Up rise and downfall

By Terrence fan

Prologue

WARNING: Following fanfic contains more gore, violence, and cursing than "Demon Blood", and includes some suggestive content, such as sexual content, in later chapters, as well...

He was all alone.

Not a single worry on his mind, which was unusual, being a walking stress-attack, always having something to worry about. But now, he just lay on his back, arms behind his head, alone on a beach, no idea how he got there, or even why he was there, but at least it was quiet.

Just when everything seemed so peaceful, he heard a strange noise in the distance.

The teal imp sat up, looking around to see nothing but sand, and the long endless ocean ahead of him. Seeing nothing, he tried laying back to relax, just as he did he saw a small flash in the distance. It was dim, but still bright enough to see. Whatever it was, it was getting on his nerves.

Panic got up on his feet, he couldn't see much, it was foggy, yet the ocean was so clear.

Then he saw it again, getting brighter, and getting closer as well. Panic took a few steps closer until he saw two bright red eyes in the fog. It wasn't until he heard a cold, familiar voice that he knew who it was...

"PANIC."

He felt paralyzed in fear. There was nothing he could do... But run.

If only he could fly, but it was as if his wings were gone. As he ran, he was surrounded by nothing but darkness and fog, he looked around to see where he was going and if he was, at all, being followed. He could still hear a very cold, wicked laughter, no matter where he went, he couldn't escape it. Soon, it was almost all black, he froze in his steps.

There was barely anywhere else to go. It seemed like the end of the line. It sure felt like it, too.

"Oh, Panic...", The cold voice said. "Where do you think your going? Did you really think it was over?"

Panic stepped back a few steps, until he nearly fell into a deep gap in the ground, as he whipped around it was a large hole with a wooden open coffin inside.

As he looked around, his vision became clearer, he was in the middle of a cemetery, and in front of him, next to the hole, was a tombstone with his name on it. His eyes grew wide in shock of this discovery, this couldn't be. He wasn't dead, he WASN'T dead... At least, not yet.

He turned away to run, but then a figure that was standing behind him, stopped Panic in his way, grabbing both of his arms, lifting him barely an inch off the ground. The figure turned out to be a demon he recognized, not Pain, but from the shape and size of it, he knew very well who it was. Dante. At that moment, the demon pushed Panic into the coffin, he slammed against the bottom hard, the lid then quickly closed.

"No! Let me out, please!", Panic cried, as he was slamming and scratching against the inside of the coffin. He tried to get out, he kept screaming, scratching, and even kicking against the coffin.

There was nothing he could do. He felt the air becoming thick, he could barely breathe. Tears streaming from his eyes. Everything grew darker and darker, he thought this was it. He was going to die... It was all over.

He woke up, back in the Underworld. Panting heavily, in a cold sweat. For once, he was glad to be in the Underworld, at least Pain was there. He scanned the room to see if either Pain or Hades were around. He was instead in the hall, sitting against the wall.

As soon as he was calm, he felt a hand touch his shoulder, and a soft voice say, "Panic--".

He let out a shriek and fell on his back against the hard, stone floor.

"Panic! It's me!" Said Pain, Panic's partner in crime, grabbing a hold of his shoulders trying to calm him down. When he saw it was just his fat, magenta demon companion, he gave a sigh of relief, then got back up.

"Man, Im so glad it's you, for a second, I thought it was Hades..."

"Yeah," Was all Pain could say. "Uh, Panic? Have you been okay?"

That depended on Pain's definition of 'okay'... "Sure," Panic replied. "Why?"

"Well, lately, you've been acting a bit strange, not to mention you've also been having nightmares for a while." Pain told Panic.

Trying to avoid the conversation, all Panic said was, "Uh, no. Of course not." Shaking his head, he headed down the hall.

Running after him, Pain quickly grabbed his long, thin, devilish tail, stopping him from running any further.

"Panic, I wasn't born yesterday. And I know when your not exactly being honest". Pain said. He lightly tugged Panic's tail.

Panic just pulled away his tail to get Pain to loosen his grip on Panic's tail. He hesitated for a short while until he finally spoke.

"Well... Oh, okay." He sighed in defeat. "You remember what happened about a week ago?" A frown came on his features.

"You mean when you and I got separated after that hurricane, when Hades sent us out? Yeah." Pain replied.

"After you and I got separated," Panic continued, "I was out for a while, and when I woke up I was on this island with no idea where I was, it wasn't too long before I met another demon who called himself Dante. After a while we spent some time with each other, I kinda... Began to like him--"

"What?" Pain interrupted. At the same time, a little shocked.

"Well, I don't know. Him and I got a bit attached after a while, but then..." Panic's voice began to sound more angry, and, at the same time, sad. "Later, he just used me to break this curse that was on him, so he could get off the island and return him to normal, he even tried to kill me! I was lucky to get out of there alive, I had trap him to get away. Now, I can't help but feel like he'll be coming after me soon." He was about to burst in tears, but tried the best not to cry in front of Pain, he was lucky Hades wasn't there, he'd hate to cry in front of his dark master.

Pain was a little surprised to hear this, but it would've explained the wounds on Panic after he found him. "Did you really love him?"

"No!" Yelled Panic. "I did, not like that... But not anymore! The thought of him just makes my blood boil!" He sighed, to try to calm himself. "All the time, I thought he actually liked me or something. I just can't get him out of my mind."

Pain put his arm around Panic's shoulder, to calm his teal, horned demon friend.

"It's okay..." Pain said to Panic in a soft voice. "He's gone, isn't he? There's no way he'll ever get you now."

"No, it's not." Panic protested. "I let him trick me, and almost kill me! He could still--"

"Don't worry, Panic." Pain interrupted, again. "I'll be here for you. Everything is going to be okay. You know I'd never let anyone or anything hurt you."

"You really mean that?" Panic asked.

Pain responded with a "Yes," This answer relieved Panic. The magenta imp put his arm around Panic as he continued. "You know that I'm always here for you, buddy." Both of them walked down the hallway together.

"Yeah, I guess your right," Panic agreed.

At that moment, they heard their master's voice echoing down the hallway.

"PAIN! PANIC!"

Immediately, they ran off at once, trying to see what their dark master's orders were this time.

"So," Hades began speaking. "Tell me again, why do you want to work for me?"

The dark demon only answered, "Because, you need a demon like me, one that can get the job done. I ensure you that you won't be sorry." He seemed promising enough to Hades.

Hades tapped his chin with his fingers, trying to decide rather to hire this new demon, or not. Before he gave it another thought, he asked, "Do you promise to work for me, for all eternity, not talk back when I give you orders, and do everything I say?"

"No problem," answered the demon, crossing his arms. "Who wouldn't want to follow someone as brilliant as you?"

Feeling very admired by his comment, Hades brought out his hand, as did the other, they both shook to their agreement. "Fine then, it's a deal." Hades said. "By the way, what's your name again?"

"Just call me Dante." The demon answered. That name was a little familiar to Hades, he had heard of a great monster by that name, one who was most notorious for the massacre of millions. But he knew that this puny, little thing couldn't be the Dante he was thinking of.

As soon as Pain and Panic walked into the room, Panic stopped in his steps, gasped at the sight of the same dark demon who threatened to kill him a long while ago, standing on Hades' table. He couldn't believe his eyes, all this time he thought he'd gotten away from that maniac. Maybe he was right about those dreams...

When Dante caught a sight of his "friend", a grin widened across his face. A cheery look brightened in his eyes.

"Panic, honey, Im home!" He raised his arms in the air as he greeted Panic. The green demon could only stare, shocked at what he was seeing. "Did you miss me? I sure missed you, so much."