Chapter III: Partners

This museum's pretty creepy, Ragna thought to himself as he stared for a moment at the two moving dinosaur skeletons before following Makoto. The main source of lighting for the center section of the museum came from bellow the skeletons in order to show them in a more inspiring light. This left the rest of the corridor mostly unlit.

Ragna and Makoto saw the Sector Seven contact slumped over, close to the side of the skeleton's exhibit. The Red Devil was impossible to miss. As Ragna and Makoto approached they noticed that his body was covered in several cuts and gashes, his mechanical gauntlets were torn as well.

"You look like hell, Devil," Ragna stated bluntly. Tager looked up and adjusted his glasses, not quite believing what he was seeing.

"Ragna the Bloodedge, I didn't think I'd be seeing you here, and with an NOL intelligence member no less. I suppose there's a good reason for this."

"Yeah, you could say that. Hey, Kokonoe! I know you're listening in on this."

A holographic matrix materialized in front of Ragna and Makoto, revealing the pink haired Grimalkin. She regarded them in her usual annoyed matter. What's her problem? If anyone should be pissed it's me.

"Still as loudmouthed as ever Ragna. Hey, NOL girl, I need a favor. Tager's systems are down and I can't leave him out in the open like this. Get him somewhere safe for me, kay? The data I promised should be well worth it."

"Uh, sure I guess." Makoto didn't like the idea of abandoning her search for Noel (even if only temporarily) but, as an NOL member, she needed Kokonoe to be cooperative. Plus, she couldn't just leave Tager here. "What happened to him, if you don't mind me asking?"

"That slimy piece of shit Terumi, that's what! I'd finally tracked down Noel Vermillion and saved her from that red-head that was about to kill her." Tsubaki?! "Then Terumi shows up and Tager gets away with the skin on his teeth."

"Not my proudest moment I'll admit," Tager said.

"We can worry about your self-'confidence later Devil," Ragna says coldly. "Right now I need to give that asshole a visit. Where is he?"

"The very top of Kagutsuchi, the roof of the NOL branch… Ragna, you realize that stepping in there means that you're guaranteed to die. You don't stand a chance against Terumi. Let Rachel and Hakumen handle this, he's out of your league."

"You don't get it Kokonoe, I'm not about to just sit back and allow Terumi to achieve whatever he's after. I swore I'd never go through that bullshit again! He's a menace and I'm putting him down!"

"Hmph, it seems that holder of the BlazBlue is cockier than I thought," came a voice from the shadows. The man that walked out had blonde hair, a yellow mask, and was garbed in a purple cloak. "Terumi and his phenomena interventions… Can he even see how out of balance this shift is?"

Kokonoe stared at the newcomer wide eyed. "You're…"

Ragna snarled as he brought out Blood-Scythe. He knew that this man was one of Terumi's supporters and an NOL colonel; that was reason enough to kick his ass. "Get out of here, Makoto!"

"But Ragna-!"

"I can't fight with Tager broken! I'll meet you at the top of the library, I promise! Now get out of here!"

"…Alright, I'll hold you to that," Makoto said sadly before grabbing Tager and proceeding to support his weight while he tried to walk.

"Oh...?" said the masked man. "And who said I'd allow you to leave?" He thrust out his hand as a purple marionette lunged from the shadows towards the vulnerable beastkin and cyborg.

Makoto froze in horror as the doll's claws neared her and Tager to impale them both. No… I can't die, not here… A wave of black and red energy engulfed the doll, sending it flying into the wall.

Ragna the Bloodedge, the man known as the Grim Reaper, the man who was said to have killed over a thousand people and reveled in every slaughter, the man who swore he would tear down the NOL and stop at nothing until he had fulfilled his goal… And here he was saving the life of one of its agents.

(Cue "This will be the day" from RWBY)

"Your fight's with me, you bastard! Leave them out of this!" Ragna was seething with anger. He had a term for people who attacked with disregard for the lives of others; dead. He slowly circled the masked man until he stood between him and the retreating Makoto.

"Impressive," the enigma scoffed." "You can utilize the azure more powerfully in instances of rage. Quite an achievement, tying the power you wield to your emotions… But that is exactly why I cannot allow you to live. You're starting to become a threat to my plans, boy."

