I know this is weird to say, but I always imagined roxas being voiced by vic minogna if he was an actual character.
Same.
Please write some mother-son incest between Roxas and Grayfia.
All in good time.
Anything you recognise isn't mine.
"N-no, I don't mind." Roxas replied, hurriedly shifting his legs so Elsha could sit down on his bed next to him. "Please, sit down if you want."
The former Boosted Gear wielder thanked Roxas, and sat down on his bed, while adjusting her dress and looking at Roxas, her regular small smile on her face, as Roxas looked back at her, still trying to comprehend the idea of his first girlfriend having just walked into his bedroom.
Roxas was so deep in his own thoughts that he started in surprise when Elsha spoke up again.
"So, Roxas. How've you been?"
Roxas blinked.
"Wh-what?" he replied, looking over at Elsha, and immediately feeling a light wave of discomfort coming over him. He didn't feel like he could look his former girlfriend in the eyes.
"How've you been?" Elsha repeated the question, calmly. "It's been over two centuries since we last met, so I imagine you've been up to a lot."
"Uhh, yeah." Roxas replied. "I kinda have. I'd probably be here all day if I explained absolutely everything about what I'd done over the past couple of centuries, so can I just stick to the highlights?"
"That would work very well." Elsha replied. "So what highlights are there to be stuck to?"
After taking a breath, Roxas began telling Elsha about his life, post-first-girlfriend. He told her how he'd left the Gremory Clan soon after their... accident, decided to take a trip around the world, both for training and just for the purposes of seeing the world (as during their relationship, he and Elsha had been mainly confined to the highlands of Scotland, as that was where she lived), and how he'd met Palutena.
Roxas recounted how his and Palutena's relationship had progressed, how they confessed their true natures to each other (as in Roxas being a Devil and Palutena being a Goddess, and the daughter of the Biblical God, no less), and how on time, after a particularly intense love-making session with Palutena (Elsha blushed when Roxas mentioned that Palutena had been the one that had taken his V-card from him), she'd attempted, rather selfishly, to turn her then-boyfriend into an Angel, but had goofed up and turned him into a Nephalem, a hybrid of Angel and Devil.
Roxas also recounted his more recent exploits, including getting married to Palutena (as well as Akasha and Penemue later down the line), killing the God of the Quran, playing a part in bringing the Angels and Fallen Angels closer together, meeting a certain Sorcerer Supreme and founding the SSPCH, being found by his parents, gaining a peerage and beginning to play in the Rating Games. Along with the fact that he had amassed a growing group of women who all had passionate feelings for him, either of the romantic or sexual kind.
All the while, Elsha calmly listened, only asking a couple of questions throughout the entire fifteen minutes that Roxas recounted the highlights of the last two centuries of his life, and remained silent as Roxas, who's throat was dry by this point, snapped his fingers to magically summon a glass of water from downstairs.
"You want some of this?" he asked, holding the water out to Elsha, who shook her head.
"No thanks." she replied, as Roxas shrugged and downed the entire glass in one go. "You seem to have gotten summoning sustenance down." she added, as Roxas set the glass aside, next to his phone.
Roxas had to let out a small snort at Elsha's remark, as he recalled a small moment in their relationship way back when. He'd been talking to Elsha about magic, and how he'd been working on being able to summon food and drink to himself whenever he fancied a snack, but when he tried to demonstrate, he found himself unable to do it.
Needless to say, that was pretty embarrassing for him then.
"Yeah, I have." Roxas replied. "Though since you asked me how I've been, is it fair if I ask you something in return?"
"It is." Elsha replied, the smile on her face morphing into a small smirk as she had a feeling she knew what her boyfriend's question was going to be.
"H-how are you alive?" Roxas spoke, in a slight stammer, after a couple of seconds of pause. "I mean, I-I killed you! And I didn't get Evil Pieces at the time so I couldn't save you, I-"
Elsha let out a small giggle, stopping Roxas' rambling before it even began.
"It's fine for you to be curious, Roxas." Elsha replied. "For why I'm alive, I have Palutena to thank for it, as well as Isane." she giggled. "You know, Isane really likes you."
Roxas blinked, before sighing.
"I'm honestly not surprised." he replied. "But what does Isane have to do with why you're alive?"
"Because she's the host of the Sacred Gear my soul ended up entering after my death." Elsha replied. "Which, by the way, wasn't at your hands, it was at the hands of a Stray Devil a few days later, so there's that." she took a breath. "Anyway, back to my soul going into the Boosted Gear. Palutena extracted my soul out of Isane's Boosted Gear, and placed it into a body that she created to look like the one I had when I was human." she smiled, and leaned forward slightly to show off her figure. "How do I look? You think she did a good job"
"Yeah." Roxas replied, while his brain processed Elsha's explanation of how she had been brought back. "You look good. Really good, really like yourself. As well as… bigger."
"Bigger?" Elsha blinked, before she looked down at her breasts, where Roxas' eyes had been naturally drawn to, before giggling. "Yeah, I guess I do." she smiled, before looking back at her boyfriend.
"Also..." Roxas licked his lips as another question formulated in his mind, as a follow-up to something Elsha said during her explanation. "What do you mean, when you were human?"
