I don't own any of the characters here with the exception of original characters, Characters from Rwby and Devil May cry Belongs to Rooster Teeth and Capcom.
Chapter 8: Tony's Job
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The days passed and the demon's attack continued, Tony killed them as always but no signs of Oran yet. The attacks also came back to normal, in the limits of the city, far away from population meaning that they are definitely hiding something or waiting for something. Tony's head was also thinking about himself, The nightmares he has been having have become clearer, he can see them better but still can not make sense of them; there is also the issue of the power boosts he has been getting lately when he gets angry. Tony knows it isn't normal but it feels…so natural to him, the speed, the strength, his reactions are better when he taps into it but then again, it's another question that he won't get an answer to.
Now Tony finds himself in the training area with sword in hand, He did give his word to Pyrrha to have a duel. Pyrrha was in front of him, with her weapons ready too, for the first time in a long time she felt excited about a fight, Tony could say the same. Team RWBY and JNPR were watching, why wouldn't they? Pyrrha, an ace in combat, four time champion going against Tony; a guy who rarely fights against other students with his sword, has won every duel and hunts demons, although Ruby was the only one that knew about it.
Both of them nod to each other, dashing against each other, clashing their blades causing sparks, Pyrrha pushes him away with a shield bash. Tony grinned as he threw an horizontal slash that the girl blocked with her shield to then do one of her own, Tony rolled to the side avoiding the attack and launched a powerful thrust.
Pyrrha has seen the thrust before and how powerful it is, put her shield in front of her using her other arm to put stability on it and lowered her center of gravity. The attack was strong enough to send someone flying but Pyrrha's experience in combat helped her to withstand the attack, she actually managed to withstand for a few seconds before being pushed back, sliding through the ground in the defensive pose she was.
When she finished sliding she pushed forwards Tony, throwing her shield at his opponent. Tony was able to see it, ducking to avoid the attack but then he met Pyrrha who threw a combo of slashes making him block them or deflect them as best as he could. Pyrrha had him on the defensive, meaning that he didn't notice the shield ricocheting around and coming back to hit Tony in the back of his head.
Tony didn't see the shield but he did feel it as it hitted him making him lose focus for a moment, that was enough for Pyrrha to kick his feet making him drop and kick him in the chest throwing him back. Tony was having so much fun, it has been a while since he had a duel that made him feel this way, Pyrrah was feeling the same way too, a good fighter like this doesn't come around every day that can meet their expectations.
"I see you have a few tricks under your sleeve Pyrrha" Tony said, getting into position again, with a smile on his face.
"Tony, you are way better than i expected with a weapon" Pyrrha said with a smile on her face, kicking her shield into the air to then grab it.
The two rush against each other again, clashing blades again over and over again, with each clash their smiles grew bigger. They were equally matched, it was a matter on who would falter first, who would lose concentration first. Both attacked at the same time, Tony grabbed Pyrrah's hand while she did the same to Tony's hand.
The two of them pushed against the strike with all their might as they pushed, in this case, they weren't equally matched because Tony was slightly stronger than her but she was smart enough to do a flash kick pushing Tony away. Pyrrah wasn't done, she put her shield in front of her and transformed her weapon into a spear and started attacking with thrusts while defending herself at the same time and getting some distance between her and Tony.
Tony managed to dodge and block her attacks but she didn't leave any open space for him to do anything but it did give him an idea. While on the defensive he stepped to her left to then grab her weapon, pushing her closer to him to then hit her in the stomach with the pommel of his sword but she was quick enough to strike him with her shield making the two of them step back to create some distance.
The two of them were breathing heavily, they were close to their limit meaning that the next few moves would determine the winner of the fight and here was the idea that Tony had come to work. Tony did his stinger technique again, Pyrrha already took position to take it but the stinger never came.
Tony instead of delivering the single powerful thrust he started thrusting his weapon multiple times over and over again, to everybody it seemed like he did a million thrust attacks, he was way too fast. Pyrrah barely managed to defend against the attack, every thrust made her slide slightly away from him while her arm started getting tired as she put all her might into her blocking; while he put all his strength into the final thrust that collided with the shield with enough strength to throw her in the air and his sword to shatter by the sheer force leaving him unharmed.
As she fell to the ground she saw the pieces of his sword fall too and Tony with a disappointed look on his face while everybody else had their jaws open wide at the outcome of this duel.
"Well, that's that I guess" Tony sighed "I forfeit, cannot fight without a weapon against you warrior princess"
"Wait Tony!" She said while standing up "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, a hundred percent" He said as he sat down "You are a beast aren't you?"
"Could say the same about you" She giggled as she saw the others approach them.
"That…was…AWESOME!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Your two are definitely highly skilled," Weiss added, still in awe of the duel.
"This would be a duel to remember" Ren said as he handled the two bottles of water.
"You two were like…the best! and that move Tony did was so fast and strong!" Nora exclaimed with a lot of energy.
"A bummer that the sword broke" Yang said, a bit disappointed.
"I agree, I don't think I could have won if it didn't" Pyrrha sounded a bit disappointed by that fact.
It was a good fight but she felt cheated of the victory by the sword shattering, she felt like she could have done something to beat him but if she was honest, that last strike left her wide open, she could see either one of them winning.
"I guess Pyrrah is still undefeated" Blake commented.
"Yeah, but what about you Tony?" Jaune said as Tony held the handle of the sword.
"I don't know buddy, i kinda agree with her, but a loss is a loss" He shrugs it off, he really didn't care who won, he just wanted to have fun.
"We do need to find you a new weapon" Blake said pointing at the broken sword.
"Nah, i think i'll start using my father's sword" Tony said then did a confused look as he put his hand on his head "Why did I say my father's sword?"
"Wait, you mean that big sword that you have in that case?" Ruby asked, confused too.
"Yeah but…I didn't know it was my father's until I thought of using it…" Tony's eyes seemed to shine red for a second.
"Maybe your memories are coming back?" Ren said
"Hey, that's a good thing isn't it?" Weiss added.
"I guess so" Tony stood up "To be honest it seems that those nightmares are indeed part of the memories that I forgot"
"I'm pretty sure they are" Yang put her hand over Tony's shoulder, he was…shaking slightly.
