Dante VS Ragna the Bloodedge is a What-If? episode of Death Battle. Written by ThePerpetual.
Description[]
Disclaimer: I own Z, Tessera, and Magus only. All other characters belong to their respective owners.
Devil May Cry combats BlazBlue! Can the massive arsenal and stylish moves of Capcom's devil hunter triumph, or does victory belong to the raw power and relentless determination of the Grim Reaper?
Interlude[]
(Cue Invader)
Z: Greetings, people, welcome to the show!! So, yeah, we're sort of come from like, waaaay far away from here. Figured we'd get something started up here, too, y'know? I, your stylish main character, am Z, the leader of this little gig. The turquiose-haired elven waif that seemingly has a whopping zero emotions over there is Tessera...
Tessera: (-_-ing in irritation intensifies)
Z: ...and the chubby fellow with the orange sweater, ruby-topped staff, Naruto hair, and voice seemingly ripped straight off of JonTron over there is Magus.
Magus: Oh, fuck yeah!! I got an introduction!!
Z: ...excitable fellow, as you can plainly see.
Tessera: What are we waiting for? There's a fight that needs doing.
Z: Right...
Sometimes, you need that special kind of hero.
Magus: The kind that has white hair, an awesome-looking sword, dark powers, and the ability to make anyone they talk to mad as balls at them?
Tessera: ...I was going to more thoroughly and eloquently explain the connection, but... yeah, that's sort of it.
Z: Dante, the Son of Sparda...
Tessera: ...and Ragna, the Bloodedge.
Z: Now, it should be noted that we are using a Composite Dante for this match.
Magus: All of the weapons.
Z: And it’s our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
Dante, the Son of Sparda[]
Height: Unknown (speculated to be 6'2")
Weight: Unknown (speculated to be 200 lbs.)
Age: Unknown (varies from late teens to late 30s depending on the game/who you ask)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: White
AKA: Tony Redgrave, The Son of Sparda, The Devil Hunter
Feats:
- Has defeated countless demons for roughly 20 years
- Can ignore all but the gravest of blows; for instance, reacts quite casually to being impaled by his own sword
- Mastered the use of Devil Trigger
- Constantly completes jobs with flair and style
- Completely unfazable, no matter what threat presents itself
- Has fought in and out of the Leviathan
- Defeated Vergil, his “evil twin,” who was supposedly superior to him in every way at the time
- Slew Mundus, the Prince of Darkness
- Could kill demons with only normal human pistols before he made Ebony and Ivory
- Effortlessly destroyed several hell jailers with little combat experience
(Cue Lock and Load)
Magus: Need some demons killed? This guy’s got it WAY covered.
Z: Dante, the half-demon son of Sparda, had... actually, a pretty okay early childhood.
Magus: But then they were both seven years of age, and baaad stuff happened. Like their father Sparda dying, for instance! The next year, they were attacked by demons, causing his mother Eva to also be dead and for Dante and his twin Vergil to be separated. Fun times.
Z: Fast forward a decade or so, and poor, orphaned, has-no-family-or-life Dante... isn’t an emo, actually.
Magus: Well, not originally, at lea-
(Z telekinetically lifts Magus, then throws him over the horizon, causing him to become a star like Team Rocket. A displeased Magus promptly teleports back to the station.)
Z: No.
...Noooo.
No!
Just no.
Tessera: That never happened, Magus. Remember?
Z: Anyways, he receives an invitation from Arkham whom he’d later learn was an evil master manipulator to head to Temen-ni-Gru, a holy tower used by his father Sparda to seal away his own unholy power. Long story short, Arkham plays the twin brothers and his daughter Lady against each other, reawakens the power of Sparda-
Magus: -and gets his ass handed to him by the super Sparda brothers after they declare a temporary truce! From that day on, Dante’s life was a glorious one, chock-full of free-spiritedness, devil-may-care attitude, badassery, and of course demon-slaying. And let’s not forget the pizza... all the pizza!
Z: He’s even managed to make a living off of it, but more often than not he seems to be permanently in debt to Lady and/or Trish.
Tessera: Dante is rarely serious about anything; especially while he is younger; but it’s not without reason. He is, after all, the Son of Sparda. As for what that implicates, well... a lot of things actually. For instance...
Strength
- Can shatter large stones with one strike
- Overpower demons larger than him regularly
- Can throw law enforcement around like toy dolls
- Blocked a punch thrown at him by the Savior
Speed
- Blindly fast attacks
- Can dodge point-blank gunshots, lightning, and even lasers from Beowulf
- Can outrun lightning
- His speed is such that he appears to teleport, and prevents pouring rain from touching the ground casually when in combat
Endurance/Durability
- Can take serious beatings of all sorts without showing signs of pain
- Was impaled by his own sword and casually kept talking
- Withstood continent-destroying attacks
- Doesn’t tire
- All-around ridiculous stamina, especially against physical damage
Intellect/Skills
- Not the smartest in the world, but has proven capable of being quite creative, especially in combat
- Masterful swordsman, uses an unpredictable, seemingly entirely random style
- Super-humanly skilled marksman: Can shoot bullets out of the air with his own bullets, and can stack them on top of each other
Minor Telekinesis
- Stopped a flying motorcycle, pulled Rebellion back into his hand
Empowerment
- Can transfer his devil energy to any weapon he wields, explaining how he can do so much damage with human weapons
Healing Factor
- Very potent, can heal over minor wounds in seconds
- Not quite perfect, however
Angel Glide
- Short glide through the air
Angel/Demon Evade
- Angel evade teleports a short distance, providing invincibility frames - Demon Evade grants extra attack power on a last-instant dodge
Hammerspace
- Keeps all his weapons in the magical satchel of video-game logic
Z: Dante's got superhuman attributes through the roof. In the strength department, shattering giant stones and overpowering demons larger than himself are just Tuesday for the devil hunter. Hell, he can even block punches from the Savior!!
Tessera: And speed? Some of his documented feats in that category include moving with such speed he appears to teleport, outracing lightning, preventing even one drop of heavy rainfall from touching the ground across a sizeable area as a mere side effect of battling, and even dodging lightning bolts and Beowulf's blasts of light. So... yeah, fast.
Magus: But's lets not forget that durability. I mean, when you regularly suffer beating with no signs of pain, walk around with a giant-ass sword in your chest making witty remarks about the weather, tank attacks on a continental scale, and never tire ever? Yeaaah, good luck killing the guy.
Z: And said durability is only further augmented by his healing factor. Sure, it ain't perfect, its not saving him from any lethal blows, but hey, health regen never hurt anyone. Besides, it keeps him looking stylish while beats demons senseless, so bonus point for that.
Tessera: This, of course, is not the end of his repertoire of abilities.
Z: Nope! The man's got stuff like respectably powerful telekinesis, absolutely insane marksmanship, especially considering he usually uses handguns, mastery with a variety of weapons, no need to breathe to live, the ability to empower any weapon he wields with devil energy (explaining why human weapons he owns are even remotely as potent as demon ones), and a hammerspace satchel to keep stuff in.
Magus: Of course, since we're compositing him, that means we get to violently rip all of his reboot counterpart's powers out of his cold, dead hands, and give them to the original!! Compositing: because fuck yeah!!
Z: But what does this give the original Son of Sparda? Angel and Demon Evade, of course. The former grants invincibility frames, the latter provides a quick damage boost if timed right. Fun stuff.
Oh, also, Angel Glide lets him fly, but he could already do that in his classic incarnation so that's sort of useless. Oh well.
Magus: But people don’t know Dante merely as another Gary-Stu superhuman with some Matrix-esque magic tricks. They remember him as Dante, who possesses more weapons than the average post-apocalyptic aficionado’s just-in-case bunker. That may not sound like a lot, but trust me; it is.
Z: But just how many weapons does Tony Redgrave here possess? Time to buckle up, ladies and gents, because this is going to get... extensive.
Rebellion
- Claymore (Magic Element)
- His keepsake sword given to him by Sparda, was awakened when it tasted Dante’s own blood
Ebony and Ivory
-Twin Handguns
-Can fire charged shots, never needs to reload
Force Edge
-Sword (Demon Element)
-Awakened, can shapeshift into a spear or scythe during some attacks
Beowulf
-Gauntlets and Greaves (Light Element)
-Speedy attacks, can blast foes with light
Shotgun
- Devastating at close range, but has longer reload time
- Variants include Coyote-A and Revenant
- Can be charged
Nightmare-Beta
-Fires chargeable lasers of green energy, fueled by Dante’s devil trigger energy
Merciless
-Long, rapier-like blade
-Weak, but has reach
Vendetta
- Very heavy blade
- Very strong
Arbiter
- Battleaxe (Demon Element)
- Can be thrown
Osiris
- Scythe (Angel Element)
- Fast and has high reach, but low damage per hit
- Feeds upon demonic energies to increase in power as it lands consecutive hits
Missile Launcher
- Supposedly heat-seeking
Twin Submachine-Guns
- Heckler and Koch MP5Ks
- Extremely rapid-fire, otherwise inferior to Ebony and Ivory
Alastor
- Broadsword (Lightning Element)
- Gives superior aerial capabilities
Ifrit
- Gauntlets (Fire Element)
- Can manipulate hellfire
Gilgamesh
- Armor, Gauntlets, and Mask (Metal Element)
Lucifer
- Backpack-like apparatus, generates summoned swords (Dark Element)
Pandora
- Suitcase with 666 different weapon forms (Light Element)
- Ones used in-game include a gatling gun, laser bazooka, bow gun, and boomerang
- Disaster gauge enables “Omen” giant blast
Cerberus
- Three-tailed nunchuks (Ice Element)
- Can create pillars of ice
Agni and Rudra
- Twin Scimitars (one Fire Element, one Wind Element)
Eryx
- Heavy Gauntlets (Demon Element)
Aquilla
- Set of Chakram (Angel Element)
- Return when thrown, provide extended melee reach
Nevan
- Scythe-guitar hybrid (Lightning Element)
- Can blast with lightning... and bats?
Artemis
- Cannon
- Fires chargeable arrows of demonic energy or generates laser rain
Kalina Ann
- Rocket launcher
- Armed with bayonet that can be used as a grappling hook
Spiral
- Sniper Rifle
Needlegun
- Only works underwater
Kerblooey
- Fires remote-detonating needles
Grenadegun
- Fires grenades
The Bangle of Time
- Briefly stops time
PIZZA!!
- Because pizza.
Magus: Hooooolly SHIET!! WEAPONS!!!
Z: The guy's practically a walking armory, what with his hammerspace and dozens of demonic weapons and firearms. Now there's not even the most REMOTE chance I'll get to wear my trench coat around town without being arrested for being some kind of magic terrorist or something. Thanks, Dante!
Tessera: But a few of his weapons; and only a few, mind you; are rather repetitive, and utilize the same attacks over and over again across different iterations of the game. At least it shows his creativity when it comes to handling his arsenal, if the likes of Crazy Dance and Roulette didn't already. After all, performing a former signature sword technique with a scythe in... the reboot... showcases a sense of creativity in combat, even if he isn't always the smartest.
Z: Speaking of signature attacks...
Stinger
- Dashes forward with a super-fast stab
Round Trip
- Throws sword/chakram at enemy
Drive
- Releases a shockwave of devil energy by slashing the air, can be chained into Overdrive
Million Stab
- Not confirmed to literally deliver one million stabs, but is nonetheless an ultra-fast flurry of blows
Air Raid
- Blasts foes with devil energy whilst flying
Giant Spectral Dragon (unnamed)
- Consumes all of devil trigger gauge to blast enemy with giant ghost dragon resembling Sparda
Crazy Dance
- After slashing multiple times stylishly, plants sword into the ground and spins in place whilst holding it
Million Dollars
- A massive storm of bullets, followed by a double-charged shot
Devil Must Die
- Darts forth, repeatedly using Stinger before finishing with a final Stinger that explodes and throws back enemy with a runic circle of devil energy
Prop Shredder
- Whirls sword in circles in the palm of his hand, shredding foes and sending survivors flying skyward
Jackpot
- Used to seal away demons
This isn't even close to all of them
Tessera: Dante has a list of special attacks extensive enough that it would throw anyone at Riot to an asylum just by the sight of it. Some of these special attacks are quite ridiculous, as well. Again, looking at you, Crazy Dance.
Z: Some of his most iconic attacks are the Stinger charging stab, the Round Trip, the Drive, and blindingly fast Million Stab.
Magus: He can also conjure a GIANT FRICKIN' DRAGON! ...THING!
Tessera: By consuming all of his Devil Trigger.
Magus: Aww.
Z: Fortunately, he has two more attacks of especial import. The first of these is Million Dollars, a technique in which Dante sends a hail of bullets at his enemy before finishing with a double charged shot whilst saying his signature phrase, "Jackpot!"
Magus: In true badass style.
Z: And yet, even if that doesn't end it, Dante can still whip out his ultimate attack, as used in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Devil Must Die.
Tessera: It does... well, this.
Magus: But being a demon-murdering, magic-shooting swiss army knife doesn't always cut it, even for our resident devil hunter, Dante.