Elsha didn't verbally reply. All she did was... unfurl two Angelic wings from her back. Roxas' eyes opened wide as he took in the sight of his revived girlfriend with a pair of Angel wings. He wasn't going to lie, Elsha looked a lot better with those wings...
"Pretty, aren't they?" Elsha asked, looking at her wings, and reaching to her right so she could stroke the feathers of her wings. "Nice and soft, too."
"I-I bet." Roxas replied, as Elsha dispelled her Angel wings. "I think I understand."
"Good." Elsha replied, her voice remaining as even and calm as it did throughout the entirety of their conversation. "Now, since you asked me a question, you mind if I ask you another one?"
"N-no!" Roxas replied, slightly louder than he'd like as his blood ran cold. He instantly feared the worst, as Elsha opened her mouth and asked her question.
"Right after our... little accident, way back when," Elsha recounted. "You ended up hitting me with a load of your Power of Destruction, and I ended up getting my lung punctured by one of the armour fragments. After that, you left without a word. Why did you leave?"
Roxas looked down at his legs, which were crossed on his bed, knowing full-well what Elsha was talking about. After all, he'd been unable to fully put the event behind him.
"Are you mad?" he asked, in a mumbled voice.
"I was." Elsha replied. "But I'm not anymore. Just curious. Why did you leave?"
Roxas closed his eyes, feeling himself unable to look his former girlfriend as he opened his mouth to speak.
"I didn't know what I could do at the time." the silver-haired Nephalem replied. "I thought I'd go and find someone to try and help, so I left to do that, but I couldn't find anyone who I could trust enough at the time to help you out. By the time I'd gotten back to where we were sparring, all I could find of you was some of your blood, and there wasn't a trace of you anywhere."
Elsha's smile had dropped into a neutral expression by this point, and she slowly nodded in understanding.
"I see." she replied. "I just wanted to hear your side of what happened that day, is all." She met Roxas' eyes as he looked up.
"Aren't you mad?" Roxas asked. "That I-"
"I think I already told you that I'm not mad, Roxas." Elsha replied, giggling slightly. "But in case you need that reiterating, I'm not mad at you. I was, but that was then. And this is now. I'm not angry at you in any way."
Roxas blinked.
"Oh." he replied. "Alright, then." he hung his head again for a second, before he summoned the courage to look his former girlfriend in the eyes. Her gorgeous, deep, sea-green eyes...
"Elsha, I'm so, so sorry for leaving. I know I shouldn't have done it, and I've regretted it ever since. I don't want to try and excuse what I did, it was wrong, and likely the worst thing I've ever done. I've regretted it ever since, and I never forgot for a second about our relationship. Will... will you please forgive me for what I've done?"
The uncomfortable feeling that came from looking into Elsha's eyes as Roxas let out the apology he would've always let out, in the event that he would've ever gotten to see her again, became too much for the silver-haired Nephalem to bear, and he looked down at his lap, which he'd unconsciously placed his hands into. There was a silence for a full moment, before Roxas saw Elsha's slender hands making their way into his lap, and clasping around his own hand.
"Of course I'll forgive you, Roxas." Elsha replied, quietly, while shifting herself so she was closer to him on the bed. "To tell you the honest truth, I'd forgiven you ages ago, and in the unlikely event that I'd ever come back from being nothing more than one of many souls sealed inside a Sacred Gear with one of the strongest beings in existence, I planned on seeking you out and letting you know that I want to give you a second chance." she squeezed Roxas' hands in her own, as Roxas looked back at her. "You being genuinely sorry just made me even more sure of what I want to do."
And before Roxas could reply, Elsha leaned forward and pressed her lips against Roxas', and after the two seconds it took Roxas to realise what was happening, he kissed back.
The kiss lasted twenty glorious seconds before Roxas and Elsha pulled back at the same time, a small trail of saliva connecting their lips for a moment before it broke.
"Y-you sure have a lot of faith in me." Roxas remarked, as he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his pyjama top.
"It's not like you've given me much reason to doubt you." Elsha replied. "Also, this bed is really comfortable. I guess beds have just become better since I was alive ages ago."
"Yeah, they kinda have." Roxas replied, lying back. "Do you... uh, want to sleep with me?"
"Why not." Elsha replied, shifting herself so she was lying next to Roxas, and relaxing her body as her head rested on the pillow. As she rested, she idly reached out and wrapped her arm around Roxas, lazily pulling herself closer to him as he lay back as well.
"It's lovely to see you again, Roxas." Elsha whispered, as she closed her eyes.
"Likewise." Roxas whispered in reply as he closed his eyes, and fell asleep within minutes.
Around the time Roxas and Elsha fell asleep next to each other, Palutena, who had been both watching (via the use of a spell on her eyes) and listening to what was going on, cancelled the spell on her eyes and stepped away from the bedroom door, letting out a soft sigh of relief as Rias Gremory walked by, dressed in a purple pyjama shirt and a set of red underwear with light pink trim.
"Hi, Rias." Palutena greeted the former Gremory Heir. "What's up?"