Everybody stood in silence about this topic, they didn't know if it was good for him to remember, it seemed like he would break if he did but the silence was broken by Tony's scroll, He quickly went to answer. Tony was surprised by demon activity during daytime, mostly demons keep themselves until night falls.
Tony sighed after finishing talking to Glynda, he was tired after the fight against Pyrrha but he learned something new at the end of the day. He thought of going to the garage to get his bike but remembered that it was destroyed in the camp thanks to the fire so this time he needed to take the bullhead and walk.
"Something wrong?'' asked Ruby.
"Nope, just tired and I have to do some hunting" He said dryly.
"Hunting? this early?" asked Weiss joining the conversation.
"Your parties are normally pretty late dude" Yang joined too with a smirk on her face.
"I would like to agree but not lately" Tony rubbed his chin while thinking.
"Is it related to Oran?" Blake said with a bit of aggressiveness in her voice
"That guy…" Weiss said with a mix of anger and fear.
"It could be" Tony shrugged "Only one way to find out"
Tony left everyone and walked over to his room, he needed his weapons to fight against the demons. Now in his room he grabbed the guns and stared at the case that had his father's sword; he really doesn't remember him if he is honest but he remembers that he used to be a warrior. Tony grabbed the claymore, it was heavier than the sword he normally uses but more important from that, he felt some power from it and that power…it scared Tony making him put the sword on the case.
Tony left without a sword, his guns would suffice if he didn't get cocky, he sighed knowing that he might have a rough time. Meanwhile in the library little red hood found herself lost in her thoughts like the day she stopped a robbery that allowed her to enroll in Beacon. Ruby also thought of the night before the initiation when Tony said that he would be her friend and since that she started having more and more friends; She still had issues with Weiss but the two got along and learned from each other.
Blake was also getting along with Ruby too, although she was sarcastic a lot and if she was honest, all team Rwby got along. Ruby also thought of Jaune and his team, Jaune was the first person that actually talked to her without ill intent at Beacon and thanks to him she met the rest of his team and became friends.
She felt happy, training was also going well but it wasn't without its bumps. The fight she had with Weiss and Tony scolding them, to be honest it was because of Tony she could get along with Weiss. Her thoughts shifted to Tony when the two went to watch movies, she had a lot of fun with him even though it was when she learned about the existence of demons. To this day she is still scared of them, just the thought scares her but she also remembers when Tony comforted her with that hug…when he put her hand on her check…Ruby blushed again.
"Hey sister, thinking of a certain handsome white haired man?" Yang said with a smirk.
"No" Ruby lied.
"But you are red, are you feeling alright?" Blake said while reading.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Ruby sighed.
"Sighing like that doesn't seem fine" Weiss added.
"Oh come on! Can a girl just sigh without people getting worried?" Ruby started to get annoyed.
Ruby did blush because of Tony but she doesn't really know why, she likes the guy, he's a good friend to her and to everyone and can hold his ground in a fight. Tony is also not scared of fighting a bully or for someone in need, he's a great friend.
"I'm sure she is thinking about the date she had with Tony" Yang continued teasing her sister.
"What?!" Weiss exclaimed, surprised.
"It wasn't a date, we just watched some movies" Ruby said dryly
"Right, like a guy and a girl going alone to watch movies isn't a date" Blake said with sarcasm.
"Tony is my friend and i went with him just to watch movies" Ruby started getting flustered.
"Yeah right" Yang smirk grew larger "It's not like he hugged you and stroke your cheek"
"Yang!" Ruby's face got even redder than before.
"Okay, I'm interested now" Blake giggled at Ruby's reaction.
"Now, let's stop teasing Ruby. But I want all the details" Weiss said, trying to calm down the situation, mostly because she is jealous but that didn't stop her from teasing her too.
"Agh, whatever" Ruby says standing up and leaving her team.
Ruby had enough of her team, they were making two friends hanging out like the start of a blooming romantic story. 'Tony's is just a friend' she thought, he's a friend to everyone so why was everyone making it a big fuzz? she kept thinking of Tony while she walked aimlessly until she found herself stopping in front of a door, that door was Tony's room.
"How did I end here?" She asked herself
She had to admit that she wanted to escape from her teammates' teasing but she was also worried about Tony, he was fighting demons after all. The idea of fighting demons makes her wonder how Tony is able to fight them day after day? Tony must have a strong will to keep fighting the horrors but also a deep hatred against demons for what they did. Ruby really felt bad about it and sat down beside the door.
Ruby also thought that Tony must be fighting so no one else suffers like he did, pretty much the one of the reasons that she is fighting against the Grimm, no one deserves to lose their parents like this. She continued thinking until she heard a voice that dispeled her thinking spell.
"Ruby? What are you doing here?" Tony asked, he had a couple injuries but nothing serious but he didn't have a sword making her more worried.
"Hey injured Tony" She says with a worried and playful tone.
"I'll be fine and you didn't answer my question" He says, crossing his arms.
"I kinda escaped…from my teammates…" She said scratching the back of her head.
Tony just sighs wondering what they did to make her escape.
"Might as well get in" He says a bit annoyed while opening the door.
The two get in, closing and locking the door behind them, would be better if they had some privacy to talk about what's bothering her. Tony takes his coat off and sits on his chair while Ruby sits on Tony's bed. there was a bit of silence, she really didn't want to talk about it but knowing Tony, he'll push for an answer whenever she likes or not.
"Yang started teasing me about the time we went out and the other two decied to join in" Ruby admits.
"That again? Sheesh, she really needs to get a hobby" He says jokingly.
"That's her new hobby" Ruby groaned "Almost every day she teases me with it, specially since she figure out something"
"Oh-oh, I don't like how that sounds" Tony said with a bit more seriousness in his tone.
"Remember the time we were hiding from the Enigma in the bushes?" Ruby asks, a bit hesitant.
"Yeah, what about it?" He did remember it but nothing wrong happened in his mind.
"When you calmed me down? The hug and everything else?" She blushed a bit.
