Disclaimer: I don't own any character of Devil May Cry. They belong to Capcom and Sony Entertainment. I make no money from the writing of this story.
WARNING: OC (I guess) and AU.

This is beta-read by ArchNemesis.

A/N: I wonder if there is anyone still interested in this story. Oh well…I want to clarify something. Agnus and Sanctus will be a bit more powerful and hard to beat than in the game. Also, from here on there will be a deviation from the canon. Many thanks to Maite for reviewing and to the people who still like and read this story.

oOo

Quite contrary to Nero, who had gone through almost every room, blindly looking for Kyrie, Crassus knew exactly where he was going.

While Lili had spent all of her time supporting and aiding Sanctus in his plots and schemes, Crassus had used his time getting familiar with the layout of Fortuna city and more importantly, that of the H.Q. He had known that this place would eventually become a battlefield and he deemed it necessary to get to know every aspect of the area.

So now, with certain steady steps he found his way around the complex, almost maze like, corridors and headed for the bowels of headquarters' deepest dungeon. The entrance to the wide stone staircase was hidden behind a secret door and only those who knew of it could locate it and open it. Crassus pressed the right points on the wall and the entrance was revealed to him.

Following the steep and long staircase he descended for quite some time, eventually reaching a long, dimly lit corridor that seemed to continue forever. He stepped in another corridor, carefully avoiding the trap mechanisms he knew were there.

Eventually he reached his destination, a massive, thick, steel vault door, supported by equally massive stone walls. On the door's left side was a keypad along with a card reader. Without the proper access code and card, there wouldn't be any way someone could enter that room. The problem was that Crassus didn't have either, only Agnus and Sanctus had access.

Despite seeing the obvious obstacle, Crassus smiled.

In one swift flowing movement, he unsheathed his long-sword, which as soon as it was released from its holster; the blade became enveloped in an unearthly green flame. Then he charged at the door, his movements were so fast, the human eye could not follow him.

He dealt two blows to the door before re-sheathing his sword. As the blade slid back into place the otherworldly flame was slowly extinguished.

Tense seconds ticked by as nothing seemed to have happened. The door stood as it had a few moments ago. The ground suddenly rumbled causing an ear gnawing metallic groaning resonated throughout the corridor. The door begun to fall apart, crumple into four massive pieces that made quite a racket when they dropped to the ground, causing a gust of dust filled wind and quite a few rubble, as they took part of the stone wall down with them.

Crassus entered the room, mindful of the debris and any traps it may have. He glanced around. It was a simple, unadorned, cylindrical room with a high ceiling. The only source of light was a collection of bright red runes. The ancient writings were carved in the shape of a circle on the ground.

In the center of that circle, a large object floated …the sword of Sparda.

He cautiously approached the circle and proceeded to examine the runes, trying to decipher what was their purpose.

A silent curse escaped his lips. This was not his field of expertise but he had a strong suspicion that they formed a protective barrier. From what Lili had told him, the protective ones permitted access only to the user or a few people he had designated and they were impossible to trick. Only a higher level magic user, other than the creator, could break the protective spells woven into the runes.

In a nutshell, the barrier was impossible for him to break.

Unable to leave with empty hands, Crassus decided to test his luck. He stretched his left hand, trying to take a possession of the sword but as soon as his hand entered the invisible barrier he immediately felt agonizing pain and saw that his hand was getting burned by searing flames.

By instinct he pulled back and the burning sensation subsided but not the pain. His hand was clearly damaged by the fire and it was certain that that would leave quite a large burn mark. Not to mention that he would be unable to use that hand for quite a while.

"Damn," he uttered in frustration.

"You shouldn't have done that."

A voice was heard saying from behind.

Crassus instantly turned to face the speaker.

"Agnus," he said in recognition as soon as he laid eyes on the figure that stood at the entrance of the room.

"Crassus…Here I am, wondering who is bold enough to try and steal Sparda's sword. I am certain that His Holiness will be quite surprised when he hears that it is you… one of his favorites," the alchemist said gleefully.

Crassus quirked an eyebrow.

"In order for him to hear about it you will have to leave here alive. Isn't it so?" he questioned as he brought his uninjured hand to the hilt of his sword. He saw no reason to deny the alchemist's accusation, not to mention that there was no credible excuse he could offer for being there in such a manner.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Do you really think you can best me? You? A mere human? I have been transformed! Now, I am an angel!" Agnus declared as he transformed to a creature that resembled a gigantic insect instead of an angel. He opened his insect-like wings and flew about five feet above the ground, where he remained hovering.

The other man snorted as he unsheathed his sword.

"Just let me ask you two questions before we begin. Is Lili in on this as well? Is this your plan?" the alchemist questioned.

Crassus remained silent.

"Answer me!" he demanded but received no reply.

Agnus nodded his objective was clean. "Very well then, I suppose I will have to beat that answer out of you," he said, charging at his opponent.

Crassus sword flared up. The flame gave off a sickly green light barely made a difference in the dark, almost unlit room. He easily side-stepped Agnu's attack while he dealt a slight blow to his attacker.

"Damn you! How dare you!" Agnus yelled from a few feet away, disgusted that this inferior human was able to get a hit.

He was once again hovering in the air; the only difference now was that he was near the wall opposite the destroyed entrance. His anger was evident in his voice as he gripped his wounded left shoulder.

"Y-you will p-pay for this," he stuttered as he advanced a few feet towards Crassus.

The black haired man readied himself for another attack. He realized his mistake as soon as Agnus laid his hand on Sparda's sword that was a few feet away from him.

Crassus hadn't thought that a paranoid like Sanctus would have made it possible for anyone to be able to bypass the wards, other than Sanctus himself that is, so he had simply disregarded the possibility that Agnus could use it.

Seeing Crassus's surprised expression Agnus smiled wickedly.

"Oh, you thought I couldn't take this?" he questioned, irony lacing his voice as he showed the sword. "His Holiness knows how loyal I am to him and recognizes my true worth! Now let's see… who will be the one to die…I wonder," he said arrogantly.

Crassus's expression turned back to dispassionate but he knew that he was at a disadvantage now.

Things are getting worse by the moment! First, I couldn't secure Sparda's sword and now I have to fight against it. Can I really win against THAT sword in my present state?

oOoTBCoOo