Chapter 5: Emissary of Darkness.

An idle mind, as they say, is the devil's workshop. An adage Dante fully believed in. Well, in spirit, if not in letter. After all, what if you were a devil to begin with? But the idea still stood. It was best to be active, and life was meant to be spent doing things. Since coming to Remnant, his daily routine gave him no time to sit around and get bored. And that was exactly how he liked it. Back at the Devil May Cry, there had been long waiting periods between jobs, and those had been the hardest parts. It was exactly the other way around in Remnant. Just today alone, he'd already fought a demon, and now, he needed to follow up on the investigation he'd been conducting. A month of undercover work had paid off. Dante had needed to help Torchwick out with his robberies, but it had had its benefits. In the first place, he knew exactly what Torchwick was stealing. He also knew the White Fang was working with him. And finally, he had been able to earn the criminal's trust.

And that had led to tonight's opportunity. Dante had never actually said anything about wanting to meet whoever it is Torchwick was working for. That sort of statement would have been instantly suspicious. He knew that there must be a higher up though. Torchwick's interests were money, and the pleasures of life. He was a rational man. Morally dubious, but rational. In other words, starting a war wasn't the kind of thing he'd do for kicks. He needed a reason, an employer who paid him to do things like that. And he needed skilled allies. That was where Dante came in. As long as he showed interest in the same thing as Torchwick, he would eventually get a chance to go deeper into the organization. The text he had received tonight was sudden. Always, there were prior preparations for a job. Since he hadn't been told anything about an impending robbery, it was likely this meeting was for something else.

Dante walked down the hallways of Beacon. It was already late evening. Dinner wasn't until a little later. Right now, most students were either studying, working out, sparring, or just relaxing and having fun. As a result, the corridors were mostly empty.

Mostly.

As the devil hunter turned a corner, he saw two familiar faces, engaged in a heated argument.

"...Absolutely inexcusable! That move put us both in danger!"

"Hey, I was only trying to help! It's not my fault if you can't keep up."

Snow White and Little Red, huh?

It appeared Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose were having quite the argument. From what Dante could make out, it was about something that had happened in a training exercise earlier that day.

As much as I'd like to save the day here, I really have places to be.

So thinking, Dante decided to let the two of them sort this out by themselves. Of course, as he was walking past, the two girls noticed him, and they both had other plans about the matter.

"Professor!"

"Dante!"

Of course.

"Hey, kids. Sorry, can't stay right now. Got some stuff to take-"

"Would you please explain to this irresponsible girl that it's a bad idea to swing that oversized farming implement of hers around when a friendly is in the vicinity?"

"How dare you speak that way about Crescent Rose! Dante, tell her she's not doing it right! She needs to be able to pick up on my cues and coordinate, or get out of the way!"

Dante sighed. They weren't about to let him just go. To be fair, they did seem to have a valid issue. But right now just wasn't the time to deal with it.

"I'll tell you what. Tomorrow's class, we'll deal with fighting together in groups, all right? It's a subject we have to face."

"Perfect! I look forward to proving you wrong!", both the girls said to each other at the same time.

Shaking his head, Dante walked on.

As he did, he became aware someone was watching him.

So because she's a cat Faunus, she likes trees?

He wondered if he should wave at Blake Belladonna and let her know that he had sensed her presence in the courtyard. But honestly, seeing as the girl went to such lengths to conceal her Faunus identity, it would probably be a bit of a shock to her, so he decided not to do it.

Okay, so that makes 3 of them. If I play it cool, I can avoid the fourth. She's the most difficult-

"Hey, what's up, teach?"

Dante rolled his eyes.

I jinxed it, didn't I?

Meanwhile, in another world:

Vergil laughed, feeling a sudden burst of mirth for some unknown reason.

"How amusing," he said. "If I'm correct, it appears my brother's landed himself in some trouble."

Feeling much better, he went back to what he was doing. These "video games" as they were called, were interesting in their own way. They were a little slow, but fun nonetheless.

Back in Remnant:

Dante watched the resident troublemaker of the first years approach him.

"Yang," he said. "Nice seeing you here, kid. Cool night and all. Enjoy the scenery. I've gotta go-"

"Wow, you're in quite a hurry, aren't you?" said the brawler. She suggestively lowered her eyelids. "Got a hot date?"