"Ah crap" He says noticing her blushing "You know i didn't mean it that way, I was just calming you down"
"I know, I know!" She yells embarrassed "But Yang is making me a bit self conscious"
Tony really didn't mean it to be a romantic moment in a crisis, he honest to god meant to calm Ruby down but now he is getting self conscious too. Tony did say a cheesy thing to her and hugged her like that. How in the hell did Yang get him too? He cursed internally.
"Yeah I know, but look" He puts his hands on his knees "We both know we went to have fun as friends, nothing romantic or anything, they are just trying to work you up, afterall, you are in that age that girls start looking at boys"
"True…but why did you sound like an old man? you aren't much older than I am" Ruby giggles.
"Whatever babe" he says realizing that he did sound like a dad "You get what I mean"
"I do" Ruby continues giggling feeling better
The two of them continue talking about stuff in general, complaining about classes, typical teenager stuff. The two got a bit closer than they were before, Ruby found an escape from their teammates teasing and Tony found someone who would clear his mind off his demon hunting job. After a while Ruby decided to ask why he didn't take the sword knowing he did need it for fighting.
"Quick question! Why didn't you take the sword with you?" She asks.
"Ah…that" Tony says while grabbing the sword from the case.
Ruby, having a better look of the sword notices that the sword is indeed almost as tall as Tony, the guard was shaped in a diamond-like shape, it looked pretty generic with the exception of the end of the blade, it had two notches near the tip. The claymore was bigger than most swords that she has seen, comparable to the one blade sword that she's seen from one of the second year students.
"Honestly…when I see this sword it makes me feel…off and angry" Tony says furrowing his brow, not knowing why this feeling comes to him.
"Maybe it's not cool enough?" Ruby says while her weapon nut personality comes out "Or maybe it's gotta be something related to your father?"
"The latter, just thinking about him makes me angry" Tony face changes slightly to an expression of anger "But I don't know why"
"Unless we learn more about your memories we won't know" Ruby says standing up "You better use it, we both know that fighting demons would need a close combat weapon that isn't a gun"
"I know" Tony sighs "It's just that i feel weird"
Ruby saw as Tony lowered his head, he was still learning about himself thanks to his lost memories. She knew that Tony felt incomplete after all and his trauma had a big weight on him. Behind that mask of confidence and cockyness, there was someone who was really confused and had doubts about who he really is. Ruby steps in front of him and hugs him trying to comfort him.
"We'll figure things out later Tony" Ruby says softly "Just keep being the awesome guy you always are, when the day comes that you remember, all of us will be there for you"
"Thanks…" Tony whispers, surprised by the hug.
"Don't mention it, what are friends for?" She says with a big smile.
"Right" He says while separating himself from her.
"Yep" Ruby keeps smiling until she remembers something, changing her smile to a worried cry "Oh no! I forgot that we have class with Oobleck"
"Ah crap!" Tony groans "We better get moving!"
The two of them got out of the room, running late, even though they would get in trouble, they couldn't avoid smiling. The classes passed, hours passed and the day passed without any incidents, that was good in Tony's mind but he felt that something was brewing. Tony knew that dealing with demons sometimes could be a waiting game, cards were played close to the chest and he was willing to gamble on waiting.
A few days later.
As the sun was going down, Tony found himself entering Team Rwby's room with the girls, they had a few tests that week and they weren't kind at all, he was spent and annoyed. The four girls collapsed into the floor dramatically while he just sat down in a chair with all his weight.
"Man, those tests were brutal" Blake said with a tired and annoyed groan.
"Letters, too many letters to compute" Ruby added while burying her face in her hands.
"How did they expect us to remember so many things?!" Yang said with a grunt.
"It could have been worse" Weiss said as she was less tired and annoyed…and did study for the tests.
"Could go for some rounds of hunting, don't care, just need to vent" Tony rubbed his forehead with his eyes closed, waiting something exciting to happen
"You are the only one who could want to fight something deadly to relax" Weiss said, standing up and crossing her arms.
"I can see his point, throwing hands always leaves me with a good feeling" Yang stood up immediately doing some jabs.
"What is your job anyway?" Blake asks with curiosity "You have been avoiding that question since the start"
"Can't say babe" Tony shrugs still with his eyes closed "My job is R rated, not suited for young girls"
"Oh come on! we are the same age!" Yang answered, annoyed.
"Doesn't matter" Tony continues shrugging off, knowing he was actually a year younger.
"It actually does matter, mister Redgrave" Weiss pressed.
"Okay, then it's not something that the faint of heart should see" Tony changes his answer.
"Says the mercenary with a heart" Blake with full sarcasm
The four continue bickering, one side trying to get an answer while the other doing its best to push them aside; Ruby's case was different, she didn't like hiding things but she knows what he faces. Secrets sometimes are best kept as secrets, Ruby wasn't sure if this was the case but decided to keep silent and try to figure a way out for Tony, lucky her, Team JNPR entered the room.
"Hey guys, how did you guys do with the tests?" Says Jaune.
"God damn it!" Exclaims Tony, jumping out of the chair startled "I didn't sense you at all Jaune"
"Sense?" All of them asked
"Hard to explain" Tony says a bit more calmly.
It was true that Tony was able to sense people, not even he knew how he could do it; he theorized that he could do it because he can sense demons and all living creatures emanate energy, doesn't matter if its human, faunus, grimm or demons all of them have life energy and he learned how to do it to other living things. Tony today couldn't sense anyone now that he mentioned it, probably because his mind is really tired from the tests that he doesn't have the concentration to do so or the will.
"Okay?" Jaune says a bit confused.
"Anyway, what did you guys answer for the third question in Oobleck's test?" Nora gets the topic back on track.
"I put B, the most logical one of course" Weiss answers.
"C, i think he mentioned that answer in one of the lectures" Blake answers.
"B like Weiss, I had a good feeling about it" Yang smirks while answering.
"I went with C too, mostly because I was tired" Ruby answers too.
"Like us, divided" Ren says, noting that their team had the same answers.
"How about you Tony?" Pyrrha asks the silent hunter who wasn't paying attention really..
"Uh?" He asks before remembering what they were talking about "I winged it, i guess i put A or D"
"Wait a moment" Blake interrumps "You winged it? the whole test?"