"Hello, Palutena." Rias replied, inclining her head to her King's wife. "Is Roxas in his room?"
"He is." Palutena replied. "But he's asleep right now, and I don't think it'd be a good idea for you to go in there, strip, and sneak into his bed like I know you and your mother have a penchant of doing." Rias blinked, and blushed, while lightly stuttering something incoherent, while Palutena giggled.
"I know what you do, Roxas has told me all about it. As well as the quick little handies and blowies that Venelana sometimes gives him. In any case, I think you should sleep in your own room tonight."
Rias, whose face had gone even redder than her hair at the idea of her mother sucking off her own grandson and her, Rias', nephew and King, mumbled out an "O-okay." and left without another word, while Palutena yawned.
"Now that I think about it, I should get to bed myself." she muttered to herself, before walking off to her own room.
Line Break
It was the next morning, and breakfast time. Zeoticus, Venelana, Millicas, Rias, her peerage and Roxas' peerage were all sat around the large dining table, being served full English breakfasts by the maids and butlers, and small conversations were going on all around. It was known to everyone that the only two people that weren't currently here, preventing this breakfast from being one that included every resident of the Gremory Manor, were Roxas and Palutena.
After a couple of minutes of breakfast continuing, Palutena entered, her attire being nothing but a simple white dress. She was rubbing her mouth and eyes as she walked into the dining room, and sat down next to Valian, thanking the maid that served her a plate full of food.
"Good morning, Palutena." Venelana greeted Roxas' green-haired wife. "Are you well?"
"I've felt worse." Palutena replied, thanking a maid when they brought her a glass of water, and she downed it in one. "Damn, that feels so much better." She set the glass aside and tucked into her breakfast.
"Do you know where Roxas is, Palutena?" Zeoticus asked, politely. "Normally he's one of the first of us downstairs."
"He's probably still in bed." Palutena replied. "With who I told you about earlier." Zeoticus raised his eyebrows for a second, before he remembered what his granddaughter-in-law was talking about, and nodded in understanding. Breakfast continued, with the only real interruption being the arrival of Sirzechs and Grayfia, with the former apologizing profusely for sleeping in.
After the Devil King Lucifer was seated and served breakfast, the door to the dining room was pushed open, and Roxas, dressed in just a plain t-shirt and shorts, walked in, taking a seat next to Palutena, who kissed him on the forehead as he sat down.
"Hey, all." Roxas casually greeted everyone as he was served breakfast, and began eating as everyone greeted him back. "Hi Dad."
"Morning, Roxas." Sirzechs replied, shooting a look at Zeoticus, and then at Roxas, as he, as well as Venelana and Grayfia, were in the know as to what Palutena had told Zeoticus regarding who was upstairs with Roxas, but elected not to tell him.
Roxas ate slightly quicker than he usually did, as everyone around him was close to finishing breakfast, so when they did, he finished as well. After Zeoticus dismissed everyone from the table, and everyone began leaving, Roxas stood up, and after having a small conversation with Neo, he left the kitchen as well.
After procuring an extra plate of breakfast from one of the maids in the Gremory Clan's kitchen, he headed upstairs to his bedroom, where Elsha had shed the pink dress that she had been wearing last night, and dressed herself in one of Palutena's white dresses.
"Morning." Roxas greeted his first girlfriend, stepping into the bedroom and handing her the plate. "I thought you might be hungry." Elsha smiled as she took in the smell of the food.
"Thanks so much." Elsha replied, accepting the plate from Roxas and tucking in. "This food is so good. I feel like a princess."
"Well you technically were." Roxas replied, grinning as he sat down beside Elsha. "And still are. You're just a princess with wings now."
Elsha giggled after swallowing her mouthful, and eagerly went for another as there was a knock on the door. After Roxas called out for whoever knocked to enter, the door opened and a black-haired maid, who Roxas was pretty sure was called Roberta, entered.
"Hi, Roberta." Roxas greeted the attractive bespectacled maid. "What's up?"
"Lord Zeoticus has requested the presence of you and Miss Elsha in the lounge downstairs, Master Roxas." Roberta replied, inclining her head to both Roxas and Elsha. Elsha looked at Roxas for a moment, who nodded.
"We'll be a couple of minutes." he replied. "Tell Zeoticus that. We'll be right down once we're done here though."
"Of course." Roberta replied, bowing herself out of the room and closing the door behind her, as Elsha finished the breakfast that Roxas had brought her. After that was done, Roxas and Elsha left Roxas' bedroom and walked downstairs, making their way to the lounge where Zeoticus, Venelana, Sirzechs and Grayfia were sat, waiting for them.
"Hi." Roxas greeted everyone, walking into the room with Elsha by his side. "What's up, Zeoticus?"
"We all just fancied a little chat with you, Roxas." Zeoticus replied. "Because yesterday, Palutena told us a couple of interesting things regarding your love life before you met her." his eyebrows raised a bit. "A love life that you did not tell us about."
Roxas remained silent, and looked uncomfortably around the room, then at Elsha, and then at Grayfia as she stood up, a dangerous aura beginning to radiate from her body as she looked at Roxas.
