King: What the hell?

Knox: What is it?

King: A tear in the dimensional field of the theater.

Knox: Is that bad?

King: Not inherently. It's just odd that it happened at all.

Knox: Should we hold the viewing off?

King: No. Run it as usual. I'll look into it and see what I can find.

Inspiration: Devil May Cry

/\

Knox popped back and chuckled, "That was kind of fun. But what about the sisters?"

King appeared next. "You nuts? I'm lucky I had the time to talk about the three I did. Imagine trying to cover seven, vastly different personalities in so short a time."

"Okay… fair point."

"Any way, I'm popping in because this is going to be a fun one. We're visiting a favorite of mine~"

The two disappeared again.

Jaune sighed. "Okay… I hope it's not too crazy."

"It will be." Ruby sighed.

The world opened to an old back ally. The camera moved down the street until it reached an old storefront with a glowing, red neon sign reading, [Devil May Cry]. They heard a phone ringing from within. The camera moved inside to see the inner area, more like an old bar lounge, complete with pool table and a jukebox. They heard the ringing again. Then, the camera moved to the phone in question, an old antique landline. They saw a hand reach and pick up the receiver, "Devil May Cry." It was Jaune's voice answering the phone, though they couldn't see him yet. After a pause, he continued, "Sorry. You got the wrong place." He tossed the receiver back onto the base and they saw him kick up his boots onto the desk. The camera then panned over to show a large, two hand weapon hanging on the wall similar in form to Crocea Mors.

Coco nodded, "Okay. So, this is the world that sign in the Artifact Room was from. This should be interesting."

The camera panned back to an open magazine about weaponry.

Yang snickered, "Is Ruby there too?"

They heard a ringing bell, the kind used for doors opening in shops. Jaune groaned from behind the magazine. "We're closed. Go away."

A hand grabbed the magazine, revealing Jaune's face at last. He just looked like Jaune, but with different attire and a slightly lighter shade of hair. He wore a dark, long sleeve shirt and a white vest with blue jeans and dark chaps with western boots. In a way, it looked like his usual attire, just in a different form. Jaune dropped his feet back to the ground again, sitting normally, "Why am I not surprised?"

The camera spun around to show the woman opposite him. She was dressed in a red coat purposefully fashioned to show off her cleavage, black short, knee high black expeditionary boots, red gloves, and sunglasses. Ammo packs adorned her side, a harness was over her upper chest with a knife, and a giant bayonetted rocket launcher on her back. Her dark hair framed her face with red fading onto the ends.

Everyone was just stunned at the sight. There was no mistaking who this was, and it felt ridiculous seeing her in a fashion style like that. It seemed more up Yang's ally than hers. Ruby was just gushing about the launcher.

Jaune smirked, "Ruby. What did you bring me today?"

Ruby removed her glasses and leaned her weight to the side with a hand at her hip, "What makes you think I brought you something?"

"Ruby… You don't do social visits. You don't show up unless you have a job for me that will inevitably end with you taking most of the cut."

Ruby grinned, "At least I'm consistent." She opened one of the pouches and pulled out a folded paper. "A big one. I put a bit of work into it and can confirm this isn't a human made issue. We've got our work cut out for us."

"What does she mean by 'not a human made issue?'" Ilia became a little concerned this was a faunas attack and they were about to see retaliation.

Oh you poor naïve thing.

Jaune stood up and pushed his chair back as he did, "How's it pay?"

"Enough to pay off your tabs and then some after cutting three ways."

Qrow raised an eyebrow, "Three ways? What's that about?"

"Three?" Jaune thought for a moment then nodded, "I was wondering where she went." Jaune grabbed a long white coat and flipped it over himself and onto his body. Then he grabbed a pair of high caliber pistols, one light metal the other dark, and placed the large sword onto his back. "Where are we off to?"

"A small town off to the south, place called Batha." Ruby turned and started to walk to the door, "And you're driving."

Jaune shook his head and followed her out.

Yang thought for a moment before turning to Jaune, "Can you drive?"

Jaune shrugged, "Yeah. But I haven't in a while."

"I thought you got motion sick."

