In the waning hours of the morning, aboard a ship orbiting the planet, several knights watched live footage of a plane in flight.
"That's the plane that hellspawn is on?" one asked, crossing his arms. "How long before it reaches its destination?"
"Several hours." another said. "If it manages to get loose, it will slaughter tons of innocent people. We're gonna have to intercept it."
"Why wait?" a third said. "We could just board the plane in the air, hunt down that thing and-"
"Risk bringing down the plane and everyone on it? Forget it, Brother Judas." the first knight said. "We're just gonna have to get it when it lands."
"What kind of power set are we dealing with here, Brother John?" the second asked.
"Let's see…it seems it's capable of keeping conscious death masks of the people it kills. Disgusting. Meanwhile, its primary weapon seems to be its tail." John read off.
"Hmm…good. Nothing we can't handle. What do you think, sir?" Judas turned around to address a man sitting down, dressed in regal, yet functional armor, with a silver, almost divine feeling sword, strapped at his side.
"If this demon is as wicked as you claim it to be…then it cannot be allowed to remain alive for long." the man said, standing up. "Prepare your soldiers, Prideful Crusade. We will meet this fiend in battle, and send it back from whence it came."
"As you say, Sir Franz." John said. "Brother Philip, gather several gunners, and send for Brother Nathanael. His spear will be needed. I will join you at the scout ship."
"Very well. Go in peace, Brother John." the knight called Philip said as he headed off to gather the requested forces.
"You sure you don't need me down there? I could run circles around that TMNT reject." Judas said.
"No, Brother Judas. Stay here, and oversee our preparations." John said. "You are strong, but this calls for those who fight from a distance."
"Eh, fair enough." Judas shrugged. "Give that hellspawn bastard a holy beatdown, Brother John."
"I will do so. Go in peace, Brother Judas." John said as he too headed out, Judas watching the screen with the plane.
"(Better watch out, Jinmen…the Crusades' got your number.)" Judas thought to himself.
Meanwhile, down below, with the Alliance…
"Hey guys, what's our…" Mark started to say, walking into the Galaxy King's main meeting room, only to see that Akira was there, pacing back and forth. "Uh…when did Akira get here?"
"About three hours ago." Catra said. "He's been doing this the whole time."
"Something must be happening today to leave him unsettled." Thorani said.
"And no one's even bothered to ask?"
"We didn't really wanna bother him." Makoto said.
"We might as well try and find out what's-" Izuku suggested.
"NO!" Akira exclaimed, drawing the group's attention, before he then calmed down. "...Don't do that. Believe me when I say that you shouldn't walk into whatever you're trying to find unprepared."
"Akira, what is going on? What is it about today that has you so worked up?" Rebecca asked.
"...There are two demons that I have a particular hatred for, enough for it to persist between these loops." Akira admitted, as his face tightened up with a wrathful expression, as he clenched his fists hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. "It's obvious who one of them is, but the other… that's what I'm worried about you guys facing."
"Well don't leave us in suspense, give us a name, who is this guy?" Ragna asked.
"Jinmen…he's the bastard who is responsible for the death of my parents." Akira growled. "You know that call we received in that studio…? That was the last call she ever made to me, because after that… Jinmen took her. He used my father to get to her… and both of them are part of his depraved collection he prides himself about."
"To borrow one of Simon's quotes… that guy sounds like an asshole." DW typed.
"It's far worse than that." Akira snarled. "...He deserves to rot eternally in whatever hell would take him. Listen, I'm going to tell you why I don't want you guys fighting him. Because he will do anything to live and win. He'll use his own collection to defend himself, because he knows that you won't dare to strike them, believing that you can save them. But he has hold of their souls, which is why he has their faces… Once you're taken by Jinmen, there's no way to save them other than releasing them from his captivity into a merciful death… at least, that's all that I know. So far, not even Dark Hell has any idea how to free them."
"That sounds much worse than a Legion demon." Goutou said.
"Before we continue on this…" Izuku remarked. "...About Miki, is everything fine with her?"
"Yeah, thanks to you guys setting the scene, she believes it more as a dream." Akira nodded back. "I mean, look at you guys, when you defended her, you weren't exactly the most… realistic of beings, right?"