Z: And that is why the perpetually-stylish Dante has mastered the use of several; aptly enough; styles to enhance his abilities.
Trickster
- Emphasizes evasion
Royalguard
- Builds power by guarding; can release rage power with Release for a powerful counter, ultimate technique absorbs attacks as vitality; grants Dante the Dreadnaught form
Quicksilver
- Slows time by consuming devil trigger
Doppelganger
- Generate clones by consuming devil trigger
Swordmaster
- Emphasizes mastery of devil arms
Gunslinger
- Emphasizes mastery of firearms
Z: Each style has a different emphasis, and gives Dante a bonus based on a specific play style.
Tessera: The Trickster style, for instance, emphasizes evasion to gain style points. One of his most potent styles is the Royalguard style. Rather than emphazise mobility, it instead guards against attacks to mitigate damage and build a rage meter. This meter has two purposes; one, to use Release, which releases the pent-up rage for a powerful attack; two, to access the Dreadnaught form, gaining a dark armor that renders him impervious to assault... until it burns through his rage meter. Similar to how his devil trigger is limited.
Magus: Mario’s Metal Cap from Hell?
Z: ...maybe? Whatever analogy works for you. You know, speaking of Devil Trigger...
Tessera: You’ve already used that transition.
Z: ...Dangit, Tessera. All right then, time to discuss The Son of Sparda’s equivalent of the Super Saiyan form.
- Increased strength
- Increased speed
- Regeneration
- Takes on new look
- Drains Devil Trigger energy while active: devil trigger energy is gained primarily my landing blows, the rate at which it increases is based on how "Stylish!" Dante is being at the time, and he gains devil trigger energy by taunting, as well
Z: The Devil Trigger allows Dante to access the whole of this supernatural power as a half-demon, giving him a number of increased attributes.
While in this mode, Dante increases in strength and speed, regenerates vitality, and takes on a new look dependent on the weapon he is using. However, while active, it also consumes the Devil Trigger meter. Once it runs out, the mode is deactivated.
Tessera: Dante’s devil trigger is filled primarily by landing blows, but a few other factors; for instance, taunting and maintaining good style; will accelerate this process.
Magus: So all that crazy showboating does have at least SOME kind of practicality.
Z: But everybody’s favorite wise-cracking demon exterminator still has one final trick up his crimson sleeve... his ace in the hole… the
Majin Form
- Gains long lightsaber-esque blades on the forearms to attack foes
- Becomes invulnerable
- Can fly
- Can fire chest-kamehamehas of light and dark energy, and can throw fireballs
- Capable of engulfing foes in a black void, consuming them with terror
Magus: This thing. Where to begin...
Z: Originating from the second game, the Majin Form is the strongest form that Dante has ever taken. In addition to making him completely invulnerable, it also gives him chest lasers of either light or darkness, ANOTHER method of flight, and of course, lightsaber armblades. Because whhyyyy not.
Tessera: Let’s not forget the attack that swallows people in a cold void of fear and darkness. That sounds like it could ruin someone’s day.
Magus: And it runs on a time limit, just like the other Devil Trigger? Sounds sorta like if a Starman gave you Sith Lord powers.
Z: That is actually the third Mario reference you’ve made this far, in one half of one prelude.
Magus: I can’t help if I see a resemblance!
Tessera: And yet, for all of his strengths, even Dante isn’t invincible...
Weaknesses
- Cocky and overconfident
- Multiple powers all run on Devil Trigger energy
- Reboots! My Weakness!
Tessera: ...for every hero has a weakness, and Dante here is no excuse.
Z: He is constantly shown to not have a care in the world. In all fairness, it’s kind of hard to when the monsters everyone else fears so much he can quite consistently stomp with ease. Another thing worth noting is that many of his attributes; for instance, the Nightmare-Beta, two of his most potent and useful styles, and of course his Devil Trigger all require his Devil Trigger energy. It should also be noted that, while Dante can withstand what should be traumatic blows, he has not been shown to be capable of regenerating lost limbs, at least not in any reasonable time frame. In theory, decapitation could end him.
Magus: But we can’t forget his most important, his most profound vulnerability of all...
.
...Ninja Theory.
Tessera: ...I don’t really think that counts.
Z: It doesn’t matter how you slice it; Dante still is and will always be one of the greatest, most stylish demon hunters there has ever been.
Dante: "Well, bring it on! I love this! This is what I live for! (swings Ebony & Ivory) I'm absolutely crazy about it!!"
.
.
.
.
Ragna, the Bloodedge[]
Height: 6’0.8”
Weight: 172 lbs
Age: unknown (in his 20s)
Hair: White
Eyes: one Green, one Red (heterochromia due to possessing Azure Grimoire)
AKA: The Grim Reaper, Bloodedge, “Good Guy”
Feats
-Despite having comparatively little combat training at the time, near-effortlessly slaughtered 300 veteran soldiers and several dozen Praetorian guards
-This earned him the Moniker “The Grim Reaper”; he did not decide it for himself
-Rendered the Black Beast dormant for an entire year
-Has repeatedly destroyed the bases of the Novus Orbis Librarium, a multi-national task force that regulates the control of power in the world, all while eluding capture
-Acquired a bounty “large enough to buy a small country”
-Has battled quite nearly every other character in the game, and has lost only exceedingly rarely; even then usually with interfering circumstances
-Fought off Azrael, a criminal feared by just about everyone else in the entire world, while half-blind and possessing a paralyzed arm
-Even without access to his Azure Grimoire, was capable of fending off v-No.13-‘s nonstop barrage of swords from all directions
-With some help from Noel and Jin, defeated Take-Mikuzachi in under 10 minutes
(Cue Rebellion II)
Z: Once upon a time, the Six Heroes; Hakumen, Jubei, Trinity, Valkenhayn, Konoe, and Yuuki; all combated the Black Beast, a monstrous entity composed of black seithr whose sole intent is to ravage and ruin all life. Although the monster would first kill over half of the world’s entire population in its rampage before the Six Heroes could confront it, they ultimately fought it off and invented Ars Magus so that humanity would win the war against it. The one who bought them a whole year of time so that they could come up with the art was a hero known only as Bloodedge, whom Celica A. Mercury had found in the woods and tended to... who was actually Ragna from the future, and would have Celica as something of a love interest...
...Yeah, I give up on trying to explain the background story for this guy.
Tessera: Then talk about him as a character instead.
Z: Ragna comes off as sardonic, rude, and abrasive to just about anyone and everyone he meets.
Magus: He's also got a temper about as short-ACK
(Magus is tripped by Z's Gilgamesh halberd, and falls flat on his face.)
Z: I know where you intend to go with that, and I'm stopping you now.
Tessera: So immature...
Z: This is caused mainly by Terumi destroying Ragna's life early-on, which has made him hateful of Terumi; more so than probably any other individual. After all, Terumi did cut off Ragna’s right arm and kidnapped his sblings; it’s not too hard to see the reasoning behind his thoughts. Naturally, Ragna wants revenge on Terumi for this, and often becomes infuriated at the sight of Terumi, who makes a point to antagonize the ever-living hell out of him simply to watch him get mad. However, even in cases where he can't win or is on the brink of death, Ragna possesses an undying will and refuses to give up, something many of the other characters hate or admire. Or both.
Tessera: Even so, Ragna still cares about his allies deep down, which becomes more evident as the story progresses, and he “matures.” He kept his promise to Litchi in that he spared Arakune after defeating him. Also, despite Jin's role in the destruction of his life, still cares for him as a brother. He also expressed anguish when Nu sacrificed her life to protect him, despite the past animosity he harbored for her.
Z: Yep. Alright, I guess we should start getting down to the meat on the bones, so to speak.
Strength
- Can throw cars
- Can stagger giant monsters like the Take-Mikuzachi
- Can trade blows with Azrael, Terumi, Rachel, Jin, and the rest of the cast
Speed/Agility
- Dodged Rachel's sky-to-ground lightning strikes
- Dispatched hundreds of gun-wielding soldiers without being hit once, before he was very experienced in combat
- Can react to the Take-Mikuzachi's laser blasts after they fire (as in, not aim-dodging)
- Matched Hakumen, who reacted to Bang-Shishigami's lightspeed technique
- Defeated Terumi, who reached the inside of the Takamagahara system in 1/480000th of a second
-- And kept up with his Light of Judgment
- Can jump very high distances into the air and is generally very agile
Endurance/Durability
- Can fight through dozens of stab wounds, extreme electrocution, crippling pain, etc.
- Laughs at such injuries as high falls and being punched through multiple thick walls
- Can take extreme beatings from Terumi, Jin, Take-Mikuzachi, Nu-13, and similarly powerful enemies
- The Black Beast, whom he is tied to, took the entirety of the world's nuclear arsenal, further amped up from our own real world equivalent, without so much as a scratch
Intellect/Skills
- Above average, but otherwise nothing special
- Master swordsman, capable of fighting very skilled opponents with as much power as him
- Expert hand-to-hand combatant: uses an informal style that appears to be a cross between martial arts and street-fighting
- A good cook, apparently?
Willpower
- Has allowed him to resist immense pain, as well as psychic/mental assualts to some degree
Ars Magus
- Taught to him by Jubei, one of the Six Heroes
4th Wall Awareness
- Only on occasion, not to the same extent as, say, Deadpool
- Has not used it to his benefit in combat before
Minor Healing Factor
- Recovers more quickly from heavy injuries than other people
Heightened Perception/Sixth Sense
- Seemingly capable of predicting exactly when and where v-No.13-‘s numerous swords were coming from in the opening cinematic to their battles
- Possibly tied to his connection to the Boundary maybe?
Magus: Ragna is a powerful combatant even without any magical nonsense, being physically strong, very fast, and extremely tough.
Tessera: He also possesses extraordinary willpower, letting nothing deterring him from doing something he truly sets his mind to. He can take dozens of attacks from the likes of Rachel, Terumi, and Hakumen, considered some of if not THE strongest characters in his world, and keep on fighting without impairment, despite the fact that he is very visibly in pain.
Z: Ragna is also capable of utilizing seithr, an ambient, intangible substance that surrounds the planet-
Magus: So magic.
Z: ...via the art of Ars Magus.
Tessera: Ars Magus is, to simplify things, a scientific method of using the mystical energy seithr as a source of power. He was taught to use this technique by Jubei, one of the legendary Six Heroes who made it possible to defeat the Black Beast who otherwise would have annihlated all life.
Z: Oh, and he’s a dhampir, too. Sort of.
Magus: Wha...?
Z: A half-vampire. Trust me, it’s as hard to understand this storyline as it is to find a scene in Man of Steel in which the camera isn’t trying to find the right zoom setting. All you need to know is that Ragna was about to die, and then plot, and eventually Ragna time travels courtesy of Rachel.
Tessera: During his eventual training with Jubei, he also inherited his signature weapon, the Blood-Scythe.
- A massive, powerful blade that shapeshifts from sword to scythe and back
- Slowly devours the soul of those it strikes upon contact
- Roughly 5 feet in length total in sword form
-- Essentially, a slightly smaller Buster Sword
- Awakened, becomes a scythe surrounded by a radiant crimson energy blade composed of seithr
Z: Yet another Buster Sword. What’s to be said about the darn thing?
Tessera: Quite a bit, actually. Originally, Jubei of the Six Heroes found the quite-misleadingly-named Blood-Scythe in the rubble of a church after the Dark War against the Black Beast ended. Remembering that it was wielded by the hero Bloodedge, he took it and, after training Ragna for a few years to control his Azure Grimoire properly, gifted both it and his now signature jacket- both of which Ragna himself formerly owned- to him.
Magus: But wait... if he gave it up so that he could just get it back... aaaagh! Paradoxes, everywhere!!!!!
Tessera: My face hurts too, Magus. My face hurts too.
Z: It has the uncanny ability to slowly steal away the souls of those it damages, although it is unknown how it possesses this power. To what extent, you might ask? Well, just to point out the sheer level of hax this is, here, we're talking about something that's effective against people like Hakumen. You know, who literally walks around with a super-mind, emotion, and soul-screwing Nox Nyctores weapon all the time without so much as mild discomfort? Whose strength of spirit was so great, he survived the Boundary for nearly a century straight, when a strong-souled human like Arakune turned into a pseudo-mindless pile of goo just by touching the darned thing? Whose force of will is so strong, he can literally stop himself from not existing by instead existing?
Tessera: Remember, all Nox Nyctores weapons can inflict soul-scarring. The Blood-Scythe is just especially good at it, never mind when it's amped up with seithr. Speaking of, in its awakened state it slides around and transforms, becoming a giant scythe with a radiant crimson blade of glowing seithr.
Magus: Ah, there’s the lightsaber! Remember kiddos, all fighting games have lightsaber ripoffs.
Tessera: ...Unless you’re Soul Calibur. Then you just have actual lightsabers.
Z: As it turns out, however, Ragna has more tricks up his sleeve than simply “have sword, will stab.”
