Ragnarök: Double or Nothing; Chapter 1: Proposal
(Spoiler Warning: This fanfic contains spoilers for up to Round 10 of Records of Ragnarök. The remaining matches will by what I think might happen, but will likely not follow canon. If you haven't read and/or watch the anime and don't want to spoiled for the first 10 matches, I suggest you do so before reading this. Also, several characters from the side works made by the original author will be in the fanfic as well, though beyond the characters the stories won't be mentioned. Beyond that, I don't own any of these characters and/or story of Records of Ragnarök. This was made purely for enjoyment for myself for readers like you. So, with that out the way, onto the story.
It's been almost a year since the Ragnarök had been held. 26 brave warriors, 13 from the Gods who wanted to destroy humanity, versus 13 from humanity who wanted to protect themselves from the Gods. Despite the hurdles humanity had to face, they were able to hold their own thanks to the Valkyries that aid them and gave their power so humanity can fight against the Gods.
But unknown to both God and Man, one of the fighters from the side of the Gods, Odin, tried to resurrect a God even more fiendish than himself, Arche. But, thanks to the combined efforts of the remaining fighters of Ragnarök, Odin and Arche have been defeated and with Odin's defeat, as well as their previous victories Humanity had won their right to exist, and have been granted a thousand more years to live.
At least, on paper…
"Dammit Loki!" Shouts a purple God with four eyes and four hands He's wearing a red hat and red messy pants, but no shirt and is barefoot.
Shiva (India)
"I get being sore about losing to humans, but we lost to them fair and square! We should focus on other matters, not busy finding loopholes!" Shiva shouts as he's in a boardroom with a blue layout and mahogany tables and chairs, where four Gods were sitting around looking at Shiva.
The one closest to Shiva's left is a God who's sucking on a lollypop with a bored expression. He's wearing glasses, a bunny shirt, and has long yellow hair tied into a weird-shaped bun.
Budda (India)
The God next to Budda has black, messy hair and is wearing clothes similar to a priest and has a look that say equal curiosity and disgust.
Beelzebub (Helheim)
Across from Beelzebub was another God. He has long red hair that stretched down his upper body. He is wearing a white tunic and black gloves that look like they are connected to his hands.
Thor (Scandinavia)
The God next to Thor and the last one there has a beautiful face and long pink hair and is wearing a gaudy tunic that shows his chest, and metal braces on his arms and legs.
Apollo (Greece)
As Shiva continues to rant, Beelzebub asks, "May I ask why you brought us all here? Or are we just here to see you throw a tantrum?"
Shiva angrily looks at Beelzebub and responds, "Oh, don't you start, Beelzebub! Don't think I don't know about Adamantine trying to kill the fighter who killed Hades!" That human is Qin Shi Huang. 7th fighter of the Einherjar. Who fought and won against Hades is a close match.
Beelzebub shrugs and replies, "You act like I have complete control over him and his actions."
"Didn't you stop him the first time he tried to attack Huang?" Budda asks.
Beelzebub responds, "He just beat Hades and was severely injured. Not exactly a respectful way to treat Hades' final opponent."
Shiva yells, "But now he's causing a major ruckus and is trying everything he can to kill him! It took 500 angels to restrain him and almost killed another 100! And you're not thinking of trying to stop him!?" Beelzebub shrugs, causing Shiva to get even angrier.
Apollo intervenes and says, "While I'm enjoying this little show, I think when need to get back to Mr. Creep." Of which Apollo means Loki. "Lightning Rod, is there a way you can reel him in?"
Thor ignores Apollo nickname and shakes his head side to side and says, "Me and Loki have never seen eye to eye. Even when I ascended to the head God of my Pantheon after my father's betrayal and passing, he's been issuing declaration of challenges to me when he's not busy trying to find a way to indirectly kill Humanity."
"So, we have no way to just tell him to stop this and will likely have to beat him down? Normally, I'm all for it, but this shitty job is sucking out all of the fun from it." Shiva sighs and looks at Apollo, "Which reminds me, how's the old man doing?"
Apollo makes a deep sigh and replies, "While the old man is stable, he still suffered grave injures from the battle with Arche, even with our treatments, it could take a whole decade before he wakes again."
"A WHOLE DECADE!" Shiva shouts, "I can barely stand a year of this bull crap!"
As Shiva shouts this, two figures appear before him. One of them is a God with brown skin and slicked-back black hair. He's wearing no shirt, but several gold ornaments, including gold bracelets and a and a giant gold necklace. He has a serious scowl on his face that makes him look like he's constantly angry.