"On the Bulkheads, and I've gotten past it."

Nora jumped into the conversation, "Oh! Did you have a car bac at your house?"

Jaune chuckled nervously, "Kind of? I don't personally own one, but my family has a couple. Kind of comes with the territory of a large family."

The door opened with a mass of bright light, acting as a transition to skip the drive and reach the town. The camera took a position to show as Jaune and Ruby walked into the town's square.

Sitting on the edge of a fountain at the center was a woman wearing a white leather corset with a lightning pattern down her chest, tight leather pants with pink lightning streaks on the side, and a pair of high-heeled boots. Her orange hair was long, slicked back away from her face and over her shoulders. "Took you long enough."

Nora giggled, "It's me!"

Ren felt a bit flush but was able to make it pass.

Jaune waved. "Hey Nora. So, what's our plan?"

Nora held her hand up toward the girl with the cannon, "Ask Ruby."

Ruby nodded once before addressing the issue, "If you haven't noticed, the town is empty. There isn't a soul for miles. That's because this town was abandoned a few decades back due to mysterious disappearances and murders. People started to say this place was cursed."

Blake shook her head with a sense of disappointment, "There's an obvious explanation. Likely a gang or cult trying to clear the area out…"

Nora leaned forward toward Ruby, "That just sounds like normal demonic work. I don't see why this requires all three of us."

Blake paused, thought, then spoke. "Come again?"

Sun blinked in surprise, "Like… actual demons?"

Ruby shook her head, "I was getting to that. The point is, this happened before any of us were born."

Nora's face snapped with a realization. "The era of the land grabs."

Jaune folded his arms, "Okay. So, a Demon Lord has been hiding out here?"

Ruby nodded, "That's what I think, at least. At the least, the lord will have an army."

Weiss was a little nervous hearing them talk like that, "They're very… nonchalant about this issue."

Qrow shook his head a bit, "Really, kid? You got a word a day calendar or something?"

"And," Ruby continued, "Without Sparda or Mundus around anymore, it's the perfect time to make a play."

Ruby's head tilted a little, "Sparda and Mundus? Who are they?"

Penny tapped her chin in thought, "If we consider their use in the sentences, we infer that they are demons. Likely rather powerful."

Ruby folded her arms, finishing her address to the two, "Any questions?"

Nora raised a hand slightly, "We're getting paid, right?"

Roman grinned, "Asking the important questions."

Ruby sighed, "Yes… We're getting paid. Pretty handsomely too. And, even better, we've got a blank check for collateral damage. The city is going to be demolished once we're done here. We're safe to go nuts."

Jaune grinned wide hearing that, "Nice. No need to worry about them taking away our payout? I like this job already. Let's party~"

Jaune and Nora ran off in separate directions into the city, leaving Ruby alone. Ruby sighed and shook her hanging head, "Why do I put up with those two?"

Weiss could sympathize with this version of Ruby. Her team could work together when things got heated, but they would often could fly off on their own.

A demon crawled along the building above Ruby. It looked like a collection of stitched fabrics and a scythe for a hand. It moved slowly, seemingly unnoticed.

Ruby let out a breath, "I kind of expected them to look a lot worse…"

Blake chimed in again, "They're still pretty bad."

The demon leapt off the building with blade barreling down toward the girl on the ground.

Ruby screamed up to the screen, "Look out me!"

The camera moved close to show Ruby's smirk. She swung her launcher around and impaled the demon on the bayonet. "Oh yeah~" She crouched down and fired a shell into her victim, blowing him to bits. "Because I love my job."

A few more jumped out from the shadows and tried to skewer the demon hunter on their claws. Ruby jumped up and spun her launcher around to point to the ground. She fired another round and flew upward, burning the demons that tried to attack her.

Ruby was starry eyed again. "Oh my gosh! That is so cool! I need to figure out how to do that with Crescent Rose!"

Ruby jumped off to the side and landed on one of the demons' head. She sat herself onto its shoulders, legs wrapping over its head, and fired a powerful shot into the demonic crowd from her launcher. The force of which snapped the demon's head clean off and sent her back again. She slammed the blade of her weapon into a nearby building and used her launcher as a perch. She pulled at one of her pouches and tossed a small set of grenades into the air. The mere act of tossing them pulled their pins and detonators, causing them to explode as they reached the demons below.

