblance, it wouldn't budge.
"Dammit!" Yang cursed, looking around for a way out just as Weiss' glyph shattered like glass. Pyrrha then pointed at the levers, and everyone caught her meaning immediately as they sprinted to one each.
"Okay, on the count of three!" Jaune shouted. The others nodded, clutching their levers as tightly as they could, then Jaune counted, "One…two…three!"
At once, they all pulled their levers simultaneously. But rather than open the door like they hoped, instead they heard a clank from the back wall which suddenly began pushing towards them as well.
"Oh, come on!" Jaune complained.
"That doesn't make any sense! How is the wall pushing towards us while the ceiling lowers?!" Weiss demanded.
"Magical bullshit!" Yang answered, her eyes turning red. She quickly scanned the room, then spotted above Pyrrha a tally mark over her lever. It read 'one.' Yang shot her head above her own, where she saw another tally mark that read 'three.' She then shouted, "Guys, there's numbers!"
"I see them, too!" Weiss confirmed, looking over her own to see a 'four.' Above Jaune's was a two, and they all figured out what they needed to do next.
"Pyrrha, pull!" Yang ordered. Pyrrha did as instructed, then Yang pointed at Jaune who was on the wall opposite Pyrrha. He pulled his lever as well, followed by Yang herself and finally Weiss. They heard another clank, and they all thought they solved the puzzle. Their hopes were dashed when the back wall suddenly became covered in spikes and both it and the ceiling traversed towards them faster. There were even spouts of fire erupting out of the back wall to complete the set.
"SERIOUSLY?!" Yang screamed, clutching the top of her head. Once again everyone tried to tried to find another way out, and they were beginning to panic. Pyrrha then thought back to the clue they found.
"'Another's eyes shall be your ally,'" she quoted to herself, then looked through the mirror beneath her torch. Pyrrha saw Jaune freaking out, and easily visible above his lever was the tally mark. She then had an idea and grabbed hold of her lever once again.
"Guys, look through the mirrors! Use their numbers!" Pyrrha shouted.
The others did as she said, and quickly realized where she was going. Once they were ready, Pyrrha shouted at Jaune to pull, which he promptly did. She herself followed him, pulling her lever just as the roof reached the top of the torch. Weiss then pulled her own lever, and Yang did so as well to finish the set just as she was done. A bright flash enveloped the room from the mirrors, forcing the teenagers to shield their eyes and look away. When the light went away, all of them felt strange and off, but they immediately noticed that the door was now open. Without wasting a second thought, all four teenagers sprinted as fast as they could and dived through the open doorway just as the spiked wall and ceiling converged together, sealing the entire chamber. Had they remained, they would have undoubtedly been crushed.
"Wow," Yang muttered as she laid on the ground, "talk about performing under pressure."
"Ugh. Yang, you and your—" Weiss groaned as she stood up. She prepared to chastise Yang further, but now that she wasn't under threat of death, she immediately noticed a few things. For one, the world seemed smaller now, as though she had jumped up in height. There was also an additional weight on her chest that slightly hurt her back, and her voice didn't sound like it normally did.
"What the…?" she muttered to herself as she felt around her body. All around her, she could hear the others do the same, all feeling that something was off. Then Weiss looked at her hands, and recognized the pair of fingerless gloves that Yang had worn that day. Her eyes narrowed as she held them up, then she slowly turned around to face the others. There, where she expected to see Yang, was herself who was looking at the dress she was wearing. After a moment, 'Weiss' looked up with wide eyes at herself, and the two realized what had happened.
"…Yang?" Weiss asked, slowly coming to the realization that she was now in Yang's body.
"…Weiss?" Yang replied, realizing the same thing in Weiss' body. A heavy pause followed, and both of them felt the weight of the entire situation crash into them at once.
"Oh my God," both of them said at the same time, then they heard Pyrrha scream. They shot their heads towards her, only to find that she was sealing her eyes shut and trying not to touch anything.
"Oh God, I'm sorry!" 'Pyrrha' wailed as 'Jaune' tried to help her.
"Jaune, it's okay. Just breathe," he insisted, and Weiss and Yang realized that what happened to them also happened to Jaune and Pyrrha.
"How can I just 'breathe!?' I'm in your body!" Jaune declared, pointing at Pyrrha's body that he now resided in. Instinctually his hands shot to his chest, then he realized that it was much softer than it normally was. His eyes traveled back down, then a crimson blush emerged on his body as he flung his hands away as fast as he could. "Ah, I'm so sorry!"
"Jaune, it's fine. Trust me," Pyrrha insisted, her face also blushing. "I feel the exact same way."
Jaune, in Pyrrha's body, was still hyperventilating, trying his best to avert his gaze. Slowly, however, he acknowledged Weiss and Yang looking at him in both concern and confusion, and he began to calm down.
"Don't tell me it happened to you guys, too?" he begged, but Weiss, in Yang's body, shook her head.
"I'm afraid so," she revealed. "Somehow, we swapped bodies. Yang and I switched, as did you and Pyrrha."
"How?" Jaune squeaked out as Pyrrha had an idea and took off the hoodie Jaune was wearing. She offered it to her partner, who quickly took it and put it on over Pyrrha's thin sweater while mouthing a 'thank you' to her. The thicker article of clothing covered up much more of Pyrrha, which seemed to calm Jaune's nerves somewhat.
"As I said," Yang replied while crossing Weiss' arms, "magical bullshit."
Everyone stared at her for a moment, then Pyrrha scratched Jaune's head and admitted, "It feels weird, hearing Weiss talk like Yang."
"You're telling me," Weiss added, giving her body a lidded stare. She then groaned and pinched the bridge of Yang's brow, saying, "Alright, this is apparently happening. Now what do we do?"
"Find Constantine and get him to fix this," Pyrrha offered, and Jaune frantically nodded.
"Yes, the sooner I can get out of Pyrrha's body, the better!" Jaune declared. Weiss and Pyrrha nodded, but Yang couldn't help but chuckle.
"Yeah, 'cuz I'm pretty sure that isn't how—" Yang began, only for Weiss to suddenly slap the back of her head. Yang was sent crashing into the floor, yelling, "Ow! What the hell?!"
"Wow, you are strong," Weiss muttered, holding up Yang's hand in wonder while also flexing the arm to poke at the bulging bicep.
