Author's note: *insert Solid Snake reference from a game I haven't played. Anyway, here we are.
Chapter 33: Back At Last
"So you've returned. It has been a while, has it not? Has it felt like the blink of an eye? A few weeks? A hundred years? Or was it as though we never parted at all? We've swum through time, you and I. Walked the paths of our lives. And now, here we are again. Once more, you dip your toes in this river. But one never does step in the same waters twice, does one?
And yet, you've returned. To hear the tales of warriors. Of demons. Of gods. Questions, I asked. And perhaps, if your eyes were sharp, you were able to find answers. Yet, much there is that remains unknown.
What? Eager to continue?
Then know this at least. All your hopes and dreams, all that you hold dear and cherish, all that you know to be firm and unshakeable… a time may come when it all comes crumbling down. From here on forth, we walk with chaos."
Lucifer put down his quill next to the parchment upon which he had been writing. He did rather like stories. He liked writing them. He liked telling them. He liked hearing them. He liked watching them. But most of all, he liked living them. A story, after all, was a journey. And in the end, that was life: a journey. Everyone had destinations in mind. Few reached them. Lucifer himself wasn't sure that it really mattered if one reached the goal at the end or not. No, ultimately, the journey itself became far more valuable. And yet, all journeys must come to an end.
"I've set it up for you, Legendary Devil Hunter. A stage worthy of you. Laid it all out in front of you, the castles of the mighty."
He stood up, a slight smile on his face, even as his eyes shone with the light and dark of existence itself.
"It's time. Let's see you knock them all down."
"I thought you guys could heal up fast," said Yang.
Malevar shot her a dirty look. "It's a miracle to heal from a broken back at all", he said.
"Not sure if 'miracle' is the word I'd use for what you lot do, but hey, as long as it gets the job done."
"Miserable wench," the sorcerer muttered. "The world might be different but humans are the same insufferable upstarts."
"Yeah, yeah. Just focus on the healing, all right?"
Malevar glared, but did not reply. His body, still in the form of a human, glowed as he closed his eyes. He had managed to recover enough of his power to cast a healing spell on himself to quicken his demonic regeneration. Already, he could feel his spine coming back together, undoing the damage it had suffered at Cu Chulainn's hands. A few minutes later, he regained feeling in his limbs. He experimentally curled his fingers and toes, raising his hand and bending his legs. Seeing that he could do that much without issue, he slowly sat up. "That… is the last time I enter the battlefield."
"Back to your cowardly ways, I see," came a voice from a little further away. Valkyrie was relatively unhurt. She had taken less damage than Malevar, though she was exhausted as well.
"I'll leave the thrashing around to brutes such as yourself," the Serpent shot back, even as he grunted, slowly managing to stand up. He glanced warily at Cu Chulainn.
The Hound had taken a tremendous amount of damage himself. The worst of it had healed, but his leg could still barely move, forcing him to lean against a tree to stay upright. Of course, he sensed the Serpent's glance, and glared right back.
"Hey, easy there, big guy," said Yang, stepping between the two. "No more of that."
The former Irish god looked at her for a while, then glanced away.
"You need not worry. I have no intention of fighting worms", he said.
Malevar was about to fire back, when someone tapped his back.
"Just let it go," said Weiss, who had some experience in dealing with people who tried her patience. "It isn't worth it."
The Serpent grunted. As much as it irked him to admit, this human had a point. She did seem a little more on the sensible side compared to her peers. Perhaps he should study her…
"Look, this isn't exactly how we wanted to get to know you all," said Ruby, addressing all three of the demons. "But the truth is, we set out looking for you. You call yourselves the Five, right?"
"An unwise decision," said Valkyrie. "As a resident of this world, you should know: your wilds are not suitable for humans."
"We aren't just any humans," said Ruby. "We're hunters!"
"And not just any hunters either," said Penny, looking Valkyrie in the eye. "They are the disciples of the Legendary Devil Hunter himself."
All four of the warrior's eyes widened.
"... You are disciples of Dante?"
Team RWBY nodded.
"That explains much," the swordswoman muttered.
"Look, we don't want a fight. We originally set out so that Penny could meet her mother. She's one of you."
Valkyrie glanced at the younger demon.
"You are the Seer's daughter…"
Penny met her stare with one of her own, her fists uncharacteristically clenched.
