Sorry for the long chapter update schedule but I got really tied up in school work...
Just as a heads up, the cameo team for this round of the Vytal festival are going to be from the Monster Hunter, owned by Konami (not by me!)
Naughtbeast
Chapter 32:
How… the hell… did this happen…
Demon was standing in the centre of the Vytal Festival arena, standing still and contemplating his life… he couldn't do much more when it was 1 v 4. It was the first round of the tournament and DRSK was the first team to fight in the entire festival. He had listened to the rules, being a bit confused as to why first years could fight the fourth's as apparently only skill was being tested… something that he found out all too soon. DRSK was pitted against the best team in the entirety of Vacuo, their teamwork skills being legendary throughout the training Huntsman and Huntresses. He had wanted to complain to the organisers but decided against it, knowing he would somehow pull through. They had spent the morning before the fight in preparation, working on team skills that could help them during the fight… Demon regretting that they didn't really get a chance to use them.
They had headed into the arena with semi-confidence that they perhaps had a chance to win, losing it the second they saw the other team. They could only be described as having a godly aura about them as they wore the very spoils of the war that they raged against the Grimm. They were known as HNTR, a fourth year team that was given the task of hunting down very high ranking Grimm, usually being ranked as at the level of graduated Huntsmen and Huntresses. They were the one team that anyone needed to take down any bothering monsters, giving them the name of the Monster Hunters (From the Monster Hunter game) The leader of the team was wearing a dark blue armour that covered all of his body with frills coming from his pauldrons and down from his waist and the whole thing having lightning sparking between the armour splits (Lagiacrus armour), using a massive Great Sword that was literally twice the size of his entire body and looked more like a tail fin than a weapon (Lagiacrus Blade)
The second member of the team was the sniper, having armour that was coloured a sandy green that protected his left arm, chest and waist as well as having goggles over his head (Rathian gunner armour). The massive weapon he used was twice the length of his body, just like the others, and looked like a giant bone sniper rifle, looking to use a bowstring rather than Dust to propel the rounds (Rathalos Heavy Bowgun).
Then next member was the tank of the group, holding a gun/lance and shield combo. She was covered in a thick, red rock armour that looked more like a fortress than protection (Barroth Armour) and the weapon matched. The shield resembled a brick wall and the lance had a large hole in the end to indicate a firearm and thick rock plating ran up its length.
The last and final member of the team was their heavy hitter, if that didn't count all of them from the size of their weapons, wielding a massive Axe/Sword combo. The amour he wore had spike horns running all over it, two of the largest coming from his pauldrons. (Diablos armour) The weapon he used looked to be made from the bone of the same beast he had used for his armour, having a large horn to act as the counterbalance to the axe and as the blade of the sword when needed. (Ground Dasher)
The team inspired pure awe into DRSK, the other students having much more combat experience than all of them combined… excluding Demon of course. The match started off with the two teams standing in the centre of the arena, the four landscape spinners giving them an urban, jungle, mountain and lake. DRSK were standing at the ready, Demon hefting his chaingun up and aiing right for the tank, hoping to take them down before they could set up a proper defence, Rosaline aiming her Smart Pistols and calmly locking onto each of the four combatants, Kira had her sniper rifle at the ready and was charging her thrusters to instantly jump back, sniping from a distance, and Sid… let's just say that Demon had given him two grenade launchers to play with.
The buzzer had sounded… and none of their plans really worked. Kira jumped back… only to be sniped mid-air by the other team's bowgunner and flying out of the arena. Rosaline was about to fire off her Smart Pistols… until the Switch-axe user threw a sonic bomb to disorientate her and slam her into the ground and continue smashing her until her aura hit red. Sid fired two grenades, both being stopped by the massive blade of the Great Sword… and then he was slashed in half by one great slash. Demon didn't have time to see his comrades fall as he opened fire the second the buzzer sounded and slammed into the Gunlance user, her reflexes not being enough to bring the shield up in time to block the shots. She was hit with a second's worth of fire, which translated to about 30 shots, until her shield began to cover her. Demon continued firing, hoping to distract her long enough so his teammates could take care of the others… but then he heard the three buzzers of his teammates.
WHAT THE…!