Drive- Soul Eater
- All of his seithr-based attacks damage the opponent's soul by destroying it and converting it into seithr piece by piece, allowing Ragna to replenish his health
Hell's Fang
- Dashes forward, delivering a black-seithr infused punch, then follows through with a stream of seithr
Blood Scythe
- Overhead swing with Blood-Scythe’s awakened form
Dead Spike
- Creates a rolling wave of dark seithr on the ground, with resemblance to a head of the Black Beast
Belial Edge
- A diagonal downwards dive, blade-first, that scores multiple hits
Gauntlet Hades
- Two whirling, black seithr-infused hammer fists
Inferno Divider
- A skyward slash infused with dark seithr
Not Over Yet
- Grabs a prone opponent, holds them up in the air, then impales them with the Blood-Scythe
Z: Ragna’s drive is Soul Eater, enabling him to heal himself with the damage his drives and distortion attacks deal his opponent.
Magus: As far as the actual attacks themselves... (quickly glances at the move list once again)... it’s kiiinda, sorta easy to see a theme going here, isn’t it?
Tessera: Seeing as it is his primary source of power, and that he has trained several years on figuring out how to effectively use it, Ragna has found a number of uses for the seithr generated by his Azure Grimoire, as well as a large number of stylish, sometimes over-the-top martial techniques, and has combined the two into a unique fighting style suited to his abilities.
Magus: But that still just won’t cut it for The Grim Reaper. When the Grim Reaper is truly serious, he busts out some of the coolest, most confusingly named special attacks out there; distortion drives.
Z: ...because a sword named Blood-Scythe wasn’t confusingly named?
Carnage Scissors
- dashes forward and delivers two seithr-empowered slashes
- requires 50% Astral heat
Devoured by Darkness
- Turns hand into the Black Beast's claw, grappling and channeling dark power through his victim
- Requires 50% Astral heat
Tessera: Ragna possesses two different distortion drives.
Z: His first, Carnage Scissors, dashes forward to deliver two vicious crossed slashes in an X-shape. His second, Devoured by Darkness, manifests the claw of the Black Beast in place of his Azure Grimoire and grabs the opponent with it, and channels his Azure Grimoire’s dark seithr through them.
Tessera: Both require that Ragna use 50% of his maximum astral heat, however. Astral heat is generated primarily by landing hits on an opponent, but it is also filled by taking hits as well. Even blocked hits build a minimal amount of astral heat. Finally, Ragna can fill his astral heat to full once per game by taunting his opponent.
Magus: But even this isn’t enough. Like all fighting game characters, Ragna has a badass finishing move. His is known as the...
Astral Finish: Black Onslaught
- A chain of scythe slashes, then a channeling of seithr as dark energy barrages opponent, concluding with a powerful sword stab that disintegrates an opponent’s soul into seithr
- Automatic win if landed, at least in-game
- Requires all of Astral heat, and that opponent has 35% or lower HP
Z: Ragna’s astral finish, the Black Onslaught, is his strongest attack by far. Although the fact that it is an astral finish and thus an instant-kill by its nature could be chalked up to gameplay mechanics, it should be noted that this attack deals more damage than Ragna has health. It should also be noted that Ragna is canonically stronger than... well, the owner of this astral finish.
...
Magus: ...wow.
Tessera: It’s stronger than that, then?
Magus: But GAMEPLAY! And... gag feats, and all that stuff.
Z: Explain the bad ending in Continuum Shift, where Ragna loses control of the Azure Grimoire and accidentally destroys most of the world.
Magus: But RETCON!!
Z: Explain why Rachel Alucard: in the canonical end of the newest game in the series: outright STATES that Ragna possesses “a great evil that is big enough to devour the entire world.” Remember, Rachel is that one all-but-omniscient vampire girl who seemingly disregards anything and everything as not even a threat? She actively acknowledged that supposedly retconned ending multiple times, and the Black Beast within Ragna. It simply means that it didn't happen, not that it couldn't.
Magus: ...shit. Okay, okay, so he's really powerful. Here's my question; how does he magically have this unlimited supply of seithr if there's supposedly only a limited amount in an area?
Tessera: And cue transiton.
Azure Grimoire
- Acquired from Rachel after the loss of his right arm to Terumi
- Mass of extremely condensed seithr, similar to the Black Beast
- Allows him to freely manipulate seithr for versatile long-range attacks
- Gives him access to the boundary, essentially giving him an infinite pool of seithr
Barrier
- Consumes a small amount of barrier meter to completely block incoming attacks
Burst Barrier
- Knocks away and interrupts opponents
- Essentially functions like a combo breaker
Blood Kain IDEA
- Doubled attack power
- Convert Distortion Drives into more powerful Overdrives
- Lasts longer the more injured Ragna is upon activating it
Z: When Ragna was a child, Terumi kinda... cut off his right arm. He's kinda a jerk like that, as it turns out. The future Bloodedge would've died, but then Rachel turned into a vampire sort of, and gave him the Azure Grimoire, which took the form of a new right arm for him to use. Since then, he's grown accustomed to it, and the power within it.
Magus: What power?
Z: Funny you should ask. Before I explain, though, I should probably brief the audience on some terminology.
See, the boundary is the place where all timelines and destinies intersect, and the azure, “the true power of the boundary,” is located somewhere within the boundary. It is said of to be made of many different things, including bio-energy, memories, life, or even souls, and has been described as “the light from which the world sprang.” Now, a grimoire is an item with knowledge on how to perform Ars Magus, and can take a multitude of forms. They are regulated by the Novis Orbis Librarium, whom, as we have stated, Ragna has no real fondness for from the get-go. The azure grimoire, which Ragna possesses, also known as the BlazBlue, is the strongest grimoire, and can draw upon the power of the Azure. Effectively, the BlazBlue itself is a boundary, and thus has an infinite supply of seithr. Don't ask me how that works; it just does.
Tessera: It gives him the ability to use Barrier, completely guarding him from incoming assault. In addition, he can also unleash some of its power to activate the Blood Kain IDEA, doubling his strength and speed, as well as further enhancing his distortion drives to overdrives, greatly increasing their strength. However, Blood Kain IDEA has a time limit, and a cooldown.
Magus: He can also instead use it for Burst Barrier, a short-wave pulse of energy that interrupts annoying combo-happy rush-downers and flings them away like a McDonalds "Happy" Meal. C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER, bee-otch!
Z: But even this isn't the end of Ragna's abilities. He still has one last power he can use, in truly dire situations... his
Unlimited Mode
- Gains an aura of dark seithr, manifested as hazy purple-black fire, and Blood-Scythe begins flashing red periodically
- The power of the True Azure, theorized to be the full power the Black Beast controlled
- +25% attack power
- Unlocks new combos, and use of seithr becomes even more versatile
- x10 durability
- All attacks now apply his Soul Eater drive, as all attacks are infused with dark seithr
- Soul Eater drive restores a greater % of damage dealt as HP
- Ragna has CANONICALLY used this in the story modes of his games; notably, his battle against the Gigant: Take-Mikuzachi
- As a being wielding the power of the Black Beast, exists outside of Logic, making him wholly immune (as far as anyone's been able to tell) to fire, water, earth, air, light, and darkness attacks
- Can stack with Blood Kain IDEA
- Lasts for the rest of the battle
Tessera: Ragna can enter the unlimited mode when truly angered or serious, although it is not confirmed precisely how he does so.
Z: This form gives him a variety of upgrades, including greater destructive power, greater versatility, and more potent and always active lifesteal. The most dramatic upgrade, however, is vastly increased durability. Attacks that deal 5000 damage; formerly half of his max health; now only slightly wound him is this form.
Magus: What's more, it doesn't have one of those pesky time limits; it ends when his opponent does.
Z: And yet, with all of this power, Ragna still has his flaws.
Weaknesses
- Has a short fuse
- Prefers close range to long range
- Rather reluctant to use the full power of the Azure Grimoire
- The Azure Grimoire will "remember" purely magical wounds dealt to its bearer
- Has to contain the Black Beast within
- Having to pay for Taokaka's food
Tessera: The first and most obvious weakness is his temper. Ragna has something of a reputation concerning how easy he is to anger throughout the story. Even after he matures, he still was fairly easy to enrage.
Magus: The guy's rather not a fan of long range attacks. He much prefers to solve disputes by rushing down the foe and taking them in melee combat like a real man.
Z: ...says the long-range wizard.
Magus: Shut it, you!
Z: And he tells me to "shut it" on my own show. Priceless. Anywho, he has three more weaknesses; the Azure Grimoire. As it turns out, Rachel's gift was a double-edged sword, as it "remembers" wounds dealt to its bearer my magical attacks. This causes the pain and injury that those attacks inflicted to be echoed later on... or earlier on, what with the time paradoxes prevalent throughout the plot. What's more, Ragna is quite hesitant to use the Azure Grimoire, and even more so to unleash it's whole power. After all, it's power is to destroy, and Ragna has realized that what he truly fights for is to protect. However, this has not stopped him from unleashing its strength when people's lives; namely, Celica's and the entire world's; are in danger.
Tessera: But even with this, there's still a reason his moniker is something as fearsome as "The Grim Reaper" in a world as crazy as his.
Magus: With his boss fighting skill and inherent power, Ragna the Bloodedge will always be known as one of the greatest fighting game dark heroes there ever was, is, or shall be.
"But, because I lost that power, my head had cleared a little... now, I've had time to reevaluate that power. So I'm thankful, actually. Lately, whenever something happened, I would use the Azure Grimoire right away... I was relying on that power. Not my own- someone else's. So, what's MY power then? What can I be proud of and say 'this is my power' about?"
_____________________________________________________________
Z: Alright, the combatants are set, and our combatants are ready to go at it!
Tessera: First, however, let us await the input of our audience, and see what they think.
Poll[]
Magus: It's tiiime for a
DEATH BATTLLLLLLE!!-[]
...
Part 1: The Pre-Fight []
...
(Cue In Secret)
...
unknown location and time, year 2010
A young, confident voice spoke first.
???: "Whoa. What a strange looking guy."
A distorted, metallic voice spoke second.
??? 2: "I have heard you, cocky one. I will forgive such insult; first, however, tell me what you are doing here, and what you have to ask me."
???: "I'm looking for a demon, 'kay? My turn. Have you seen... this demon?"
(the first person holds up a very rough sketch of a young man with a massive bounty on his head)
??? 2: "...then you would seek out the dark one."
???: This guy."
??? 2: "I saw him last in Tokyo, a week ago, when we passed through the boundary and fell into this strange world."
???: "Magical time-travel jargon. All right, close enough. Looks like I get to see how Japanese pizza tastes tonight..."
_______________________________________________________
(Cue The Peaceful Village of Absolon)
"No, Tao, I'm not paying for your food."
a restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, 2010
Ragna, exasperated, sipped some tea in the corner of the classy restaurant. People of all stripes made small talk, business deals, and the like in booths and tables throughout the establishment ten stories high in the hotel skyscraper, indulging in good foods and fine wines as a lone pianist played before a small crowd of upper-classmen. To their right, the sunset-lit cityscape began to light up, casting a clashing orange and neon glow across the combination of modernized and traditional buildings. Now, though, an overly-excited beige hoodie-clad cat-person named Taokaka sat; or rather, danced wildly; on the seat opposite Ragna, now less cheerful than she was moments before and attracting some unneeded attention from a couple of the people near her.
"But Good Guy, I need food! Beating up evil cat-lady was haaaard!!" ,she half-stated, half-whined in Ragna's face. Her victory over the scantily-clad feline person that apparently wasn't a Kaka? earlier had left her tired and exhausted. And when one is tired and exhausted, and they are also Taokaka, they require several hundred dollars of fancy cuisine in order to remain happy.
The red-coated, heterochromic fugitive opposite her, however, would have none of it. "You've already eaten ten bowls of soup and three fish, Tao, and I've paid for every last bit of it. We only have 100 dollars to last us the rest of the week before Kokonoe sends us our next ration."
Ever since they had managed to fall into the boundary, Ragna, Taokaka, Kokonoe, Jin, Noel, and Hakumen had been separated in this strange new world; from what they had gathered, they had time-traveled to the past. Ragna, thus far, had actually found Tao waltzing through the streets of Tokyo, and had managed to contact Kokonoe through attention to the news and e-mail. She was in the middle of researching a method to return to their own world, and was sending Ragna money periodically. Ragna, along with Taokaka now that he had located her, were staying at a hotel until this was accomplished. Little did he know that events would take an unexpected turn...
"Ooh, a butterfly!"
Taokaka abruptly jumped back onto the table, as if someone had suddenly hit a Kaka power switch. Before a startled Ragna could stop her, Taokaka sprung out the window to the hotel restaurant... but instead fell all eight floors to the ground in an almost comical fashion. Getting right back up without missing a beat, Taokaka sprinted through the streets after the surprisingly swift orange-winged insect, bounding over vehicles and surprised people as he did so.
(Sigh)
Shortly thereafter, an irritated and slightly worried Ragna, pursued... and promptly realized that, despite leaving it in his hotel room as to not attract unwanted attention, his hand now inexplicably gripped his gargantuan broadsword, the Blood-Scythe.
...?!
"...god dammit."
People were running in terror, but... not just from him? While Bloodedge was unable to catch Taokaka through the crowd of panicked people, he was able to see what besides him had caused the panic...