"... Very well. You've more than proven yourselves. We shall take you back to Hoperow."
Before another word could be uttered, she narrowed her eyes.
At first, Yang had no idea why. Then, a few seconds later, she could hear it too.
A high pitched humming, growing steadily louder. Another second later, it came into view, high above then,
"Is that… an assault Bullhead?" she asked.
"That's an Atlessian battleship," said Weiss, recognising it instantly. "What's it doing all the way out… here- oh no."
Realisation sunk in. Of course, there was no way all of Remnant wasn't aware of what had happened here. And there was no way the Four Kingdoms wouldn't take action.
"Shit! That craft is designed to drop destructive payloads!"
"They're going to bomb us?!" said Ruby.
"There's no time!" said Blake. "We have to move."
"It's no use!" yelled Yang. "These guys are too injured to run right now!"
It was true: all three of the demons were utterly exhausted. While under normal circumstances, any of them were capable of shooting the battleship out of the sky, right now, they were struggling to stand. Even with their regeneration, it would be a while before they recovered enough to run or fight.
And time wasn't something they had.
"It's too late for us," said Valkyrie. "But not for you. Run. Hoperow is not far. You should be able to get away."
"No way we're leaving you lot here!" said Yang.
"Foolish child…"
The blonde did not reply. The battleship's shadow was growing quickly. In a moment, it had enveloped them.
Well, this is a shit way to die.
This wasn't going to be how it all ended, right?
Not after everything they had been through.
And then, she remembered.
Remnant had someone capable of erasing bad endings from existence.
There had been no chance to make a Scroll call during the fight. But now, now she realised. Maybe she had never needed to.
That sort of thing was rooted in logic.
Logic, huh? As if something like that matters to him.
Closing her eyes, she shouted as loudly as she could.
She hadn't even finished saying his name when a different shadow had enveloped her.
Her eyes opened enough to catch a glimpse of a flash of red.
Far above, the battleship's pilot did what he had been ordered to, and deployed the payload. He was given his orders, and he followed. Like any soldier.
It was what happened next that completely defied the reality he knew.
It was too fast for him to really make out properly. In fact, he was sure he was hallucinating. But he could have sworn the ship camera showed a man in a red jacket, spinning in one hand the single largest sword he had ever seen, before grasping it in a two-handed grip and winding back. The movement wasn't unfamiliar to the pilot. In fact, he had seen it many times as a child, performed it many times himself, in the park when playing with his friends. Except, when he had done it, it had been with a wooden bat, against a ball.
Not a gigantic sword, against an entire fucking Compound Dust bomb.
He knew how much that thing weighed. The minute details of that monstrosity had been drilled into him and every other pilot: it was expected of every single Atlessian military personnel to know the specifications of all of their weaponry.
The Compound Dust bomb was a pressure-sensitive structure made of highly dense alloy. In total, it weighed 10,000 tons. It was the single most destructive weapon in Remnant, designated only for use in the worst case scenario, capable of wiping out entire sections of the world map.
And it had just been sent flying back into the sky with a perfect homerun swing.
The man in red took a moment to admire his own shot. As though he knew exactly what was happening, he looked right at the ship's camera, winking.
"Been a while. You all miss me?"
Flipping a black handgun into his grip, he aimed high in the air, grinning.
"Jackpot."
For a single moment, his silhouette seemed to flash, turning into something else.
Then, what shot forth from his gun was a ray of pure energy that pierced right through the bomb. The unstable Dust within detonated, and the explosion began to spread, only for even that to be completely snuffed out of existence by the beam of crimson power, replaced by a magnificent blast that sent scarlet sparks showering in every direction.
The pilot stared for several seconds at the camera screen before managing to collect his own jaw off the floor.
He'd heard the rumours. Even seen the footage.
But now, he'd seen it firsthand.
"Did he just… challenge a nuke to a fight and win?"
Screw this. He wasn't getting paid enough for this.
"I'm handing in my papers when I get back," he decided, as he turned the ship around.
Team RWBY stared at the new arrival. But they weren't the only ones staring in awe. For the first time since they had met her, Penny was dumbstruck. As a matter of fact, even the three demon lords were completely frozen.
"Took you long enough," said Yang, finally.
Dante turned around.
"Sorry about that," he said. "Had business to take care of, as you know. But it's all right. I'm here now. So let's get this show back on the road."