"Yeah, I work out and I'm proud of those," Yang admitted, happy to see someone else appreciate her hard work, then she pushed herself to her feet and growled. "That doesn't mean you get to slap me!"
Weiss was cut off from her trance, and she turned around to glare at Yang, which she found necessitated her leaning down and placing her hands on her hips.
"Don't act like you're innocent!" Weiss insisted. "I don't need to hear any dirty jokes out of my mouth."
"I wasn't—grr!" Yang grumbled, then crossed her arms and looked away. Weiss gave a satisfied smirk, then went back to observing her new body closely. She flexed her arms, feeling the raw power in them as Jaune and Pyrrha looked at her.
"Uh, Weiss? Are we-?" Jaune began, only for Weiss to hold up a finger.
"Wait just a moment," Weiss declared, giving Yang's right bicep one last slap. She then looked at the others and softly said, "I just realized something."
"Realized what?" Pyrrha asked, not liking the manic look now erupting on Weiss's face.
"We are in each other's bodies," Weiss reiterated. "Don't you realize what this means? We now have the perfect opportunity to test something our people have only dreamed of with Aura!"
"…Eh?" Yang let out, tilting her head and accidentally causing Weiss' ponytail to drift across her face. She spat it out and brushed it aside, saying, "Gagh! I swear, that's going to get annoying very fast. Can't you just wear your ponytail straight back like a normal person?"
Rather than say anything, Weiss held out Yang's hand and concentrated. After a moment, she formed a small yellow glyph with a snowflake in the center over the palm of her hand, and everyone immediately realized what she meant.
"Holy crap," Yang muttered. Jaune then pulled out his scroll and scanned Weiss, who still appeared as Yang on its software.
"You have your Semblance, Weiss," Jaune revealed, "but your Aura levels…they look more like Yang's."
"Hah! This is amazing! I've never had this much Aura before!" Weiss declared, only for the glyph to violently explode and send her flying back. She crashed into a wall, causing a vase to fall off its podium and shatter atop her head. Jaune and Pyrrha gasped and covered their mouths while Yang only pointed and laughed.
"Hah, that's what you get!" Yang declared.
"Weiss, are you okay?" Jaune asked as Weiss picked herself up.
"Ugh, too much Aura, apparently," Weiss muttered, shaking her head. "That's going to take some getting used to."
"I'm more concerned with you having Yang's Aura levels to begin with," Pyrrha added, wondering if the same happened between her and Jaune.
"Perhaps Aura levels are tied to the physical body?" Weiss suggested as she stood up. "Either that, or whatever spell we got hit with made it so."
It was then that they heard a door open from downstairs, which they only just now noticed was there. Several recognizable voices could heard, one energetic and the others resigned.
"Nora, no," Ren said as he and Blake dragged her away from the door.
"Oh, come on! I just want to see the creepy twins!" Nora insisted, still clutching her iron hammer.
"Those were either malevolent ghosts, or you were about to clobber children," Blake pointed out. "Either way, we're not going in there."
"Ah, you guys are no fun…" Nora pouted. They then entered the bottom of the stairs, which revealed they were back at the front of the House of Mystery.
"Guys!" Jaune shouted as he and the others ran down. Hobbled down, in his case, as he was not used to the heels that Pyrrha normally wore. Pyrrha, on her part, immediately went to help him, guiding him along the railing. Blake, Ren and Nora looked up, and the Pink Lighting smiled and waved.
"Hi, Pyrrha!" Nora waved. "You would not believe what we had to deal with. The halls kept changing, the lights would go in and out, and why are you wearing Jaune's hoodie?"
Blake and Ren then noticed what Nora was talking about, along with everyone else's changed demeanor. For whatever reason, Pyrrha looked far more nervous than usual, wobbling in place while holding her arms out to the side for balance. Jaune was also visibly nervous, giving a fake plastered smile towards everyone while trying to make sure Pyrrha didn't fall over. Yang looked as through she was trying to maintain a prim and proper stance, while Weiss was far more casual than they had ever seen her.
"Hey, Blakey!" Weiss suddenly said, throwing Blake for a loop. She never heard Weiss say her name like that. Only Yang did.
"Hold on," Nora muttered, tapping her chin before pointing at Weiss and saying, "Yang?"
"Yep," she confirmed. "Long story short, Ice Queen and I switched bodies. P-Money and Vomit Boy did, too. It's very weird."
A long pause ensued between both groups, one that was only broken by the sound of Nora's laughter.
"Hrnng!" Ruby grunted as she once again tried to activate her silver eyes. Her face was red with strain, but as with all her other attempts, it was to no avail. Nothing was working, and outside of brief flickers of light coming out from under her eyelids, nothing happened.
"Alright kid, let's call it. You look like you're constipated," Constantine said with a sigh of disappointment. Ruby groaned and hung her body forward, then looked up at the two mages.
"Sorry," she muttered, then asked, "Can I at least kill the Grimm?"
"You may," Zatanna allowed. Ruby nodded, then picked up Crescent Rose from its carrier box, unfurled it, and fired a single round into the Beowolf's skull. Most of its head popped like a balloon and it slumped to the floor. A moment later, it dissipated into dust, and already the House of Mystery shook contently.
"It liked that, at least," Constantine noted. "Ah well, shame that we didn't get a reaction."
"At least we know emotions are part of it," Ruby pointed out, and Constantine shrugged.
"Yeah, but even if we know the trigger, it means nothing if we don't know how to pull it," he grumbled, taking another puff of his cigarette. Ruby whined pitifully while Zatanna frowned at how insensitive her ex-boyfriend was being. She quietly waved her wand in his direction, and he yelped as a small spark went off right next to his butt. While he glared at Zatanna, who was acting innocent while leaning against the wall and twirling her wand between her fingers, Ruby giggled and covered her mouth with her hand.
"Haha, very funny," Constantine grumbled, putting out the cigarette against the top of a barrel then conjuring it away. "Come on, let's get back to your friends. They should be done about now, anyway."
"Okay," Ruby replied, then walked out of the cage to the front of the basement. Both mages stayed behind for a moment to close the cage doors and lock it, then they followed after Ruby.
"Why didn't it work?" Zatanna asked herself, rubbing her chin while Constantine shrugged.
"Clearly we're missing something," Constantine pointed out, placing his hands in his trench coat's pockets. "Last time it was a life or death situation. Maybe she—"
"We are not doing that," Zatanna interrupted with a small frown.