"After the third test I kinda winged it" He admitted.
"Gosh, you are definitely an idiot" Weiss stares at Tony disappointed.
To be honest, he really tried at first but he grew bored of it and had his mind on other things.
"Well, no we know who got the lower score" Nora starts laughing "Who do you think might have gotten the highest score?!"
All of them stare at Weiss, knowing she studies hard for the tests so it wasn't a surprise she would get the top score. Then they stare Pyrrha, the other one who would get the highest score then all said in unison.
"Ice queen" they all said deadpanning.
"Would you guys stop calling me that!" She exclaims annoyed "And of course i would get the highest score"
"Humble as always" Tony says sarcastically, Blake just giggled at his answer.
While they talked about the tests and everything related to studies a surge of demonic power appeared surprising Tony immediately but not only him, Ruby felt it too as she was the only one who faced a demon before and killed it. Weiss felt like a small chill but ignored it, she didn't really fight demons but a human empowered by demon energy wasn't the real deal.
The other one who felt it was Blake thanks to her Faunus instincts and senses kicking off, what she felt couldn't be explained with words but if it could, it would be pure hatred for someone and the blade of death. Ruby and Blake almost collapsed by this feeling, they were sweating, Tony didn't flinch at all but he had a drop of sweat in his forehead.
"You guys okay?!" Jaune asks, noticing what happened.
"Yeah…don't know what happened" Blake said, regaining her composure.
"Tony…?" Ruby asks, looking at his friend who was grinning.
"It's a bigger one" He said grinning, with a mix of worry and excitement.
"A bigger one? what do ya mean?" Nora asks confused.
"Whatever it was, it must be something to make you sweat Tony" Ren says, trying to use his semblance to calm the others, but surprising him, didn't work on Tony.
Tony knew this feeling well, this wasn't a normal lesser demon but one that was breaking through or coming closer to becoming a higher demon, the sole thought of it excited him and worried him at the same time. Higher demons have always been hard ones to fight for him, he has killed two of them already and almost dying in the process while a demon like this would be a proper challenge, like Oran. On the other spectrum of his emotions, a demon like this could be really trouble for other people, would create chaos, probably a dozen of deaths; the city would panic and panic brings Grimm, would be a war on two sides.
"I gotta make a call" Tony says, taking his phone and calling Goodwitch who picks up immediately.
"I was about to call you Redgrave" She says on the other side.
"Did you pick it up? He asks Goodwitch, they had to be coordinated.
"Indeed, sending you the coordinates" She confirms.
"Don't bother, I know it's on the warehouse district" Tony says with grinning "I'll let you know how it goes but keep an eye on your scroll in case things go south"
"You are going to work again Tony?" Pyrrha asks, a bit worried by how the situation turned out.
"Yeah, I'll talk to y'all later" Tony says and leaves immediately.
Everybody stayed silent as he left not knowing what to make of the situation while Ruby was starting to get worried by the second. She knew that this wasn't a normal demon, this was a special case and Tony was going alone to fight him. Powerless is what she would call herself knowing that this fight is one that she couldn't win alone, keyword being alone. She wanted to help Tony and lessen the burden he carries in his shoulder but she wasn't ready, not of them were ready for this.
"Huh…" Yang starts saying after a couple minutes passed "You guys wanna follow Tony and see what he's up to?"
"You mean stalk him?" Blake comes out and says what everyone was thinking "Sure, why not, i'm curious"
"Awesome, we are going to be spies!" Nora says energetically as always.
"Curiosity is getting the better out of me" Ren scratches the back of his head.
"Indeed, I kinda want to see him fight seriously again" Pyrrha didn't have enough with just fighting him and wanted to see him fight again to understand what makes him so powerful and what she could learn.
"That makes two of us" Jaune adds.
"No, we are not following him" Ruby says with a serious tone.
Everybody looks at Ruby, they were surprised by her answer knowing how gung ho she is about this kind of stuff but now was being the serious one.
"Color me surprised, I thought our leader would be the first one to jump into the idea" Weiss says surprised.
"I do want to follow Tony, don't get me wrong" Ruby sighs "But this isn't our business to begin with so as an order for my team, we are staying here and I have Tony on speed dial just in case"
"Wow sis, never seen you this serious before" Yang puts her hand on her sister's shoulder to quickly grab her scroll "But we are following him nonetheless, We know he is going to the warehouses"
"Yang no!" She exclaims as everyone starts leaving.
Ruby almost cursed as she saw everyone leave, this was trouble and she was worried now that they would be walking towards their death. Ruby quickly followed them, she was the only one with minimum but experience about fighting demons and knowledge thanks to Tony's comments from time to time. She was going to try and dissuade them to not follow him or at least, make them survive long enough for Tony to save them in case everything goes south.
Later on the same day as the night covered the city.
Both teams reached the warehouse district while looking for Tony, they were also armed because they knew that fighting was involved while Ruby tried to get them back and failed in the process. None of them knew where he was, only Ruby and Blake knew that he was in the area but couldn't pinpoint his location as they weren't as proficient as him in sensing demon energy.
While walking they find a woman sitting on a bench. She had white pale skin, dark long wavy hair; amber eyes that seemed to glow from the distance and a black, sleeveless long dress that covered her feet. The two boys find the woman really beautiful as her face has gentle features while the girls find her mysterious enough to be alone during this time in this part of the city.
"Small ones, are you looking for someone?" She asks with a gentle tone.
"Actually, yes, we are looking for a tall man, white hair" Weiss starts describing Tony
"Handsome looks, he is beacon's uniform or wearing a red coat" Yang continued
"Probably armed with a sword" Blake added.
"Ah yes, the hunter, are you…his friends?" the woman in black asks
"We are indeed" Pyrrha answers honestly.
"I see" She says while smiling, they could feel it had sadness on it.
"Do you know him?" Jaune asks.
"No, but i've seen him tonight as he passed that way" She says pointing into the direction he went "Are you going to follow him?"
"Of course we are! We are on a spy mission to see what he's hiding!" Nora spills the beans.
"Nora" Ren says facepalming.
