†††††††††††

"Dante, wake up."

"Fuck off."

"DANTE!"

He snapped awake, Ivory whipping out of nowhere to point at the transparent Patty, but he sighed and lowered the handgun, before running a hand through his messy hair.

"The fuck you want?" Dante groaned, "Couldn't you see I was sleeping?"

"We have a big problem right now," Patty said, ignoring his complaints, "They're getting real close to the Box."

"That's interesting," Dante yawned, before flopping back onto the bed.

Taking solid form, Patty grabbed the hybrid and tore him out of the bed. He instantly got to his feet, Ivory pointed at her head, but she had already turned transparent once more, as he muttered a curse and searched for his cigarettes, lighting one up.

"Alright, what's your problem?" he asked around a mouthful of smoke.

"Pandora's Box is close to being found," Patty said, "You need to find it before they do. Did you get anything from your brother?"

Dante glared at her and headed into the small kitchen of his apartment, pulling a beer out of the fridge and cracking it open, as Patty gave him a disapproving glare.

"What?" he said, "It's ten o'clock somewhere."

Patty sighed and rolled her eyes, "So, your brother? Get anything?"

"Yeah, my ass handed to me. What do you want from me, Patty?"

"For you to save the world from destruction, obviously."

"Look, I'm not like my father, okay?" Dante said, "Living up to his legacy is not exactly high on my to-do list."

"What would your mother think?" Patty asked, knowing it would hit home.

She was correct, it did, as Dante gave her a dirty look, his hand subconsciously reaching for the amulet that hung around his neck, a final gift from his mother. He knew what his mother would say if she was here, but he didn't want to think about it, as he got up from the old lounge chair and slung his coat on.

"Alright, fine, if it's that important to you, I'll do something about it," Dante muttered, holstering his guns and grabbing Rebellion, "Not like I have better things to do with my time. What?"

Patty was looking towards his bedroom and he caught the sounds of a helicopter.

"Oh shit."

The wall exploded in a shower of splinters and dust, as Patty disappeared. Growling, Dante looked towards the hole in his bedroom, where the helicopter was hovering outside. Bullets tore into the apartment, as Dante raced towards the hole, leaping out into the air and snagging onto the underside of the helicopter with the whip, then pulled himself up into the cargo hold, throwing the gunner out.

"Alright, lower this damn thing right now!" Dante demanded, aiming both handguns at the pilot and co-pilot.

However, the pilot yanked on the flight stick, tossing the helicopter through the air and Dante off balance, before drawing his own handgun, his eyes flashing red, as Dante quickly shot him between the eyes. The co-pilot threw himself at Dante, as the helicopter hurtled towards the ground and Dante knocked the co-pilot aside, before leaping out and shooting at the helicopter until it exploded. Cars came to a sudden stop in the streets, as the burning wreckage came crashing down, while Dante watched from atop a nearby building. Police started to arrive, so he took that as his cue to leave. Dropping off the other side, Dante floated through the air towards the streets, landing amongst the civilians, none of whom seemed startled by his sudden arrival and he did his best to hide from the police that came cruising down the street in search of him. Ducking into an alley, Dante navigated through the twisted backstreets, coming out onto a small street, noticing six glowing blue discs lying in two rows on the road. With a frown, Dante edged closer, as the world suddenly changed.

The buildings shifted and transformed, as the sky became navy blue and green, just like the rest of the world around him, as a thick, green liquid began seeping from the discs, forming together into a large puddle, which then began rising and taking shape. A male humanoid stood amongst the streets, with complete blue/green armoured body, a long coat, while his head looked like a mask with empty white eyes.

"Let me guess, another baddie looking to beat me down?" Dante said, "Geez, when will it ever end? It seems like everywhere I turn, people are trying to kill me."

"I was sent by Arius to take you to him, dead or alive," Nightmare said.

"Arius, huh? That must be the guy my brother's working with. So tell me, Ooze Boy, how exactly are you planning on doing that?"

Nightmare raised his hand, showing his palm to Dante, as an opening appeared and bullets suddenly sprayed from his palm. Dante leapt out of the way, firing his own handguns, as Nightmare raised his other palm, which was also shooting bullets. Diving towards Nightmare, Dante slashed with Rebellion, but the demon dodged the blade with surprising agility, a spear suddenly appearing out from his chest and striking Dante. He bounced back onto his feet, as Rebellion became the scythe and Dante lunged at Nightmare, slashing at the demon, who melted down into the pool of ooze, which then seemingly disappeared, leaving Dante very confused.