"It's not good to keep secrets from your family, Roxas." Grayfia reprimanded her son. "Especially your own parents." she took a step forward. "Don't you know we would've supported you fully if you'd have come clean to us about your relationship with Elsha?"
"Grayfia, please." Sirzechs raised a hand, non-verbally requesting for his wife and Queen to stop. "You don't have to reprimand Roxas so harshly, though I must admit that I'm curious about his first relationship."
"As am I." Zeoticus interjected, with Venelana agreeing. "Though I don't agree with what he did, it is impressive that Roxas was able to keep Elsha's relationship from everyone. Including our admittedly-overbearing selves."
"I guess I was that desperate to have something that was private to me." Roxas replied. "Which I'm not going to apologize for."
"And we won't ask you to." Sirzechs replied, before Grayfia could speak. "We understand." Zeoticus and Venelana also nodded in acceptance, as did Grayfia after a couple of seconds.
"In any case." Zeoticus looked at Elsha. "It's very nice to meet the first woman that Roxas fell for. Elsha, your name is, right?"
"Yes." Elsha replied, nodding and inclining her head to Zeoticus. "It's nice to meet my boyfriend's family, too." She smiled at them, before pecking Roxas on the cheek, something Venelana let out a soft 'aww' at. Zeoticus, Grayfia and Sirzechs all smiled as well.
After that, the conversation devolved into other topics, during which Roxas tapped Sirzechs on the shoulder, after remembering something that he wanted to do.
"Dad, you mind if I step out with you for a minute? I wanted to tell you about something that I've been a part of, and something you might be interested in."
"I see." Sirzechs replied. "Sure thing." he stood up, excused himself and Roxas, and walked out of the lounge with Roxas in tow (Elsha elected to stay and talk with Roxas' mother and grandparents). The Devil King and his oldest son walked out of the manor and into the sprawling gardens that the Gremory Clan's Manor was famous for.
"So, Roxas." Sirzechs addressed his silver-haired son as the cool Underworld wind hit their faces. "What was it you wanted to tell me about?"
Roxas took a breath and paused for a couple of seconds, wondering exactly how to go about telling Sirzechs what he was about to tell him, but then deciding to just come out and say it.
"Marrying Palutena and training aren't the only things I've been doing in the centuries I've been away from the Underworld, Dad. I'm a member of a society that you might find interesting." Sirzechs blinked as he took in what Roxas said, and let out a chuckle as he sat down on a bench.
"Well, if you think I'll find it interesting, then it must be big." Sirzechs remarked, relaxing on the bench as Roxas sat down next to him. "So, what's this society about?"
"It's called the Society for the Supernatural Protection of Common Humans." Roxas replied. "Or SSPCH, for short."
"Yeah, I suggest you stick with that." Sirzechs smiled in reply, and Roxas nodded, agreeing.
"Hmm. Anyway, it was created for the purpose of keeping knowledge of the supernatural world from getting out to all of humanity, in hopes of preventing mass panic and a potential world-ending war between us and them. It has members from most of the major supernatural pantheons and factions, as well as several human-world countries."
"I see." Sirzechs replied, nodding, and looking down before muttering "Damn."
"What?" Roxas replied. "What's up?"
"Well, the thing is..." Sirzechs looked up. "Serafall and I were actually drafting ideas of a similar thing myself, and I would've presented it to Odin in a couple of weeks when the united Christian Pantheon signed a formal alliance treaty with the Norse Pantheon. Looks like we won't have to do that after all."
"No, I guess not." Roxas replied.
"I'm curious, though." Sirzechs looked over at Roxas, curiously. "How many members of this SSPCH are there? And who are the main ones?"
"This is gonna remain between us, right?" Roxas asked, raising an eyebrow at his father, who nodded.
"Of course. And the other leaders of the respective Factions, if you wish."
"If they don't blab about it, then I don't really care." Roxas replied. "Should give Serafall in particular more of an excuse to blab about how amazing Sona apparently is." He sighed, before continuing.
"There are 18 members of the SSPCH as of the last meeting, which was a few days before I and my little group came down here." he gestured to the Gremory Manor as a whole. "And the main members are Dr. Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, representative of the Magicians and founder of the SSPCH, he founded the whole thing-"
"Mmhm." Sirzechs replied. "Where do you stand in it?"
"I'm the Vice-Chairman, and I helped found the SSPCH." Roxas replied. "I'm the rep for the Christian Pantheon, and I helped him found it. I'm kinda the second-in-command."
"Well done." Sirzechs warmly clapped Roxas on the back as he praised his oldest son. "Between you and me, I think that's a step up from being Heir of the Gremory Clan."
Roxas had to laugh at his father's remark.
"Yeah, I guess it is." he replied. "Anyway, you could say that the 'main' members of the SSPCH are the other five members, besides me and Doc, that are the original seven members: Sun Wukong, the representative for the Buddhist Pantheon-"
"Okay..." Sirzechs nodded. "I've met him. He's a tricky old jokester, him."
"I've been told." Roxas replied. "Another original member is Göndul, one of the older Valkyries who represents the Norse Pantheon. She's got a damn hot granddaughter, by the way."