__________________________________________________________
(Cue Taste The Blood)
...namely, the scattering and flying away of several half-torsos, limbs, and other severed parts of a veritable horde of lesser demons a few rooftops away!
Two devil energy-infused bullets pierced the grotesque canine demon’s skull, causing it to slump to the apartment roof and disintegrate back into hellish energy. Dante smiled, just like always, at his handiwork, regardless of the cacophonous crowd around him. They would thank him later.
As another fiend with flesh the color and consistency of an old booger swung its claw at him from behind, the Son of Sparda effortlessly frontflipped over it, using the motion to reverse dropkick it into the air whilst simultaneously capping it in the face with a single bullet and corkscrew himself at the ground. Quickly popping a handstand, he utilized his momentum to cartwheel forward and slay the last of the fiends with a single overhead chop of the Rebellion. He had come here looking for a specific individual, having rented a hotel in the mean time using some money Trish lent him. It would seem, however, that even Japan had pest control issues.
“And that’s a wrap.”
Just as he was about to give up the excitement for the day, he felt a massive... presence... approaching from behind him. Ragna, also frustrated at his inability to locate the mischievous Taokaka, stepped from window ledge to window ledge, essentially running up the wall, before grabbing the outer rim of the rooftop and jumping onto its edge. Now curious as to what the commotion was, Ragna found himself looking at a crimson coat-clad man with white hair like his own, sheathing a strange sword bearing a skeletal motif.
Dante turned around, and found some guy with a red jacket, black vest, hakama, steel-toed boots dyed the same shade as his jacket, and a ridiculously massive single-edged sword staring him down. Hmmm...
It suddenly occurred to Dante that this was the demon he was looking for. If multiple news sources could be trusted, an unknown man had visibly demonstrated both dark powers and aggressive behavior before running off and going into hiding. He, however, had seen glimpses of him via footage he had found in a government agent’s office. This guy had the same general looks all right, but... he had to be 100% sure he’d found the right guy, just to be safe. He’d speak first.
“So... gonna keep staring, or you got something to say?” Tony Redgrave spoke up.
Ragna sighed inwardly. He could already tell this guy was going to get on his nerves. “Yes, actually,” was The Grim Reaper’s response. “What are you even doing up here? I was trying to find someone, and whatever you were doing was enough to draw their attention away from me.”
Dante responded, still carrying his signature smile. “Solving problems. My turn; one, what is your name? Two, seen any demons that look sort of like you running around?”
The heterochromic swordsman replied, “...call me Remy. And no, no I have not seen any demons.” Bloodedge’s sarcasm was more sour than a bag of lemons, practically visible as an aura in the air. Maybe this guy knew where some of the others were? He looked like the kind of guy who’s seen everything at least once. Ragna had to give it a shot. “So now, my question for you; seen any antagonistic, blue-coated, katana-brandishing pansy asshats wandering about?”
...
Dante’s smile drooped slightly, for a few seconds; he was completely baffled. Was this guy looking for.. Vergil? He then felt once again, the overwhelming power emanating from the person who he spoke to. He felt the darkness it was laced with...
Scratch that: the power emanating from the demon who would soon be his opponent. Well, he’d found it, and now it was trying to not get caught.
“You’re a bad liar, you know that?” Dante had finally decided to break the awkward silence, his smile returning to its full size. “You’re not going to hide from me, demon. I may not have seen whoever you’re looking for, but I have seen who I’m looking for. I’ve also seen a white-armored samurai dude who told me you’d be here, so...”
Ragna’s face tensed as he bit his lip in frustration. His hand went to the Blood-Scythe as he said three, simple words that about summed up his attitude about the whole situation.
(Cue Black and White)
“The masked bitch...”
Dante just chuckled and stylishly withdrew Ebony and Ivory from the infinite pockets within his trench coat. “This one should be fun.”
The wheel of fate is turning
Get ready to brawl!!
Ragna donned a smirk of his own briefly, taking the time to declare “I’m going to stomp you into the ground, you lil’ punk!” before once more reverting to his standard stern countenance, holding the impossibly large Blood-Scythe in a backhanded grip.
Dante responded, “Bring it on!” emitting a near-palpable aura of confidence as he stared down what was sure to be a fun battle. His twin guns, which had served him well for so long, were trained on his opponent’s face.Rebel 1...
Round 1...
Action!
FIGHT! []
Dante was the first to act, firing a bullet each from Ebony and Ivory and, in a single, blindingly fast motion, swapped out for the Rebellion claymore and performed a Stinger lunge, racing alongside his own bullets!
It would seem, however, that Dante had underestimated his opponent. Ragna only did one thing to stop the impending impalement; raise his massive sword... at just the right angle. Both bullets reflected harmlessly into the air, and the Rebellion slid past Ragna's shoulder. Before the Son of Sparda could follow through with Million Stab, Ragna reversed his grip on the Blood-Scythe and swiftly spun the blade, nailing the airborne devil hunter with an upward slash that sent him several meters into the sky before following him!
As Ragna attempted to slice his opponent in twain with an overhand chop, Dante easily twisted around the attack. Now seeing his chance to return the favor, he immediately slashed Bloodedge thrice with the Rebellion, then sent him earthbound with a shotgun-blast of light to the face via the Beowulf, then concluded his combo by throwing the Arbiter battleaxe at him, sending him well away from the roof where the duel began and into a now-evacuated melon peddler's stand. He got back up and brushed crushed bits of fruit off of his jacket, noticing Dante also touch down roughly forty feet down the city street.
That was when Ragna felt a strange, tingling sensation. That blast of light and axe were nothing. The blows of the skeletal sword, however? ...they were different. Best to stay wary.
At the same time, Dante was also contemplating his opponent's singular weapon. He had managed to land first blood, at that one blow had force in it that could rival even the likes of Mundus. ...Hmmm.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
Upon hearing his adversary's taunt, Ragna charged forward, with Dante dashing forward to match. What next ensued would be best described as a duel between master fencers, with the combatants using much larger than normal blades and their clashes played in fast-motion. The ringing of supernatural steel left gouges in the walls and cars all around as each sought an edge over the other. The contest of swordplay continued throughout the alleyways, with each trying; unsuccessfully, to get a hit in edgewise. Ragna was only growing more and more frustrated as this wore on; he could feel the astral heat flowing through him. Time to use something with a bit more "oomph".
By now Dante's duel had taken him and the demon out of the alleyways and into the central streets of Tokyo, now devoid of all life due to the panic caused earlier in the day. Deciding to mix things up a bit, he withdrew the Cerberus nunchuk and whirled them about his head, creating a massive cascade of ice pillars that barreled in Ragna's direction!
Ragna smiled inwardly. Too bad for the red-coated punk he had fought this kind of power before, and his opponent had unwittingly handed him an opportunity to use a distortion on a silver platter. With the grace of the greatest of parkour enthusiasts, Ragna raced atop the tops of the pillars that otherwise would have pummeled him...
Dante then realized that the move the made was a bad one. The Grim Reaper and his ominous broadsword blitzing towards him, Dante evaded to the side...
Only for Ragna to redirect his leap with an airdash, and lunge straight for him, empowering the Blood-Scythe with the Black Beast's seithr with a yell of
"Carnage...
SLASH
...Scissors!"
A second direct hit to complete the X-shape on Tony Redgrave later, and Ragna's adversary was blown off the railing on the side of the road, through a glass wall, and into an artificial garden. Here, a grove of trees grew atop artificial soil, and behind him lay a large upraised section of the building where a top floor room was held. Dante wasted no time in returning to his feet.
All right, something was up with that sword. Dante clearly remembered that getting by that sword was unlike any blow he had taken before. He felt... a part of himself... missing. Empty. And yet, he had left no permanent marks; just like always, it healed over before too long, leaving only scratches and scars before to long.
Dante then threw Ragna a cocky smile. It was time to switch up the game, whether he liked it or not.
Ragna swiftly sprinted forward and followed Dante to the garden where he now stood, ready to end his annoyingly overconfident opponent here and now. It was only just in time that he noticed a large number of grey specks being produced from Dante’s location...
In response, Ragna held his massive sword horizontally like a shield, deflecting the veritable hailstorm of bullets that attempted to rip him to shreds. Did this guy actually think that he was going to fall for mere bullets? Leaping off the railing, Bloodedge spun in midair for the dual purpose of dodging the second wave of Ebony and Ivory’s leaden onslaught and to gain momentum, then came down and strike Dante with
“Gauntlet Hades!”
...or at least, that was his intended target. His seithr-imbued fist was met only with the roof of the building, as The Son of Sparda had already left the glass-domed rooftop at found a new perch on the building’s internet antenna, where he began raining lightning upon the hapless Ragna by playing a Dragonforce solo on the Nevan guitar!
Ragna, caught off guard by the first blow, was blasted by the electricity, staggering in the center of the blackened crater the lightning strike made. Dante unleashed another; this time, however, Ragna was faster. Seemingly unaffected by what should be immense pain that the Nevan’s demonic lightning usually inflicts, he weaved around the never-ending storm of thunderbolts. "Uugggh," Ragna thought as he continuously dodged the attacks, "This guy has taken after that damn rabbit. Fine." Eventually, he had an idea... use a tree as cover.
Not only did it block a blast of lightning, it also both knocked loose a now-charred tree branch and gave Ragna the opening he looked for. In one fluid motion, he chucked the blackened wood like a makeshift javelin, then followed it into the air after their mutual target.
Dante simply grinned even more widely. The game had started.
The devil hunter chopped the projectile in twain with the Nevan’s scythe blade, then leapt off the antenna to the third floor of a nearby parking lot, firing off a few bullets form Ebony and Ivory as he jumped. Ragna, with his free hand, grabbed the antenna his opponent balanced upon only moments ago and used his own momentum to follow suit, deflecting bullets all the while. Just as he was nearly ready to cleave the cocky devil hunter in twain, Ragna noticed him level... a shotgun. Something his sword couldn’t deflect.
Uh oh.
Thinking fast, Ragna raised his hand, conjuring a runic circle that caught the spray of energy-infused shotgun rounds and suspended them in midair before deflecting them in all directions. His opponent’s momentum halted by his use of the strange barrier, Dante took the chance to evade backwards, spraying The Grim Reaper with submachine gun fire as he did so. Ragna, having grown tired of this by now, dashed forward and, with an inhuman roar, delivered a single, horizontal slash that seemingly cut the very air around him. Taken slightly off-guard by the enraged Ragna’s sudden burst of speed, he nonetheless managed to backflip over the predictable attack.
Dante’s Heckler and Koch MP5Ks, however, were not as fortunate. The clips that somehow held their infinite ammunition were sundered from the guns that used them, rendering both useless. Dante, in response, simply scoffed and swapped out for the Vendetta sword. Those things were worthless anyways.
Rushing forward to meet the foe that had finally caught up with him, Dante unleashed a surprisingly swift series of strikes with the heavy Vendetta blade. Although the sudden change of weaponry caught him off guard at first, Ragna nonetheless reacted in time to deflect the comparatively slow weapon. Ragna, satisfied that he had managed to once again engage the mahogany-coated nuisance in melee, took the brief moment the heavy blades clashed to don a smirk of his own.
“Wrong move.”
What ensued next could best be described as Ragna straight-up overpowering his adversary, repeatedly striking his blade as it was swung at him and forcing him on the defensive. Although not usually a thinker, this turn of events led Dante to ponder his decision to use the mere human blade. As it turns out, using a weapon still relatively new to him that his opponent was a master of was, in all likelihood, the wrong move. What’s more, the blade of mere steel was beginning to sport several chips after being subjected to Ragna’s wrath. But that’s okay; as he continuously guarded against Bloodedge’s assault, his rage only increased. Let’s see how Mr. Angry liked a taste of his own medicine.
Ragna had finally managed to force an opening in Dante’s defense, hitting his sword out of his hands and burying it in the concrete roof above them. Now was the perfect time to strike! Ragna followed through with the motion, the Black Beast’s seithr once again surrounding his fist, and with Ragna’s declaration of
“Hell’s Fang!”
, it met Dante’s unprotected flesh.
...At which point Ragna realized that it was not unprotected at all. His opponent had seemingly managed to materialize a hellish suit of plate mail out of thin air; he could no longer see his opponent’s face, but he was quite sure it currently bore a shit-eating grin several miles wide due to his mistake. To top it all off, he had already materialized a silvery blade out of nowhere, and seeing as he was currently in between two vehicles, there was no way for him to dodge. Ragna braced himself…
Dante whirled the Osiris scythe clockwise, landing dozens of blows upon the The Grim Reaper before knocking him into the roof, punching a Ragna-shaped imprint into the concrete ceiling!! ...and then, he stopped and looked at his angelic weapon, puzzled.
"Where did I get this, I must ask? ...and that axe, come to think of it..."
Oh well, he'd figure that out later. Not about to let up, Dante continued the assault by throwing the Force Edge sword at the Bearer of the Blazblue; his signature technique Sword Pierce would set him up for an easy win.
Ragna, however, was having none of this combo nonsense that Dante seemed to like so much, and he felt that Dante should know such. His preferred method of communicating his emotions? A shout of
“Barrier Overload!!”