"I wasn't going to say that!" Constantine protested, shooting Zatanna a hurt look. "I may be a sour ass but I'm not mad."
Zatanna narrowed her eyes in clear disbelief, then walked in front of Constantine just as Ruby reached the top of the basement stairs. The Red Reaper opened the door and walked into the hall outside, but when she turned around to look back inside, the door suddenly slammed shut.
"What the hell?!" Constantine shouted as the stairs suddenly turned into a ramp, causing him and Zatanna to slide down. They collapsed on top of each other, only for Zatanna to quickly push him off and jump to her feet.
"John, what did you do?!" Zatanna demanded, pointing her wand at the stairs and door to try and open it.
"Don't look at me, I didn't do this!" Constantine replied, thrusting his hand forward and forming a magical sigil in his palm.
"Nrut pmar otni sriats!" Zatanna spoke in backwards English, casting a spell in an attempt to revert the ramp back into a flight of stairs. Unfortunately, her spell did nothing, merely fizzling out as something stopped it. Constantine joined the effort a moment later, casting a spell of his own to similar effect. Both mages breathed heavily for a moment, then Zatanna angrily glared at Constantine while clenching her fist. He nervously gulped and backed away, raising his hands placatingly as Zatanna stomped forward in malice.
"Z, calm down, okay?" Constantine tried to soothe her. "I know it looks bad, but I didn't do this."
"Oh yeah? Then who did?" Zatanna demanded, only to freeze as the oil lamps in the basement were, one by one, puffed out. Something cold and dark swept over them, and it was a feeling that they recognized all too well.
"You have failed in your goal, because you're too reluctant," a dark, deep voice boomed from inside the cage where the Grimm was once housed. Constantine and Zatanna shot around, where they saw a dark figure staring at them from the shadows with blazing red eyes. "So leave this task instead, to a demon most repugnant."
Before either Zatanna or Constantine could say anything, the figure disappeared and the lights returned. Both mages stared at the empty cage in shock and horror, then they looked up at the doorway. They saw a brief image of a crimson pentagram appear on the doorway, and at once they knew they weren't getting out any time soon.
"Ah, crap," Zatanna groaned, covering her face with her hands while Constantine awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, look at the bright side," Constantine argued. "He won't kill them, probably."
His statement provided no comfort to Zatanna, who looked between her fingers to give her partner a harsh glare.
"Uh, guys? The door shut on its own," Ruby called out while banging on the door. It had come as a complete surprise to her, and she had spent the last minute trying to pull it free with all of her strength. But it wouldn't budge, and she was at a loss on what to do. She backed away with a frown, putting her hands on her hips as she tried to think of a solution to this problem. Before she had a chance to really think, however, darkness enveloped the hallway where she stood, and Ruby felt cold. In fact, to her surprise she could now see her breath, and her body was shivering and her teeth clattering.
"What the…?" she muttered, rubbing her arms as she backed away from the door, only to hear a low growl. Slowly, Ruby turned her head to the side, where she saw a lone figure in the darkness staring at her.
"Gone, gone, o' form of man," the figure chanted as it stepped out of the shadows. "Rise the demon, Etrigan."
Ruby backed away, where she saw that this Etrigan, as she assumed that was his name, was a muscular man with yellow skin, his eyes a crimson red over black sclera, and a short pair of stubby horns on the top of his head. His ears looked like fins, and his outfit was a red tunic over metallic chainmail. The shoulder pauldrons were spiked while the arms remained bare, and the legs were shrouded in greaves made of the same material. A blue cape was attached around his neck and shoulders, and despite there being no wind billowed as though there was. Clutched in one hand was a massive claymore, one she would have expected to be wielded by two hands on a normal person. Ruby immediately knew this new arrival was nothing good, so she pulled out Crescent Rose from her back and fired a single shot straight into Etrigan's skull. To her surprise, however, it did absolutely nothing. The collapsed fifty-caliber bullet fell to the ground harmlessly, and Etrigan could only smile and laugh.
"Uh-oh," Ruby said, then Etrigan took in a breath and unleashed a column of hellfire straight towards her. In a burst of rose petals, Ruby backed away, feeling the intense heat despite her Aura's protection. In fact, it seemed to hurt more than any fire she had ever felt, like it was directly harming her soul. She turned after escaping to the end of the hallway before firing again and again, but each shot did nothing. In fact, with her final shot before she had to reload, Etrigan swatted the bullet aside with the blade of his sword, then he charged at her with a monstrous roar.
"I found more!" Nora announced as she brought over more and more metallic objects for Pyrrha to experiment on. She, still in Jaune's body, happily accepted them, lifting them up with her Semblance like it was no issue.
"I have to say, with the amount of Aura Jaune has, this is a lot easier," Pyrrha pointed out as she observed the dozens of lamps, utensils, and full suits of iron armor that Nora somehow managed to find now orbiting above them.
"Glad you're enjoying it," Jaune grumbled, sitting down and fidgeting with his ankles. "How you girls walk around in heels is beyond me. Ruby was right, these are stupid lady stilts."
"They're fashionable," Weiss insisted as she continued practicing her Semblance with Yang's Aura.
"They make it impossible to run. Part of me wonders if that was intentional."
"I hear you, Vomit Boy," Yang replied, now walking barefoot around the House of Mystery. "Combat boots for the win." She automatically held out her hand for a low five, before remembering that Ruby wasn't there with them to deliver.
"Are you making me walk barefoot?!" Weiss shrieked, dissipating the glyph as she looked on indignantly.
"Why yes, yes I am," Yang cheekily replied, then began to stretch. "By the way, you are limber."
"Thank you," Weiss growled as Yang reached down to touch her toes then followed it up with a complete split.
"This is so weird," Blake muttered under her breath while at the same time taking notes on her scroll.
"And yet, fascinating," Ren added, and the faunus nodded in agreement.
"Hey," Nora started, "I wonder if—"
"No," both Ren and Blake interrupted at once.
"Aww…" Nora groaned, hanging her upper body in disappointment. After a few more moments of study, Weiss stopped forming a glyph and walked towards the center of the room.
"Well, that's enough for now. We've been doing this for almost half an hour," she pointed out. "Best find Ruby and the others."
"Sounds good to me," Jaune said as he tried to stand up, only for find himself incapable due to the heels Pyrrha wore. He growled in anger, which was an odd look on the normally serene Pyrrha, and he finally had enough and took off the shoes entirely. He stood up without issue now, and he sighed in relief.