"You'd know that about her for sure." Sirzechs snorted. "And the other three?"
"There's the rep of the Celtic Pantheon, Scathach." Roxas replied. "And yes, before you ask, the warrior woman that was resurrected as a deity by Morrigan. THAT Scathach."
"As opposed to any other potential Scathachs'?" Sirzechs asked, jokingly, before chuckling. "Alright, continue."
"Last two OG members were the first human-world representatives." Roxas replied. "There's Sir Integra Hellsing, Head of the Hellsing Organisation and representative of the United Kingdom, and Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD and representative of the United States. Though during the last meeting, Fury stepped down from his position and appointed Steve Rodgers, aka Captain Fucking America, as his successor."
"Yeah, I can't see anyone else besides him and Fury being the USA's reps." Sirzechs replied. "Anyways, thank you for telling me this, Roxas. I'll make sure to keep this knowledge to those who I can trust to not give it out willy-nilly."
"You're welcome. And thanks, Dad." Roxas replied, getting up and waiting for Sirzechs to get up as well. Father and son then walked back into the Gremory Manor in silence, as Roxas received a message on his phone from Neo that she had arrived at the place he had ordered her to travel to.
Line Break
The Helicarrier. An ultra-advanced aerial vehicle the size of a small island that functioned as the temporary headquarters of SHIELD, the extra-governmental military counter-terrorism and intelligence agency run by Nick Fury, the former US representative on the SSPCH.
Concealed by retro-reflective panels lining the hull of the Helicarrier, it hovered in the air somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean, nigh-invisible to anyone who didn't know for certain that it hovered there.
Out of one of the women's bathrooms that were dotted around the Helicarrier walked a regular SHIELD agent, an agent who had frizzy blonde hair, blue eyes, and was dressed in a black t-shirt, and a black leather jacket and pants, which was her casual wear.
This agent turned right and briskly walked through the ship, curtly nodding to other people walking around that greeted her. Occasionally looking around, she stopped at a door that was marked as secret, and entered, making sure not to let anyone see her, with the room she had just entered being a holding room for the files of certain individuals that SHIELD judged as potential threats to the world and to humanity. These files detailed their history, special powers and abilities that these individuals possessed, and potential methods of putting these individuals down.
Opening one of the cabinets that were marked 'Level 9', the agent began searching through the files in the cabinet, searching for the file of a certain Bruce Banner. However, she could not find the file on him.
She could find files on Fianna Asmodeus, Roxas Gremory, Scathach, Alucard, Sun Wukong, Diana Prince, Valian Lucifer, Azazel, Dr. Strange and Ajuka Beelzebub, but no files on Bruce Banner. The agent frowned, and momentarily looked to the single, small cabinet that was marked 'Level 10', but quickly disregarded it. She knew Banner had the potential to be extraordinarily powerful and dangerous, but not on the level of some of the individuals listed in there, which included beings like Indra, Palutena and Sirzechs Lucifer.
Instead, she turned her attention to the 'Level 8' cabinets, and began searching through them. The agent would be surprised if Banner didn't turn up in the Level 8 cabinet.
She searched through files that were dedicated to beings such as Tiamat, Eisheth, Agrat, Naamah, Carmilla and Cao Cao, until she reached the file that was boldly titled 'Bruce Banner – Hulk'.
'Bingo.' the agent thought, as she flipped the file open and took a look through it.
Name: Robert Bruce Banner (The Incredible Hulk)
History: Infected with unknown radiation (proposed to be gamma) and given ability to transform into near-mindless super-strong monster. Fought Abomination (now in custody), Founding Member of the Avengers, Assisted in Creation of Ultron (now deceased), Missing in aftermath of Battle of Sokovia
Powers: (as Bruce) Genius Intellect, Master Scientist, Master Engineer, Physician, Expert Tactician, Martial Arts (Jiu-Jutsu), Transformation, (as Hulk) Mid-Tier God-Level Strength, God-Level Durability, Regenerative Healing, Super Speed, Super Stamina
Status: Unknown. Rumoured sightings in Nepal but these have not been confirmed.
Chance of Need for Neutralisation: 40%*
Potential Neutralisation Methods: Black Widow Lullaby, Heavy Blows to Head, Adamantium, Decapitation*
*Conditional on Banner's return
'So, Banner's been missing, huh?' the agent thought to herself. 'Interesting.'
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of a gun being cocked behind her. Almost dropping the file in shock, the agent looked around, and saw the gorgeous red-headed form of Natasha Romanoff, well known for her curled red hair and black skin-tight catsuit which was zipped at the front.
The agent blinked as Natasha held the gun up, aiming squarely at the blonde agent's head.
"Drop the file." Natasha ordered, not bothering to mince her words. "That's classified SHIELD property. Drop it, or put it back where you found it, or you'll regret it." the blonde agent looked at Natasha, then at the file she held in her hand, and, getting an idea, slowly turned around and placed the file back in the cabinet, where she found it.
Then in one quick movement, the agent turned around and drew a pistol, a Glock 19 to be exact, and aimed at Natasha's head, preparing to fire.
