RWBY: Dual Eclipse
is a RWBY and Disgaea crossover fanfic written by Master CVG.
Shortly after the conclusion of Dimensional Gate Screwover, Nelius and Epsilon find themselves unceremoniously tossed into Remnant. With their only way off-world currently traveling the cosmos and looking for them in turn, the two of them decide to bide their time, establish a forward base and try to contact their friends...
Little do they realize they're in the middle of a long-standing feud between two immortal beings, one that threatens to escalate rather quickly...
The story is currently rated T for violence and language.
Tropes within the story:
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In canon (at the time of writing), the reason for Salem being locked away was never explained upon beyond her father being a cruel Jerkass. RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant noted his abuse to be a combination of Maternal Death? Blame the Child!, Rage Against the Heavens and Heir Club for Men, with Salem tossing out messages begging for her rescue, and promising her father's kingdom as payment. In this story, Ozma implies that Salem's magical potential could've surpassed her father's, so to keep her from inciting rebellion she was locked away and purposefully made ignorant of her possibilities.
- Similarly, the illness that claimed Ozma's life was never elaborated upon. Here, it was stated to be a new (for the time) disease that cannibalized the hearts and lungs of its victims.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: As Grimm Eclipse's events play out, Sienna Khan gets wind of the attempted Breach, and sends Ilia to Vale to find Adam's team.
- A small amount of time after Grimm Eclipse's events are finished, it's implied that Arthur Watts is attempting to salvage Merlot's equipment.
- The Winter Maiden, Fria, gets a very quick cameo at least a good year in-story before she becomes relevant.
- Adaptational Jerkass: The Remnant Gods. Ozpin reveals that several of the kingdoms Salem tried to recruit in her attempt to kill the Gods refused her plea, stating she was doomed to failure. They were posthumously proven right when Destruction casually wiped Remnant clean, including the people that didn't side with Salem.
- Artificial Limbs: Nelius' left arm, as Epsilon gave the last vestige of her life to fuse with it to keep herself alive in the previous story. Whenever he ditches his jacket or has his gauntlets off, he keeps it hidden via a trans morphed wing in order to not scare people. Of course, Mercury has his prosthetic legs, as per canon, alongside General Ironwood.
- Burner Scrolls: Junior's gang each have one, with a code meant to brick their systems if they fall into the wrong hands. Nelius ends up stealing one from them, which Epsilon plays around with to better understand it. They turn it over to Ironwood once the story catches up to the present day.
- Came from the Sky: How Nelius landed in Remnant after being spat out of a warp as a result of the prior fic's finale. Ozpin ends up learning about it from a Scroll recording someone made in Vacuo, which caught the tail end of it.
- Chekhov's Gun: A newspaper article Nelius reads in chapter 2 outlines that the White Fang did try to attack the previous Vytal Festival, which was held in Atlas. This concern plays a part in why Ironwood is selected for security detail when the Breach happens.
- Cover-Blowing Superpower: Nelius uses his magic and other abilities only when there's nobody around to see it. However, when recounting his tale In Medias Res, Ironwood proves skeptical, at first thinking he's using either Dust or a Semblance since he doesn't quite believe Nelius yet. What really ends up blowing his cover (and thus leading to his questioning by Ozpin's group) is his inability to be properly gauged with Scrolls' Aura-Reading devices.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Cinder and Mercury get utterly stomped by Belderiver. Emerald is spared a similar beating since she was holding Amber captive, though Qrow is able to reclaim the Autumn Maiden whilst Emerald is distracted trying to help distract Belderiver with her guns and Semblance.
- In Chapter 24, Agate effortlessly beats down a trio of bandits, whom are later revealed to be part of Raven's tribe.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Nelius, being a Netherworld demon and all. It puts him as a diametric opposite to the Grimm, which ends up being why they target him. His powers as Belderiver only work to cement this spot. Epsilon also counts under this.
- Destroy the Villain's Weapon: Nelius shatters Melodic Cudgel, Roman's cane, in a single strike before incapacitating the career criminal. He later breaks one of Raven's swords when she attacks him out of the blue, but she has plenty of replacements.
- Doing Research: Nelius is shown pretty frequently visiting Vale's library whenever he needs to look something up. This does level off a slight bit once he obtains his own Scroll.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Nelius has a quick meeting with Yatsuhashi during a Time Skip leading up to Volume 1's events.
- Enemy Within: The chaotic powers Nelius was hit with in the prior story turned him into a gigantic monster. When Nelius dives into his Mental World, it tries to usurp control. When that fails, it then becomes his Evil Doppelgänger for a second try.