Ragna obliterated the stone and vehicles around him with a pulse of energy, flinging Dante out of the building in the process and launching the Vendetta and Force Edge to who-knows-where. Ragna was about ready to return the favor when he felt something grip his left ankle. It didn’t take long at all for him to realize that this was due to the fact that Dante had recovered in midair, was levitating, and had struck him with the glowing scarlet Ophion Whip!
“Oh, dammit.”
Ragna’s high ground was lost, as Dante plucked him from the ruins of the multi-floor parking lot and spun him around like a ragdoll, turning the Grim Reaper into a crimson blur that spun about haplessly through the air!! After a couple of seconds, he flung him into a nearby house, completely demolishing it in the process. The Blood-Scythe flew past him, knocking down several lamp-posts before skidding to a halt roughly 200 feet away from Ragna down the now-evacuated streets. Ready to finish his opponent, Dante switched to the Ifrit gauntlets, and cupped his armored hands together... gathered a miniature sun his hands... and unleashed a devastating Meteor fireball towards the ruins of the building!
Everything near the explosion was vaporized by the immense heat the attack generated, and a cloud of dust was knocked up. When it cleared... Ragna still stood, even more irritated than before, holding up his left hand. His impenetrable barrier had once more thwarted his adversary’s assault... but he was defenseless. Dante congratulated himself, having disarmed his opponent of his only weapon. After all, he was far stronger than anything this guy had left up his sleeve; he could take him, no sweat! Ifrit in hand, he lunged...
And was startled upon realizing that Ragna had snaked his arm around his own. To make matters worse? It was at that precise moment that the Dreadnaught form wore off. Ragna proceeded to use his enemy’s momentum to judo-flip the Son of Sparda directly onto a piece of stone and rebar jutting from the ruins of the house, bouncing him back into the air. Ragna performed another
“Gauntlet Hades!”
, slamming him twice more against the ground like a basketball before channeling his inner Chuck Norris-
________________________________________________________________
(Z backhands Magus violently, glaring daggers at the green-clad troll mage as he sails through a wall.)
Magus: ...Whhhyyyyy...?!
Z: Goku already roundhouse-kicked that joke back to 2008. Try a new wording.
________________________________________________________________
...channeling the power of the Black Beast to deliver a fierce, darkness-boosted roundhouse kick that sent Dante spiraling into a nearby donut shop! Ragna took the opportunity to sprint down the road to recover his prized blade...
And sensed something whizzing towards him at high speeds. Out of instinct Ragna abruptly jumped backward, a .308 caliber bullet whizzing past his nose. He caught a glimpse of Dante, now holding the Spiral sniper rifle, slowly walking towards him, looking as gleeful as Ralphie had he suddenly obtained fifty Red Ryder B.B. guns. He fired off three more shots, one two three!
In a scene ripped straight out of the Matrix, time seemed to slow down as Ragna continued running, sliding under the first bullet, vaulting over the second and hands-first onto the the handle of the Bloodedge, then picking it up as he stood up and deflected the third.
“I’m getting tired of this ranged crap, punk. Get over here and fight!!”
Dante simply laughed. He couldn’t be bothered by anything resembling a taunt his opponent threw at him. Instead, he responded, “Hahahahaha. Umm, how about... no...?"
Ragna bit his lip once again. Was he trying to infuriate him?! "What's the matter? Too cowardly, or some shit? Insistent on picking on 'poor, little demon' rather than risk your own neck facing me!?!"
...and it was at this point that Dante started straight-up laughing at his opponent. "Not willing to risk my neck, he says! Cowardly, he says!!" The Son of Sparda scoffed.
"Hah! Of course, that's precisely why you got yourself some piss-poor cosplay of moi to walk around in, killed a whole bunch of normal guys who tried to ask you some questions, and walk around carrying your clearly overcompensating weapon that looks like someone from Hot Topic had a wet dream come to life just to scare all the common people off, amirite?-"
"You don't know anything!!!"
Welp.
That set Ragna off.
Dante simply waited as an enraged Bloodedge nimbly jumped across the ruins that the block of urban city had become, ripping apart the stone streets in his wake... for just the right moment...
Now!
Dante lifted the Merciless rapier forward, impaling the charging Ragna in the gut in a manner not unlike a certain one-winged angel! Dante then threw the thin sword against a wall and launched a grenade directly below it with the Grenade Launcher, sending it and Ragna flying into the air. Dante jumped after him, spinning in midair and perform a whirling kick, striking-
Ragna’s open palm. Immediately afterwards, his entire arm had turned into a pitch-black claw resembling some nightmarish beast. Dante looked up, realizing this was only the second time in the entire fight that The Grim Reaper’s face carried a smile, the kind that he'd wear if he got to watch Terumi die a dozen cruel and painful deaths.
Ragna asked his unfortunate adversary one simple question: “Any last words?”
(Stop current music)
One channeling of dark energy and a violent hurling of Dante down the street later, and Ragna responded for him, “Guess not.” After all, Ragna thought as he looked at the crater his attack had caused, there’s no way even he could survive that.
No... it was too easy... it couldn’t have just ended, like that. He turned around, flipping the Blood-Scythe around in his hand as he did so.
“What’s wrong? ...get up!”
(Cue Ultraviolet)
Right on cue, a figure emerged from the crater. What once was a red coat was now seemingly a part of it's insect-like carapace, and it had clawed feet. And its face... its radiant, empty eyes...Expecting a smile and a cocksure attitude, Ragna was surprised to face this new demonic being. This... was the Devil Trigger.
Rebel 2... []
Dare to believe you can survive!!
Action!
FIGHT!!
Ragna immediately took the appropriate response. With a shout of
“Going into Overdrive!”,
Ragna activated the: you guessed it: overdrive. Both warriors powered up, they dashed towards the center of the street, once more engaging in swordplay that would make the greatest masters in the world flush red with embarrassment at their own relative incompetence. On the one hand, Dante had flashy, almost nonsensical attacks that somehow managed to remain a coherent fighting style, dancing madly and striking with dozens of different weapons and completing moves with stylistic flourishes. On the other, Ragna had pure, unbridled bloodlust and rage powering his more practical offensive style, using sword, scythe, seithr, and limb, managing through it all to keep a somewhat level head. After all, he had lived life angry, what with all the universe decided to constantly throw at his face; his opponent’s taunts were nothing new to him. His newfound lack of such, however, was.
Their battle had taken them back to the hotel where they had started, and Dante, showing off as he always did, had left what appeared to be an opening as they sailed through the air. Ragna was wary of what could be a false opportunity; after last time, this guy could do pretty much anything. Still, he had to take the chance. He kicked at the now-airborne Tony Redgrave… and landed a kick without a hitch! Ragna took the chance for a swing of the Blood-Scythe in a mighty arc, ready to decapitate Dante…
And that’s when Overdrive, and thus, his strength and speed boost, wore off. Dante, still in the Devil Trigger state, parried the swing with his bare hand.
Right around that time, Ragna remembered with a frustrated groan that Overdrive lasts longer the closer to death he was. As it currently stands, his Soul Eater Drive had restored quite a bit of his vitality and healed over some of his cuts; the Overdrive didn’t last too long. Dante, wasting no time, grasped the cuff of Ragna’s black vest and tossed him towards the roof of the hotel, spiraling upwards with a Roulette spin with the Rebellion. Ragna’s pained grunts communicating his success, Dante tried to combo it into a few swings of the Alastor, using its power to carry him further in the sky. Ragna, however, had recovered in midair and thus blocked the assault.
A brief, ascending midair skirmish ensued, the clashing of blades casting sparks of both bright and vibrant violet and a darker, more deathly purple across the streets below!! Finally, both devil hunter and Blazblue bearer clashed and rebounded, landing on the roof of the 23-story building, staring the other down. A brief pause, as the wind blew through their coats in a dramatic, Hollywood-esque fashion…
And Ragna once more took the offensive. If the arrogant brat thought that his new appearance would throw him off, he had another thing coming! After coming forward with a parried diagonal slash, Ragna reached forward with his spare hand and grabbed his opponent’s sword arm, throwing him onto the ground, and followed up with a graceful downward stab and a shout of
“Not Finished Yet!!!”
Dante sighed inwardly, realizing his devil trigger; and thus, increase in power; had now also worn off. He saw the blade’s point approach him, Death’s own wrath. Then, he had an idea… a wonderful idea. One that, honestly, he didn't realize was something he could do, but hey, when you're as badass as he was, this sort of thing came to you naturally.
Aforementioned idea subsequently shocked Ragna. Rather than impale the formerly prone Son of Sparda, the Blood-Scythe met only a cloud of angelic feathers and a hotel roof. Looking up, it didn’t take long for Ragna to realize that Dante had rematerialized, perched upon the pommel of his sword. His hands were a vibrant white; he had once more equipped the Beowulf, and set to work pummeling Ragna with a lightning-fast series of blows. A jab, a kick, a hook, another jab. Ragna was trying his hardest to defend himself, but occasionally a blow would slip through. He activated the barrier once more, waiting for the end of a combo…
And it came. Right as Dante threw a fierce uppercut and subsequently realized that there simply was no breaking this darn magic shield thing that Ragna could summon, Ragna had planted his steel-toed boot square in his midsection and launching him backwards… directly into the flat of Ragna’s sword. He had to wonder… was this fiend in jerkass's clothing… actually hurting him? Hell if he could tell.
“Are you even tr-“ Dante’s taunts and thoughts were both interrupted as his face was quite viciously stomped upon by a familiar red-booted foot; the sheer force of the seithr-infused strike popped the Rebellion clean into the air. Thinking fast, Ragna followed it whilst retrieving the Blood-Scythe, and with a single, mighty axe kick-!!
RrRAAAaGH
-sent it plummeting back down… impaling Dante in the heart! "Oh, good this a-" Dante was cut off yet again, as for his final blow, Bloodedge slashed the Rebellion’s pommel like a hammer unto a nail, sending them both plummeting through floor after floor and floor of stone and debris, finally landing in a large room that, had it not been littered with discarded cardboard boxes and bits of molten mozzarella, might have been described as luxurious. Ragna realized then that he had pinned the insufferable devil hunter to a bed with his own sword, still suspended in midair above him, upon which also lay a cardboard box…
Dante's hotel room
Dante, seemingly more peeved than anything at The Grim Reaper finally spoke after what seemed like an eternity.
“Dude… bro...
...my pizza.”
A completely flabbergasted Ragna the Bloodedge felt the air around him tighten and, before anything could have been done about it, he along with the Blood-Scythe were telekinetically flung both off of Dante’s sword and out the window to the left, allowing Dante to pry his sword out of his body! Dante knew just what to do; whip out the Kalina Ann, and fire its grappling hook.
Ragna was steadying himself in midair when he felt a slight sting in his left arm. Ragna didn’t even have to look to realize that Dante had yet again used a grappling hook-type weapon to pull him back, and knew a combo was coming, readying a barrier…
As it turns out, however, his opponent was also a clever little bastard. Just as he reached the climax of the pull, Ragna leapt upwards, directing the barrier downwards to deflect any combo that Dante might have prepared, only to be met with a barrage of lasers from the sky. Now having staggered his opponent, Dante rushed forward, delivering a mighty blow with the Gilgamesh to send him further forward, then another, and another.
Ragna tried to redirect himself so he could Carnage Scissors this bitch when suddenly a massive jolt of pain hit him, as if Dante’s skeletal sword was whirling around inside of him. Of course… the damn thing was magical. That was why it felt a bit off when he was first hit. Now, he was wiiiide open. Ragna gritted his teeth; this would not end well.
All Ragna had to hear to know something he’d rather not have coming at him in fact was, was an overconfident devil hunter’s proclamation of “Keepin’ It Stylish!”
By the hundreds, the bullets flooded out of Ebony and Ivory, striking Ragna with such force and frequency that gravity simply ceased to work on him. Out and out they poured, Dante repeatedly transitioning from pose to stylish midair pose all the while; drops of blood flew out of Bloodedge’s body with each shot, a grotesque showerhead of crimson. Ragna, letting out a cry of frustration and pain and fury, was already spiraling away from the building by the time Dante had begun twirling Ebony and Ivory in his hands, gathering the devil energy together.
“Jackpot!”
Both infused shots collided with Ragna’s chest, sending him soaring over the horizon, the nonfunctional wings of black seithr encompassing him giving him the look of a fallen angel as he finally landed… somewhere in the park, which lie in the suburbs. Dante, remembering that his opponent had some kind of healing ability, slowly sauntered after him. While it was true he wasn't about to let a world-threatening monster just run away under his nose, he also knew now that this thing was about the last guy to run away. That; a man(?) of guts and honor; could be respected as far as he cared. Besides, now he had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery on the way there...
(Stop music)
________________________________________________________________
Pain. Rage. A need to kill.
Ragna, still unable to summon up the strength to pick himself up off the ground, finally managed to focus, to clear his mind of his simpler emotions. What did he know about this guy? He was as fast as him. As tough as him. He had far more weapons. He was arrogant as fuck.
All of that pain, all of that pure, unbridled rage...
...no-!!