However, she was too slow, as Natasha got the shot off first, hitting the agent squarely between the eyes with a bullet. But, oddly, the agent didn't collapse to the floor, dead, like one usually does when being shot in the head (Natasha would know that all too well), but instead, the agent shattered like glass, and fell to the floor in pieces.
The second that Natasha took to blink at the odd sight in front of her distracted her long enough for a certain pink-and-brown-haired woman to jump into the air, flip over and land on the ceiling, using a magic-circle below (or above, since she was now stood upside down) her feet, and grinning at Natasha, who looked up at her and widened her eyes.
Her outfit consisted of a brown jacket that ended just below her shoulders and above her chest, which had pink trimmings on top and was pink on the inside, two brown belt shoulder straps, a grey scarf and a vest, gloves, a belt, pants and heeled shoes of a matching white colour, with the outfit being completed by a black bowler hat with a red band that somehow stuck to her head (with magic, presumably).
"N-Neo?!" the red-headed Avenger cried in surprise. Neo shot a downright villainous grin at her, before springing off the ceiling and drawing her repaired umbrella, preparing to do battle with the Black Widow.
Music: One Thing - RWBY
Neo attempted to slam her umbrella down on Natasha, but she blocked the attack using her guns (as she had drawn a second one while Neo jumped down) and pushed her away, watching as Neo gracefully flipped over and landed on the ground.
Natasha instantly began shooting at Neo, but the pink-and-brown-haired girl twirled her umbrella around, deflecting all the bullets that came her way away from her, and dashed towards Natasha, jumping to the side when she came too close to her to be able to deflect her bullets, and attempted to stab her with her umbrella.
"I never thought I'd see you again after I wrecked the facility you lived in." The red-headed Avenger mused as she rolled out of the way of Neo's stab, and tried to shoot her but missed as Neo jumped into the air. "I thought you'd died along with your trainer friend. Torchwick, his name was?"
Neo's grin was replaced by a look of pure rage, and Natasha swore that she saw a silver chess piece (a Knight) show up behind her for a split second. The umbrella-wielding girl rushed at Natasha, swinging her umbrella so hard and so fast that it could barely be seen, all the while gracefully dodging Natasha's bullets and kicks.
As Natasha bent down to try and shoot Neo in her legs (with her thought process being that if she could get Neo's legs, she could slow her down and neutralise her more easily), but Neo jumped up, seemed to roll over Natasha's back and land behind her, so she could kick her in the small of her back, sending her stumbling forward and gasping in pain.
The Black Widow turned around, growling, and tried to fire at Neo, but she dodged again as the bullets hit the door (that had since automatically closed after the battle began), and ricocheted off it, both of them hitting Neo in the stomach and causing her to shatter like glass.
Growling, Natasha turned around and attempted to grapple with Neo, but failed, leaving herself open to Neo grabbing her, and (surprisingly, considering her diminutive size) lifting her up. Natasha was unable to do anything except take it as she was thrown bodily into the filing cabinets by Neo, causing them to fall to the ground on top of her.
Song end
"Uuurgh..." Natasha groaned in pain as she lifted the cabinets off of her and stumbled as she got to her feet. Her eyes narrowed as she saw Banner's file, which Neo walked over to, smirking at Natasha, and picked it up.
However, right then, the door that Neo and Natasha were fighting in opened, and to the surprise of both of them, Steve Rodgers stood in the doorway, trademark shield at the ready.
Neo turned around to face Steve, and before the blond Captain could ask what the hell was going on, Natasha, who was now sturdily stood on her feet, took the opportunity to aim the gun held in her right hand at Neo's head, and fired.
Quick as anything, Neo turned around and swung her umbrella, catching Natasha's bullet and sending it right back at her just as quickly as she had fired it, right into her midriff. Natasha let out a shriek and fell to the ground, clutching her bullet-would as Steve threw his shield at Neo.
The shield, as it always did when Steve threw it (somehow), hit Neo dead-on, and she shattered like glass. When the shards fell to the ground... Neo was gone. And so was the file.
However, Steve didn't notice that as he rushed over to Natasha and asked her:
"What the hell just happened?"
Line Break
It was two weeks after Elsha had been revived by Palutena and Isane, and had reconciled with Roxas. Two weeks during which everyone had just kicked back and taken it a little easier around the Gremory Manor, now that the Underworld Gathering had ended and that Roxas had triumphed over Raven Branwen in a Rating Game.
But now that those two weeks had ended, it was time for Roxas', peerage, Rias' peerage, Palutena and Elsha (who had agreed to move in with her boyfriend without a second thought) to board the train back to the human world. There was no fanfare like there was when Roxas and co. had arrived: it was a lot more private than before.
Zeoticus, Venelana, Sirzechs, Grayfia and Millicas all stood in the station, watching everyone get on board. Roxas, who had just been called over by Sirzechs, pressed his lips against Neo's and ordered her onto the train, then walked over to his parents, grandparents and little brother.
"Well, Roxas." Zeoticus extended his hand to Roxas, which he shook. "It's definitely been an interesting few weeks. I'm happy that this was more successful than the last time you travelled to the Underworld."