"Ah, much better," he declared with a smile on Pyrrha's face. Pyrrha herself couldn't help but roll her eyes in amusement before carefully placing the objects back onto the ground. She couldn't help but notice that many of them disappeared once they touched the floor, but by now weirder things had happened to them so she didn't bat an eye.
"Now then," Weiss began, clapping Yang's hands together with a loud smack, "which way is the-?"
Suddenly, a red blur shot out of the hallway and slammed into her. Both she and Ruby yelped as they were flung forward, crashing against a wall with a loud thud. Everyone else stared at them in shock, and Ruby groaned as she collected her bearings. She then glanced at everyone, who were looking at her in concern before Ruby was pushed off.
"Ah! Ruby, watch where you're going!" Weiss demanded. "I've told you this hundreds of times!"
"Sorry, Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed, backing away only to notice that she was talking to Yang. "Wait, I mean Yang… Hold on, why do you sound like Weiss?"
"What is that supposed to mean?!" Weiss indignantly asked, slightly insulted while Yang couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah, Yang, why are you trying to talk like me? Perhaps you've finally realized just how much better I am than everyone else?" Yang suggested while flipping her ponytail back with her hand, only for it to swing back and obscure her face. As she sputtered, Ruby raised an eyebrow while Weiss growled, and she rapidly shifted her attention between both of her teammates before finally coming a conclusion.
"Weiss, Yang…did you two swap bodies?" she quietly asked. Both girls stared at her, and a heavy silence fell over the group.
"…Why was that the first thing you thought of? You're correct, by the way," Weiss replied, and Ruby shrugged.
"I mean, this place is weird. Not just the house, but Earth in general. We went inside our own heads. Body swapping isn't too far a stretch," she pointed out. Weiss couldn't fault her partner's logic, and neither could the others.
"It happened to us, too, by the way," Jaune interjected, waving Pyrrha's hand towards her while Pyrrha did the same. Ruby had a much more visceral reaction, her eyes going wide as she covered her mouth.
"Oh my gosh, you two…" Ruby started, then she shook her head and refocused herself. "No time for that now, we got bigger problems!"
"Yeah, like getting this fixed," Jaune replied, but Ruby shook her head once again.
"No, bigger!"
"What do you mean, 'bigger?'" Weiss asked, placing her hands on her hips just as the wall opposite them exploded outward. They shielded themselves from the debris, and when the dust settled they saw a demon glaring at them with malicious intent.
"Like that!" Ruby pointed at the demon, aiming Crescent Rose and taking a shot. Once again, the bullet did nothing, and the demon smirked evilly.
"What is that?!" Jaune yelped, rushing over to pick up his discarded bat while the others gathered their own weapons.
"Etrigan the Demon, I think!" Ruby answered, reloading her weapon. "It's what he called himself, I dunno!"
With their weapons gathered, the eight Remnantians circled around Etrigan, who coldly regarded them all with a predatory glare. Before any of them could make a move, Yang, the closest one to the demon, decided to act and rushed ahead.
"I got this!" Yang declared. With a wordless yell, she reared her fist back and prepared to punch the demon in the face.
"Yang, wait!" Weiss shouted in warning, but she was too late as the fist connected.
To Yang's surprise, the punch did nothing, and if anything Yang felt a tremor travel up her arm from the point of contact. A heavy pause followed as everyone stared at the still connected fist, and even Etrigan was looking with complete amusement. Yang herself blushed in embarrassment, then she shot her attention towards Weiss.
"Weiss, you need to work on your upper body strength!" she declared, then Etrigan backhanded her through the stairs. The wooden structure shattered into a cloud of splinters that rained down on everyone, and she slammed into the upper wooden railing to land on the second floor. "Ow…"
"Dammit, Yang! I'm a fencer, not a brawler!" Weiss insisted as she and the others charged at Etrigan, their weapons held high. Attacking as one, they swung and stabbed their weapons into Etrigan, who despite his bulky form revealed himself to be quite agile. He dodged and ducked underneath the blows, all with an ever present smile on his face.
"Your unity is strong, eight Huntsmen and Huntresses fighting as one," Etrigan mocked as he caught Weiss' sword hand, followed by a powerful punch to her gut while he kicked Nora and Ren away. "But it isn't enough, for this fight to be won."
Using Yang's body as a weapon, Etrigan swung Weiss around and batted away the others. Only Blake managed to get away thanks to her Semblance, but Etrigan managed to get her all the same by hurling Yang's body where she reappeared. Both girls collapsed onto the ground, but they quickly got up and reoriented themselves.
"Hold on," Blake said while breathing heavily, "did he just…rhyme?"
"Yeah, he's been doing that ever since we started fighting! It's really weird!" Ruby replied, shifting Crescent Rose into its scythe form. Etrigan eyed the nth metal blade warily, yet he still grinned all the same.
Then, as he took a deep breath, Ruby shouted, "Scatter!"
Everyone did as they were told just as Etrigan unleashed a breath of fire. It scorched the wood, leaving a deep black mark that seemed to eat away at everything it touched. The furniture caught in the flames were set alight, forcing Jaune to back jump away while clutching his arm.
"Aah, it burns!" he shrieked in pain. "What kind of fire is this?!"
"Hellfire!" Weiss noted, holding up her sword towards Etrigan as she and Pyrrha, holding her fence post, encircled the demon. "That stuff burns the soul!"
"And most of our protection comes from our soul. Perfect," Ren droned, holding his iron dagger in a reverse grip. He had put away the wooden stake, seeing no use for it in this current situation. Iron was effective against demons, not wood. Especially ones that breathed fire.
Once again, a heavy pause enveloped the room, then everyone charged at Etrigan from all sides. As before, he displayed far more dexterity than someone of his size and stature would suggest, which wasn't helped by the fact that Weiss, Jaune, and Pyrrha were still getting used to their new bodies. For Weiss, she found that her reach was suddenly too far, forcing her to overcompensate and have to adjust on the fly. For Jaune, he suddenly felt more limber and agile in Pyrrha's body, and for a slow, heavy fighter like himself, it was proving difficult to adjust. Pyrrha, on the other hand, was showing the least amount of difficulty adjusting. There were some growing pains, but soon she was fighting in Jaune's body as though she had done so for years, eventually going practically one on one against Etrigan while the others flanked him from all sides.
