Disclaimer: I do not own any DMC or FF7 characters, except the ones you've never even heard of.
A/N: Hey, everyone. Sorry for the very late update. Writer's block is such a bitch. Plust my internet has been down. Anyway, sorry for keeping you waiting. You're also in for a shock. You're about to find out about the real Sephiroth.
Time to Hunt Again
Chapter 10
Everyone stared at Barret as he continued to hover in the air while blasting the demon to pieces before he fell to the ground, landing heavily onto his feet with a loud thud. Behind him the demonic bird hit the ground, groaning and squeaking in pain as it lay in its own puddle of blood. It twitched now and then but didn't get back up. But no one really paid much attention to it right now. All eyes were on Barret as he stood up and grinned at everyone. Since he had vanished a year ago, he did look a little different. His clothes were rather dirty and ragged. And his hair had grown a little longer. But otherwise, he looked alive and well. It was like he had been stuck in the mines for a long time.
"Barret, where in the hell have you been?!" Cloud asked now grinning as soon as they registered that it really was him.
Barret snorted as his gun arm clicked as it resolved its hand form. He just shook his head as he looked directly at the blonde swordsman. "What do you think, Spiky? I've been to Hell and back!" He then jerked around when the demon finally seemed to find that it still had a little strength left to fight some more because it pushed itself up and screeched at them angrily. "Aww, damn. I thought that I had killed it this time." The large black man grumbled.
Dante just shook his head as he shouldered his Rebellion and looked up at the demon now taking to the air. "Demons like this one aren't easy to take out. It's got a whole lot more fight in it than we think." He remarked. Vergil nodded as he held Yamato tightly in his hand, looking coolly up at the demon. His head tilted towards Denzel, who was looking at the demon with determination. "I think its time this weak abomination dies." He said quietly.
Denzel glanced back at him before nodding as he tightened his hold on his buster sword. "I'll take care of this." He said dryly before he bolted forward, scraping his sword across the ground right behind him.
Everyone else just watched him go. The only one who looked a little worried as Marlene. She looked tempted of running after him, though she kept glancing at her father, wondering if he was really there or not. However, her eyes tore away from her father as soon as she saw that Denzel was now starting to glow. She realized he was about to do a limit break! Curiously, she tilted her head to watch.
Denzel rushed towards the demon his bustersword glowing a bright blue as his eyes narrowed dangerously on the demon, flying above everyone's heads. He came to a sudden stop, sliding a little on the ground before jumping high into the air, his Bustersword swinging. He flew towards the demon, which seemed to accept his challenge by charging right back at him. The brown haired swordsmen just smirked to himself as he gripped his Bustersword tighter before swinging it at the demon. The blade hit the demon first in the beak then he lashed out a foot, kicking off it and sailing towards the mine walls. The demon screeched angrily but tried to follow. It didn't need to go very far for Denzel flipped around, lashing out his feet towards the mine walls. He practically landed vertically on the wall before kicking off it and sailing straight back at the demon, his bustersword glowing a hot blue.
"Climhazzard!" He yelled before running along the demon's back letting his Bustersword slash right through it.
Once he reached the tail feathers, he kicked off of the demon, spinning quickly in the air before throwing out a hand. "Ultima!" He yelled, throwing the spell he had prepared. The spell sped towards the demon before hitting it. There was a large explosion and the demon burst into red light smoke vanishing from sight. Denzel dropped down to the ground, landing in a crouch before standing up and swinging the Bustersword right over his shoulder, clipping it back to its sheath. He grinned as he looked over at the others. "Now that's how you kill a demon."
Cloud just grinned right back and gave him a nod of approval while the others just cheered silent. Dante was the only one who decided to applaud him before glancing over at Vergil as he went over and leaned against the rocky walls. Apparently, he was waiting to see if Dante was actually going to carry out his threat. Meanwhile, everyone else looked at Barret who just gave Denzel a thumbs up before looking at Marlene just as she jumped towards him, throwing her arms around him.
"Papa!!" Marlene cried out as she clutched onto him.