He quickly jumped to the side on instinct, miraculously managing to dodge a massive downward slash from the Great Sword user. Demon began firing at him, the sword being too cumbersome to actually block the shots, cutting his aura down a bit. Demon heard a whistling sound and didn't have enough time to dodge a colossal round from the Bowgun that ripped his feet from below him and made him faceplant. Demon didn't have any time to rest as he rolled to the side and barely dodge a swing from the Switch Axe. He jumped up and sprinted away to the middle of the arena where he stopped and turned to assess the situation. The other team had re-grouped and were eyeing him cautiously before the leader stepped forward to talk.
"Oi! You can end this now if you just surrender, there is no way you can possibly win! Just surrender and we all walk away happy… if not then you'll be leaving here in the 3 seconds after refusing"
"You forget something…" Demon mentioned, casually reloading his chaingun as he did and pulling back the slide. "You're outmatched, outgunned and outclassed"
This brought the team to laughter immediately, the rest of the entire stadium laughing with them. When they finally recovered, Demon was holding a detonator in his hand.
"Have you ever read the Art of War? One rule that is pressed throughout the entire book is that when you are outnumbered by a superior force, there are two ways to get out… 1 is to run… the other is the one I prefer… to smash the living hell out of your enemies before they get a chance to smash you… so I went ahead and prepared a welcome present"
He pointed to the ground and the team found four neatly packed satchel charges sitting right in front of them. Demon smiled and pressed the detonator, blowing them to high hell. The charges didn't do much actual damage, but it cut down all of their aura's to at least half, making it more of a fair fight… well as fair as it could be when Demon had his little trick up his sleeve.
Kalazar… I need to pull a little clutch moment here…
"Eh… can't you just take them out easily, they don't look that tough…"
They took out my team in about 5 seconds…
"Pffft… we could do that easily!"
That's the point… I need to beat them and I can't do that without your help…
"Awww… is poor little Demon the damsel in distress"
Can it Kalazar… just take over and make sure not to kill them…
"Do I have to?"
Do you want to get stabbed again?
"Damn you to hell…"
Already there mate…
Kalazar reluctantly took control, deciding to have a little bit of fun by letting Demon watch what was happening. Demon went through the usual process, becoming unconscious and feeling another entity begin to take hold of his body… although unlike every other time, he came back into consciousness almost immediately, seeing the world in a light grey haze and hearing all sounds around him muffled. He couldn't move his body, his appendages moving without his own accord.
"Don't worry, I just want you to see the badass nature of that which is me!"
Are you seriously being narcissistic? and even if you aren't… put on some music would you… it's boring not being able to hear much!
"Your wish is my reluctant to follow command oh great overlord!" mocked Kalazar jokingly, speaking as sarcastically as possible.
You are so annoying sometimes…
Kalazar ignored him and pulled out the small machine Demon used to communicate and hacked into the audio of the stadium, scrolling through his song list until he found the one he wanted, playing it through the speakers at max volume and putting the bass to max.
[Play Seven Nations Army – Remix (AKA Battlefield 1 OST)]
Kalazar mag-locked the chaingun onto his back and drew the odachi and flicked it to its full length.
"So… which one of you want's to die first?" he asked, letting the blade go lax and scrape on the floor.
"I'll take care of this loser…" the leader growled, running at a surprising speed despite the size of his weapon. The blade of the weapon began glowing a bright blue, shifting to yellow and then turning a bright burning gold as the man stopped a few feet from Kalazar and bringing the blade down with colossal strength… although it never connected. At the very last second, Kalazar ripped the odachi up at lighting speed and blocked the blade without the odachi even moving an inch from the force… that was a feat in itself given that the odachi was less than 2 inches and the blade of the Great Sword was just as thick as that guy's body, Demon thanking his mother for getting probably the strongest metal he'd ever seen in his life… although it was made even more impressive when it was blocked VERTICALLY by the blade, both of the blades clashing at the thinnest points and leaving a ringing sound that instantly silenced the entire arena, the onlookers being completely in awe of pure perfection of the sword skills that were being used.
"Hmmm… it appears you underestimated your opponent… that'll be your first mistake… and your last" Kalazar spoke through Demon's mouth, the words being dark and rough.