"Hi-ya!" Nora screeched as she slammed her hammer into Etrigan's exposed arm. The iron connected with the flesh, and he roared in pain before back handing her away into Ren, who jumped over her with a twirl then landed on his feet. Pyrrha and Jaune, meanwhile, attempted to stab and swing their weapons into Etrigan, but he blocked both of them with his sword. They were forcing all of their weight onto it, but Etrigan merely pushed back effortlessly.
Pyrrha strained against Etrigan's bulk, her face turning red as she grit her teeth. Planting her feet squarely into the ground, she pushed up with all her might, yet despite everything it did nothing. Etrigan continued to push forward, and she could feel his hot breath across her skin. Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw Blake and Ren scale the side of the wall, then they leapt down from above and landed on top of Etrigan's shoulders. Raising their weapons up high, they stabbed them into his shoulders, and for the first time he screamed in pain. He released his pressure on Pyrrha and backed away, giving her enough time to stab her fence post at his torso. At the last second, Etrigan turned away, and the iron bar scraped against the side of his armor with a faint spark.
Snarling animalistically, Etrigan grabbed Ren and attempted to do so with Blake, but once again the faunus disappeared with a Shadow taking her place. Undeterred, he flung Ren away, crashing into Pyrrha's body. Both Ren and Jaune yelped in surprise, and Etrigan turned towards Ruby with his sword raised.
"Come and fight me, o' noble Huntress of silver and red," Etrigan declared, "lest you desire to join the realm of the dead."
"Yeah, well…I haven't bled so…I won't be dead!" Ruby replied, trying to copy the demon's manner of speaking. He merely looked at her blankly, clearly unamused, and with a faint blush of embarrassment on her face, she burst forward in a cloud of rose petals to engage her enemy.
She reappeared at Etrigan's side, but when she swung Crescent Rose at him, he blocked her strike with his sword. She didn't know what the sword was made out of, but it and the nth metal created a spark on impact. The two fell into a frantic rhythm, clashing their blades together with enough force to send the air parting around them, picking up faint ruffles of burnt paper along the way. It was both a fight and a dance, but it was one that Etrigan was proving to me more skilled in. With a twisted feint to the side, he caused her to overextend, then he grabbed hold of Crescent Rose's shaft then pulled way. The weapon was ripped from her grip, her body slightly lifted up into the air at the same time. Etrigan then kicked her squarely in the gut, knocking the air from her lungs and sending her crashing into a bookcase. The wood splintered and Ruby felt the books fall on top of her, leaving her partially buried as she desperately gasped for breath. Etrigan glared at her with his burning red eyes and stomped forward, and when Blake reengaged from the back, the demon was ready. His cape suddenly billowed upward, obscuring her vision and allowing him to punch her in the face, sending her crashing to the ground.
"Blake, no!" Ruby shouted, reaching out towards Blake. Etrigan paused and smiled, staring deeply into Ruby's eyes, but after a moment he grew disappointed. His eyes narrowed, then he turned around and planted his foot on Blake's chest. The demon then slipped his sword and raised it up high, preparing to thrust it down into the faunus. Ruby was about to scream, only to hear a commotion come from upstairs.
"Hey, ugly!" Yang shouted with Weiss' voice. Ruby and Etrigan shot their attention to the upper floor, where they saw Yang standing triumphant at the top of the ruined stairs. "I may be a featherweight now, but I still pack a mean right hook!"
A snarl was on her face and her eyes shone an electric blue, then she slammed both of her fists together and activated her Semblance. Her entire body went up in white flames as Burn erupted, and faster than Etrigan could react, Yang shot forward and closed the distance between them. She slammed her fist into the side of Etrigan's head, but this time the blow was powerful enough to send the demon flying. The wood underneath his feet shattered from the impact, and he flew through the adjacent wall and out the other side.
Everyone paused to stare at the newly formed hole, Yang with her arm still outstretched and her body smoking. Then, as the white fire dissipated, she fell to her knees and clutched her wrist tightly.
"Gaagh!" she hissed in pain. "That really hurt! Seriously, Weiss, we are working out after this!"
"Will you just-!" Weiss stopped and groaned, pinched her nose, then shook her head. "Ugh, fine. If it'll get you to shut up about it."
Before Yang could cheekily respond, they heard a rumble from the other room. They shot their heads towards it, where they saw the pile of debris that Etrigan was trapped in begin to shuffle.
"Um, time to move!" Jaune shouted, bolting to his feet. He and everyone else turned around and ran off, eager to put as much distance between them and Etrigan as possible. Until they had a plan of attack, it was obvious trying to fight him as they were was futile. When they got to the first door, they opened it up and ran inside, only to find that they were now in the seemingly endless hallway with the creepy twins on the opposite end.
"Come play with-"
"SHUT UP!" Jaune yelled as he and the others ran past the children without giving them a passing glance. The children did nothing, merely looked at them impassively before disappearing into thin air once they rounded a corner.
Eventually, the former students found themselves at a dead end. They briefly wondered what to do when they heard the door they entered from begin to bang and crack as Etrigan forced his way inside.
"What do we do?" Ren asked, pointing his dagger at the end of the hallway that they just rounded.
"I don't know, I'm thinking!" Ruby replied, wracking her brain for a solution that just wouldn't spring to mind. The others thought as well, but while theirs were more panicked, Weiss remained calm and focused. After a moment, she reached into Yang's pocket and pulled out a glass vial of salt, then remembered what Black Orchid had told them earlier.
"The salt…" she muttered under her breath. Then she clasped the vial tightly and walked over to everyone else. "I need all the salt you have."
"Why?" Jaune asked while complying.
"You heard what Black Orchid said," Weiss answered. "Demons are repelled by salt. If we can place our salt correctly, we can trap Etrigan and defeat him."
"Ooh," Ruby said. "How come you guys got the anti-demon training and I didn't?"
"You were getting your eyes checked, so it all evens out," Yang pointed out. After a moment, Ruby shrugged in agreement, then stood back as everyone handed Weiss their salt.
Taking the vials in her hand, she mentally formed an image of what it should look like then used a series of glyphs along the ceiling. With the trap set, she took her iron sword and held it forward, feeling a trickle of sweat come down her brow despite just how cold the air seemed to get. Coming from up the hallway, they saw Etrigan's shadow grow larger and larger, and soon his bulky figure emerged from behind the corner.
"Here you all stand, quivering in fear," Etrigan mocked as his red eyes blazed from the shadows that enveloped him, "as a demon most foul draws near."