The woman stared at each one of the teenagers without saying a word, she seemed to be looking into their souls making them feel awkward, she then giggled finding what she wanted.
"I see…he has good friends" She comments "If you are truly going to follow him, let me give you a friendly warning, don't"
"See! The lady in black says it's a bad idea!" Ruby exclaims, still trying to convince them to go back.
"He might be in trouble and as his friends, we'll help him out" Yang says nonchalantly ignoring the warning.
Everybody walks towards the direction that was pointed out with the exception of Ruby who just facepalmed and took a deep breath.
"You seem to know more than the others about the dangers that he faces" Said the woman.
"Yeah and I'm worried" Ruby says while turning to see them still walking off to then turn again to see the woman who wasn't there anymore surprising her "Where did she go?!"
Ruby was really surprised by that but didn't have time to ponder on what happened as her teammates were leaving her behind. They found themselves in front of a warehouse with its door slightly open, they heard gunfire deeped inside so they knew Tony was inside.
Ruby, knowing the danger, already had Crescent Rose out and ready, the others did the same with their weapons. Each one nodded as they slowly entered the place. It was bright inside, mostly because the lights were on and they could see that the place was a mess, it seemed that there was fighting inside but most important of all, the gruesome scene in the middle of the room. A pool of blood and ten dead bodies in a circle, tied up, with some of their parts missing and some on the floor. Everybody felt like throwing up while Jaune did throw up at the sight of that scene.
"What the hell happened…?" Yang asks, afraid of the scene she just witnessed.
"Did…Tony do this?" Weiss asked too, more afraid of the one who did it.
"No, he didn't" Ruby says getting in guard immediately "He's hunting the things that did it"
"Ruby" Blake turns to her leader, sensing something all over the place "You know what he's hunting don't you?"
"I do and I promised him that I wouldn't say a thing" Ruby gives his team a stern look.
"I think we better get going" Jaune says, gagging and in fear.
Before anyone could say a thing or move, demonic power raised once again and this time, everybody felt it. Reality seemed to shatter in some places, like a window glass breaking and from it appeared some creatures that they have never seen with scythes and black robes, even one of them had a coffin. The scythe ones advanced slowly surrounding the hunters as the coffin one stayed behind being smart about their abilities.
Ruby knew that these demons where one of the seven hells, the hell pride and there was eight in total, aside from those ones, she didn't knew about the coffin one or rather, the iron maiden, it seemed different from a pride because didn't wear a robe but more like torn clothing showing it's zombie apparence.
"The hell are these things?!" Yang said getting on guard.
"Zombies, they are zombies, it's like a movie!" Nora said excited, ignoring the risk.
"Whatever they are, they are falling by our weapons" Weiss said pridefully.
"I really got a bad feeling about this" Bake said, aiming her sword at one of them.
"Make it two" Jaune says, raising his shield.
"Don't lose your cool" Ren reassured as he aimed his guns at one of them.
"Don't hold back" Pyrrha said, her experience was screaming that they were in trouble.
"And avoid getting hit by them at all cost!" Ruby yelled as she rushed against one of them.
The battle started between the hunters and the demons, clashing their weapons. The hunters were surprised by how slow these creatures were but also how strong they were, in terms of strength, they are close to Nora's. Ruby, noticing that this is a fight she can fight and win, started making quick work of his opponent by using her speed to avoid his attacks and counter attacking with her scythe, she had to admit, with all the slashes she made it took her quite a bunch to kill it.
Yang on the other hand just overwhelmed the demon with a flurry of blows not giving a breather space between attacks, she finished the demon off with an uppercut, shooting the shotgun installed in her gauntlets. Weiss used the same strategy as Ruby, using her speed to kill it, she was more nimble and avoided all the attacks with grace to counterattack with thrust attacks every time she could; she didn't even need to use dust.
Blake used her agility and semblance to create shadow clones to attack the demon from different angles, using the element of surprise with each clone until the demon turned to sand. On team JNPR side Pyrrha being the most experienced fighter found this a bit boring, she didn't even break a sweat. Jaune on the other hand had trouble as he was the less experienced fighter, blocking the attacks with his shield while trying to find the courage to face his enemy, lucky for him, he managed to land a lucky hit cutting the demon's head.
Ren had more trouble in terms of strength, as his weapons weren't as heavy or had the reach of others so he used the range of his guns, loading the demon with lead. Nora, well, Nora just smashed the demon until it became sand. They weren't impressed by the demon's power but they ignored a crucial part that would turn things to the worse. The other demon that stayed behind was surrounded by more of these black robbed ones and some new ones, they had a scythe but were wearing a red jester-like outfit.
The teams also saw as the coffin creature slammed the coffin to the ground, the coffin extended and lighted up, some strange energy came out of it rising into the air then to touch the ground, this energy seemed to be screaming in pain, like…souls. As the souls touched the ground more demons appeared, making double the amount they fought before.
Yang and Nora, being the more reckless tried to attack one of the red ones but this one wasn't as slow as the other as it jumped backwards avoiding the attack, then dashing towards the two at a great speed to then hit them with his scythe. This hit was different in many ways as the two were thrown backwards by the strength of the attack but most worrisome for the two, they felt as if their aura was greatly diminished from just that attack.
"What was that…?" Nora said dumbfounded.
"They can…drain our auras?" Yang started to shake, not only this new one faster and stronger but can drain their auras.
"That's why I said don't get hit!" Ruby started shooting from the sniper side of her weapon "Some can even bypass it directly!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Weiss exclaimed, feeling the danger she was in now.
"We better keep using our guns" Ren followed Ruby's example as he started shooting.
"We also need to destroy the one with the coffin" Jaune pointed out "As long as he stands these…things will keep appearing!"
"Roger" The rest said.
But one thing was for certain, they were outnumbered and had faster enemies, this is what Tony was afraid of, their inexperience but none of them knew, not even Ruby who had a small idea of why he kept it as a secret.
Earlier that night.