"Has no one given you the talk about boundaries?" asked Dante.

"Aww, come on. No need to be a prude. This school's only got like one cool teacher. You've got some responsibilities to fulfil."

"I'm trying to. Yet here we are."

"Yep. So what'cha up to?"

"Sorry, can't say."

She looked like she was about to use the "cool teacher" line again, so Dante decided to interrupt her.

"All right, look. You want something fun, right? How about this: tomorrow, I'll reveal something insane. And you'll be one of the very few students in this school to know it."

This was true. Dante already had a few students in mind for his demon hunting class aside from team CFVY, and Yang was one of them. Apart from her skills and power, she had the right attitude for the job (though he'd really have to teach her to temper that brashness with cool thought). Unpredictability and a versatile offense were key against demons, but she'd need to work a bit on her tendency to get riled up. If she could do that, though, she would make a good demon hunter.

That, and she had another quality Dante was looking for.

The reason he had told Ozpin he was going to choose his own students wasn't only so that he could pick those who had the aptitude.

He needed them to be trustworthy.

Dante did not trust Ozpin completely. The man was hiding things from him. And he was also attempting to get information out of Dante. This demon hunting class was just another way to do so. Dante's counter for that was to teach only those he did trust. Those students, who, if it came down to it, would choose the right thing over Ozpin.

Yang was a lot of things, but she wasn't anyone's pawn. And her heart was in the right place.

Of course, she didn't know about any of these considerations. At the moment, all she saw was another adventure waiting to be embarked on.

"Whoa-ho-ho, teach. Now you really got me excited. You're serious about this, right?"

"Absolutely."

Yang grinned.

The thought of some kind of crazy future adventure was enough to get her to let him go for now.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Dante continued on his way. However, by now, he was wary of being accosted again. He decided not to risk it. Simply stepping out of the corridor into the courtyard, he jumped for the walls, clearing them in one massive leap, and then summoned a platform using his demon energy, jumping straight forward off it, far out of sight.

Yang stared for a while at the point where Dante had disappeared from sight.

"So… he doesn't need to fly?"

Shortly afterwards:

Dante stood on the roof of a building in downtown Vale. There was still some time before he was meant to meet Torchwick. He closed his eyes, and reached out with his mental link to the Devil Arms he was connected to.

"Hey, you guys. You saw all of this, right?"

"What are you referring to?" asked Balrog.

"He is obviously talking about demonic presence in this world," said Cerberus' icy head.

"Pretty much," replied Dante. "I need a way to track down whatever demons made their way here. Also, if there are any portals still open, I need to shut them down."

The voice that spoke next was one Dante had only heard for the first time today.

"The portal I came through closed right after I crossed over," said Orion. "The Qliphoth was completely destroyed. No portals could have survived without power to fuel them."

"But any number of them could have been open for the brief moments before that happened."

"It should be possible to locate any demons who came through them using my Devil Arm."

Dante stretched out a hand, and allowed Orion to manifest in it. He hadn't tried out the Devil Arm, or explored its capabilities yet. But this was a good opportunity to do so. As he channeled his demonic energy into it, he became aware of additional sensory information coming to his brain. The eyes on the bow had opened, and Dante was seeing through them in addition to his own eyes. Not only that, but his hearing and smell had been enhanced vastly too.

Yeah. This should be able to do it. I just need to push it a little further.

Not sensing anyone in the vicinity who could see or hear him, Dante jumped upwards. Right at the peak of his jump, he unleashed his power, allowing it to transform him into his Devil Trigger form. Releasing the Sin Devil Trigger would attract too much attention. The explosion of energy from the transformation would be easily visible out in the open. On the other hand, the red lightning bolt from the Devil Trigger form would be mistaken for a storm, especially given how high up Dante was.

Up in the sky, Dante beat his mighty wings, hovering far above the land. From here, he could use Orion to his full potential. Holding the bow in front of him, as though about to draw its string back, he allowed its eyes to maximize their field of vision, using his Devil Trigger to strengthen their ability.

Sniper Eye: The Hunter of the Underworld had phenomenal vision, able to spot and track prey from thousands of miles away. Using his bow allows Dante to call upon the same sight.