"I guess…" David admitted.
"I can handle this alone if I have to." Akira answered back. "I've been through this entire debacle more times than I can count… and I recognise his patterns almost back to front. But even so… Even so…"
Akira then placed a hand over his chest, lowering his head, as he thought about his parents and their cruel demise.
"...It still hurts. Every time." Akira admitted with a solemn tone.
"Listen, man. A lot of us know how it feels to lose people close. And you… You lost everything in all those loops. That's why we swore we will do everything we can to make sure none of it happens this time. We have a habit of changing fate, so if there is anything you need us to do, anything at all, just say the word and we'll do it." David said.
"He's right, you're not facing this alone anymore." Ace added.
Akira's expression softened at these declarations, looking up at them. "I…really appreciate that." he said. "I…I know this won't be as 'fun' as the last time, but…thank you, for being there."
"Of course. That's what we're here for." Mark said. "Like David said, is there anything we can do?"
"...Just…I might need to come here afterwards." Akira said.
"We'll have the warm soup and blanket ready and waiting for you, Devilman." Eddy saluted.
Akira snorted and laughed at that. "I can taste it already." he said with a small smile. "Well, I better get back before breakfast with Miki's family. They're preparing bonito flakes with rice. I got a good joke from my childhood that I could play with Taro."
"You sure you don't want us to help you out on this one?" Hope asked.
"...Only if you're prepared to see it for yourself." Akira firmly answered back. "Just the fact that you guys are willing to help me… that's more than I expected from all of you. Once again, thanks for the help."
"You're welcome, Akira." Jexi smiled back.
As Ryo and Akira went to Narita Airport, the two of them were silent for most of the trip.
"So, yeah, thanks to our new friends, Miki really thinks that all of this is a dream." Akira admitted. "And with you manipulating the GPS… we got a air-tight alibi."
"Did she get a good look at your Devil form?" Ryo questioned back.
"Well, I'm sure that she was out cold for-" Akira remarked, before Ryo played back a recording.
"For some reason, I have the feeling that you and the others saved me." Miki's voice played back.
"That doesn't prove anything, Ryo." Akira dead-panned.
"It is said that dreams have a sliver of truth to them." Ryo argued back. "Don't get complacent, just because you have friends who are willing to help us cover all of this up neatly."
"Yeah, yeah…" Akira remarked, before he lounged back, looking up to the sky, before he then briefly caught sight of some sort of craft descending, as it seemed to be invisible to the naked eye, although Akira's senses warned him of it. "...Huh?"
"Is something the matter, Akira?" Ryo asked, as Akira was silent for a moment, as the craft disappeared through the maze of skyscrapers and high-rise buildings.
"Just saw something, that's all." Akira remarked, as his eyes narrowed. '(Seems that things aren't going to be easy as I expected.)"
At the airport, a technician was working on a recently landed plane, before he caught sight of something odd: several men in knight clothing were walking towards the plane, some of them armed with weapons.
"H-Hey! You can't be here!" The technician tried to exclaim, as the armed status of the group was making him nervous.
The knights approached the man, one of them (who dressed differently from the rest) stared at him with eyes that displayed both wisdom and strength.
"There will be danger here soon." the man said to the technician. "You must warn the people in this place to flee."
"Danger, what do you-?" The technician remarked, before something plopped out of the underside of the plane, as it hit the ground with a resounding thud, as it spooked the technician.
"W-What was that!?" The technician exclaimed.
"You must go. Run." one of the knights commanded.
"But-!" The technician exclaimed, before seeing a clawed hand come out of the shadow.
"RUN!" the knight shouted, as the knights drew their weapons.
"YAAAA!" The technician exclaimed, before he then quickly ran away, before drawing his walkie-talkie. "Control! CONTROL! There's an armed attack near the arriving flight! Call security! Call the military! Something's… SOMETHING'S HERE!"
"Step into the light, hellspawn." John commanded the demon, as the Crusaders prepared for battle. "We will send you back to the pit."