Barret just wrapped his strong arms around Marlene, looking down at her. He was smiling but it was somewhat surprised. "Marlene!" He murmured brightly before noticing that she was shaking. He frowned and tilted his head to the side. "Huh? What, did you think I was dead?" He asked, looking down at her. Marlene just buried her face into his shoulder, not caring if he smelled a little. She was just happy to see him again. She had thought he was dead. How could she not react like this?
"You've been gone for a year, Barret. It couldn't be helped." Cloud said smiling as he stepped closer to his big friend. "We all thought you were dead."
Red XIII just sat down on his haunches, his tail wagging a little as he grinned up at Barret. "Where have you been all this time? We've all been so worried about you." He said softly.
Barret, still holding onto his crying daughter, just made a face as he looked at the large cat/dog creature. He shook his head now his eyes flickering all around the area at all of his friends. He didn't seem to notice Nero just yet. His eyes had paused on Vergil as he looked coolly right back but he didn't say anything. He actually didn't look surprised to the cool tempered half demon. "Wha' did I just tell ya, Red? I just told you that I was in Hell. I've been stuck on the other side of that damn gate over there for an entire year. Believe me, I am not lookin' forward to going back there!" He said gruffly.
All of the A-Team looked at him with surprise. They really hadn't thought that he was actually serious about being in Hell. Even Marlene pulled away and looked wide-eyed up at her father. She was just as stunned as everyone else. The Half demons just frowned as they looked right at Barret, minus Vergil that is. He just eyed Barret coolly before looking away again, his eyes closing as if he was trying to think.
"You...you were actually in Hell?" Cloud asked in disbelief.
Barret just nodded as he rest his powerful arm on Marlene's shoulder. "Yep. A year ago, when I had been talking to you about what was going on in this, here, mine, that thing opened up and that birdbrain demon that Denzel just killed started to attack everyone. I didn' have much a choice but to charge it and shove it back through the gate. It closed after me though and didn' open until now." He explained. He then threw a thumb towards Vergil. "Only a few weeks ago, I saw him. He said he was lookin' for me anyway. Told me to just wait by that Hell Gate until it opened up again. Said it was gonna be soon. I didn' argue with him. Just did what he told me to do. And when it opened up, well, you know the rest."
Everyone looked back at Vergil, just as his eyes reopened the minute they looked at him. Dante just folded his arms, staring at his twin brother. He was trying to think on this. He couldn't believe that his twin had actually helped someone. Unless he was doing it for himself. Marlene, on the other hand, just pulled away from Barret, looking dumbstruck as she moved towards Vergil. "Vergil! You knew where my father was all this time and you didn't tell me?!" She exclaimed.
Vergil just glanced at her before looking away. "You didn't ask." he answered simply.
"I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO ASK, VERGIL!" screeched Marlene. She then pouted and folded her arms, turning her back onto Vergil. "I thought we were friends, Vergil. But you seriously shouldn't have kept this from me. You should have told me that you knew where Papa was."
Everyone just looked in between Marlene and Vergil again. Denzel was looking somewhat jealous again, glaring at Vergil. He agreed with Marlene that Vergil shouldn't have kept Barret's survival away from them all. But he was more sour at the thought that Marlene was talking so casually with the half demon that he didn't like at all. Dante just frowned, somewhat curious. His eyes narrowed a little as he glanced between Marlene and Vergil before shaking his head. "Wow. This is amazing." He found himself say out loud, catching everyone's attention. "If I didn't know better, Marlene, I'd say you knew who your Luke Caine was all this time." He said dryly.
Barret now looked somewhat bewildered as he looked right at Vergil. "Huh?! That's Luke?! But I thought he was a blonde, not some white head!" He said staring at Vergil.
Marlene, however, looked away as had Vergil. They either looked annoyed or guilty about hiding the fact that they knew each other, or at least being questioned about it. After a minute, Marlene nodded slowly as she turned towards Dante, giving him a sorry look. "Yeah. I've known who Vergil was all along." She paused giving Vergil a look. "Actually, he never mentioned that he was your brother. Which you should also should have told me about, Vergil! Especially when I DID ask. I asked you if you were related to Dante! You said that you weren't."