Dante scanned Vale to the extent of Orion's sight in every direction.

Interesting.

He did indeed see some other demons.

But that wasn't all he saw.

Scattered across the land, he saw various Grimm that were acting as eyes.

"Hmph."

Satisfied with what he had seen, he transformed back to his human form. As he fell through the sky, he summoned a series of Trickster circles to step on to slow down his descent, lightly landing on the same roof he had been on earlier.

"Looks like I might get to have some fun," he said.

He'd noted the positions of the nearest demons. There weren't a lot of them. He could eliminate them all within a day if he wanted to. But this was an opportunity.

Right now, each of the demons that had crossed over was in isolation, and none of them were near any human settlements. Orion had been an outlier that way. All the others were busy making sport of Grimm.

Hmm… maybe I could take the students along. There's no experience like practical experience. It's too early to let them fight those guys. But if I were to give them a demo, they'd at least know what's happening.

But is that really the best option?

He'd need to think about it.

The other thing to note was those weird eyeball Grimm. They were clearly acting as cameras for someone. That much was clear from their anatomy.

He wanted to know who that someone was. Something told him they might be the current big bad on this planet.

At any rate, he now had more information to work with. And knowing Orion's capabilities, he should be able to obtain more. Maybe he should try patrolling the skies with his Devil Trigger. For now, though, he had a meeting to get to. Taking off his jacket, he flipped it inside out, and put it on again. Now, it presented a blue front to the world. He slicked back his hair, mimicking a certain Dark Slayer's style and mannerisms. And finally, he called upon Cerberus, who was his trademark Devil Arm when he was playing his Tony Redgrave persona in front of Torchwick and his cohorts.

Warehouse 10. Dante knew the place quite well. It was mostly unused due to ownership disputes, and locked down (at least according to official records). It was one of the several spots in town used for meetings by the criminal alliance. Arriving at the location, Dante walked up to the front door and pushed it open. Walking in, he looked around. There weren't any lights on. That wasn't a problem. The devil hunter had near-perfect vision even in pitch darkness, since his eyes had their own internal light source. Meaning, he noticed the two teens hiding in the rafters, armed and poised to attack him. They were both wearing some kind of goggles, most likely to help them see in the dark.

You want me to make you look like idiots right off the bat? Your choice.

The two of them jumped down, one of them going for a hammer kick, the other a slash with one of two blades she was holding. Moving with inhuman speed and agility, Dante stepped back to avoid the kick, then flipped over the extended leg, turning over in the air and launching himself at the girl with the blade. Caught completely unprepared, she was struck with a boot to the face, and sent flying. Her partner, who had tried attacking with a kick, wasn't ready to be countered either, but quickly followed up once he saw the blade wielder taking a hit. He rushed forward and attempted a side kick to the mysterious new recruit's head. As if he knew the attack was coming, the man sprawled low and swung his own leg in a low sweep that knocked away the teen's footing, causing him to land on his shoulder. Before he could recover, he had a metal staff right in his face, inches from his nose.

Dante smirked.

"All the competence of beginners," he said, mimicking his brother's style of trash talking. He looked to the far wall, where Torchwick was sitting. "Was there a point to this little game?"

Roman likewise smirked.

He did not like the woman he was working with one bit, and seeing her two loyal proteges get humiliated by his new ally did wonders for his mood. It was worth dealing with all the annoyances of the day just to see her this pissed off. And pissed off she was indeed, he could tell that, though she was keeping her poker face on.

She signalled, and the White Fang members switched the lights on.

"Unhh… how even…" muttered the boy Dante had toppled with the sweep kick. The devil hunter pulled Cerberus away, giving him room to stand back up again. Several feet away, the girl wielding the twin blades was also getting to her feet, clutching her nose. A boot to the face tends to not feel so good. Both of them glared at the silver-haired warrior, but he showed no reaction to this. Vergil's standard expression was stoic and emotionless, and his standard reaction to people he had just defeated was utter contempt, and both of these Dante conveyed to great effect.

"So you are the new recruit. It seems the rumours of your skill were not exaggerated."