Ra (Egypt)
The other God next to Ra is a confusing fellow, as the two sides of his whole body look completely different from each other. One side looked handsome with black hair with white skin and a happy and relaxed smile. The other side looks the exact opposite with dark black sin and white hair standing up, and looks to be always angry and scowling. The whole body is wearing a loincloth with a lock on it and wearing an extravagant neck guard.
Ahura Mazda (Iran)
"My, my, Shiva, I always knew you were an angry fellow," The left side of Ahura says, "BUT I DIDN'T THINK I EVER SEEN YOU THIS PATHETIC!" The other side of Ahura shouts.
"SHUT IT AHURA MAZDA!" Shiva shouts, "And why the hell are you two here!?"
"Why shouldn't we be?" Ra retorts, "We are top Gods, just like you. And we should be treated as such."
Beelzebub sighs and says, "True, but having you two here will just give us all more problems. And that's coming from me."
Ahura's left chuckles, "My, never thought Beelzebub would ever call someone else troublesome," Ahura's right seethes, "I SHOULD BEAT YOU DOWN FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!"
Ra nods and says, "Indeed. Shiva, you should keep an eye on the company you keep. Especially when several of them seems unqualified to be here."
Shiva raises his eyebrow, "What do you mean, Ra?"
Ra replies, "You have the most hated of our kind here," pointing to Beelzebub, "Two inexperienced Gods who have just been handed control of their respective Pantheons," points to Apollo and Thor, "And worst of all, a traitor who still has the nerve to show his face when he betrays the Gods to fight for those pathetic Humans!" points to Budda with anger and hatred clearly evidenced in his voice.
Budda simply smirks, "Man Ra, Top God of one the oldest Pantheons here, and still haven't even past puberty. Bet your parents didn't treat you well. Am I right?"
Ra shouts, "You shut your insolent…" It was then that the four Gods stand up from their chairs and stare at Ra and Ahura.
Thor stares coldly at them and says, "The reason we're here is because this meeting is about how to deal with the Gods who are violating the agreement we've made in Ragnarök. And as fighters of these Humans, or as a fighter who fought for the Humans in Budda's case, we have a better understanding about how this should be treated rather than you two."
Apollo nods at this and agrees, "Yeah, Sunburn. Knowing you and half-and-half, you'll just rant about the Gods losing to Humans and keep encouraging Loki and Adamantine to keep doing what they are doing, assuming you haven't done that already."
Ahura replies, "I do suppose I would do that. BUT ONLY BECAUSE THAT'S HOW WE SHOULD BE DOING THIS!"
Ra sneers and says, "Why should we let these inferiors live when all they done is cheated their way through Ragnarök? Using a technique taught by that traitor no less."
Shiva looks at Ra eye to eye and replies, "Say what you want. But the fact is that regardless of how, they beaten us. And while I hate losing as much as any other God, I'm going to honor our end of the deal. Humanity has proven that with or without Völundr, they are strong creatures who are capable of much more than we realize. And I only learn that after my fight with Raiden. Otherwise, I might be acting as boneheaded as you two are acting now." Ra and Ahura grit their teeth over this and the Thor steps in.
"I have a similar feeling to Shiva after facing my opponent. But more than that, as a God of Battle, it's my sworn duty to honor the conditions of fights like Ragnarök. If I allow Gods like you to try and reengage the agreement we made, that will dishonor not only myself, but every warrior, God or Human, that put their lives on the line in that arena. And that will be unforgivable." Thor looks ready to fight both Ra and Ahura, with Shiva and Budda looking to stand right beside him. Apollo seems to be curious about how this is going to turn out, while Beelzebub looks bored.
"Perhaps I can offer a solution to this issue you Gods seem to have."
All of the Gods in the vicinity turn their heads to see a man in his thirties stand in front of the door. The man appears to be dressed like a person of high standing with a dress shirt and black pants with black gloves, dress shoes, and a red cape. The man appears to have black hair that is slicked-forward and a black mustache, and malevolent smirk across his face. But his most defining feature in his two front teeth that have the appearance of fangs.
Beelzebub instantly recognizes him and look at the man with equal parts fear and anger. "Vlad Dracula."
Vlad III, Vlad Dracul (Romania)
"My, Beelzebub. Look on how you rose up in the world. And my master didn't have to help you reach it."
"Beelzebub sneers and replies, "Your master has done plenty to me. Believe me."
Ra shouts, "Stay out of this Human. You and your kind will feel our wrath soon enough."
Vlad simply chuckles and makes Ra even more angry, "I'm afraid my master will have problems with that Ra. Especially when I'm just here as a simple messenger."