"Obviously," Vergil said, now smirking towards her. "I lied. But that's because I didn't want you to know." His cool blue eyes flickered over to his annoyed younger twin before flickering over to Barret. "In any case, Barret is back. Shouldn't you be celebrating his return?"
Marlene just pouted as she folded her arms before turning her face away and her eyes closed, looking much like a girl who was just told that she couldn't have something she wanted. "You're a meanie, Vergil! You know that! Now I'm really mad at you!" She told him, scowling. She even started to walk away.
"Has he said anything yet?" Vergil interrupted, taking everyone by surprise. They all looked at him, wondering what he was talking about. Even Marlene looked at him with confusion. Vergil just shook his head as he looked pointing at Denzel. Now, most of everyone understood what he meant. Though Barret looked the most confused out of everyone. Marlene just looked away, her face passive now as she shook her head. "It doesn't matter, Vergil. Just drop it." she told him.
Vergil just frowned as did Nero as they looked directly at a frowning Denzel. Neither one agreed with Marlene at all with this one. "Well then. I guess I'm going to have to take matters into my own hands then." The cold half demon said before he turned sharply around, becoming a flash of blue.
WHAM!
Denzel hit the ground as soon as Vergil's fist had hit the side of his face. Everyone else just stiffened in alarm and Marlene gasped as she whirled around, looking wide eyed at him. "Vergil! What in the heck are you doing?!" She exclaimed as she rushed forward to stop Vergil from doing anything else. But she stopped when Vergil held up a hand towards her. "Vergil!"
"Denzel, when are you finally going to say anything to Marlene? Are you seriously going to just stand by and watch someone else sweep her off her feet when you had the chance to tell her your true feelings?" Vergil asked darkly. Everyone froze as they stared at him in bewilderment. All three Dante, Vincent and Nero just folded their arms. They hadn't joined everyone to moving forward to defend Denzel. But as soon as the words were out of Vergil's mouth, everyone just froze.
"Wh-what?" Denzel asked flabbergasted.
Vergil just shook his head before he lashed down and grabbed the front of Denzel's shirt and yanked him to his feet, now shoving him towards a startled Marlene. "Be serious, Denzel and just tell the girl that you're in love with her already, you idiot." He said coldly.
There was a long silence as Denzel just stared wide-eyed at an equally wide-eyed Marlene. Both of them turned to look at Vergil again, who just lift his head up higher and gave the young man a very dark look as if saying, "Say it or you're dead!"
Swallowing hard, Denzel turned back to Marlene, who still looked startled but was looking right into his eyes. She was waiting for what he had to say. He paused again before looking towards Barret, who looked very puzzled but something was dawning on him. Especially when the young swordsman looked at him nervously. Denzel had gone a few shades paler than before and was looking a little shaky there. "Uh..." Denzel began as he took a step towards the large black man. "Um, Mr. Wallace, sir. I would like to ask for your permission..."
Barret now frowned, his arms folding over his chest and he gave Denzel a very dry look as if he wasn't amused with the situation at all. He just shook his head in disbelief. "Denzel, I'm not entirely sure what's been going on lately 'cause of how long I've been gone, but I ain't the one you're suppose to be talkin' to. Now if you've been in love with Marlene all this time and haven' said a damn word to her 'bout it, I'm gonna kick your ass." He growled at the young man.
Again, Denzel went a little pale as he swallowed hard and looked at Marlene, who now folded her arms, looking rather impatient. Seeing that look on her face, the young swordsman's mouth curved upward. Marlene was definitely her father's daughter. "Marlene….." He paused again to glance over at everyone else. As if all of the A-Team read his mind, they turned their backs to them to give the pair their privacy. But the three half demons just eyed him seriously, though all three of them had a hint of a smirk on their faces. They seemed to find this very amusing. And it was making Denzel more uncomfortable.