"You really have to ruin my fun, don't you…" The demon remarked, before coming out into view, as it was a tortoise-like creature with a shell filled with wailing faces. "Oh, I get it now, you're like the crusaders of old. And such weaponry, it almost makes me salivate with the prospect of breaking that holy will of yours."
"You can try, depraved creature." Another of the knights mocked back.
As Akira and Ryo arrived at the airport, Akira immediately noticed how different the scene was, as instead of a fairly peaceful airport, the entire landmark was in pure chaos, as people were rushing away, screaming, as the staff were trying to redirect people.
"What the…" Ryo remarked, while Akira was unmoved. "How could this be? A Demon wouldn't have been able to-"
"Seems the fight came to us this time, Ryo." Akira remarked, before he then pushed into the crowd. "We have to deal with this, before the problems escalate."
"Rrrgh…" Ryo growled, knowing that this was going to be a mess one way or another.
They soon managed to find a emergency exit route to the ground, where they were able to reach the runway, as they could see the signs of battle, and the landing plane, that was damaged heavily, as if the demon intentionally attacked it, as the trail of destruction lead right into a plane shed, where the doors were broken open.
"There!" Akira exclaimed, before running towards the scene.
Inside, he saw a sight that, had it been within the previous loops, he would never had believed: a group of knights doing battle against Jinmen, peppering him with bullets, while four notable individuals were leading the attack. One used pistols to shoot the turtle from a distance, another stabbed with a spear, a third used a shield to block Jinmen's tail while slashing with a sword, and the last, different in armor but no less courageous, attacked up close with a sword that radiated with power.
"On our honor, no innocents will die at your hands today, creature!" The man with the powerful sword declared, slashing Jinmen across the chest.
"YOU DAMN PEST!" Jinmen roared, before he then extended his arms towards the swordsman, intent on wrapping them around him, and crushing him with extreme force.
However, that attempt was blocked, as the arms were blasted away with holes in them, by the pistol-wielder, as Jinmen roared, as he was topped back.
"Time to finish you, hellspawn filth!" the knight with a spear declared as he charged the demon. "One skewering through your mouth ought to do the trick!"
However, so focused was he on getting his strike in, he failed to notice Jinmen's tail coming from the side to take his head off.
"Brother Nathanael, watch out!" the one with the sword and shield declared as he pushed the spear wielder out of the way. Unfortunately, he was too slow to dodge himself, Jinmen's tail slicing his sword arm clean off. "AAAUGH!"
"Brother Philip!" the one with the pistols cried out as the disarmed knight fell to one knee, clutching his severed stump.
"Serves you right! Jinmen cackled, before he then raised both of his hands, as the palms began to glow red with heat. "I wonder if you would taste the same as a lobster with that armor of yours! Either way, scream for me!"
"Dammit, I gotta get in there!" Akira said.
"Akira! If you go in there, they could potentially attack you, if they're really akin to the crusaders of the past!" Ryo warned Akira.
"But I have to…" Akira growled.
Jinmen tried to attack Phillip, although he was stopped when the sword wielder slashed his palms open with his blade, as Akira managed to see that Jinmen claimed a good number of his expected victims… but the absence of one rang more to him..
"...Mom's not there…" Akira said to himself as he immediately shifted. "If I beat him now…!" he realized, before he jumped into the fight. "HEY! TURTLE!"
Jinmen turned towards the voice, seeing Akira in his half-demon form.
"Damnit! You're here too early!" Jinmen cursed. "I couldn't get this human's woman… I needed both to make you…!"
"Too… early?" Ryo remarked, before a wave of nausea crossed his head, as he began to sway.
"That's right!" Akira growled. "Because I'm here early, you're not going to get the chance to hurt my mother ever again! I am Devilman! With the body of a devil, and the heart of a human, I'll send you to hell for taking my father!"
"YOU DAMN HUMAN!" Jinmen roared, before he then suddenly began to halt, as he was stunned for a moment. "W-What… What is this…!"
"Father…" Akira remarked, knowing that his father was fighting Jinmen, after hearing Akira's words.
"GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Jinmen roared, as his voice was torn between the human voice of Reijiro Fudo, and the demonic voice of Jinmen.