Ra blood boils as he tries to teach Vlad some manners, but then he was stopped in his tracks by a monstrous barrier that surrounds Vlad. The barrier is show to be made of terrified faces and the sounds of screams are heard as the barrier is up. "Wh…What is this?" Ra asks in astonishment, with the other Gods looking at this with a mixture of worry and silence. After a few seconds, the barrier lifts and Vlad continues to walk.
"Just a little gift from my master in case there was any trouble." Vlad says as he picks up a letter and shows it to Shiva, "Speaking of which, my master wanted me to give you this."
Shiva, looking confused, decides to read the paper and look through its contents. Each sentence written made Shiva blood boil so much, he thought he would combust like he did during his match with Raiden. "What is this garbage!?" Shiva shouts in anger.
Vlad replies, "My master's declaration of protection towards Humanity, and declaration of War for any God who violates it."
Shiva throws the paper across the room and shouts, "Are you kidding me! Satan is trying to protect Humanity!? He hates them just as much as those two!" He points to Ra and Ahura.
"I won't deny that." Vlad admits, "In truth, I don't know the real reason myself. But if I have to take a guess, it's that he was watching the matches himself and seeing that even if it was because of assistance from a Völundr, Humans were able to kill Gods." All the Gods in the room soak up what Vlad just said and now the room has been filled with anxiety. "I don't know if Humanity will be able to do the same feat without Völundr or Divine weapons, but it would likely still be a waste for my master if they were killed by another God's whims."
Beelzebub gets angry at this and shouts, "In that case, why isn't he being more direct and just come here himself!? Why…" Beelzebub stops his rant to see Vlad chuckling at this remark.
"Beelzebub…You of all people should know that he's watching the whole thing right now. And how he's doing it." Beelzebub merely glares at Vlad in response.
Ahura then says, "Well, now that Satan made this declaration…WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO KILL HUMANITY!"
"You will not touch them." Thor states, "Regardless of this declaration, Humanity will get those 1000 years."
Budda stands beside Thor and says, "And as a player of that team, that's also a big no from me."
"Like we're going to listen to a traitor's opinion." Ra retorts. Shiva looks ready to break this up when Vlad sighs and speaks.
"My master did warn me of a reaction like this. Personally, I didn't want it to come to this, especially when there's a chance of Humanity getting destroyed, but my master did consider an alternate proposal." Vlad took out another piece of paper and handed it over to Shiva. Shiva looks over the paper and shouts in a surprised manner.
"Another Ragnarök?" The other Gods look surprised about hearing this new proposal and all look at Vlad, who merely smiles.
"That's correct." Vlad says, "Another Ragnarök where Gods and Man will fight each other yet again. But with some differences."
"What do you mean?" Apollo say with a curious tone evident in his speech.
Vlad replies, "For starters, the stakes. For the Gods, it will be the same, they win, are first win will be revoked and you can kill Humanity for good. But if Humanity wins, rather than the promised 1000 years, every God must swear to never try and kill Humanity ever again."
"Outrageous!" Ra shouts in fury, "You expect us to agree to something this ridiculous?"
Vlad wonders about this and says, "Not really. I mean, you can't even handle us having a thousand years. That's why my master made that declaration in the first place. Honestly, you should be thankful to him for giving you a way to kill us." Ra merely glares at Vlad with anger and contempt.
Budda then chimes in, "But wait, several of the Valkyries have perished in the last one. How will Humanity be able to fight without Völundr?"
Vlad chuckles at this and replies, "You forget that we Humans now have the backing of an actual demonic God. Several of his servants are making new weapons as we speak. Though there will be risks using them as expected from my master, but my master is making sure they are minimal and won't get in the way of his chosen humans killing of the Gods."
"Out of the question!" Shiva shouts in resolution. "Divine weapons are one thing, but we are not having weapons here made by Satan." Vlad was about to say something but Shiva beats him to it, "If this Ragnarök does happens, we will give the human fighters Divine weapons ourselves."
"What!?" Ra shouts.
"Shiva…YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!" Ahura also shouts.
Shiva retorts, "I'm not going to let demonic weapons in here as the chief God, but I'm also not letting humans be mow over by assholes who can't suck up the fact that we lost to humans. So, when you finished selecting your roster, give your roster to me and I'll make sure to have weapons tailor made for all of them."
"Ah, I see." Ahura states, "ONCE WE HAVE THE ROSTER, WE CAN MAKE OURS TO COUNTER IT!"
"Not happening, Ahura." Shiva states Ahura right side looks confused at this, "I'm keeping the list confidential till the start of the first match, and that will happen even if I die this time."
"Ah about that," Vlad says as Shiva looks at Vlad, "Did you read the full proposal?" Shiva looks at the proposal again and shouts,
"What! I can't compete!"