"Do you ever stop rhyming?" Yang asked, her expression going flat and placing her hand on Weiss' hip. "It's getting on my nerves."
Etrigan said nothing but merely growled, then he shot forward, eager to face them head on. Just as he passed the center of the closed-off hallway, however, Weiss released the yellow glyphs that held the salt in the air. They fell to the ground, their unscrewed caps falling off and allowing the salt inside to spill out. Etrigan the Demon was enveloped in a cloud of salt, and he roared in pain as his exposed skin boiled where the salt touched. Smoke and steam rose off his body, but he was unable to move from his position as the salt surrounding him left him trapped.
"Get him!" Jaune yelled, holding up his bat and rushing forward along with the others. He batted Etrigan across the head, followed by Pyrrha throwing her fence post into his shoulder and Yang chopping him in the gut with her axe. Nora ran up from behind, bonking him on the back of his head while Ren ducked down and stabbed his knife into his left ankle. Blake did the same to his right, and Etrigan fell to his knees while roaring in pain. Together, both Ruby and Weiss charged forward, their friends getting out of the way as both girls stabbed their weapons into Etrigan's chest. Their momentum carried them and Etrigan forward, and he fell onto his back where the blades pinned him to the ground.
"Stay. Down," Weiss ordered, glaring into Etrigan while continuing to pin the demon down as hard as she could. Ruby was doing the same, and soon the others piled on top of Etrigan's limbs in an effort to assist. The demon thrashed from the pain, all the while glaring into Ruby and Weiss' eyes as though he was staring into their souls.
"You…have not won yet," Etrigan declared despite the wounds he currently suffered. "Now watch as you burn, filled with regret!"
Without even taking a breath, his maw glowed orange. The two Huntresses barely had time to get out of the way as Etrigan unleashed another breath of hellfire. Angling his neck, he aimed the flame all across the room, blasting away the salt and melting the iron weapons that were still impaled into his body. They turned into molten slag, falling onto the wooden floor and completely burning through. Standing upright, and with the salt completely tossed aside, RWBY and JNPR watched Etrigan's grievous wounds heal before their very eyes.
Still holding their weapons, Jaune and Yang rushed forward. They swung as hard as they could, but their new bodies were not strong enough to carry their momentum forward. Etrigan caught both of them by their hands, then he slammed both of them together and tossed them aside like ragdolls. He breathed fire onto the weapons, destroying them.
Ruby was next, dashing forward and behind Etrigan in an attempt to cut him in half. But just before her weapon made contact, Etrigan disappeared into shadow, reappearing behind her where he grabbed hold of her head and held her up high. Smirking wickedly, he began to squeeze her cranium, and Ruby could only squeal in pain while she kicked her legs back and forth. Crescent Rose was dropped from her hands, where he reached out and caught hold of it with the bottom of his foot, then he kicked it behind him out of everyone's reach.
"Oh, no you don't!" Nora shouted as she and the others rushed forward, eager to save their friend. But like the others, Etrigan was ready and he flung Ruby into them. Nora paused to catch the young girl, but the force was enough to send her flying back. Ren and Blake dodged to the side, where the two of them engaged Etrigan in hand-to-hand combat. Mostly Ren as he concentrated his Aura into his palms, slamming them across Etrigan's body in an effort to put him down. Blake, meanwhile, alternated between positions, swapped between them with her Semblance to keep the demon on his toes.
Then, to both of their surprise, Etrigan raised his foot and slammed it hard onto the wood flooring. The boards broke and shattered in half, with both Remnantians being thrown off balance. Etrigan took advantage of their predicament and punched Blake in the stomach, dragging her over his head with the momentum to slam into Ren's body. The force was powerful enough to send both slamming into the ground, forming a small crater that they could only groan in. Etrigan looked down upon their pitiful states, and with a quick snarl he kicked them aside into the wall.
Feeling a splitting headache, Ruby pushed herself off the ground and onto her knees, where she saw Etrigan standing over everyone who were sprawled across the ground in various states of disarray. Nora, attempting to keep up the fight, charged at Etrigan, but he dodged her attack and punched her three times in the face, followed by a knee to her gut and finished by flipping her over his back and onto hers. Her Aura flickered dangerously, and Ruby now noticed that the others were all in the same state.
Ruby's eyes were wide as she regarded the scene before her, and once again Etrigan stared into them. He frowned angrily, then he marched over to Weiss' body, which still housed Yang. Kicking her onto her side, Etrigan held her down with his foot and grabbed hold of her right arm. He raised it up high, and just as Ruby realized what he was doing, Etrigan began to pull.
"AAAGH!" Yang screamed as Etrigan pulled her arm back. Her Aura flickered frantically as it tried to hold together. Ruby immediately tried to rise to her feet, but she found herself unable to. For whatever reason, she was utterly exhausted, and her legs gave out as soon as she stood up. She quickly realized this wasn't normal, as she could still feel her Aura. It was diminished, but it was still there. Etrigan must have put a spell on them with his last few blows, she realized, and a sinking feeling began to form in her gut.
Etrigan wasn't just going to hurt them. He was going to kill them, starting with Yang. He was going to rip out her arm, and she needed to do something about it. Her eyes went wide and tears formed at the edge of them, and a fierce protectiveness permeated her entire soul. Something rose up from within her, refusing to go out despite how hopeless everything seemed to be, and once again she felt something click within her mind.
Compan…plus un…joy…lo…
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Ruby screamed as her eyes exploded into wings of silver light. The wings enveloped the room, and Etrigan turned to face them just before they hit. To her surprise, Etrigan didn't look surprised or fearful from the quick glance she got. Instead, he was smiling victoriously.
Then the wings enveloped the demon completely, and when the light disappeared he was nowhere to be found. Ruby felt her eyes throb and she wanted to collapse, but she forced herself not to. She did, however, have to prop herself up from the rug-covered floor with her hands, which was when she realized they were no longer in the closed-off hallway from earlier. In fact, they were back at the front foyer, and then whatever spell that was placed on them shattered. She felt her energy return to her body, and with a wobble in her stance she stood up.
"Did…did we win?" Jaune asked, holding himself up by a chair. Pyrrha was next to him, doing the same thing as they regarded their change in scenery. They looked around the room, trying to find their attacker, but saw no trace of him.