- Flirtatious Smack on the Ass: Agate delivers one to her housemate, the latter of whom implies she does this on a regular basis.... and does not like it.
- For Want Of A Nail: Nelius and Epsilon's presences end up changing quite a number of things:
- In his Belderiver guise he saves Amber from her fate of getting her powers half-drained, drawing the attention of Ozpin via Qrow secretly recording their encounter. Cinder is forced to retreat, and is beyond livid.
- Due to the above, Cinder thinks to use Emerald's Semblance and some Dust to greatly enhance her own Semblance to force Adam's assistance. Turns out that her prep-time gave Adam enough time to pack up and return to Mistral, crippling Cinder's initial plans, and forcing Torchwick to keep the Axe Gang for his heists.
- Speaking of the heists, Nelius ends up learning of Torchwick's association with Cinder, and so acts to disrupt them, which gets Torchwick in hot water with Cinder... and since the White Fang isn't working for Cinder's purpose, this actually causes a crossfire situation at the Docks.
- Tukson's life is saved via Nelius visiting the shop, allowing the White Fang turncoat to get away, and also landing Emerald and Mercury in trouble with Cinder, whom expressly told them to keep their hands clean in Vale.
- Without Cinder's resources, the White Fang recruitment drive is notably barren, there is no battle with a stolen Atlesian Paladin (hence Blake and Sun manage to get away relatively unnoticed, since Roman is absent), and the Breach is nowhere near as nasty as it was in canon. With Torchwick tied up, Yang never meets Neo, and thus Raven's "One Save" is still available.
- An unintentional one: Nelius bringing the Dual Diver to demonstrate to Ozpin's group ends up landing them inside of Ozpin's Heart, where Ozma ends up spilling the beans about Salem roughly three to four volumes before the truth came out in canon. Notably, Ozpin is terrified that he'll be left high and dry after the truth comes out.
- Ghostly Goals: Two different spirits are noted as wandering around Remnant, albeit nobody is aware of their presence. One decides to follow Nelius, hoping he might be able to help finish its mission.
- One such spirit was revealed: Summer Rose. She's begun helping to better train Ruby during her Mental World visits.
- Haunted Technology: On more than one occasion, the Dual Diver acts on its own, pulling in other people to their own Mental World and even displayed messages pleading Nelius and Epsilon to save someone. Both of them begin to wonder if the Dual Diver is either becoming sentient, or is becoming a conduit for spirits. Of course, Nelius theorizes that the odd powers they were hit with in the prior story is also playing a role in this.
- A few chapters earlier, he ends up getting a call on his Scroll with a staticky plea to save someone. He tries to redial the caller, only to learn the number doesn't exist.
- In Medias Res: The story opens with Nelius being taken into the Vale Police Station for questioning regarding his actions. Ozpin, Glynda and Ironwood are his audience as he lays out how he got to Remnant, and the actions taken therein over nearly a year. Chapter 10 is where events catch up to the present day, in the aftermath of the Breach.
- In Spite of a Nail: Even with Nelius and Epsilon's actions, some events still play out as per canon:
- Roman and Neo are in Cinder's pocket, since she had recruited them well before the story's events. Roman is even placed into Atlas Custody, so that he can be in position to use the virus on the Atlas Androids.
- Cinder, Emerald and Mercury infiltrate Beacon, putting her into position to plant the virus so she can have control over the Vytal Festival matches. Even while lacking the Fall Maiden's powers and the support of the White Fang, she still plans to overrun Vale with Grimm. Info on the students plus control of the matches would lead to manipulation to take out as many students as possible to weaken defenses and heighten negativity. Neo is still brought on as their fourth team member, "Noir".
- Atlas is still heading efforts to assist in festival security with their droids, though initially it's due to the possibility that the White Fang might attack again, as they did two years prior (not to mention the aftermath of the Breach). This still works to Cinder's advantage.
- The White Fang end up using Mountain Glenn as a forward base. Though they don't have the Paladins, the trains still work, and the tunnels do reach pretty far into Vale, giving them entrances and escape routes aplenty. RWBY and Oobleck's investigation still happens, which triggers the Breach (albeit far less harmful than canon).
- Mental World: The Dual Diver's Soul Diver mode acts like this, taking a person into their own soul. We see that Nelius's Mental World looks like his home Netherworld, albeit one rather devoid of life, at first. Progressing causes color and life to begin returning, and also opens up new functions.