Tony arrived at the warehouse where he sensed the energy, he had his weapons and he did bring his father's sword with him taking Ruby's word to heart. He opened the door and slid it back but didn't close it entirely just in case he needed to run. While he got inside he saw the bodies and the pool of blood. His head started working on the scene, the position of the bodies, it was in a circle, meaning that they were doing a summoning ritual, lucky for him, it wasn't a big one meaning that it wasn't a full fledged higher demon, it was a weaker one.
While thinking on what could have been, he hears wet footsteps behind him so he quickly turns around, grabbing his sword as he turns, doing a downward slash, killing the pride demon immediately.
"Well, I was wondering when you guys would show up?" Tony smirks as he twirled the sword on his hand as he watched five demons appear from the shadows "I might not be able to sense you know, my mind is still tired but i'm sure as hell that I can hear you guys"
Tony didn't waste any time, dashing immediately with his father sword impaling one of the prides, he didn't kill it immediately meaning that he still needs to get the hang of using the sword. Tony shrugged his limitation off and swung his sword, throwing the pride to one of his kin; He then jumps on top of them doing a falling slash killing both of them.
Tony wasn't really feeling the sword at the moment, something was off so he decided to use it differently for now, throwing it against one of the prides impaling it to then shoot the other two in a rapid fire knowing he had enough ammo in the guns magazine to take them both. After dealing with the two he walked towards the impaled demon, loading his guns in the process; he stared down the demon as he grabbed the sword's hilt and did a raising slash.
"Well, that was boring" He said as he scouted the place noticing another door, that one seems to be broken by force, meaning there is more to this place "This better be good"
Tony kicked the door open as he walked deeper into the warehouse, noticing that there was a trail of blood, survivors maybe? Not likely as he found in his way more demons that he dispatched using his guns until he arrived in a smaller room with ten more bodies. Before he could start processing what this meant he heard gunfire and fighting.
"What the hell?" He said confused.
Immediately his mind went elsewhere instead of what he had in front of him; fighting means that he isn't alone but the only people that would be here would be security guards but he saw that some of the bodies were security guards meaning that it must be someone else. Tony grunted as it clicked in his mind, he spilled the beans on where he was going back at Beacon meaning the girls must have followed him, probably Jaune's team too.
"Damn it!" He said as he turned back running "Why didn't Ruby contact me or stop them?!"
Tony deduced that she probably did try but they took her scroll, most likely Yang did the dirty work. Knowing the situation he cleared his mind trying to sense his friends and the enemies with no luck, he had to improvise when he arrived.
Meanwhile on the other side, both teams were overwhelmed by the numbers and the speed of the demons in red. There wasn't a breathing space for them or an opening to try and take care of the summoning one; they fell one by one as their auras broke with the exception of Ruby who used her speed to avoid the attacks and her semblance and Pyrrha who was the most experienced one.
Ruby tried to take the heat of her friends using her speed while Pyrrha used what she had left on her semblance to help Ruby take down some of them but sadly, her aura ran out and Ruby got hit by a red demon breaking her aura and throwing her to the ground. At the end of the day, they took half of the demons before running out.
The demons approached them slowly, they didn't said a thing but it was pretty obvious they were enjoying this, playing with their food. A pride demon stood up in front of the kneeling Ruby, raising his scythe to deal the killing blow but everybody heard a roar behind them.
"Get away from them you bastards!" A familiar voice screamed, it was Tony.
He immediately analyzed the situation in matters of seconds, Lust, Pride and Greed, he knew what he needed to do. Without a second thought he threw his sword at the Greed demon, letting it spin as it cut down the enemies on it's path; he then grabbed his guns and started shooting at every single demon he could, making them back down.
Unfortunately, the pride that was in front of Ruby wasn't going to back down even if it was shot. Tony dashed immediately towards his friend in need pulling the shotgun, he couldn't really shoot it because he might drop the scythe and hit her, he needed to block it; his guns weren't good to blocking attacks like that, he needed something else
"Ruby!" all of them said as the scythe went down
Ruby closed her eyes as the scythe was ready to rip her soul as a fleshy sound and blood spilled into her face…but she wasn't hurt at all, what she saw was Tony blocking the attack with his forearm, the blade sticking from one side to the other. Tony smirked as he put the shotgun on the demon's face and shot it away to pieces, the blade broke from the shaft of the scythe leaving it stuck in his forearm.
"Tony!" Ruby exclaimed in relief, glad to see him but worried that he got injured protecting her.
"We'll talk later, gotta take the trash first" He smirked.
Tony pulled out the blade from his forearm and threw it to one of the lust demons, it caught it off guard and got killed immediately. The situation looked better, he managed to kill some of the demons when he threw his sword and most importantly, the hell Greed.
With his feet he brought Crescent Rose to his hands, he started spinning the weapon around, getting a small feel of how to use it and he had to admit, it was a good weapon. Tony started dashing, slashing and shooting around making his friends stay in awe of his true skills as he never let himself go in training but they felt guilt too as he had to protect them at the same time.
Everytime a hell lust got close he had to change his focus into them, getting hit in the process but he was getting the upper hand slowly as he killed the hell lust; after that was done the rest followed quickly. The battle was over and everybody was alive and mostly uninjured with the exception of the white haired teenager.
"Tony, I'm so sorry!" Ruby said as she stood up "I tried to stop them but they took my scroll so I couldn't contact you at all!"
"it's…fine" He said sighing, he was a bit disappointed, not on her but on the others "What matters is that all of you are alive"
"Yeah…but what the hell were those things?!" Yang was the first one to ask.
"Hell being the keyword to answer that question" He said as he handed Ruby her weapon and picked up his.
"Wait, you don't mean…?" Blake caught it immediately as she read the book of sparda.
"I do mean it" Tony smirked "Those guys you fought were demons from the underworld or Hell as most people call it"
"Wait a second, you aren't joking aren't you?" Jaune asked dumbfounded.
"I don't think he is" Ren said as he heard legends from demons before.
"So they weren't Zombies?" Nora said, a bit disappointed.
"Oh my gosh, demons exist" Weiss was taking this differently, she only knew about legends and it wasn't logical in her mind, it didn't compute.
"Guys, we'll talk about this later okay?" Tony said knowing he couldn't keep it a secret anymore.