"Correct." Vlad confirms and looks at the other three, "And none of you can either. The rosters for both sides will be completely new."
"Any reason for that?" Apollo asks.
"My master felt like it would be in bad taste having the Gods and Humans who've already fought so hard for their respective sides the first time, fight again in this rematch. He wants brand new fighters. New fighters to risk their lives, so to speak."
Budda looks at Vlad in disgust, "I can't tell if he's being kind, or just wants more people to kill each other."
Vlad shrugs and replies, "Probably the latter."
"That's fine." Ra says as he now has a smirk, "That just means that I can finally have a chance to put you humans in your place once and for all."
Ahura chimes in, "That's also fine for me…YOU HUMANS WILL FINALLY KNOW OBLIVION!"
Apollo ignores them and asks Vlad, "Anything else?"
Vlad thinks for a second and says, "Oh, and as the previous winners of Ragnarök, Humanity will have the right to choose the arena for all the fights regardless of the Gods' permission."
Shiva simply sighs, "You know, that's surprisingly the least troublesome thing requested in that whole proposal."
Vlad takes out a pen and hands it to Shiva, "But you can agree with everything this proposal says, yes?" Shiva looks at the pen and wonders,
"Isn't a little early for me to sigh something like this?"
Vlad shakes his head and replies, "My master is making preparations for both the declaration and proposal as we speak. So, the faster this moves along, the easier it will be for all parties involved."
Shiva thinks about this and asks, "How long do both sides have?"
"A year." Vlad answers, "Anymore and it will be taken as the other side forfeiting the match."
"What about the weapons?" Shiva asks.
Vlad wonders about this and says, "I'll inform my master and send you his thoughts, but in that case, it will only be an extra year at most."
"Why so quick?" Budda asks, "Don't you want Humanity to enjoy some of the reward they received?"
"This is to ensure the Gods don't whine too much. If we made a proposal like this a good way into the thousand years we were promised, they will likely feel that we are cheating them and be less likely to honor the new reward. By leaving it practically untouched, there shouldn't be too many complaints for the rematch and the higher reward that will go with it. And honestly, do you think Gods like Loki can wait 1.000 years before they kill us?"
Shiva, seeing this is the lesser of two evils, and weary about what Satan is going to try to do both Gods and Humans, grabs the pen and prepares to write his name. But before he did, "One condition." Vlad looks at Shiva in wonder, "Satan will be one of the Gods in our new roster when the time to fight comes. And he will not be allowed to go easy on anyone that's on the Human roster."
Vlad looks shocked for the first time since he entered the boardroom, "Wow. Looks like my master's prediction was right on the money. He figured you would ask that. And in that case, he said he will accept that as long as you and the other Gods give what you promised by signing that proposal."
Shiva quickly signs the paper, "Don't worry about me honoring the deal. But for those two." Shiva looks at Ra and Ahura, Shiva then looks at Ra, "Since you want this so badly, you are going to be the captains of the Gods team, and" Shiva points to the paper, "You're going to sign that paper and you are going to follow through with everything it says, including what will happen if Humanity wins again."
Ra scoffs as he walks to the table with the paper, "Myself and Ahura being captain? That was the first wise thing you did since we entered the room."
"Indeed." Ahura agrees as he signs the paper, "NOW THOSE HUMAN WILL PAY FOR THEIR ARROGANCE!" The other Gods roll their eyes at them while Vlad says,
"In that case, I'll take my leave and inform my master about you providing the Divine weapons for our side." Vlad is about to leave, but stops at the door and speaks, "Oh…and one more thing Shiva." Shiva and the other Gods turn to the mortal, "As you likely figured out already, I'm going to be one of those fighting for the humans. Also, you do not need to prepare me a divine weapon." Ra was about to mock him till Vlad emits and red, murderous aura that made even Beelzebub nervous. "For my master has given me plenty of power already. Even enough to challenge him in case you Gods try to be smart and send me to fight him. I would have like to think this meant I was chosen to be his successor," Vlad looks at Beelzebub with a look of scorn and hate. A look that Beelzebub returns, "But that role is already taken. Pity. Anyway, I'll keep you Gods posted." And just like that Vlad takes his leave and Ragnarök has begun anew.
First Chapter done and the prologue is complete. I'm going to announce the fighters of both sides in two chapters, one for the Gods, and one for the Humans. In the meantime, I'll admit that while I have several ideas for who I want to be in this story. I'm also open to any suggestions anyone has. So, if you have anyone you would like to see on either roster, let me know in the reviews and I'll consider them. Till then, I hope you look forward to the story.