Annoyed, Marlene shot Dante, Vergil and Nero a dark look as she lashed out a hand towards Denzel, grabbing the front of his shirt. "You know, you three are such assholes." She remarked before she pulled her best friend into a very fiery kiss. Denzel looked like he had been stunned stupid for a few seconds before he relaxed and wrapped his arms around her, holding her very close to him and returned the kiss.
Dante grinned before giving a wolf whistle, knowing that it was going to make Denzel blush. It worked. The young swordsman pulled away from Marlene and gave him a dark look before she yanked him back into another kiss. Chuckling, the Demon Hunter turned back to his twin brother. "All right, Vergil. Now it's your turn to explain. What are you doing here, how do you know Marlene and why in the hell are you still here and not running away?" He asked, seriously. Now all eyes were on the pair of Half Demon twins.
Vergil just lazily looked at his younger twin before dipping his head downward, his eyes only on Dante. "All right, Dante. If you truly wish to know my objective," He paused for an effect. "I am after the great sword of the warrior, Sephiroth, Masamune."
Everyone froze when they heard that. All of the A-Team was stunned by the Half Demon's words. Dante just frowned as he stared at Vergil and both, Marlene and Nero didn't look surprised. He had heard this already from the girl. So he knew what Vergil had been after from the beginning. Question was, why?
"Masamune?" Cloud asked, seriously. "Why do you want Sephiroth's sword?"
Vergil merely glanced over at him before looking back Dante. He just shook his head as he held up Yamato with one hand. "As much as this is one of the most powerful swords, it can not defeat my enemy that I wish to destroy. I need the Masamune to kill the one who has done me wrong." He announced.
Seeing Yamato, Nero frowned and moved forward as if to grab it from Vergil. He wanted it back. It was his, something that Dante gave him to take care of. It was something he needed to rescue Kyrie. And he wasn't going to let this half demon villain take it from him. However, before he could even get close to snatching it away from Vergil, Dante grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him back away from his twin. "Uh-uh. I wouldn't be doing that, kid. Unless you want your hand cut off, don't be so grabby."
"Wha' the hell?!" Barret exclaimed, finally noticing Nero. "There's three of 'em whiteheads now?"
Nero shot the big black man an annoyed look for the lack of paying attention while Dante snorted as he looked over at Barret with a grin. "Barret, you're making us sound like a bunch of pimples." His blue eyes glanced over at Vergil, who was now eyeing Nero. "This is Nero, by the way. I gave him Yamato a few years ago, Vergil. Give it back to him."
"Do not test me, Dante. It was me that Sparda gave Yamato to. It belongs to me. I do not care if you tried to give it to this boy. But it is mine. He will not be getting it back." Vergil said coolly.
Nero just glared right back at him as he tried to move forward again but Dante kept a firm hold on his jacket, keeping him from going anywhere. "I need that." He growled, ignoring the red wearing Demon Hunter. Vergil just shook his head as he looked directly into Nero's eyes. "Well, that's just too tough for you, Nero, was it? My father gave this sword to me. Like I said, I'll let you keep that demon form but this sword is mine. If you truly need some kind of demon sword, then here." He held up a hand towards the younger half demon and began to glow a dull blue. A thin blue trail of energy hovered away from him and into Nero's arm, making him frown and grow very tense. But around him, four transparent swords appeared before disappearing again into the demonic arm.
"Oh, wow. How generous of you, Vergil." said Dante with a smirk, already knowing what Vergil gave him. "You gave him some of your Summon Swords. Now, keep explaining. You planning on killing me with Sephiroth's blade or something?"
Vergil turned his icy blue eyes back onto his twin before shaking his head. It came as a surprise for the Demon hunter and the others actually. They had been expecting him to say yes. "No, Dante. Eventually I will kill you. But you're not my target. My target is actually the one who dwells inside Sephiroth."
There was a stunned silence as everyone stared at him. None of them were sure where he was getting at with this. But the way he just said that, he was being very serious. Dante tilted his head a little while looking directly into his twin brother's eyes. "Explain." He told him.