Kalazar disengaged and sliced the blade right at his knees, buckling the Great Sword wielder's stance and slicing around at his back again, kicking him 10 feet forward and making him slide another few.
"Tarkus! Distract him!" the leader called, the bowgunner getting onto a knee and beginning to rapid-fire shots at Kalazar… not hitting a single shot. The odachi in his hands moved as fast as lightning so that no-one in the audience could even see a blur, the bullets being sliced in half before they could even come close to Kalazar. Soon after beginning, Kalazar then began angling his odachi so perfectly that instead of cutting the bullets, he was letting them ping off weapon, only altering the flight course slightly with the flat of his blade and sending them at the team leader of the other team that was behind him. The other team leader took 3 bullets to the chest before he called for the bowgunner to cease fire, growling angrily at Kalazar.
Demon was watching in mute awe as Kalazar had managed to fight the fourth years without even taking a scratch… and he had done it without even trying. Demon saw as Kalazar was practically playing with his food, letting the four surround him and waited for them to attack. The Gunlancer charged and Kalazar sliced with his odachi, sending the point of the blade into the ground and stopping the charge, running up the lance and kicking the woman in the face before unpinning a grenade and dropping it behind her, using his jump-jets in his armour to jump above the explosion. The Gunlancer fell forward, dropping the weapon… but Kalazar didn't finish it just yet… he still wasn't finished playing with his food.
Kalazar casually walked to the centre of the arena again and activated the fire on the odachi, coating the weapon in glowing red and black flames that licked at air around it and seemed to suck the light from the area around it.
Hmmm… that's new…
The four members of the other team regrouped, exchanging a few words before charging at him, roaring a war cry as they did. They all attacked Kalazar at the same time… although none of them hit. Just before they hit, time seemed to slow down and Kalazar struck out with extreme speed and precision, striking the weapon's attacking him and slicing the bullet from the bowgun in half, all in the blink of an eye. Time returned to normal and it looked as though he hadn't even moved, but all the attacks by HNTR seemed to stop about a metre from him.
"What the hell?" the gunlancer complained, firing a shot… that just seemed to slice in half the second it made it to within a metre of him.
"GIVE IT EVERYTHING!" the leader shouted, charging his blade again and slamming down, the Switch Axe user shifting it into a sword and swinging with glowing blade, the Gunlancer firing all the shots from her weapon's chamber and the bowgunner getting down onto one knee and firing off explosive rounds… all of which never found their target like the last time.
[End Song]
Demon watched in silence as the world around him slowed to a crawl and he watched as his eyes casually looked over the attackers, tiny red slashes already appearing at critical weak points in their armour and a glowing aura surrounded them, corresponding with the colour of their aura indicators on the board.
Kalazar took in a deep breath, nearing the limitations of even his powers, preparing to end the fight. As he exhaled, Demon nearly vomited from the sheer speed of the world moving around him… if he even could when he wasn't even controlling himself. As the breath left his body, a sound resembling a thunderclap resounded throughout the arena and Kalazar looked to teleport a few feet forward, straight past the other group members before dropping his blade and falling to one knee on the ground as a smoke trail was blazed into the air behind him. Team HNTR all stopped in their tracks, mid-swing and mid-trigger pull, their bodies going rigid.
The crowd all stopped in anticipation, seeing all the action stop in the arena before them… until something finally happened. The aura metres of team HNTR all dropped immediately all the way until the counter reached 1, stopping before their aura was completely depleted. They seemed to stay still for a second before the sound of screeching metal sounded and they fell to the ground in various states of disarray, their limbs collapsing like jelly.
Holy… shit… what the hell just happened?
"More like demon shit… did you see how badass that was! I think… I just found our semblance?" Kalazar replied hoarsely from his dry throat.
Ummm… ok then… could you give me back my body?
"I don't think you want it back…"
And why would that be?
"Well… you know what? Never mind, here have it!"
Kalazar released his grip on Demon's body and shifted back into the deepest abyss' of his mind, letting Demon's consciousness slip back, Demon happy to have control of his body… until he felt the pain. His head was spinning from the use of his supposed semblance and he was breathing raggedly, feeling as though he was being strangled. It took a few moments for him to regain his composure, standing up on weak limbs and sheathing his weapon, looking behind him and smiling at the work of his inner demon.