"Don't worry, dad…" Akira remarked, closing his eyes, as he prepared himself to do what he must. "...This time… Mom's going to stay with me. But we'll meet again, dad… After all, you both deserve to be happy."
Jinmen managed to barely wrest back control, as Akira rushed forward with a war-cry, before he then raised a hand, before cutting Jinmen diagonally with his own hand, as the massive cut sprayed a fountain of yellow blood forward.
"N…o…." Jinmen gurgled, before he then fell forward, as the cries of the humans on his back were silenced, as the shell hardened, immortalizing their expressions of fear and despair.
"It's done…" Akira declared with a soft voice, before he then reverted himself back to normal, and faced the knights and paladins. "...I know what you're here for…"
"And we know you." the knight with pistols said. "Akira Fudo, 4th sub-leader of Dark Hell. A servant of an Antichrist."
"Not by choice. But, I guess that doesn't matter at this point, after all I did." Akira responded back. "Let's cut to the chase: what's the Prideful Crusade doing here?"
"We have come to save this world." the man with the powerful sword said, walking up to Akira and giving a short bow. "I thank you for your aid. Were it not for you, Philip may have been killed."
"You're welcome. And who are you?" Akira asked.
"I am Karl Franz." the man answered. "I come from a place quite unlike this one. The crusade has helped my home repel several invasions and, in thanks, I have allocated some of my forces to aid them in their campaigns."
"I see…" Akira said. "(He doesn't seem like a bad guy…maybe the Crusade has gotten a little bit better…?)"
"Introductions aside, what Karl Franz said is true." the pistol wielding knight said. "We have come to free this world from the cycle of destruction. Do you, perhaps, know the source of it?"
"The source? Well…" Akira said, thinking. "...I don't know. If I knew, don't you think I'd have gotten to it?"
"Hmm…a fair point." the knight said. "If you do not know, then I suppose we'll have to keep looking. For now, we must return, and tend to Brother Philip's injuries."
"Ha…I've gotten worse…in training." Philip laughed weakly through his pain, two knights raising him up and supporting him from his shoulders.
"Farewell, Devilman." Karl Franz bowed his head to Akira. "I feel that we may meet again soon. You may find your mother within the main building of this area."
With that, the Prideful Crusade departed, leaving Akira alone with Ryo.
"...See ya, Karl Franz." Akira remarked, before he then turned to leave, checking up on Ryo. "Hey, are you still alive there? You look like you've been tossed into a blender with that face of yours."
"Yes…though…I didn't think there were others hunting demons like us besides that group." Ryo said. "You should inform those friends of yours."
"Right…but first I gotta…" Akira said, running to the main building to see Denji helping a woman up. "Mom? And…you?"
"Hey…yeah, so I just found her and she looks fine now." Denji said. "So uh…you…better take good care of her, you know?" he said before handing her off. "See ya."
"Mom!" Akira exclaimed, before holding her tightly.
"Akira!" Kaori Fudo exclaimed, as she sunk her head into Akira's chest. "...It was horrible… there was a creature that was wearing your father's face, who tried to tear the plane apart… I don't know what happened, but a group of people acting as crusaders drove it away, long enough for the plane to be evacuated by the authorities… Oh, Akira, you weren't hurt, were you?"
"No, mom. No, I wasn't… I just… I got here when it all happened." Akira answered back, before sitting his mother on one of the seats. "...Mom, I have a lot to tell you… and I don't know if you can take it all in your distressed state."
"Akira, I'm always here." Kaori tried to smile. "Whatever you have to say, I won't ever lose my love for you."
Akira then took a deep breath, before explaining everything about the devils, and how he ended up as one, as Kaori became more and more horrified with the acts that the devils and the demons could do, until she was left speechless.
"...Then, my husband… your dad…" Kaori remarked.
"I'm sorry, mom. I wish there was a way to save him… but it's a miracle that you're still alive, with how close you were to all of this." Akira remarked. "...But believe me, I won't let any more devils or demons hurt the people we love. Dad deserves that at least."
Kaori then broke down into tears, as Akira embraced her, as several tears of his own fell as well, as Denji watched the scene silently.