"Yeah, I guess it was." Roxas replied, letting go of his grandfather's hand and accepting the hug that Venelana offered. "Thanks for having me, I guess."
"Thanks for coming." Venelana replied, pressing herself slightly closer to Roxas as she hugged him. "I hope you can come back soon~" She then pulled away from her grandson just as Roxas could feel himself getting hard, and let Roxas shake Sirzechs' hand, hug Millicas and exchange temporary farewells with Grayfia, before a familiar red and black portal opened, and Raven Branwen stepped out of it, wearing a dirty red t-shirt and black pants in lieu of her red and black dress, and holding a metal case in her hand.
"Raven?" Roxas blinked as he noticed his former teacher stepping out and walking towards him. "Hi."
"Hello." Raven replied, as she walked over to Roxas, holding the case out. "I'll keep this brief since you're evidently leaving. I finished the weapon you asked for to the specs you laid out in Banner's file. Here you go."
"Thanks." Roxas replied, taking the case in Raven's hand and smiling at the black-haired woman, who gave a small smile in return, and nodded to Roxas as she stepped through the portal that was already open and ready for her to walk through, disappearing as the portal closed behind her.
After waving to the rest of his family, he hopped onto the train as it began to move, and shut the door behind him. He walked into one of the main seating areas, which looked like a large living room, and sat down next to Valian (who had gotten her Evil Pieces from Ajuka Beelzebub yesterday), who greeted her King with a kiss on the cheek.
"Hi." Valian greeted her King. "What's in the case?"
"The weapon Raven made for me." Roxas replied, undoing the latches on the case and opening it. Inside, there was a large revolver-type firearm with not one, not even two (like Nero's ranged weapon, named the Blue Rose), but THREE barrels.
The trio of barrels were arranged in a triangular fashion (two on top, one on bottom), with a fixed sight sitting out front. As Roxas picked the gun up and examined it, he saw that the weapon had a cylinder that seemed to be able to hold nine bullets, as opposed to the five or six-shot cylinders that revolvers commonly had.
"Hmm. I like this." Roxas remarked to himself as he weighed the gun in his hand. It was certainly heavier than most of the guns he'd sparingly used throughout the years. Looking back into the case, he found a note from Raven.
Roxas,
This weapon is called the Vindicator. It's a triple-barrelled semi-automatic revolver that can fire .45 Auto rounds if loaded with them. However, if it's not loaded, it summons bullets made of thaumatium (with an anti-regeneration spell focused into it) from magic-circles engraved into each of the chambers, and tipped with adamantium.
Those bullets should at least slow down Hulk if you ever run into him again, and I don't envy you if you do.
Raven
"That looks amazing." Valian blinked at the 'Vindicator', as Roxas placed it back into its case and shut it, while crumpling up the note and setting it ablaze with a fire spell. "That looks fucking amazing."
"Sure does." Roxas replied. "I feel like I wanna go out and practice on some Stray Devils right now. Conditional on whether or not I actually find any."
Valian giggled as Roxas set the case down between his legs and leaned back, looking over at his Queen.
"So, how did the whole getting-your-Evil-Pieces thing go yesterday?" he asked. "Sorry I couldn't be there when you got them."
"It's fine." Valian replied, pulling out a small box from a pocket in her pants. "And it went fine." she opened up the box and showed off her Evil Pieces to her King. They were silver, just like his.
"Huh." Roxas remarked, as Valian closed the box. "I guess the Evil Pieces of Nephalem are all silver."
"Maybe." Valian placed the box back into her pocket. "Maybe not. I mean Rias' Evil Pieces might still be red. Or they could be silver."
"They're still red!" Roxas and Valian heard Rias calling out to them from across the room. "Not silver!"
Both of them looked up and saw the red-headed Bishop beauty chatting with Elsha at a table (probably about Roxas, Valian assumed) while sipping drinks.
As they did, Roxas looked over and saw Palutena coming out of one of the bathrooms stationed around the train. His eyes were focused on her before Valian put her hand in front of Roxas' face and snapped her fingers, bringing him out of his little daze.
"Hey, I'm talking to you." Roxas' Queen reminded her King jokingly, and Roxas blinked.
"Sorry." he replied. "What were you saying?" Valian rolled her eyes.
"I was saying 'are you going to ask Elsha if she wants to join your peerage?'." Valian replied, which took Roxas aback a little bit.
"I-I don't know." Roxas answered. "I mean I would love to, but I'm not sure if it would come off as disrespectful or not to ask my first girlfriend to become one of my servants, barely a fortnight after she's been brought back from the dead."
"Hmm." Valian replied. "Well the final choice is both yours and hers, so I'm not gonna force you either way." she pulled out her phone and checked a text that she'd gotten from Albedo as Roxas asked her a question in return.
"Speaking of Evil Pieces, you got anyone that you want to make into your peerage members?"
"Hm?" Valian looked back and placed her phone back into her pocket. "Only person I can think of off the top of my head is Ingvild. Now that I think about it, I should go visit her when we get back. Wanna come?"
"Sure." Roxas replied. "How about Katerea?"
"Maybe." Valian replied. "I'm considering her."