Why the hell do you hide this stuff from me?
"Well… to be truthful, it's because every time I take the life from a creature, it fuels the fire that rages within me and allows me insane powers… although whenever I am not in my true form, it requires me to use that energy to fuel my powers, although it does tend to leave me… drained"
True form?
"You have not yet seen me at my full power… something I hope to achieve soon, but now I cannot be called upon for more strenuous fighting, so I left you with a bit of a present before I sleep for a while"
Present?
"I can tell you now that you'll find your reflexes and strength… a bit better than last time and you can thank me for unlocking your semblance…"
Umm… thanks?
Just as Demon recovered from the pain and talk with Kalazar, he heard the absolutely deafening roar of the crowd cheering. They all were cheering for him, Demon finally regaining his thoughts and walking over to HNTR, helping them up as they stuttered for thoughts on the battle.
"How… did… you do that?" stuttered the leader, Demon holding his arm to help him up, picking the Great Sword up and handing it back to him. Althouhgh he didn't exactly notice how little effort it took.
"I honestly have no idea… I didn't even have my semblance until now!"
The leader just shook his head and was carried off stage by the Bowgunner, the Switch Axe wielder taking off as well while the Gunlancer stayed behind.
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" she commented, reminding him heavily of Ruby. "We were totally going to crush you but then you were like WACHA! And be couldn't even touch you! What's your name?"
"Name's Demon… sorry if I hurt you"
"Pfft… I'm fine… you don't wear armour like this and get hurt from a couple of slashes! My name's Natalia by the way! I've got to go but I wish you luck for the next round!" she chided happily, smiling and jogging off after her team.
Demon smiled and went over to the side of the arena where the rest of his team was recovering… except for Sid… he was kinda in pieces. Kira was in the process of massaging Rosaline's back, mainly because Rosaline had been absolutely pummelled by the axe. Kira looked up when she heard Demon approaching and gave him a death stare.
"What?" he asked, a bit confused by her action.
"How did you do that… you literally beat a fourth year team single-handidly… and you let us get smashed in the first couple of seconds!"
"That wasn't my fault!"
"IT WAS YOUR BLOODY PLAN!"
Rosaline stirred from her pained state and turned her head to look up at Demon.
"Stop arguing guy's… we won and that's what counts…" she finished, turning her head back down and urging Kira to continue the massage.
"Grrr… you're lucky you have her you know…" Kira conceded, continuing to work Rosaline's bones back into place, hearing the cracking and snapping as her muscles righted themselves. After a while, RWBY, JNPR and the Angels came down to congratulate them.
"YOUR SEMBLANCE IS SO AWESOME!" Ruby squieled with exitement, grabbing onto his arm and hugging him tightly.
"That was… badass" Yang praised him, punching him in congratulations.
"Quite the show you put on there Mr Demon" came the sombre voice of Ozpin which startled everyone. They all turned to see him, Miss Goodwich standing straight at his side, Ozpin holding his trademarked coffee mug and cane in his hands. "Your semblance appears to be at the strength that would be hard to achieve even with graduated Huntsmen… and you have just unlocked it… but there is something else I am here to discuss"
"And what would that be?" asked Demon, genuinely curious about what he was here for.
"While I was watching your performance, I noticed something a little strange… something about your shadow"
"My shadow?"
Miss Goodwich replied for him by holding up her screen and playing a video, that of the fight that had just taken place. It began from the beginning, DRSK cringing as they watched themselves get absolutely smashed, until they made it to the part just after Demon had detonated his Satchel Charges. They saw as the shadow that was seen on the floor began to shift and grow hazier, growing to something that probably should have been something the size of a Deathstalker. The main body of the shape stopped growing, although two, long wing-like shadows branched off from the main body and two small spikes came from the top, centre of the body. The shadow looked like the shadow of any other creature, although wisps of darkness flickered off of the main body like flames. The strange shadow followed Demon's exact movements throughout the battle until it dissipated at the end.
"I… have no idea what that is" Demon explained, half truthfully knowing it had something to do with Kalazar.
"Are you sure you haven't seen that happen before?" Ozpin asked, a small amount of concern filling his voice.