"(Truth be told, I was actually prepared to cut that thing down if those crusade guys didn't step in. But since they distracted it for me, I was able to save your mom. You better appreciate it, dumb devil.)" Denji thought before he walked off.
"How are you holding up, Philip?" Karl asked his compatriot.
"I'm fine." Philip said.
"Good…now we just…" Karl said.
"Hey, you scumbags!" a voice called out as the Prideful Crusade members turned over to Denji.
"Can we help…?" John started to ask, before he sensed the presence within Denji. "Ah…so that's what this is about." he said.
"Nice to see you haven't forgotten. You morons…killed my world." Denji said. "Along with a lot of the memories I made there."
"...We will not deny the sins we have committed." Nathaniel said. "Nor will we attempt to downplay the pain our actions put you through. However right, however justified in our minds the crusade was and is…it does not change the fact that we slaughtered worlds. And for that…we cannot simply apologize."
"That's fine. I didn't come to hear you beg. Knowing you feel bad for killing innocent people is good enough." Denji said. "Honestly, if you felt anything else, I was prepared to cut you all up like the bad guys you would be."
"You mean…killing us was not your sole intention?" Philip asked.
"Your boss bit the dust and he was the one who destroyed mine and a few other worlds, so I don't have any beef with you guys. Besides, we're both after the same prize…the Antichrist." Denji said.
"You're…after the Antichrist in the election? Why? What could possibly motivate you to do something so selfless?"
"The best thing any world has to offer….sex." Denji said.
"...Excuse me?" John asked.
"You heard me. If I kill him, I get to do it…with one of the lead ladies of the Exorcist Corps." Denji said.
"...Which one, exactly?" Nathanael asked.
"Catherine." Denji said.
"Uh…isn't she the one that took that vow of chastity?" the spear wielding crusader asked.
"...Eh?"
"Yeah, her holy powers come from her chastity. If she loses that, her powers go away...unless she gets married beforehand."
"...Eh?"
"So…in a way….you got played." John said.
"...God damn it!" Denji called out. "Whatever, I'm still gonna kill the damn thing. That sweet dream of mine will just have to wait awhile longer." he said almost on the verge of tears.
"And this guy is supposed to be the Chainsaw Devil?" Nathanael whispered, even through his pain.
"Appearances can be deceiving, brother. He has brutally slain multiple devils in his time. He was the one who killed the original Control Devil and bravely fought against the Gun Devil." Karl said.
"I even heard recently he survived an encounter with the Darkness Devil." John said.
"So he's a very lucky idiot. Good to know." Nathanael said.
"Fine. I'm going." Denji said as he turned and walked off. "Just one more thing." he said before pulling his shirt down to show the rip cord as he grabbed it. "You try the same shit you pulled on those worlds…with any of the Alliance guys and Devilman…I'll make sure you guys stay gone!"
"We will remember that." John said. "Go in peace, Chainsaw Man."
A moment of silence passed before Denji was walking off alone with a sullen expression.
"Why does it feel like I'm the bad guy here?" he muttered.
At the Galaxy King…
"The Prideful Crusade? I thought those guys were done after we took out Superbia." Franky said.
"Seems someone decided to take the lead after the bastard's death." Simon said.
"Mark mentioned them back in the Terarium." Ask K. said. "Who are those guys?"
"The Prideful Crusade were a religious zealot group." Mark explained. "They were led by the Vice-Angel of Pride, Superbia, and wanted to destroy all demons in the Multiverse. They destroyed several worlds, ravaged others, and…killed some members of Team Chronicle." he said, looking down.
"He also destroyed the world of the Phantom Thieves as well as Denji's along with a few others." Jexi said. "But we took him down before he could destroy anymore."
"As I said back in Hell, Mark saw to his defeat and Indigo brought back some of his teammates." Ace said.
"This is…troubling." Saber said. "If the Prideful Crusade has returned, then we may have less time than we thought to save this world."
"Not…necessarily." Akira said. "The crusaders…they didn't strike me as zealots, at least not to the extreme they were before. I mean, they might still be a problem, but I think they meant it when they said they wanted to save this world."
"Are you saying we should trust them?" Mark asked.