The teenagers were about to go out until they heard an echoey laugher in top of them, when they raised their sight the saw another demon, but this was bigger, way bigger than the others, it was similar in appearance to the pride one and had a massive scythe and the blade seemed to be made of a purple energy, it was a Hell Vanguard.
"Shit, get the hell out of here!" Tony said as he grabbed his sword.
The demon disappeared in a black purple-ish fog to then appear in front of Tony, swinging his scythe at him, Tony thinks quick and rolls avoiding the attack. The demon hunter takes his shotgun out and shoots knowing that all the pellets would hit it but the demon takes it like it's nothing. Annoyed Tony launches himself with a thrust attack that connects but really doesn't do a lot just making it stagger for a second.
The Hell Vanguard laughs at Tony's attempts to hurt it as the demon swings again at him multiple times making Tony avoid the attacks but he had to block one that sent him sliding back. The onslaught continued as Tony kept avoiding and blocking what he could knowing that he didn't have much of a choice.
Tony was starting to get worried, the hits he took before weakened him enough to be on the defensive from the very start, he didn't have the strength to land solid blows against it as he silently cursed trying to find a small opening.
Tony managed to block one of the attacks from the Hell Vanguard, putting his left hand on the plane side of the blade to get a better grip and he managed to push the attack back creating an opening so he decided to use the new move he created while he fought Pyrrha, he started stabbing the demon as fast as he could over and over again finishing with the last and powerful thrust making the demon back away disappearing into fog.
"Where did it go?" Tony said, looking around.
He then heard a bell toll out of nowhere, he then saw the Hell Vanguard appear in front of him flying towards him swinging the scythe around frome one side to the other. Tony tried to avoid the attack by stepping aside but he managed to get hit by it.
"Tony!" they all said as they saw their friend getting hit by it.
Tony was asking himself why they didn't leave, they couldn't leave him was the answer to his question but they were scared enough to try and fight as they had no aura to block the attacks or even use their semblances but they couldn't just left him to die
Tony stood up while wiping the blood on his head, he got open the hard way again but that didn't matter to him, he needed to win so he attacked again, this time the Hell Vanguard met his attack with one of its on clashing their weapons; unfortunately for Tony, he was too weak at the moment and the class just sent his weapon flying from his hand.
Shit has hit the fan as he saw his weapon fly but he barely had time to register it as he got slashed by the scythe sending him flying towards a wall. He barely had time to regain his composure as the wall had ripple effects on it, the bell tolled and the demon appeared from the wall hitting him again throwing him to the ground but the demon wasn't done, the floor had the ripple effects and it came out flying to the roof hitting him again sending him flying towards his friends.
"Tony!" Ruby rushed to his injured friend looking at all his injuries, he was bleeding all over the place.
"Don't die on us!" Weiss rushed to his side.
"Don't even think about it!" Yang tried to help him stand up, not caring if blood stained her.
"This is no time to get a nap big guy" Blake did the same.
"We'll try to hold it off" Jaune said, gaining courage standing in front of them with his team.
Team JNPR stood their ground as they fired against the demon, they didn't care about danger now, Tony came to save them and now it was their time to pay their debt. The Hell Vanguard didn't flinch, actually found it amusing as it came closer slowly to kill the young hunters.
Tony watched as his friends stood their ground, trying to help him and protecting him, making him feel…powerless…a feeling he didn't like to feel again as he lost Grue, as he lost Jessica. Anger filled his mind, his hatred for demons grew stronger, he wouldn't stand for this again, not ever again.
Tony hated to admit it but he was lonely and these idiots did help him, he didn't feel lonely as before. These idiots became a precious part of his everyday life and he was sure as hell that a demon bastard like the one who was in front of him wouldn't take them without him dying first.
Tony slowly rose from the ground, his eyes shining red and with a red and black aura surrounding him; his injuries stopped bleeding and he had a flashback. Two kids, no older than eight sparring with wooden swords in a garden, fighting like it was their last fight even though they had wooden weapons.
The fight grew bigger and bigger as they traded blows until one of the kids said with an energetic voice "Royal Guard!" as he started blocking the attacks without the weapon in a low stance without getting injured then he came back to reality knowing what to do.
Tony pushed forward as he passed team JNPR who saw him in this new state then he stood still, lowering his guard, breathing calmly. Tony waved his arms around like water flowing, like a master of an ancient martial art. Somehow he knew what he had to do and If what he saw was a memory, now with his current experience he could make it work better.
The Hell Vanguard swung its weapon but Tony just blocked it at the last second with his right arm making a flash of light as it blocked and a small sound.
Tony felt as energy filled him, he had an idea, the best offense is a good defense after all. Every attack from the Hell Vanguard was blocked off by his blocking stance, he didn't move from the place he was standing, just blocked until he felt the energy from attacks was completely full, it actually hurts to store all that energy.
The Hell Vanguard attacked again with all its strength but it was blocked again, then it happened, Tony threw a punch to the Hell Vanguard, releasing all the energy that he gathered from the attacks into that single punch blowing the Hell Vanguard away like it was a feather sending it crashing against the wall.
Tony saw the opportunity and quickly grabbed his sword, launching himself with a last attack, a hail mary stinger that connected, the Hell Vanguard didn't laugh anymore as it became blue sand, finally being silenced. Tony then felt all the energy he had in that moment drop immediately dropping to his knees as he faced his friends, they all rushed to his side.
"That was so cool!" Ruby said, forgetting for a moment that she was worried for his life.
"What was that technique you used?" Pyrrha asked with curiosity.
"I…don't know, it just came over me that i could…" Tony grunted in pain making him stop talking "...use the enemy's kinetic energy and release it"
"Kinda like my thing then?" Yang said, noticing that it resembled her semblance.
"And someone I know" Blake muttered, lowering her face.
"Maybe you unlocked your aura and semblance but it doesn't work as normally does" Weiss tried to find a logical answer.
"Doesn't matter, that was so awesome, like you block and shing! then go pow!" Nora was really excited.
"Nora, let him rest" Ren tried to be the voice of reason.
"I agree" Jaune collapsed to the ground as the adrenaline left his body.