"Boy, huh?" Ragna scoffed. "If you wanted me dead before I became a threat, you should have had Terumi kill me when he burned my home. Now, I'm gonna rip you to shreds Relius Clover!"

"And there's that baseless cockiness. Ignis!" The purple marionette reappeared next to the mad puppeteer before turning its body into a bladed wheel to attack Ragna.

Ragna swung his sword to deflect Ignis before rushing towards Relius. Two mechanical arms came out of the Map Puppeteers cloak to crush Ragna. They were childish in design, but Ragna could tell that the magic that they were enhanced with made them as deadly as Ignis itself.

"Gauntlet Hades!" he shouted as he somersaulted over the attack and delivered a devastating kick to Relius's face before following with a Soul Eater powered kick. Relius quickly recovered from the attack and summoned another mechanical machine in an attempt to blast Ragna into the air, at the same time Ignis charged Ragna from behind. Ragna smirked as he ducked to avoid the attack and grabbed Ignis's foot and proceeded to swing her and break the machine.

"How are you-!?" Relius was aghast. But that was before Ragna swung Ignis at him thrice more, clobbering him with his own creation. Ragna then threw the marionette at him. Relius guarded the attack with his barrier as Ignis slammed against him. "Have you always been so savage!?"

"Who's to blame for that!? CARNAGE-!" Ragna lunged toward and performed a massive swipe with his sword destroying Relius's barrier. Relius grunted as he stumble backward unguarded, then Ragna performed his second attack. "SCISSORS!" Ragna butchered his opponent with a slash from Blood-Scythe that was coated in his Soul Eater.

"Bested… by a fool…" was all Clover could say as blast threw him into the wall. "You're certainly more powerful in this shift, but you still stand no chance against us." Ragna sprinted towards him to finish the job and rid the world of another insane scientist.

Then Ragna heard movement behind him and noticed that Ignis had recovered and was barreling towards him. He skidded to stop and readied his sword to attack the Marionette.

"SQUIRREL POWER!" came Makoto's signature shout as her fist and Tonfa made contact with Ignis and blasted the doll into the wall behind Relius. She looked at Ragna and grinned and the Reaper returned the gesture. "I left Tager in a clinic, he should be safe there."

"Phantom," Relius called as the purple apparition appeared before him. What the hell is that thing? Ragna thought to himself. "I've seen what I wanted to, bring me back to headquarters." With that Relius, Ignis, and the ghost Phantom all disappeared into a dark vortex.

Ragna sheathed his sword. "Come on, let's go."

Makoto nodded. As the two began to run off. While they were running up the stairs toward the NOL branch Makoto decided to ask, "Hey Ragna, that guy we just fought, was he an NOL leader?"

"Yeah, Relius Clover. Also dubbed the 'Mad Puppeteer.' I'd heard plenty of things about him from my master, but that was my first time meeting him."

"I see… Hey Ragna?"

"What?"

Makoto now knew what the NOL truly was. A corrupt organization that's leaders would attack its own members with little provocation and appointed ruthless men the commanding positions. She now knew where her loyalties lay and where her true friends were.

"Ever think about having a partner?" she asked.

Ragna abruptly came to a stop. "Wait, you serious?"

"Well, given the run in with that colonel, I think I might be the one facing treason charges soon. And let's remember, my friend always come first. I was already thinking about defecting; now I know someone on the outside I can trust. So how about it, is the Grim Reaper ready for a partner?"

"Thought you'd never ask."

"Awesome! Oh! Oh! I know! I need a cool title!" Makoto said, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Ragna deadpanned. "You really don't…"

"I can be The Valkyrie, defender of beastkin! Or maybe…"

"NO TITLES!"

"Aw… spoilsport…"

*Exhale* It looks like this fanfiction is receiving a lot of attention. Again, thank you for that. I laughed when I imagined Ragna beating Relius up with Ignis. It just seems like the ultimate way to humiliate a guy (plus Relius had it coming). On an ending note I've just started watching RWBY (I know, where have I been?) so I was listening to the first opening theme when I wrote the combat. Good series so far.

Until next time, Ciao.