At once, the whole of the Black Beast pushed, pulsated, waves of red light illuminating the ghost town of a kid's playground he'd fallen into in an evil, hellish glare!! That... monstrosity... it wanted out. To destroy the planet.
And this time? There was no one there to help keep it in. No one... but Ragna...
...he was all alone.
...and then, Ragna realized something. He... couldn't die here. It wasn't about giving up or determination; it was simply a matter of choosing to live or to die. And if he died now, there would be no one left to kill Terumi… to protect Celica…
Next to that? The world-ending monster was nothing. It couldn't tame him. He... would leash it...
And would do something he would absolutely despise himself for, later.
Ragna tapped into the whole Azure Grimoire.
A palpable darkness consumed the park equipment as Ragna tapped into the power of the True Azure, a dark, purple glow glowly building, gathering at Ragna's left hand. There’d be hell to pay for the red-coated dick!!
_______________________________________________________________
Central Park...
(Cue Awakening the Chaos)
A titanic column of blackish energy exploded outwards, leveling everything across multiple city blocks!! What of the skyscrapers, buildings, shops, etc that wasn't leveled was ravaged and scored, as if waves of invisible cat claws were using them as scratching posts in fast-motion!! Across the leveled field of ruin and sparse debris, now about the size of a baseball diamond, black flames of dark seithr flickered and danced, as if worshipping the destruction their god inflicted upon the now wholly-abandoned Tokyo.
When Dante finally walked into what should have been the park, looking on to the destruction there were... well, no trees, no grass, no park. The benches, trash cans, and recycling bins? All of it had been obliterated, lost forever to darkness. There was nothing but blackened plains left of the place. And standing in the middle of it all?
Ragna, the Bloodedge.
Surrounding him was blackness, a dark aura unlike any Dante had ever felt before. It seemed as if the entire world had been consumed by the shadows this demon unleashed, as the formerly bright and serene sky and it's newly-risen moon above them became obscured with storm clouds. The sword he carried now flashed scarlet periodically, and his gaze was even more baleful than before, if such a thing was even possible. This… was the Unlimited Mode.
And the Ragna wielding it was pissed as all hell at him.
Dante smiled, just like always. "So, Mr. Angry... finally decided to make things fun?"
Ragna's expression further darkened: if such a thing was possible: as he stared down the devil hunter.
"You bet your ass."
Dante flourished his coat yet again. "Heh. So much for friendly banter."
Rebel 3…
GET READY FOR THE FIGHT OF YOUR LIFE!! []
Action!
Fight!!-
Knowing full well by now that he held a definite range advantage, Dante begun by swinging the Aquilla blades in several directions, hoping to force Ragna out of his preferred range by sending six different whirling blades at him from all directions! Unfortunately for Dante, Ragna’s experience fighting the likes of Amane let him remember exactly what to do. As soon as he had evaded each slash, Ragna took the chance to instantly close the 30-foot gap between them and land a diagonal slash that launched Dante into the wall of a large, partially-collapsed building nearby. With a shout of
“Blood-Scythe!”
Ragna spun and leapt into the air and pulled Dante back to the ground with the carmine scythe blade, then followed through with a kick to the jaw, then a blast of seithr to the face, then four more slashes in rapid succession, and finally a direct stab that caused Dante to explode into devil energies!!
Meanwhile, a couple hundred meters away...
Dante looked down from his perch atop one of the few remaining blackened trees, curious as to what this demon had turned into. “Eh… probably reacts of missiles the same way anything else does.” He had created a doppelganger to distract his infuriated opponent, and then had leveled a rocket launcher at his mentally distracted foe.
Or was he? Perhaps it was simply that he could think on his toes even in this state, perhaps it was that he had some kind of danger sense… whatever it was, Ragna seemed to recognize Dante’s tactic and swiftly ran up the wall of the building, outracing the explosion behind him. Before Dante could fire a second rocket, Ragna leapt off of the wall and at Dante, cleaving the rocket launcher in twain, simultaneously knocking Dante off the tree and into the air.
Dante, breaking into a roll, made a mental note then and there to stop trusting trashy human weapons.
Ragna, for his part, wasn’t going to let this punk play that game again, that’s for damn sure. He’d had it with this guy being so evasive, being able to attack him from every possible angle, at any time. But what was he to do about it? “Keep up the pressure” may not have been the best answer, but it was the best one he could supply.
Ragna lunged again across the wastes, engaging the Son of Sparda in yet another swordfight, rage against style, Blood-Scythe clashing against Rebellion. Sparks flew as each sought to wear down the other; however, it quickly became apparent that each had nigh-inexhaustible stamina. An overhead head chop dodged, reverted into a spinning upward slash that was blocked, parried, blocked again, in a cycle of devil hunter and hunted-by-veritable-devils lit up the streets with alternating light and dark energy!!
Dante, having grown tired of The Grim Reaper’s refusal to die, activated Quicksilver Style just as Ragna was going to deliver an overhead chop. In what seemed to the naked eye to be but an instant, Dante slipped past the attack and let loose dozens, hundreds, thousands of stabs into Ragna’s unprotected back before releasing a massive, spectral dragon of devil energy onto the Bloodedge, delivering devastation to the asphalt beneath and sending shards of ruined land flying in all directions. Time resumed its natural course, and Ragna winced in all-too-visible pain…
But still managed to redirect the swing, and nail Dante in the gut, sending him through a large outcropping of overturned road and skidding down a new street. Even Dante was mildly surprised by turn of events. After all, he had literally stabbed him thousands of times; that attack should have ended his opponent.
That dark aura… it made him nigh-impervious. Well, Mundus was also seen as impervious, he handled that no problem. This guy was no different, right? Flipping to his feet, Dante narrowly avoided Ragna’s attempt at decapitation via Blood-Scythe, it's unfolded scythe blade carving a line of red light through the air that exploded with energy!! Dante lashed out with an upward slash of his own that had an effect more akin to a bat hitting a baseball than anything bladed should, then drew the Ophion Angelic whip once again, pulling himself from vantage point to vantage point much like a certain web-slinging superhero before landing on the balcony of some wealthy man’s building.
"...Second note to self, check my pockets. Like, how do I have any of this, actually?"
Having realized that Ragna had already given chase, The Son of Sparda turned around and immediately opened fire upon the relentless demon(?).
"Go ahead, take your time. I'll be here all day, folks!"
Ebony and Ivory’s leaden assault blitzing towards him, Ragna weaved and evaded, all the while closing the distance between them once more. Dante tried all of his other firearms, and several of the forms of the Pandora briefcase, shifting from gun to gun to gun, a one-army army of bullets and artillery raining hell upon the wide, ruined street; while he managed to sneak a couple of hits in, the Bloodedge both paid no mind to this fact and immediately closed the gap once more, swinging his scythe-ified blade in a horizontal arc as he did so with a shout of
"I'll shred you!!"
Dante ducked the predictable swing, utilizing his momentum to somersault backwards several meters, then charged the Rebellion with demonic energy…
Ragna once more bit his lip in frustration. Fine: if he so insisted on playing keepaway, he’d just have to blow him down! Ragna dragged his blade along the balcony-top as he walked before flicking it upwards with a declaration of
“Chase This!!”,
Following it up with another blast of seithr. It would seem that the devil hunter had the same idea, as he simultaneously unleashed three waves of radiant energy from the magical sword: his signature move Overdrive. Both energies met mid-flight, creating a technicolor explosion of clashing energy and a massive cross-shaped flare that, from a distance, may have been mistaken for a truly glorious display of fireworks. Dante, once again, had an idea. If this guy wanted to just keep rushing him, why not make that impossible? Time to take a page from Vergil’s book…
Ragna observed then that the Son of Sparda that equipped a strange... backpack... device? Out of instinct, Ragna tilted his blade, deflecting a summoned sword from the Lucifer that otherwise would have impaled him in the back.
CRRNG
In but a moment, a dozen or so more swords came flashing in from all directions, meeting the flat of the Blood-Scythe each time.
CRRNG, CRRNNG
The next hundred more, all the same fate-
CRRNG, CRRNG, CRRNG, CRRNNGGG-
Ragna had fought Nu-13's assault; how was this any different?
C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-CR-CR-CR-CR-CRN-CRRNNNNNNG
Ragna once more slipped past a summoned sword attack and blasted Dante with a stream of seithr, knocking him into the wall of the building opposite. This was his chance; putting his right hand to his left, Ragna announced,
"Restriction 666 released, Dimensional Interference Field Deployed! Now Engaging The Idea Engine! BlazBlue, Activate!"
Dante merely shrugged as he emerged from the wreckage, once more in the glowing Devil Trigger Form, his voice muffled. "You always gotta yell? I'm right here, ya know."
Ragna immediately proceeded to engage Dante who, to his surprise, whipped out the Rebellion and begun fighting back in melee. A jumping slash, parried by an upward swing. A punch, parried by a forearm. A few quick swings evaded, a slash that took out a large section of wall sidestepped. A hit from the Rebellion landed, at the cost of a blow from the Blood-Scythe. Dante was still trying to place his finger on just what was special about that Sword-Scythe-thingamabobber this guy had, but everything was coming up short thus far...
"It's not just yelling!!"
Ragna swung high, rotating the Blood-Scythe like the blade of a helicopter, slashing high again and again before sweeping low...
"It's power!! Not someone else's anymore, MY OWN!!"
Before proceeding to feint and stab deceptively from the side, only for Dante to counter it with a swing of his shotgun, of all things, then to fire the shotgun at Ragna, who dodged to the side whilst swinging once more, which Dante flipped over once more.
"The power I've bled and suffered to learn the meaning of!!"
Ragna held his left arm backwards and gathered a black energy into it...
"The power I will use to protect them all!!"
And released a titanic, pulsating tsunami of black energy that mowed down what of the building they were standing on that was in the way. The devil-triggerified Dante, however, had already taken to the air and flew far away, coming down upon the balcony of a similar building in the distance as a crimson comet. Ragna followed suit...
"The power that will get them the future they deserve!!"
...and, deflecting bullets from Dante's Ebony and Ivory all the way, came down upon his new perch...!
"THE POWER THAT'LL STOMP YOU INTO THE GROUND LIKE I PROMISED, Y' COCK-EATING SHITWIT!!"
And met Dante's now-drawn Alastor blade extended to block in a titanic, deafening explosion of flashing bolts of energy and heat generating from the sheer kinetic force, it's crackling lightning blade sparking from the sheer power of the blow it parried, as his Devil Trigger once more disappeared. The same one that had impaled him, so long ago... the sword he had conquered... how he had remembered slowly pulling himself up from that...
"You say you've bled to get strong, eh?"
Ragna air-dashed forward, pushing Dante a good fifteen feet back onto the balcony, before skidding to a stop, bladelocked with the Son of Sparda once more. Surprisingly, the Bloodedge wasn't as bleeding as much as one would think; he could thank his Soul Eater drive for that.
"You say you're helping people? Something like that..."
Dante pushed the Grim Reaper away, his red flashing blade shining brightly in what little of the moon's light could penetrate the cloud cover.
"And that's why you've killed so many, ain't it, oh Grim Reaper?"
Dante had him now!! As Ragna's face once again tensed with complete and utter fury, the Son of Sparda blitzed forward and pumped the powers of his demonic blood into overdrive, the silvery blade of the Rebellion shining with demon energy-!
"What a joke. As I said, you're a bad liar, demon... killer."
As did Ragna-!
"And when I'm done here..."
And then, each gigantic blade blitzed at ultra speeds with the utmost finesse, faster and faster and faster and faster and faster, literally millions of slashes each and every second casting beads of sweat from Ragna's infuriated visage!
"Done with you, that is?"
TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR -TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR- TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR -TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR -TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR -TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR -TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR -TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TRR-TRR-TRRRRRRRNNG-
.
"I'll head back and chill with mah gal pals, green in hand and content knowing that a demon as angry and stubborn as you isn't around anymore to threaten people. Sound cool?"
.
TRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRR...
NNNNNN...
GGGGGG...
...
...a beat.
...
Then, millions of slash waves of conversely dark and glowing energy, one for each slash that was parried in the clash prior, immediately materialized in a sphere around the two, slicing apart the steel of surrounding skyscrapers and other buildings like butter and causing the balcony they stood upon to buckle!!
"It'll never be because I won't die!"
Ragna responded as he about-faced immediately and sprinted for Dante, who faced away from him-
"And I'll make it so by putting a blade in your neck!!"
Only for his two-handed stab to meet Dante's sudden quickdraw of the Alastor broadsword once again, as Dante released his rage in the form of a Just Release counter attack!! Dante reversed his movement to land onetwothreefour-five-six-seven slashes enhanced with lightning upon Unlimited Ragna, continuing his combo with a reverse pommel smash to the forehead, a backhand cut traced across the upper chest, and followed it through with a diagonal downwards lightning slash!
"Not..."
One forward-rushing, ice-enhanced spinning horizontal smash with the Cerberus nunchuk, then a second, a third, a fourth...
"A..."
One final downward blow, which led to a punch to the ground to bring forth a titanic column of ice crystals that knocked Ragna into the air, followed with an ascending slash from the Rebellion that staggered the Bloodedge further, before spinning around for momentum and winding up...