"Never… I think people would have seen if it had happened before"
"Hmmm… well I ask you all to keep an eye on it and inform me the moment it happens again"
"Will do sir!" Ruby happily chided, standing up straight and doing a mock salute.
Ozpin smiled and walked off, Miss Goodwich following in close step behind him, leaving the others to talk. They all conversed normally, Demon casually moving through everyone, getting to just at the door of the exit before he was stopped by Josh.
"You're welcome!" he told him, a smirk crossing his face.
"YOU! WHY THE HELL DID YOU GET ROSALINE DRUNK LAST NIGHT!"
"What? Oh… she didn't tell you?"
"Ummm… tell me what?"
"I knew this would happen… well… umm… let's just say I was your wingman for the night"
"You better start explaining fast…" Demon warned, warning coursing through his voice.
"Ummm… well… Rosaline kinda wanted to know how to get closer to you… so I tipped her off about what makes you tick"
"And how the hell does this relate to last night!"
"Well… I just told her you couldn't resist crying girls…"
It then finally clicked in Demon's brain, his face turning a shade of red that could have challenged Ruby's cloak.
"She wasn't drunk was she…" he said, tossing the idea through his mind… not liking it one bit.
"Kinda?" he answered, slightly hesitant to tell him.
Demon's heart stopped, starting once again after Kalazar didn't like the idea of dying and pulsed energy through it, Demon not moving for near a minute.
"I'm… just… going… to go do something…" he stuttered, his mind not working very well as he walked out of the complex. He blindly headed through the crowd, the people around him subconsciously moving away from his frightening presence, until he made it to the landing pads where bullheads back to Beacon were waiting… although he never did get into one. He was barely thinking as he stepped off the side of the even higher floating city, hearing the faint sounds of people shouting after him.
Oh… I'm falling…
He didn't really think too much of it, not at all seeming to care as he didn't even make any actions to right his problem, plummeting about a kilometre every minute. His finally actually realised what was happening and spread his limbs out to right his body so that he was in a skydiving position, watching the ground coming towards him at a very fast speed.
Hmm… probably should have thought this through…
Demon heard a loud groaning noise, one that he assumed to be Kalazar stirring in his mind, before he fell unconscious and woke up again to find himself safely standing on the ground in the middle of the Emerald Forest. He thanked Kalazar then went back to the topic at hand… the one topic he didn't quite understand at the current moment.
Why would she do that?... does she really feel that deeply about me?
He contemplated the idea for a bit before he saw a message that came from Ruby.
HAWK! Are you alright! We got a message from Velvet that said that you jumped off the side of the arena! What happened! – Ruby
He thought through how he should respond… on one hand he could tell the truth and perhaps embarrass Rosaline, possibly ending whatever they had between them… on the other he could come up with something that would explain it.
What the hell could explain me jumping off the side of a floating building… other than Yang
He quickly came up with the best excuse he could and sent it off.
I'm sorry but I needed a breath of fresh air… finding out my semblance and that I have some weird shadow thing made me a bit anxious… sorry if I worried you – Demon
It took about 5 seconds for a response to find its way to his message banks.
You do have sisters you can talk to… It's alright if you want to be by yourself for a while but just be safe ok? – Ruby
He smiled at her thoughtfulness and got back to thinking about what he should do. It took him a while to realise that it had actually gotten dark by the time the sun was dipping below the horizon, Demon checking the time to see when it was, 8:56 it read. He nearly smacked himself, getting up to go to his dorm until he realised that Rosaline would be there… so he idd the most obvious thing someone could do… he decided to sleep under the stars… in the middle of the Emerald Forest… which was infested with Grimm.
Pfft… what's the worst that could happen?
Demon drift to sleep, letting the dark embrace of the night cover him as he slept on soft grass. His dreams were filled with nothing but hate and confusion, Demon not having the slightest hint of a good dream as he tossed and turned. As he awoke from his restless sleep as the bright rays of sunshine reached his eyes, he immediately felt something that was a bit odd… there was something soft and furry pressed against his back. He silently turned over and then came face-to-face with something he definitely didn't want to see. He was staring into the dark red and orange eyes of a Beowulf…
Oh… shit…