"Fair enough." Roxas replied, standing up and sharing a kiss with Valian before he walked over to Palutena, who was sat on her own looking out of the window, watching the weird as fuck colours of the dimensional rift that Underworld trains travelled through when travelling, and sat down beside her.
"Hey, love." Roxas greeted Palutena, putting an arm around his first wife and gently kissing her.
"Hi." Palutena replied, shifting herself closer to Roxas and resting her head on his shoulder. "You doing alright?"
"Yeah, I'm okay." Roxas replied. He made to open his mouth to talk again, but Palutena got the first word out, sounding amused.
"You come to thank me for the fiftieth time this fortnight for helping bring Elsha back? Because for the fiftieth time, it's fine."
"I actually wasn't." Roxas replied, snorting slightly. "And I don't think I've thanked you fifty times. Closer to twenty or thirty, I think."
"Still, it's probably more than once per day on average." Palutena retorted. "Which is a bit much. Though I am happy that you're happy that I brought her back."
"Alright. I'll try and stop." Roxas replied. "And yeah, I'm happy that she's back." he smiled as he accepted a drink from Xenovia as she offered him one. "But now the initial shock of having Elsha back's worn off a bit..." he chuckled as he took a sip. "Why did you bring her back in the first place?"
"It was something I wanted to do." Palutena replied. "I must confess that I wanted to bring her back ever since you told me about her, since I could tell how much she meant to you. But if you want to find the person who gave me the idea of how to revive your former girlfriend, you should go to Valian. Pulling Elsha's soul out of the Boosted Gear and putting it into an Angel body created for her was her idea. One of the smartest things I've ever heard."
"I guess you rubbed off on her." Roxas smirked, kissing Palutena.
"Yeah, I'd say she did." Palutena replied, accepting the kiss and adjusting herself on the seat next to Roxas. "But as well as that..." she turned her head and gave Roxas a tentative look. "I hope that now Elsha's been brought back, you'll learn to at least try and start learning how to use your Power of Destruction again. I know how much you blamed yourself, and more specifically, that, for Elsha's death," she added, as Roxas opened his mouth to, presumably, object, "but I heard you and Elsha talking two weeks ago. She doesn't blame you, or your Power of Destruction, so why should you?"
Roxas blinked, and looked down at his knees as he considered what Palutena had said.
"I-I'll consider it." he replied, before looking back at his wife, who smiled warmly at him.
"Thank you." she said, gently, pulling Roxas towards her and kissing him. "Though in lighter news, I was talking to Venelana this morning, and... well, remember how I said that I always wanted a child with you?"
"Yeah..." Roxas replied. "I've wanted a kid with you too for a while now." he blinked, as the cogs began turning in his head. "Wait..."
A smile began forming on Palutena's face as she spoke.
"I'd been suspecting it for a while, and I went to Venelana about it so she could do the kinds of spells that would detect whether or not I'm-"
"Pregnant?" Roxas finished her sentence for her, his heartrate quickening slightly. "And? What happened?"
"Well..." Roxas swore that he could see tears forming in Palutena's eyes, as the next three words that Palutena said shattered his mind in the best way possible.
"...I'm pregnant, Roxas."
Everyone in the room heard the glass that held Roxas' drink slip from his hand, fall to the floor and break.
And that's the thirty-third chapter of Nephalem of Gremory, everyone! Roxas and Elsha have reconciled with each other (yay!), Sirzechs now knows about the SSPCH (and no, he won't go blabbing about it to anyone who asks. He's a bit of a goofball sometimes but stupid is something that Sirzechs certainly ISN'T, in my opinion), Roxas has a new weapon in the form of a basic guarantee that Hulk will be showing up again in this fic at one point or another (but as to how? You'll have to wait and see~), also known as the Vindicator, and Roxas is FINALLY going to have his first child with best-Goddess Palutena! Horray for him!
And for those who might be confused, thaumatium is a magic-absorbent metal that forms naturally in the Underworld, and the Branwen Clan sit on top of around 40% of the Underworld's supply of it (with the Schnee Clan (those fucking cunts) having 45% of it, and the remaining 15% remaining undiscovered (for now)).
Because hey, if Marvel can come up with fantastical metals like Adamantium, Vibranium and whatever the fuck element Tony created to power his new Arc Reactor in Iron Man 2 (I bet he calls it Tonium, just for the fun of it... or rather, he DID. RIP Tony Stark).
Anyway, I hope you really enjoyed this chapter. Whether you did or you didn't, please, review and let me know, because I really do love hearing feedback. If you fancy letting me know about some possible ideas you might have for later in the story, or just have questions for me (because I'll be happy to answer them), let me know in a review or PM or on Discord (my name for it is on my profile)!
Three Sizes for New Girls:
New Elsha: 94-56-90
Next Time: Breaking the News to the Family, New Teacher at Kuoh Academy
Preview of Next Chapter:
"Valian, as long as Katerea isn't an evil bitch that's trying to kidnap or kill me or anyone I love, then I couldn't care less." Roxas remarked, plopping down onto the sofa and cracking open a can of soda. "At least she looks fucking gorgeous in a maid outfit."
"Agreed." Valian replied.
Seeya!