"Chance!!"
And reversed once more, landing a whirling kick onto Ragna's chest that propelled him forward into the side of a skyscraper nearby!! Ragna, having punched through the whole of it in his flight and still not stopping, continued flying through wall after metal and glass wall, dragging several of the metal giants known as skyscrapers to the ground with him as he went, sending a massive wave of dust flying as cars, infrastructure, and furnishing all twisted and shattered on the ground hundreds of meters beneath.
Eventually, Ragna halted his forward velocity entirely by placing his foot upon the window of a distant skyscraper and, in a move that defied all logic, simply... stopped. All forward momentum ceased, and a circular shockwave of wind spun outwards from his foot as he reversed direction and took off!
With a newly renewed roar of complete rage, Ragna leapt upwards and diagonally, bouncing dozens of times off of falling chunks of rubble in a dizzying display of Olympic-medalist level acrobatics. The scarlet, black, and white lightning bolt that Ragna had become proceeded to home in on Dante's position, much to his resignated exasperation. Well, the demon may be a bit dull in the originality department, but at least he got an A for effort. Dante charged back his claymore and released a Drive, the flying arc of energy flying forward-
Only for Ragna to redirect his fall once again and land next to Dante, taking his feet out from under him once again with a sweep kick! Capitalizing on this, Ragna screamed as he turned his heel and accelerated backwards, smashing his seithr-imbued heel into Dante's face accompanied by the cacophany of the splintering of wood and metal as Dante flew past the balcony and into the building itself.
Damn was this demon tough. What's more, while he didn't feel pain, the demon's giant blade seemed to have taken something out of him; something was off about it, he just couldn't quite place his finger on it.
...wait a minute. That feeling within... him healing when he got a hit in on him...
It was almost sort of like the Alastor, a bit, when they first met and it tried to possess him or whatever!! Except... well, if he healed when he hurt others, well...
Lightbulb!!
...why not just make himself incapable of being harmed?
He was going to have to bust out his ultimate power...
(stop music if still going)
Ragna approached the Son of Sparda before once again staggering, suffering from the pain; the Azure Grimoire was "remembering" those all of magical wounds from earlier. "Dammit, not now...!" A flash of light, and a wounded Dante was nowhere to be seen. There was, instead, only a dark, horrific form... one that gave even Ragna slight pause.
(Cue Vs The Savior)
Now possessing ebony hide, curving horns, two pairs of wings, and radiant spikes of energy jutting from his forearm, Dante was no longer his normal self. This, Ragna soon realized as the white, empty voids that were once Dante's eyes met his own hetero-chromatic gaze, is what was called... The Majin Form.
This was the thing that demons feared. This is what lurked under their beds, what haunted them in their nightmares.
A brief pause. Both heroic swordsmen empowered fully by the darkness within. Lost wholly in the moment as thunder crackled and rain began to pour down, a symphony for the destruction unleashed that the black fires razing the city to terra firma danced and swayed to.
This is how it would end...! []
...
...another beat, as thunder silently crackled in the fresh thunderstorm...
...
...motion-!
Once more, The Grim Reaper took the offensive, charging the fiend without fear. If nothing up to this point had stopped him, then he would refuse to let yet another transformation give him trepidation!! He lunged, stabbing the majin with his signature blade before jumping up and proclaiming
"Belial Edge!!",
Somehow landing seven hits with his dive-bombing attack and shattering the weakened balcony floor beneath them, breaking into a roll as he dove headfirst through a window and into a comfortable chatting room on the floor below. No sooner had he turned around had he received a flying Dante to the gut, along with a lengthy and painful combo of slashes and strikes from his new arm-mounted energy blades. Dante concluded his assault upon the battered Bloodedge by knocking him into the air with a kick, spiraling into him as a black blur with his wings to slash him, and projecting a fireball from his open palm onto a midair Grim Reaper's face; this had the dual effect of launching a burning Ragna into a water tower in the distance and of vaporizing everything in the blast radius, including the entire floor they were just standing on, causing the titanic skyscraper to begin collapsing to the streets far below like Goliath.
Ragna, having landed in some alleyway, got up with a pained grunt.
"...my... hand..."
The Bloodedge looked at his right arm, spotting a few burns that pierced his defensive aura, leaving nauseatingly sore marks of blackened, blistering flesh.
"It's... smoldering... I don't think that's supposed to be possible..."
This guy... literally just ignored his attack. And his newfound power from whatever he had transformed into... he'd most certainly have been cut to ribbons without the Unlimited Mode, the power that could stay the Black Beast itself, was still sealed. Thank god he wasn't foolish enough to have kept it sealed.
...he'd have to hit harder. There had to be a way around this...
It was then that his overdrive, the Blood Kain IDEA, ended once more. He had to think up something, but there was no time; he may have been smarter than people give him credit for, but this simply wasn't the time for an attempt at strategy-
Ragna leapt backwards, avoiding another fireball that obliterated the streets in front of him, waves of fire ripping apart concrete like a small nuke. He proceeded to jump from wall to flanking brick wall on either side of him like a certain Italian plumber, seeking to both avoid Tony Redgrave's continuous stream of fireballs and to obtain a better vantage point. However, right as he reached the top, the collateral damage the blazing projectiles inflicted upon the lower floors took their toll, and the building Ragna stood upon began buckling.
"SHIIIIIIIT!!"
Ragna quickly gathered his energy and jumped through the air, landing upon the ruined water tower and leaving the collapsing buildings behind him, then looked once more-
"You're kidding!!"
And vaulted sky-high once again as Dante released a titanic cannon of pure dark energy at him from his vantage in the ruins of their old battlefield. He landed on the window ledge of a skyscraper, the tallest one in all of Tokyo and still unscathed: at least two thousand feet tall: and ran up it, hoping for a better vantage point against the flying majin. Dante, on the opposite side of the skyscraper, flew upwards, stopping twenty feet above the roof. Shortly thereafter, the Bloodedge hopped onto the roof as well. Another brief pause, as the rainstorm and thunderclaps continued to rage on in the background.
Dante realized then that he had to end this demon, now. It had survived up to this point, but... now, he had an a idea. There was nothing even this thing could do; he had this in the bag!
Dante rushed Ragna, who, while briefly startled, easily held his ground. Crimson energy blade clashed with crimson enegy blade again and again, leaving blurs of garnet light lingering in the air and slashing any rain in either warrior's vicinity to even tinier droplets. When limited to one weapon, Ragna mused, his opponent wasn't nearly as hard to predict.
In fact...
The devil hunter left himself wide open to a powerful hit, as he crossed his energy blades over his head, charging light energy into one and darkness into another-
Now!
Ragna interrupted him with a fierce roundhouse kick, the pure, immense concentration of seithr transforming the aura localized around his foot from deep purple to a violent red-black!!
"Rrraaaaaaggghhh-!!!
...and...
...to Ragna's shock, it still did a whole whopping nothing. It was then that he realized, with 100% surety, that the Majin form was completely and entirely indestructible, and that he wasn't benefiting from Soul Eater because of such...
A realization that came too late.
Dante stomped Ragna's leg into the floor, simultaneously trapping it and releasing a cacophany of noise from all around as tiles of steel plating flew into the air like confetti from the impact!! Despite The Grim Reaper's best efforts, his grip could not be broken. Dante would've smiled, if the Majin Form was even capable of smiling. This entire time, Ragna had been overpowering him by virtue of his striking strength with the Blood-Scythe. As it turns out, Dante had more actual, physical strength; something that Ragna would soon come to regret.
With one swift motion, the devil hunter-turned-devil swung with both alternately energy-empowered blades-!
SHNNNNNG
And, the aura of the Azure finally breaking wholly, cut off Ragna's right foot.
"Lighten up. At least you aren't Torso-Boy!"
Ragna, now in immense silent agony, crumpled as he watched his right steel-toed boot clatter to the cracked rooftop of the skyscraper beside him of the thousands-of-feet-tall building.
Briefly, his rage quelled, subsided... as the world faded to monochrome...
...
(Pant...)
(...pant)
"Jin... I couldn't save you..."
(...)
(...time seemed to slow...)
"Saya, I... I'm a shitty brother, I know, just... no, please-!!"
(Ragna watched helplessly as the black monster level an energy spike to his face...)
"...fuck off, Terumi, why are you here now?!? WHY?!? WHY DID YOU DO THIS...!?!"
(...any lesser mortal would be in tears...)
"I'm... No..."
Ragna's rage, and the world's perceived color and flow of time, with it, returned threefold.
No...
He would not let it end like this.
With a single, final stroke, Dante plunged the energy blade into-
-the rooftop, destroying a large portion of it.
Possessed of complete bloodlust, The Grim Reaper resolved then and there that; no matter what this guy did, no matter how much pain he was in, he would not give up! Nay...
He would live.
Having just dodged the energy blade, he seithr-infused-uppercutted the Son of Sparda into the air, trying to get some distance. Dante, now irritated, readied himself, and gathered together his energy for an attack that would end this fight...
Ragna leapt after him with his one foot, now consumed by fury...
And Dante released a massive beam of pure light from his chest, encompassing all of the berserk Bloodedge's body.
Hah, he had won! Nothing could have survived that.
Nothing, that is, but a Ragna the Bloodedge whose left hand held forward a barrier. The laser that Dante was so sure would kill Ragna refracted harmlessly off of the intangible runic circle of energy. Ragna, realizing his opponent's surprise, would've smirked at his foe's overconfidence earlier, but now... he would only punish him.
Dante sidestepped, or rather side-hovered, his opponent's swing. All right, now he knew that he would end this fight now. He gathered together the most vile, dark energies known to man, ready to consume this demon in the terror of it's own darkness-!
And what he found...
(!!!!!)
...oh. ...that's...
...that's... all of this pain, everything he's gone through, fought for...
...It hit him all full-on like a semi truck. Dante understood now, just everything that was going on...
(Cue Vs Mundus)
Of course, it was then that, all of a sudden, the Majin form popped out of existence with all the ceremony of taking out the trash. Ragna took the chance to carry him up further into the air with
"Inferno Divider!"
, slashing upwards before ax-kicking him one hundred feet down into the skyscraper, shattering the antenna into tiny splinters as he did so. Dante, now back down on the ground, acknowledged for the first time that he wasn't doing too well. He couldn't allow this demon... man... whoever or whatever he was to live; he was simply too dangerous...
...To those it cared for...
...To the rest of the world it's existence it threatened to destroy...
...And perhaps most of all, to itself. This was for his own good.
It was time to be a bit more serious about this. ...but what would he do? And how?
For as hopeless as it may have seemed to others, Dante still had one last idea. Ragna landed twenty feet away, surprisingly softly for such a powerful entity, and strode: or rather, limped: towards him.
The thunderstorm now more intense than ever, the flickering lightning in the background casting erratic shadows as rain continued to pour down, a thundering symphony of impending death as the approaching Grim Reaper appeared now more than ever to truly be such. Ragna slowly but deliberately raised his blade over his head, and brought it down, when suddenly...
BOOOOOOOM
A large explosion, seemingly coming out of nowhere, hit Ragna full in the face, making his swing miss its mark, and embed itself into the stone beside Dante's neck. He roared, with frustration; his opponent knew that wouldn't stop him. He was afraid of death, and stalling for time! He swung once more, unrelenting, ready to sever the Son of Sparda's head from his shoulders. But he was wrong: Dante didn't stall for time...
He had created the opening he needed.
For by the time Ragna had begun swinging again, Dante was back on his feet. He had remembered, just in time...
(A few minutes ago, during the firearm fusillade...)
As Dante continued to open fire upon the red-coated madman, he suddenly pulled out an odd-looking firearm that he didn't know he even owned, one that his knowledge of weaponry allowed him to quickly deduce fired darts of some sort.
Ehh, whatever works...
(...Now!)
-that he had hit the Grim Reaper earlier with the Kerblooey dart gun during his fusillade of firearm shots. And this gave him just enough to, for the first time in the fight, yell something of his own:
"You're finished!!!!!"
Ragna, in the middle of his swing, could not defend himself against the Devil Must Die Hyper Combo. The sword blitzed though, once, thrice more. Ragna, finally feeling the pain stack up from all those hits from the Rebellion, staggered backwards, nearly slipping due to his missing left foot. Defiant until the end, he threw himself back up and began
"I'll-"
Another dozen or so Stinger stabs, and Ragna was again interrupted, nearly breaking his concentration. The very ground Dante tread upon had been torn apart by his speed, sending rubble in all directions. He kept on in spite of such-!
"Show-"
A roar of pain signaled that Ragna had been impaled twenty more times, faster than the eye could see by about a lot. The Blazblue bearer coughed up more and more blood, staining the roof with crimson. His vision blurred: the heavy rainfall wasn't helping in the slightest. ...dizzy from his bleeding leg, the incessant pounding of the Black Beast upon the internal walls of his psyche...
He must... persevere...!
"You..."
Dante, with a roar containing a Spartan army's worth of excitement and bloodlust, lunged one last time, focusing the whole of his demonic power onto the tip of the Rebellion in the form of a veritable miniature star of light. It was about damn time he finally had the chance to put the monster down for good!