"I…I think we did," Yang replied. Smiles and laughter began to break out among the group, but the jubilation was cut short as they heard a round of applause coming from upstairs.
"Well done, defeating my duplicate," Etrigan said as he sat atop the wooden railing, clapping slowly. "I find that this exercise was adequate."
"Duplicate…?" Blake muttered, taking a step back as she noticed that Etrigan was no worse for wear. In fact, it was as though they hadn't fought him at all, and with a toothy grin on his face he leapt down and landed on the bottom floor.
"Indeed, it was merely a doppelgänger whom you fought," Etrigan explained. "Your deaths was not my goal, to bring forth the power of your eyes is all I sought."
Slowly, Ruby and the others began to realize what Etrigan was talking about, and the nervousness she felt was replaced by indignant fear.
"You mean you did all of that just so I could blast you with eye-lasers?!" Ruby shrieked. When Etrigan smiled and nodded, the others erupted into yells.
"You bastard!" Yang shouted angrily, trying to stomp towards Etrigan only to be stopped as the sudden momentum caused Weiss' ponytail to fly in front of her face once again. She batted it away while spitting out the strands of hair left in her mouth, but before she could step forward again, Blake stopped her.
"Yang, no," her partner whispered. Yang looked up at Blake, an odd experience for her due to her actual body being taller, but she relented with a sigh and stepped back. A moment later, they heard a door crash open, followed by a series of rapid footsteps as Constantine and Zatanna finally rejoined them.
"Okay, we're here and nobody's fighting," Constantine noted, holding a spell in his hand. Zatanna was right behind him, also prepared for battle. The two veteran mages stared at the pissed off group of teenagers, who crossed their arms and glared at them.
"Yeah, not anymore," Weiss replied, crossing her arms. "Where were you two when this guy decided attacking us with a copy of himself was the best way to get Ruby to activate her silver eyes?!"
She pointed at Etrigan, who smiled and chuckled darkly. Constantine and Zatanna stared at the demon for a moment, then the two of them groaned.
"Oh for Christ's sake. You used the Book of Eternity again," Constantine grumbled.
"Etrigan, I cannot believe you attacked them!" Zatanna chastised, but Etrigan merely flashed a grin.
"Merely the appearance of danger was sought, and no permanent harm was intended. Your own attempts were all for naught, only a trial by fire would see the mystery ended," he explained, then pointed at Yang. "My unappreciated labors succeeded, and much was detected. More than emotions and memories are needed; the will to safeguard life must be directed."
"Safeguard… Wait, you mean to tell me that her silver eyes come from a desire to protect life?" Zatanna asked, calming down slightly.
When Etrigan nodded in agreement, everything fell into place for the Red Reaper. Ruby had thought for hours on happy memories to try and get her Silver Eyes to activate, but that did nothing. Only when Yang, her sister, was threatened did they finally work. The more she thought about it, the more her mind went back to when she first used them against Trigon. Like just now, her first activation came when she thought Raven and all of her friends were about to die.
"That's what it takes," she muttered to herself. Etrigan looked at Ruby and nodded, but before he could speak again, Constantine coughed.
"Alright, I'm through with the whole rhyming deal. Can we speak to Jason again?" Constantine demanded. Etrigan glared at Constantine for a moment, but he relented and closed his eyes. A dark flame sprouted from his chest and enveloped his entire body like a wave. When it closed fully around him, they no longer saw an armored demon from hell. Instead, they saw a tall, thin man with combed back brown hair, a white streak in the center of it, wearing a dark maroon suit.
"There, much better," he said to himself while straightening out his suit. He then looked at the teenagers and added, "My apologies for the rough introductions. You must understand, Etrigan is a demon from Hell. Trigon's grandson, in fact. He is evil by his very nature, even if he fights on the side of good nowadays."
"Oh, so Raven's an aunt? That's neat," Ruby muttered under her breath, but the others continued with the broader conversation.
"We figured that out," Blake replied, crossing her arms. "Who might you be?"
"My name is Jason Blood," the man revealed, then smiled. "No relation, I assure you."
The Remnantians immediately understood who he was talking about, and they let out a sigh of relief. Ren then raised an eyebrow, and Jason immediately understood where he was going next.
"I have been soul-bound to Etrigan for millennia," he explained. "It was a curse inflicted upon me by the wizard Merlin, who had asked Hell for a way to protect Camelot. I have walked the Earth ever since, and trust me when I say that it has not been a pleasant experience for either of us."
"Luckily for us," Constantine added, leaning back against the wall, "you managed to civilize him a bit."
"In a manner of speaking," Jason Blood argued. "Etrigan is still evil, but his constant exposure to humanity through me has caused him to, for lack of a better term, choose his targets. As a demon, he is capable of seeing the quality of a soul, and should it be found wanting or evil, he will not hesitate to rip them asunder. But, should the soul be pure and good, he'll let them be, however not without considerable torment for his own amusement."
"Ah great, so he's a troll. Just perfect," Yang complained. Hearing her irreverent phrasing, Constantine raised an eyebrow, only for Jason to walk forward and press his fingers against her forehead.
"Let me see," he said, closing his eyes. A moment later, his fingertips flashed, and he stepped back with a small frown on his face. "Ah, that is the quite the conundrum. For whatever reason, the House of Mystery chose to swap your minds between your bodies."
"Yeah, we noticed," Weiss replied, crossing her arms. "Now, can any of you fix it?"
"I'm afraid not," Jason answered, shaking his head. "That spell was demonic in origin and of considerable strength. The only one who would be capable of breaking it would be Etrigan himself, and he has no desire to do so."
"WHAT?!" Weiss, Yang, Jaune, and Pyrrha shouted.
"Again, he's an evil demon. He finds this entire situation to be hilarious," Jason added.
"Well it isn't to me! I have work in the morning!" Weiss countered, then pointed at herself. "I can't walk into the office like this!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yang shot back, raising an eyebrow and feeling slightly insulted.
"Don't worry. The magic should only last a day," Jason revealed, raising the palm of his hand.
"That doesn't help!"
"Then take a sick day, Ice Queen. I'm sure Lucius, of all people, will understand," Yang pointed out. "That's what I'm gonna do."
"Grr," Weiss growled, gritting her teeth and clenching her fist. Then, after a moment, she sighed and raised up her hands. "Fine, fine. Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."
Yang cheekily smiled, then Constantine stepped forward. He said, "Alright, lets get you kids out of here. Sorry for the whole…mess. Trust me, this was not on the agenda today."