Sensing movement, Dante leapt away from the shower of icicles that rained down, blasting away with Ebony and Ivory, as Nightmare disappeared once more, reappearing nearby, as a glowing blue orb appeared in his chest. Dante watched with a frown as the glow increased in brightness, before a beam of energy was unleashed from the orb, one that Dante narrowly avoided. Catching Nightmare in the chest with the whip, Dante pulled himself towards the demon, but was easily smacked aside.

"This could take a while," Dante said, getting to his feet.

Nightmare came for him, but he attacked with the axe, spinning around with the weapon a whirlwind of vicious attacks and Nightmare backed away from the strikes, as Dante landed an overhead strike that split the demon in half, however, he melted down into the puddle and disappeared once more. Wary, Dante drew his handguns, just as ooze suddenly formed around him in a large sphere and he fired away, but the bullets ricocheted off the thick substance, quickly forcing Dante to stop that action, as he was finally trapped inside the demon.

Suddenly, Dante was assaulted by a vicious onslaught of memories, but he wasn't sure if they were playing in his mind or on the wall before him, they had become so vivid, as he was forced to relive memories from his time in the asylum, ranging from the torture and beatings he had received, but not only that, but the night his parents died.

"No, stop this. I don't want to see this!"

"How long before your mind breaks from this constant reply?" came Nightmare's taunting voice, "I am not called Nightmare for nothing."

"Fuck you. I've had enough of this shit," Dante thought, "Lived through it once before, I do not want to see it again."

"Tragic, isn't it? Watching your parents being slaughtered like helpless humans while you and your brother were completely incapable of saving them."

"I swear, either you stop this or I'll fucking tear you apart."

Nightmare laughed, "That is only a foolish hope, Dante. I'm right here, inside your mind, watching all your nightmares for my amusement while you squirm and suffer."

With a roar of rage, Dante transformed, severing the tendrils implanted in the back of his neck, the energy flux breaking out of the sphere he was imprisoned in, as Nightmare formed before him, a curious interest in his eyes. Dante growled, his eyes flashing red and he dashed at Nightmare, aiming for a Stinger, when the opening appeared in the demon's chest, revealing the orb and suddenly, the air felt very cold, as it was sucked into the orb and Dante felt himself weakening, resuming his normal form. Drawing Ebony and Ivory, Dante fired two rounds into the orb, causing the intake to stop and Nightmare to stagger back, as he raised his hand, creating another shower of icicles. Sprinting out of the way, Dante fired at Nightmare, who responded with his own blast of bullets, before melting into the ground.

Leaping out of the way of the several spears that burst out of the ground, Dante slashed at Nightmare with Rebellion, however, the wounds were instantly, as a spear smacked Dante aside. Nightmare growled, revealing the orb and gathering energy, as Dante thought quickly and stabbed the orb with the whip. Nightmare grabbed onto the whip, trying to wrench it away, but Dante held fast, before tearing the orb straight out of the demon and crushing it beneath his boot, then fired an energy wave that sliced straight through Nightmare. He burst apart in a shower of ooze, leaving behind a small, glowing ball of light. It shot towards Dante's open hand, forming into a sleek, black grenade launcher that had numerous thick spikes along the top. Dante placed the Nightmare Beta onto his back, as the world returned to normal, with no sign of a fight having taken place, however, Dante found himself surrounded by police officers.

"Put your hands up and surrender now," an officer spoke through a megaphone.

Grabbing the Nightmare Beta, Dante fired several shots into the air, as icicles came raining down upon the cruisers, freezing the cars and any unfortunate officers in blocks of ice, as Dante took the opportunity to flee the scene, using his new weapon to hinder any officer coming for him and even blocking the street off, forcing them to go around through another street. With a grin, Dante launched himself up onto a building rooftop with the help from the whip, before floating across to another roof, as police cars raced past, heading towards his suppose location, as he took off in a different direction, while thinking about Patty's words. Perhaps it was time to track down Vergil and Arius and prevent them from finding Pandora's Box.

†††††††††††