Yang leaned forward, amazed by the events on screen, "Holy crap! That was awesome!"

The smoke transitioned the scene to another part of town. Nora walked down the street with a pistol in each hand and one hand resting on her hip. As demons approached, she shot their heads apart. As they got larger, more powerful, she just smiled and placed the guns into a pair of holsters on her lower back. She waved her hands in a circle and a glowing yellow, demonic glyph appeared in front of her. She moved her hand back to the circle and bolts of lightning shot out from the glyph.

Nora chuckled, "Yeah! That's how it's done!"

Yang challenged the point, "Not as cool as Ruby leveling those demons!" She grabbed her sister in a headlock out of a certain, sisterly pride.

One bolt flew over the streets and connected with a bright metal blade. Jaune used his sword to take the lightning and fling at another of the demons, stunning it long enough to use it as a shield and impale the demon behind it. He kicked the demons off his sword and back into the crowd around him. He spun his blade onto his back as another demon, a large armored humanoid with horns and a barbed tail, charged toward him with a giant ax. Jaune ducked to the side and the fingertips of his hand was at the demon's chest. With a bolt of red lightning, he was wearing a pair of gauntlets and weaponized boots. Then, it was but an inch, but the force of his punch obliterated the demon's body leaving only a black mist.

Yang drooled a little, "Okay. I need to learn how to do that!"

Tai laughed a little, "It's a one-inch punch. On its own, its not that impressive, but with I think there's something in those gauntlets that boosts his striking power."

Another demon tried to charge toward him again from behind, only to met with his elbow as he reared his arm back. A small mechanism on the back of the gauntlets opened up and a burst of steam shot out and burned the demon's face.

Ruby was scrutinizing the weapons now, "Okay, so there's a steam system somewhere inside the mechanism. But how would that actually work? What system could actually use steam to increase the attack power of a punch?"

Jaune spun around and kicked his leg up. Said boots were supplemented by a spur that started to spin like a buzz saw. When he brought his foot down in an ax kick, the demon's body was ripped apart by the blades.

This got Mercury's attention. He'd never thought about putting blades on his boots and how they would work with his fighting style. Food for thought, I guess.

As Jaune's foot hit the ground again, demons swarmed around him, dogpiling on top of him.

The Beacon crowd got a little concerned, but they were sure he'd knock all those things away!

After a second, another bolt of red flowed around the pile. Then, an electric guitar shred rang out with as all of the demons flew off of him. A bubble of purple energy surrounded him and the vantage point showed he had said guitar in his hands. It seemed to be like bone and steel fused into a single material.

Weiss felt her eye twitch at the memory of Jaune and that damned guitar from before the dance. She found the memory more annoying than anything that happened in that moment. To be fair, this wasn't Jaune's fault. Before, he was a nuisance, but at least now she could call him an actual friend. But that damned guitar… She refused to forgive that instrument. Boys would try to woo her with that exact instrument hoping to get close to her family and her wealth.

Jaune smirked and ran his fingers over the strings and a cord rang out through the area, purple electricity bursting out and running through the demons around him.

Yang gasped before bursting into a fit of laughter, "IT'S AN ACTUAL ELECTRIC GUITAR!"

Jaune then proceeded to play a short set as electricity continued to fry his demonic, and captive, audience. He jumped up and out or the field, sliding onto his knees with one last cord played. A giant bolt of purple lightning ripped into the demons that remained stunned by the playing before. The camera made it appear like a grand finale of a rock concert.

Yang's laughing stalled, but she spoke soon after, "That… was… AWESOME!"

Nora jumped up and cheered, "YEAH!"

Weiss… was conflicted. She hated the guitar due to annoying experiences. But… when it wasn't trying to be romantic and sappy, she had no choice but to admit it sounded rather interesting. Nothing she'd listen to on her own time, but she at least softened to the idea.