To their luck or shall we say, lack of luck another similar laughter invaded their ears, they turned around to see another Hell Vanguard appear in front of them, horror and dread invaded each one of them. Tony cursed himself as he remembered the other ten bodies, two of them were summoned and he let it slide, he got careless. He stood up ready for round two, getting in front of his friends with sword in hand but something else happened.
"Scum!" a male stern voice said.
A figure appeared in front of them in an instant, this person had a brown cloak over him that covered his face but they noticed the blue coat that was under it. This person had a katana drawn in the right hand while on the other hand it had the scabbard to then slowly sheath the sword and as it clicked, the Hell Vanguard fell into pieces.
Nobody saw what happened, how did the stranger cut down the demon, not even Tony saw how he did it. The stranger just defeated the demon in an instant, he didn't care really as he approached the stranger to greet him.
"Don't know who you are but thanks for the assis-" He started saying but his words were cut as he was hit in the stomach by this man's sword unsheathed. Dropping Tony into his knees.
"Too weak" The stranger said as he turned away.
"Hey, what gives?!" Jaune got angry at the stranger's action.
"You are too weak that even trash like this gives you trouble, what foolishness" The stranger chuckles after he mocks Tony "Get stronger"
As soon as that was said, the stranger disappeared in a blue blur, leaving the teenagers with more questions. Tony wanted to say something but his body and mind gave out falling to the ground unconscious.
Autor Notes.
Another chapter done and to be honest, writing this one felt like a fever dream, lately my work has been quite heavy and i've been having migraine episodes (double mechanical drills on my head yaaaaaay!) as my head was in other stuff really, i literally deleted it two times because i didn't like how it was going and this is what i liked so far, my plan was to post it on the 18th of july but yeah, my bad.
Man, I need a break from my work, like seriously. I work at a call center, those who know it can be pretty heavy, anyway, let's talk about the chapter and mainly, one of my biggest flaws, I totally, 100% Suck at dialogues with more than 3 characters, why did i make scenes with multiple ones? Fever dream writing, that's why.
I liked writing the duel between Tony/Dante and Pyrrha, it was a pure skill duel, no semblance or anything, it also helped me change Tony's sword to his father's sword by making the sword not able to withstand Tony's aggressive million stab, not to mention that it was a normal sword and helped me with not giving a definitely win against Tony, he took the loss because he knows that in a real fight, without his sword against Pyrrha he would have lost as they are almost matched in terms of combat, Tony is physically stronger thanks to his genes (wait till he gets over his mind over matter) but yeah, it was nice.
Now that Ruby is the winner I'm starting to put the two together in some scenes and teasing from the others. That is different from what I had planned from Weiss too, there wasn't going to be teasing in this chapter for Weiss, at least yet. Also I'm not putting the two together just yet, Tony is a complicated person and Ruby is too naive regarding those feelings, I don't think it's going to be a slow burn romance but they first need to spend time together and then say "Shit, i'm in love".
Now to the demon side, as i said before, lesser demons could be trouble unprepared, they could take out the hell prides with ease but the lust and greed can provide a bigger challenge, and let's not talk about the hell vanguard, even Dante had trouble killing it at the beginning of DMC3. So the two teams now realized that Tony's job is quite dangerous and as they say, curiosity got the cat and their curiosity almost gets them.
Also, Stranger appears, I wonder who he is…I mean, it's no secret that it's Virgil. I decided to put him in this chapter from the beginning (before I started writing to be honest) since he works to measure Tony's strength at this point. It also marks his presence in the story as a looming threat.
Tony's fear of losing people is always there for him, even as Dante as a psychological matter, he barely has friends that aren't related to his demon hunting business or normal humans with the exception of Lady, Morrison and Patty and he spends most of his time alone in his crib, eating pizza, ice cream and drinking, he is a lonely person, let's be honest about it. The idiots as he says are how that is going to change for him as these guys are standing up for him.
Man this was a long chapter, but i had fun writing it as is what it matters. In terms of music is related to what i have been playing, and if people know this they'll understand with a couple of words *clears his throat* BABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABY YEEEEAAAAAAAH! i've been playing and listening to the Persona OST, been playing P4G, mostly because my ps2 broke and i cannot play P3 and i was so close to the nyx battle, it still stings but i Fucking love the Persona Games, they are awesome, for realsies and the music is tasty as fuck! Lotus Juice rap is sweet and i'm not a rap guy at all.
Anyway, time for the reviews from the last chapter
Mattysteel: Both routes work imo for many reasons that i said before, but as you saw, Ruby won so i'll stick with the decision, i honestly thought Weiss would win. I think i get what you mean by i was leaning more in a Weiss route mostly because she is more aware of this kind of thing than Ruby is or that's how i see it, i did alter it slightly her personality, like i said, i hoped that i was getting the personalities the closest to the cannon but you get what i mean. I honestly thought of making a full harem route but like i said, i'm not a fan of it really, it's not my taste tho i can see him getting all zeh bitches. The competition was fierce if i'm honest, I didn't expect that many votes and it makes me really happy.
Blazing Ice Cream: GOD I LOVE YOUR NICKNAME! okay, enough fangirling, i agree, it's more important that i'm having fun but is also important to me that i can deliver something that you can have fun with too and you are right, i could make Omakes about the pieces of how it would be with the relationship with Weiss, you are a genius mate, A BLOODY GENIUS!
Guest: (
If you have to give Devil arm to team rwby and jprn what would you give. This one if for fun.) God this is a good question, if i had to give them a Devil arm…Well, Ruby is easy, Nevan because it's a scythe and she is proficient with scythe, boring answer i know. Yang would be Gilgamesh or Ifrit, hands down, probably ifrit to go with the fire theme. Blake would most likely be the Yamato because her fighting style i can see Yamato fitting well with her. Weiss is the hardest really, Cerberus would be the choice mostly because of the ice power but it's a nunchaku and she is proficient with the rapier so it would be good I think. Maybe King Cerberus because the multiple elements and Weiss is the more heavy dust user, like i said, hard choice.
That would be all for today, actually i'm kinda thinking to write another fanfic but i'm not sure of what, like you know, to avoid getting burned out. anyway, i'll catch you guys later on the next chapter!