"I can't help but feel like the House and Black Orchid conspired with Etrigan on this," Zatanna suggested, looking around the room where she saw Black Orchid standing up at the upper level. She was looking down with a faint smile on her face, one that oozed satisfaction.
"Next time you decide to bring something here," Black Orchid declared, "please ensure that it is not an affront to existence."
With that, she disappeared into thin air once again, and everyone stared where she previously stood. After a moment, they groaned and walked outside, only for Jaune to suddenly adopt a panicked look on his face.
"Uh oh," he muttered, causing everyone to stop just as Constantine opened a portal back to their apartment.
"What is it?" Pyrrha asked, then she noticed that Jaune was holding his thighs closely together. Pyrrha then remembered that she had drank a lot of water before their departure, and she realized what Jaune felt the need to do. The others did as well, and everyone stared awkwardly at the two of them.
The entire atmosphere suddenly grew very uncomfortable, and no one knew quite what to do. But they did know one thing. Despite Etrigan the Demon being nowhere in sight, they all felt like they heard his bellowing laughter echoing from below.
[~][~]
Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Hunters of Justice. Special thanks to Jesse K and NaanContributor for all their help in bringing this chapter to life.
Quite a bit happened here. Pyrrha talked to Death of the Endless, people got body swapped (that was a lot of fun to write, by the way), a fight broke out against Etrigan the Demon, and most importantly, our characters learned more about how Ruby's silver eyes worked. Plus, RWBY and JNPR got to deal with the craziness that is DC magic. These past two chapters were a lot of fun to write, as I'm sure you guys can imagine.
Now, onto the Q&A:
geraldwhusted: Happy to have you with us! I'm glad you love the story so much. We put a lot of heart and effort into it.
RandomName3064: Thank you. I figured this was a perfect opportunity to really delve into what DC's magic system is. Is it a little exposition heavy? Yes, but it was done in a way that was natural for the characters and in a fun way. It wasn't needless and it didn't bog down the story, which is what I try to do when I have to do exposition. As for the Two Brothers, you guys will find out eventually.
NRF: You'll find out how the Green Lantern ambush goes, rest assured.
6tailedninja: Let's be honest. Out of everyone in RWBY and JNPR, Nora would totally be the one to pull a Leeroy Jenkins. And we love her all the more for it.
Sol-Edge N7: Thank you, I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so much.
Jackalope89: That's more of a Chibi or when I do the next HISHE, which will come after this arc is over.
gordhanx: Yep. Technically, Constantine and Zatanna got introduced earlier, but that was more of a cameo. Here he got more of a focus, but the main event was everyone's reaction to magic and what not. Not to mention the fight against Etrigan. Still, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. You are right, now was a perfect time to really bring in the whole DC magic.
captaindickscratcher: Remember, Aura isn't magic. It may seem to be magic, but it isn't. Even then, neither RWBYJNPR nor the Justice League has any idea about the magical first humanity, so they have no reason to think about giving magic in regards to RWBYJNPR. As for Aura and Semblances coming back from Ozpin, I don't think that was the case. I think both of those are simply leftovers or echoes of the magic that the God of Darkness took back. There's also no indication that Yang inherited Raven's bird magic. Also, Ruby is not related to Qrow by blood. She is the daughter of Taiyang and Summer, not Qrow. He's her honorary uncle, and I say honorary because he's not actually related to her. Neither of them particularly care about blood ties, though. She's his niece, he's her uncle, and that's that.
Alank2: I hope you're feeling better.
mellra: Yeah, we figured the House of Mystery was a great place to pull some fun horror references. If I had to give these two chapters a genre, I'd say they were horror-comedy, with an emphasis on the comedy.
franco1234: Jaune will get his Semblance unlocked eventually, but as in canon it needs to come from an opportune moment. It was a big deal for him, and I intend to make it so in this story as well.
bowser300000: That will be revealed in due time.
Crossovernaru: Thank you. I really appreciate it. You are correct that one of the things I wanted to emphasize was the political question about Remnant's cities. One of the things I pride myself on in my stories is that I don't ignore the political questions. While the story itself isn't overly political, I do intend to talk about the issues presented in my story. In my opinion, it helps to flesh out the world and make it seem more lived in. These chapters were also a perfect introduction, in our opinion, to DC's magic, which is vastly different that RWBY's system. Better to get their feet wet in a controlled environment than to throw them into the deep end later on without any prior knowledge. As for Summer's spirit, at the moment it is impossible. More importantly, though, even if it was possible, I wouldn't do it as we know nothing about Summer's character, or at least enough to accurately portray her in story that wouldn't later be contradicted by canon. It's kind of why I don't name Jaune's family, as we know nothing about them and I don't want to be contradicted by canon. Besides, it isn't needed in the story at the moment.
Knight of Fate: This was kind of a Weiss and Ruby chapter, really. I figured this was a perfect place for her.
Guest(1) and KRUSA1: If you can, try not to double-post reviews. Once is enough.
chaldea: Potentially, but that is a long ways off.
Iron117Prime: Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
D. : Yep, this was a good filler chapter. Of course, some major character development still happened here. Let it be known that I don't believe in 'filler' chapters. Something should happen either plot or character wise in these chapters, in my opinion. There are loads of different cities and civilizations on Brainiac's ship, yes, and RWBYJNPR are concerned about them, but most of their concern is about their homes which is completely understandable.
MizoreSirayukiFan: I'm glad you enjoyed that. Here pulling a Leeroy was a lot of fun.
mastergamer14: That will be revealed in due time.
Steelrain66: Maybe, but she hasn't gotten her Summoning down just yet, so that would be a question way down the line to answer.
Pyeknu: I honestly don't know. His powers do come from magic bestowed by ancient gods and heroes, so maybe he qualifies as a Champion, but he doesn't really have those gods and demons soul bound to him. Either that or he's technically a magician.
Dragon lord Syed 101: Yep, we figured that Jaune being genre savvy with horror tropes fit his character. He probably watched a bunch growing up. Seven sisters, after all.
Luffy L Deathwalker: Detective Chimp didn't really fit, in my opinion. Even then, the roster for the Justice League Dark was somewhat based upon their incarnation from the DCAMU. Rest assured, I do have plans for Detective Chimp, but unfortunately he didn't really fit the current chapter.
That's it for this time. We hope you guys enjoy and let us know what you think! See you all next time!