He saw the woman walking towards him. She wore a red dress, and had long black hair. She put on a sultry expression as she approached, though Dante saw through it right away. She was sizing him up, and was calculating by nature. The seductive demeanour was probably something she used to unsettle people mentally, making them easier to manipulate or otherwise deal with. Dante, having gone through the same song and dance plenty of times in the past, was completely unfazed.

It was tempting to play along and beat her at her own game, but that was something Dante would have done, not the Vergil-inspired Tony Redgrave he was currently playing.

"Who are you?" he asked directly.

"Cinder Fall," the woman replied. "You are already familiar with my allies, Mercury and Emerald."

Dante gave no reply, instead looking at Torchwick, who decided it was probably best to smooth things over. He walked towards them, joined by his ever-present partner, Neo, who materialized from a patch of air that shimmered for a moment.

"Miss Fall is our client, Tony," he said, as he approached. "She wanted to see your skills for herself after I told her about you."

"Is that so?"

As he had thought, someone else was behind all this. Torchwick was merely the one they had chosen to do their work for them. It was unlikely this Cinder Fall woman was in charge of everything, though. No, the big bad usually liked to pull the strings from a safer distance than this. Meaning, she was at best a subordinate of theirs.

Still, she'd have valuable info. Dante's investigation was bearing fruit.

"Indeed," said Cinder. "And as I've said, you didn't disappoint. There is so much to be done, and so much you can do…"

Although she said this, she was not happy at all. While she hadn't expected her two underlings to actually defeat the new recruit, she was hoping they would at least be able to land a few blows, and stalemate him, or even gain the upper hand. From there, she would have a favourable power dynamic to work with. What had happened, of course, was completely different. The mysterious man had outclassed the two warriors completely. He was good. Too good. Meaning, he could not be controlled by force. The other way was through finesse.

But everytime she looked into his icy blue eyes, something told her it was a bad idea to try and manipulate him. It was like he was hiding something. She had no idea what it was, but her instincts warned her against making him reveal it.

She looked away and grimaced. If he couldn't be intimidated or manipulated, then only one other way remained.

She would have to offer him something he wanted.

That was another curious matter, actually.

"Tell me, Mr. Redgrave… what do you hope to gain from working with us?" she asked.

Dante decided to tell the truth.

"I thought it might be interesting," he said. He looked at Torchwick for a moment. "And then, of course, there is money to be made."

Cinder raised an eyebrow. Money? He was doing this for money, and because it might be interesting? Just what exactly did he think was happening here? Did he know what was going on? What their true intentions were? No… no, that wasn't possible.

Unless… he was Ozpin's spy.

The possibility alarmed her.

If he really were working for him, he would have an idea of what their endgame was. With the information he might be able to gain from infiltrating their operation, he could potentially ruin everything for them!

She couldn't risk that.

But… how was she supposed to find out if he was indeed an undercover agent? There was almost no information about him. Even the Scroll Torchwick had given him couldn't be used to reveal anything. Whenever he wasn't with them, its location could not be detected. Unknown to her, of course, the reason for this was Beacon's own security field, which prevented external tracking programs on any device within its radius from working. Of course, it would still have been easy to figure out where he was staying if his phone's signal disappeared every time he neared the academy.

Dante was not an expert with modern technology. But spending time with Lady had taught him a few interesting things. She often talked about how cell phones could be used to track people, and how she had done so herself to locate targets. And she had happened to mention the problem with this technique: no information was transmitted if the phone was turned off. He was also aware of Beacon's security field, since Oobleck had let that fact slip during one of their conversations. The solution, then, was obvious. Whenever Dante finished a heist with Torchwick or his associates, he would turn off the Scroll. It was obvious to him that the criminal wouldn't be kind enough to gift him the device just for communication purposes. Its true purpose was to spy on him. And so, Dante would only return to Beacon with the Scroll off, not turning it back on again until he was within its walls, making it impossible to track his movements.

It was a simple strategy. But it made sure no one would be able to connect him to Beacon.

And for Cinder, that meant she had nothing on him. No information at all, other than his extraordinary skill as a warrior, and what he himself had told her, that he was doing this for the money, and the amusement.

She thought hard. There had to be some way to make sure he was (or wasn't) a spy.

And as the answer came to her, she smirked.

There was indeed a way.