"...sorry, dude. Trust me... I'll take care of things for you, 'kay? It'll all be okay..."
Ragna, however, could not read minds. Rather than hear Dante, he heard only himself...
.
"...you..."
Ragna saw it: impending death. The end... of everything.
He had not lived this long to let it slip through his fingers now.
.
"THE POWER..."
(Cue Blue Sanction)
Ragna, in a sudden motion, swung the Blood-Scythe's pommel forward, as the horizon around them seemed to turn pitch black, criss-crossed with radiant lines as crimson as his own cloak. And Dante...
Ran clean into it. As overconfident as he was, he could not possibly have expected his opponent, who was so visibly in agony, to have been able to pull through, especially given everything he had been burdened with. But it was just the pommel; other than screwing with his style, the demon had done little to prevent the inevitable-
Nothing, that is, but give Dante a taste of his own medicine. For now, he had created an opening with which he could land his own ultimate attack... the Black Onslaught.
"...OF THE AZURE!!!"
Ragna finally completed, unfolding his blade once more into the lightsaber-scythe form. He landed his first hit, then his second. Ragna continued with
a slash a slash a sweep a rip
a pierce a hack a slash a tear
a slash a rend
a slash a slash
a rip
a rend a hack a swing a tear
a slash a rend
a stab a slash
even more blows
before finally converting his blade into pure darkness with a shout of
"NIGHTMARE RAGE!!",
seemingly consuming the world around them. Finally, the wrathful Ragna gripped the air, rematerialized the Blood-Scythe in his hand, and felt... all of his power... flow outwards into the world. He saw a shimmering, humanoid form encompassing the devil hunter, full of cracks and glitching around...
..a truly powerful soul. With one last roar, he lunged...
"...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Dante looked on as everything happened painlessly, in fast motion, both of his arms flying off to either side and disintegrating into black seithr feathers. He only... nodded, closed his eyes, and smiled. Maybe this man really was strong enough to pull through without him. He could only hope, for the world's sake... because now...
The vengeful, rageblind Grim Reaper was but an inch away...
Heh, at least he'd get to scold this guy if he got it wrong. ...Hell, maybe he'd see Vergil around again, give that whole "brother" thing a second shot...
And time moved in slow motion, as the blade embedded itself into Dante's heart.
"You sure know how to throw a party, cool guy. Wish I got to know your name.
...see you later, space cowboy, and thanks for all the fun..."
And then, there simply ceased to be Dante.
"ASSSTRRAALLLLLLLL... FIIIINNIIIISH!!"
Ragna, finally feeling the exhaustion of this battle get to him, collapsed.
.
_______________________________________________________________
.
.
(Cue Rain and Thunder)
Weariness.
Pain.
When Ragna finally came to, struggled to his feet (or rather, foot), and let his vision focus, he was met with a disheartening sight- nothing. Or, more accurately, a blackened wasteland. It would seem that history would repeat itself: the Black Beast had completely and entirely annihlated Tokyo, leaving not a single building in sight- nay, not just Tokyo, but the wilds for dozens of miles around, too! As far as he knew, there were still innocent people around him in this city. And it was all that red-coated prick’s fault: he picked a fight with him, after all-
...
...no, no, no, NO-
It all hit him at once, the revelation of just who his opponent was, what he was doing, that talk of demons... he could've made everything better had he just talked it out, had his luck not been poor enough to somehow take the Blood-Scythe with him when he chased after Tao... who may or may not also be dead because of him...
"Why... am I so fucking stupid?!?"
Well, "he stomped him into the ground", he supposed. The knight came to slay the evil dragon, this is what the bad ending of that fairy tale looked like.
He looked up, and realized that a trail of black seithr feathers: all that remained to Dante’s soul: were seemingly suspended in midair, leading into the sunset. Had it not been for his Soul Eater drive, he’d probably have died of blood loss when he passed out due to the missing foot. Ragna the Bloodedge, the famous and feared Grim Reaper, nearly dying of blood loss. The irony of it, though!!
Feeling the need to earn closure with his defeated foe, Ragna walked away from the devastation, absent-mindedly flicking his fingers and conjuring a single wing of dark seithr into brief existence before doing so.
“Hate to say it… but I told you so.”
...he could've been friends-
No, that was doomed to fail from the get-go. After all...
Ragna didn't get happy endings.
.
K.O! []
Conclusion []
(Cue Taps)
Magus: (sniffling...slowly crying)
Tessera: Hmm? What's wrong, Marcus?
Magus: A truly great man has fallen today.
Tessera: ...oh. Yeah...
Z: Magus...
...this isn't fanfare, actually.
Magus: We shall forever commemorate this day... as a hallowed day of remembrance-
Z: Dude, what the flying fuck are you thinking? This is the kind of gag that's offensive to people!
Magus: WE'LL MISS YOU, PIZZA DANTE-CHAN!!!
Tessera: Shouldn't you be, I don't know, explaining the verdict or something?
Z: Tell Magus to fix the soundboard first.
(Cue Credits)
Z: (sighs) At least it's the right franchise.
Tessera: This match was close: there were a few key things that decided the outcome. First, let's talk about what Dante had going for him.
Z: Of the two, Dante is physically stronger. While Ragna can throw cars, Dante can bench far heavier things: for instance, giant demons. And while Ragna has physically traded blows with the Take-Mikazuchi and the like, Dante has traded blows with even bigger and physically stronger things, such as The Savior and Mundus, overall giving him an advantage there.
Dante also held a definite range advantage, having multiple options in long-ranged combat in relation to Ragna's limited and more direct ranged attack capabilities.
He is also very versatile with his massive arsenal of devil arms and firearms. This also gave him a mobility advantage, in the form of various grappling hooks and flight/glide techniques. He also had this styles, which further amped his abilities. What quite nearly did Ragna in, however, was his signature weapon: the Rebellion.
Tessera: See, the Azure Grimoire "remembers" magical wounds its bearer was dealt, transcending even time and space and echoing them later on. Yes, all of Dante's equipment is supernatural, but it's unfair to arbitrarily assign them strictly magical properties. The Rebellion, however, is outright stated to be Magic Elemental in nature, exploiting this weak point.
Z: Also, while these usually takes a while to take effect, the fight was bound to be a long one from the get-go. With Dante never starting a fight with his full power and unable to use his ultimate form until he's low on health, and Ragna reluctant to release his own whole power, their respective limitations prolonged the fight greatly.
Magus: (sniffles) So why'd The Bloodedge win?
Z: For a number of reasons. Chief among these would be the notable advantage he possessed in terms of raw destructive force, at least at his full power.
Tessera: If "canonically much stronger than Squirrel Girl-with-Talim's-weapons who can shatter the moon into tiny pieces by simply punching you into it at relatavistic speeds" wasn't a tip-off to that one, well... we'll just flat out state now that Ragna held a considerable advantage in striking power.
Magus: What about that time Mundus merged Earth with the Demon World?
Z: That's... a tricky thing. We're not really sure just how that can be firmly quantified yet, or even if such reality-warping power can even apply in combat. Even if it was the case, rather hard to do significant damage to a Black Beast-amped Ragna when the Black Beast itself exists outside of logic. Only Ars Armagus or something purely magical in nature, I.e. The Rebellion again, has been shown to work with full effectiveness on such beings, as they exist outside of the world's core logic.
Magus: But power alone can't beat Dante, no matter how great, right? That's his whole deal, even against massively powerful demons he comes out on top just my being badass.
Z: Which brings us to our other points. Dante's range advantage, first off, didn't mean all too much against Ragna. Remember, even before he had very much combat experience, he slew several hundred well-trained military units without being significantly hit once, and can dodge lightning strikes and even light-speed attacks such as lasers. Seeing as Dante's best speed feats are similar, he can keep up with Dante in terms of speed. When he tried to kite him around and keep him at range, he just closed the distance, bringing it back to melee.
Magus: Dante doesn't really feel pain...
Tessera: ...and Ragna can simply push through it.
Z: None of this matters, though, if Ragna doesn't have the means to kill the devil hunter in the first place: however, he does, in fact, possess the means. Remember, the Blood-Scythe saps the soul of those it hits, converting it into seithr. While Ragna's physical damage was of little consequence to Dante, the blade's soul-robbing properties provided Ragna with the ability to actually kill Dante for good. This made itself visible as the fight wore on... which it would, for reasons aforementioned. In short, Dante was considerably less durable against Ragna than he was against his other opponents because he possessed a unique advantage against him that many of Dante's previous foes did not.
Magus: What of Dante's taunting? Couldn't he just throw him off focus by being Dante?
Z: Well, yes, Dante could quite easily set Ragna off. The thing is... what good would that do? Remember, Ragna is pretty much always angry or irritated while fighting, often times extremely so, and it has not once impaired his ability to fight, or to think rationally. If anything, much like the Hulk, it only makes him stronger. Dante's attitude only made things harder on him.
Tessera: There's also their respective fighting styles. Dante's style of combat is more suited to taking down the hordes of relatively weak demons he faces, whereas Ragna is more used to combat against a singular, powerful foe. Guess which one applied here?
Z: Speaking of experience, The Grim Reaper's experience nullified much of Dante's versatility. After all, considering he's fought just about everyone else in the BlazBlue cast: and trust me, some of those people have REALLY strange fighting styles: he has experience facing people with attacks similar to Dante's own.
Tessera: Yes, Dante has this too, but Ragna's style was predictable from the beginning. Which made it boil down to sheer power...
Z: Which, again, Ragna trumps him in. Also, while the Majin Form grants invincibility, it also has a time limit. The unlimited mode did provide near-indestructibility, and did not run on a time limit. This mattered a lot, because, as mentioned earlier, the fight was destined to be lengthy.
Tessera: There's also the fact that Ragna's abilities: the barrier, astral heats, and overdrive: all ran on separate resources, whereas several of Dante's best techniques required his devil trigger energy. Speaking of the barrier, that thing is an extremely valuable defense. What projectiles he couldn't simply avoid, he could simply nullify entirely.
Z: Finally, there was Dante's overconfidence, which caused him to constantly underestimate and hold back against his opponent, making it very unlikely that he'd simply use his fear-inducing void attack right upon entering Majin form. Even had he, its generally acknowledged that those with exceptionally strong willpowers can fight back against mental and/or psychic attacks. Had Dante done this, 'tis likely that Ragna, who possesses willpower in spades, could resist it until it ended. Ultimately, this carelessness resulted in his death.
Magus: WE ALL MISS YOU PIZZA-MAN!! WE'LL REMEMBER YOU FOREV-
Tessera: You do realize he's not gone forever, right?
Magus: Hmm?
Z: He doesn't know about Valhalla? Huh. ...guess I'll go write up a short about it someday. No, he's not gone forever, Magus. Hell, back on the DeviantArt timeline he's already co-hosted twice with us. We got all this mess fixed up, everyone's good friends now.
Magus: (slightly brightens up) ...oh.
Well... the winner is Ragna, the Bloodedge.
Victor: Ragna
+ More destructive potency
+ More suited to 1v1 combat
+ Took the battle seriously from the start
+ Had multiple separate resources for his abilities
+ Had combat experience that prepared him for dealing with his opponent
+ Opponent's taunting just made him angrier
+ Can match speed and stamina
+ Unlimited mode had no time limit
+ Absolutely massive pain threshold
+ Blood-Scythe can potentially kill just about any opponent he faces
+ Barrier is a powerful defense, as well
+ Lots of willpower
+ Soul Eater sustained him
- Vulnerable to the Rebellion sword
- Comparatively predictable
- Limited options for ranged combat, had to improvise
- Mobility disadvantage
- Reluctant to use whole of power
Defeated: Dante
+ Physically stronger
+ Range advantage
+ More versatile
+ Rebellion could target Ragna's weakness
+ Can match speed and stamina
+ Doesn't feel pain
+ The majin form. Srsly, the majin form
+ Styles proved quite useful
+ Mobility advantage
- Very cocky, which in this instance didn't play to his favor
- Taunting just made Ragna angrier
- Much lower striking power
- More suited to fighting large hordes
- Many things ran on DT energy
- "Fear-inducing darkness" unlikely to work
Epilogue []
"Aha, I got it, I got it!"
Taokaka danced in celebration of her hard-earned triumph over the orange-winged insect that had originally caught her attention. Now holding it in between her hands, she was sure that Good Guy would be so very, very proud of her when he saw that she had accomplished it. Not to mention, she had some very good news! She finally walked out of the forest she had chased the monarch butterfly into, and over the edge of the crater-
And was quite startled to find that there was a blasted field, ravaged by the fires of the black beast, in place of where the food originally was. After all, she had completely oblivious to the fight Ragna had gotten himself into, and of the mass exodus that subsequently occurred.
"Good guy...? ...helllooooo? I caught the butterfly without killing it dead this time... also, science lady said she found a way home, meow..." And that was precisely when Taokaka spotted a steel cabinet, slightly ajar to reveal a variety of fresh fish within, that had miraculously survived the destruction. Taokaka subsequently forgot everything she was going to say to Good Guy.