Jaune laughed and stood back up again. "Hell of a party~"

A distant explosion sent Ruby into the air to land at Jaune's side. "We're not done here."

One of Nora's lightning bolts shot passed and she walked up to the other two. "Sounds good to me. These small fries are getting a little boring."

"Then…" a large demonic monster resembling a blood red wolf, three slash marks across its face. Its form was too unwieldy in the city streets, so it shrunk its form to its humanoid variation. He was a large demonic being, rather werewolf-esc.

Blake, Ilia, and Sienna all had a moment of surprise, then a realization what they were seeing. This… thing resembled the current logo of the White Fang. That was a fun moment.

The demon continued his tirade, "I am Shiro Kiba! The Lord of the Demons!"

Jaune shook his head, "If I had a nickel… Look! I'm pretty generous. Leave the town and slink back into Hell, and we'll let you live."

"You would dare to speak to me in this tone?! Who do you… Wait…" Shiro's demeanor worsened as he recognized them, "The explosive human… Mundus's puppet… and the Son of Sparda…"

Jaune smirked, "Would you look at that. We're famous."

Penny remembered the earlier mentions of the demons, so she was able to place it in context for the rest of the group. "Friend Ruby is the human… So Friend Nora must be the puppet and Friend Jaune is the son of those previous demon lords."

Shiro laughed, "Excellent! When I kill you, my power over Hell shall never be questioned! To do what Mundus could never achieve!"

Nora smiled with a raised brow, "Awfully presumptuous to think you can beat us. Some nobody of a demon like you?"

Shiro roared in anger, "I WILL MURDER YOU!"

Ruby smirked, "You'll die trying."

Yang grinned, "Aww! Look at you go sis! Acting all confident~"

"Yang…" Ruby groaned at her sister's antics.

Shiro dove forward, trying to slash at Ruby, but she dodged with a blast to the ground and Shiro barreled into the double attack of Jaune's punch and Nora's kick. Shiro recoiled back before trying to swipe at the two that hit him, only to have a rocket fly into his face and knock him back.

Ruby landed back on the ground, "You know, if it was just one of us, you might have had a chance."

Nora cracked her knuckles before drawing her pistols again, "But with all three of us here?"

Jaune's guitar disappeared in red lightning as he drew the sword off his back again, "You're screwed."

The fight that followed was a one-sided slaughter. Shiro tried to attack only to the blow dodged and another of the group landing a hit.

Port chuckled, "Oh ho! Excellent teamwork and coordination~ Truly an impressive group."

"Quite!" Oobleck readjusted his glasses before taking a drink from a filled mug, "Take notes students! This is the effective skill of a truly capable team."

Shiro roared and swung a claw at Nora, only to find a hidden glyph in the air causing a shock to run through his body.

Weiss had something new to think about now. Could she hide her glyphs and create a trap for her enemies? It would be rather helpful in combat. She'll have to test this at some point soon.

Ruby was able to capitalize on this with a bayonet slash at Shiro. Jaune followed with a heavy slash back downward and knocking Shiro into the concrete beneath him. Shiro tried to dig himself out and roared, "I WILL NOT DIE!" His wounds were healing despite the damage they were causing. Shiro roared out in laughter, "I AM IMMORTAL! I AM THE LORD OF THE DEMONS!"

Ruby growled, "He's healing everything we throw at him."

Jaune cracked his neck, "Then let's hit him so hard he can't regenerate."

The three dodged another attack and moved to three separate directions. Ruby's launcher unleashed a torrent of steam as her rocket was charged with stored energy being forced into the ballistic missile within. Nora created an electric glyph in front of her, the outer ring of which now had an extra layer. Jaune pulled his two handguns from under his coat and spun them around, bringing them together toward the demon.

Roman tapped his chair in thought, "Seems the kid is the type for a bit of flare in his fights."

The screen split among the three, each getting a section of the canvas as they spoke in unison, "Jackpot!" All three fired their attacks toward Shiro at once: Ruby's heavy missile, Nora's bolt of lightning, and Jaune's demon-powered gunfire. The three attacks collided together and created an explosion powerful enough to rip the street apart around them. As the smoke cleared, they saw Shiro's body was eviscerated, leaving only a floating white orb in his place.