"No, I'm not." Akira shook his head. "I'm just saying that we shouldn't label them the 'bad guys' right away. Ryo's still the cause of all this, the Crusade's…it's an obstacle, at worst."
"As long as they don't step on our toes, we won't step on theirs. That's the vibe we're getting, right?" David asked.
"Right. Something tells me we're gonna have to deal with those Templar wannabes sooner or later. But for now, we can just ignore them." Akira decided.
"Right now it must feel good that you started to make cracks in the loop by saving your mom and killing Jinmen, right?" Glimmer asked.
"Yeah… it does feel good. Is this what its like to change fate?" Akira asked.
"Definitely." Ajna said. "We're really glad you were able to save your mom."
"Me too. I don't want this feeling to go away. It'll be a hell of a lot more satisfying to know we completely broke this loop. So let's keep going. We still got work to do."
Meanwhile, back in Lythos, the Future Seekers' Dimension…
"So you're telling me things are getting crazy?" The voice of a blue haired woman spoke as things were being set up to defend Siege whilst other things were occurring. "Mmm… Can the two of you handle things by yourselves or…?"
"As much as I don't wish to admit this, we may not be enough help." "Sister Luma" explained. "Being Siege's sister… you might have the power we need to combat the forces trying to continue looping this timeline."
"Hm… Alright. I'll tell some of our stronger allies to join on standby. Let me get in contact with Mark, and see if he'd be fine with me coming over." The now revealed Future Seekers' variant of Sapphire Sukui, brought back from the dead, stated with a nod as she soon flipped through her notes to get to the spell Mark used to contact them to establish contact of her own back, as she soon began to do so, chanting the spell, as a communication portal opened up once more between dimensions.
"You sure we should be interfering this far? We already pushed it when we got 'Luma' and Eirika in…" FS!Reisen asked FS!Sapphire with concern. "From what has been going on so far… If we push things the wrong way…"
"Think about what's at stake here." FS!Sapphire looked at FS!Reisen. "We're on the cusp of something massive. And there are so many ways for things to get twisted from outside interferences. If we don't give valid support, and strong support to them… we could lose them. All of them." FS!Sapphire stated. "Not to mention… …I just have this feeling that… some point… at any point… something could go… awfully wrong."
"Let's hope that things will go well…" FS!Reisen remarked with concern. "I'm having the gut feeling that every front we're on is in danger…"
"Then we have the same thoughts." FS!Sapphire remarked, completing the spell as she waited for Mark to answer on his end.
"Hello?" Mark answered drowsy. "You're calling Mark Anarchy, currently sleeping at 1:30 in the morning. Please say something that will wake me up."
"(It's that late over there!? …Well, as far as I know, my brother didn't tell them I was alive again yet so…)" Sapphire thought. "Hello Mark Anarchy, this is Sapphire Sukui of the Future Seekers speaking."
"Oh, hi Saph- HWAH!?" Mark jumped at hearing the name. "Aren't you dead!?"
"Well, not anymore!" FS!Sapphire giggled.
"Oh my gosh, that's amazing!" Mark said. "Say, did your Siege tell you about Esther yet? In case he didn't, I have a sister! She's absolutely adorable, you'd-!"
"As, much as I'd love to hear about her… Mark… I'm concerned. Highly. Like… I've got very bad omens, bad feelings about you guys… I'm worried Lumera and Eirika won't be enough." FS!Sapphire spoke in a serious tone. "I've already called some more allies to standby… and I'm making preparations to come and join you, if you'll permit me." FS!Sapphire explained.
"...How bad are these omens you're having?" Mark asked.
"Very bad. Constant reoccurring nightmares… as if something intervenes all the good you do or have done over there… And caused it to become nulled." FS!Sapphire admitted.
"...Okay. You should definitely come." Mark said. "I think I may know what you're talking about, and…yeah. We could definitely use all the help we can get."
"I'll head over and meet you guys in your morning then. Anything I need to bring with me other than essentials?" FS!Sapphire asked.
"Yeah. A school uniform." Mark explained.
"...A-A… …What…?" FS!Sapphire stuttered.
Sapphire Sukui was about to enter the Color Verse…. Though not quite in the way she expected to. Not to mention… School outfits always made her embarrassed!