- In Chapter 16, Qrow, Glynda, Ironwood and Nelius end up in Ozpin's heart. At first, it looks like the world of the past, and Ozma leads the group into the old tower where Salem was held, which leads to Chapter 17's events as Ozma lays out his battle against Salem. Chapter 21 has a return to Ozpin's heart.
- Chapter 23 has the Dual Diver state that Ruby was sent to hers... and Chapter 25 shows evidence that Cinder Fall was also sent to hers.
- Missing Child: During a supply run, Cordelia comes across a demon woman putting up flyers detailing a missing kid — her nephew, in fact. Around the same time, Farris and her apprentice Sonin catch wind of a Nekomata also passing out more flyers depicting the same child.
- Mix-and-Match Weapon: Already present within RWBY's canon, though the story that preceded Dimensional Gate Screwover showed that he had upgraded Shatterpact with Huitzil parts to add plenty of features: shield units, finger-mounted guns and laser blades, and even an ice beam for incapacitating foes. His battle with Jedah Dohma wrecked several of those components, and in a later chapter he finally finds a way to restore them.
- My Greatest Failure: Ozpin outright states that reuniting with Salem and plunging Remnant into a Forever War between them was his "greatest and most foolish" mistake, one that he clearly still regrets to this day.
- Named by the Adaptation: The White Fang Lieutenant is named "Callan" in this story.
- Newspaper Dating: In Chapter 2, Nelius visits Vale's local library to understand more of what Remnant is like. A newspaper sets the date as October 4th.
- No More for Me: Qrow decides on this after sighting a certain figure out the window of the bar he's at, only for it to disappear in the time it takes for him to blink. He almost decided on it earlier, after Belderiver helps Amber and himself get to Vale's border.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Much like the previous story. Nelius, however, continues training, as he does ponder the possibility of other Netherworld demons potentially intercepting his message, or of others from his side of the cosmos potentially also being on Remnant. The latter ends up being true, as
Unexpected Character proves. - Obfuscating Stupidity: Agate displays this, letting a trio of bandits in Mistral basically lead themselves into an ambush of her own making.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Both Glynda and Qrow are rather shocked to see Ozpin looking and sounding so exhausted and frustrated once the truth about Salem's existence is revealed.
- Organic Technology: The Desco units are such from canon, and Epsilon is no exception. Nelius has a "Eureka!" Moment when he realizes this, switching their plan from gathering scrapped components to simply growing the parts they need.
- Power Fist: Shatterpact, his gauntlets, especially once they get fixed up. Yang has her Ember Celica, as per canon.
- Samus Is a Girl: The new Unlosing Ranger is a woman named Azura.
- Spanner in the Works: Nelius and Epsilon act as this, as For Want Of A Nail demonstrates up top.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Amber is saved from having her powers drained, and a timely stop at Tukson's bookstore keeps Emerald and Mercury from killing the White Fang turncoat. However, Cinder has plans to try and intercept Amber again...
- Spit Take: Roman does one with some wine when a news report shows that his operations were disrupted again. It's also stated that some of the wine got into his nasal cavities.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Belderiver pulls the "bye" part on Qrow and Amber after escorting them to Vale's borders. 22 chapters later, Qrow manages to pull the "Hi" part on Nelius and Epsilon.
- Super Mode: Belderiver, as per the prior stories. However, here we get a reveal: Belderiver wasn't even supposed to exist, being Nelius' demonic powers that his boss silently sealed away after an investigative trip went wrong. Belderiver was supposed to silently bleed back into Nelius after the seal was undone, but a certain life-threatening incident triggered its appearance. His training with it has helped it to integrate over the years, slowly turning Belderiver into more of a disguise for Nelius.
- This Is Gonna Suck:
- Trapped in Another World: Just like the previous stories, Nelius is sent to a world not his own. However, with his allies in a space-worthy vessel, he plans to contact them for an extraction, since he doesn't know how to use Dimensional Gate magic. His allies, in turn, are trying to find him as well.
- Unexpected Character: In-universe, neither Nelius nor Epsilon expected to see The Unlosing Ranger show up in Remnant.
- Unrealistic Black Hole: Nelius punches his Evil Doppelgänger in the stomach, later revealing that he used the Big Bang skill. Nelius is able to get away from the resulting explosion with ease; his enemy never had that chance.
- Weirdness Search and Rescue: Mita's group, still piloting the Yoshitsuna, are searching for Nelius and Epsilon. By happenstance, they come across a fleet of other ships, whom are also searching for someone — the missing Rhodonite heir. After some deliberation, the two groups team up.