Ruby had ducked into a nearby ally to avoid the explosion. As she rounded the corner again, she looked to the orb in confusion, "What's that thing?"

Nora, being created by the demon Mundus to fight Jaune, didn't have to worry about the explosion. She was just sitting on one of the chunks of rubble, "Have you not seen this part before?"

Nora gasped, "Oh my gosh! That's so awesome! Even when I use my grenades, I have to make sure they blow up next to me, but to be able to not worry about the explosion would be awesome!"

"What part?"

Jaune brushed off a mass of dirt that got onto his coat, "Should consider switching to wearing red." Large chunks of glass were buried in his flesh, his blood staining his coat.

Velvet nearly fell over in shock, but was able to stay up because of one fact, "He seems… fine?"

Coco turned to her teammate, "What do you mean? He's got glass in his chest!"

Jaune grabbed the glass and ripped each of the shards out of his body.

Coco groaned, "And that'll just make it worse. You don't remove them until you can get…" Velvet tapped her shoulder and got her to focus on the screen again, "…treatment?"

Jaune's wounds had healed almost instantly. Even his coat was fading back to its usual coloration. Jaune walked over to the orb and looked at it from either side. "Alright, Shiro Kiba. Let's see what you left me." He grabbed the orb and it started to shine, blinding those in the area, or watching beyond the canvas. When they could see again, Jaune had a blood red katana in hand. He ran his thumb down the side of the blade before testing its weight.

Blake almost found it poetic. The blade resembled the one used by Adam.

Ruby, however, saw something else, "Where did that come from! How did…! What's going on!"

Jaune smirked before kicking up a set of boulders that fell back toward him. He used the blade to block each and sword started to glow. Once it was done, he swung the sword forward and the street in front of him was torn up by an energy wave. This was his new Devil Arm, Taurus.

"Devil… Arm…" Ruby thought it over, came to a conclusion, and burst out, "HE HAS MAGIC WEAPONS MADE OF DEMONS! THAT IS NOT FAIR!"

This got a bit of chuckling based on Ruby's reaction, but some in the audience felt similarly to her. The idea of such weapons intrigued some and made other jealous.

Jaune placed the blade into a scabbard and turned back to his associates. "Alright. Let's head back to the office and celebrate a successful mission that we actually get paid for!"

Nora grinned, "I'm in."

Ruby stopped the two from advancing, "Alright, but no pizza and sundaes this time!"

Jaune turned to the demonic lightning wielder, "Nora? Your thoughts?"

Nora tapped her chin in faux thought for a moment before smirking, "Pepperoni and vanilla for dessert."

"You heard her, Ruby. Two against one!"

As they walked passed her, Ruby sighed in exasperation. But she smiled all the same. Just another day for the trio under the name Devil May Cry.

Yang laughed, "That was awesome! Gave me some new stuff to try."

Ruby nodded, "And I have some new ideas for weapons~"

The screen showed another intermission screen, prompting everyone to stand up and stretch their legs.

Weiss took in a breath and started to walk toward the back, "I… do have to admit that it was entertaining at times."

Yang chuckled at Weiss's statement, "Nice to see you having fun for once."

"I have fun!"

"No offense Weiss, but I don't I've ever seen you actually have fun before."

"Quite the conundrum." Jaune said from behind the two. "How can one prove the concept of fun to another if it remains so subjective."

Weiss and Yang froze in place. Why, you may ask? Because Jaune Arc was in front of them. Everyone turned around to the person who spoke.

Standing before them was Jaune Arc, dressed in a white suit with a golden tie. His hair was combed to the side and he stood with a certain poise that Jaune just didn't have. Next to him, however, was just as shocking. A blonde female with her hair fashioned similarly to Jaune's and in a white blazer, vest, and skirt. The two seemed more alike that identical twins.

The woman spoke soon after, "One simply cannot prove such a concept, brother. After all, who would believe you?" She sounded, and looked, an awful lot like depictions of Jeanne.

King popped in and saw the scene playing out before him. Only one word could suffice for what he was seeing. "Fuck."