Vergil was quiet for a long moment as he looked right into Dante's eyes before he folded his hands behind his back. He looked almost as if he wasn't going to answer him at all. But then again, he was considering it. "Sephiroth is not who you think he is." He began. "He looks like Sephiroth, has the power of Sephiroth, has the sword. But he's not entirely Sephiroth. I've been keeping my eye on him for quite some time now. Watching his activities. He's been mostly just going around, gathering demons to join his cause and have them drink from those glowing puddles of liquid. I suppose you call it Mako. He's been trying to get them stronger. Sometimes it works, sometimes it just kills the demons, burning them up like acid. But I began to notice something. Sephiroth goes into these phases where he seems to be fighting himself. Or he has a split personality. He gets into arguments with himself." his head dipped down a little. "With three personalities, actually. Himself and two others. The Sephiroth that you've been fighting now and then is someone you know, Dante. Mundus has taken over Sephiroth's body."
The team members of Avalanche frowned with confusion but when they saw how Dante reacted, they knew something was very wrong. For the minute Vergil said that, Dante's eyes snapped wide open and he stepped back in alarm. Nero just frowned as he glanced between the other two half demons. He knew he had heard of the name Mundus before but he wasn't sure from where. It was sure it was during one of those stupid, boring meetings for the Order of the Sword.
"Vergil, you better be kidding me." Dante said, dryly.
Vergil just shook his head as he looked right at Dante. "Sorry, little brother. I'm not. Mundus, the King of Demons has taken possession of Sephiroth's body. And Sephiroth has taken over the body of a man from this world. I believe it was a trap for him. From what I've heard from the scientists, Hojo and Agnus, they captured the man and injected what I believed they called Jenova cells into him. It nearly killed him but Mundus made sure he stayed alive for it. Unaware of the danger, Sephiroth's spirit took the bait and took control of the man's body." He paused for a moment. "The woman, Elena, I believe, called him Tseng."
Now, the A-Team reacted. They all stepped back in shock while Cloud swore loudly. Barret just shook his head in disbelief. "Aw, god. That ain't good. So Sephiroth is Tseng." He muttered.
"Who is Tseng?" Nero asked, looking at them.
Cloud sighed as he reached up and massaged his forehead. He was not happy about this at all. So that was what Elena had meant when she said don't kill Tseng. "He's a friend of ours. Or at least an acquaintance. This does make things really difficult to work with. Sure we have to kill Sephiroth and this Moon-whatever, whoever that is. But killing Tseng? Hell…..I don't know if we can do that."
"That's Mundus." Vergil corrected him.
"Damn. Rufus and Reno isn't going to be happy about this." Vincent murmured. But then he looked at Dante. "Dante, who is Mundus?"
Dante, all humor completely gone, just shook his head as he dipped his head down a little. He couldn't believe this was happening. Mundus was back. Like he really wanted to deal with him again. But then again, he did remember the demon king saying that he would be back for revenge. "He's a very dangerous demon, Vincent. THE demon. He's the King of Demons and the most powerful one out of all of them." his eyes grew very dark at the memories he had with the demon king. "He was the enemy of my father, Sparda and he was my enemy. And the last time we fought, he nearly killed me. If it wasn't for my partner, Trish, I would have been destroyed." He said before shaking his head. "No wonder our worlds are going to Hell. He can open up any Hell Gate he wants. And seeing that he's using Sephiroth's body to walk around, he means business this time."
Vergil nodded in agreement as he folded his arms and looked at the group of friends of this world. "With his already god-like powers and Sephiroth's strength, he will be able to take over whatever world he feels like taking over. It seems to me, he's chosen this world to use to give his demons more power. With the Mako energy, the demons are going to be more powerful than we can ever imagine. So therefore, we have to make sure that the demons do not cross the Hell gates. So therefore, again," He paused before he whirled around in a blue blur, yanking Yamato from its scabbard and slashing towards the Hell Gate just as the head of another bird like demon started to come out of it. The demon froze was if it was a deer caught in headlights before it burst into red light and the Hell Gates fell over into two pieces.
"Damn!" Barret whistled. "That's one sharp sword. No wonder that kid wants it back." He said nodding to Nero, who was not looking very amused that Vergil wouldn't give him back Yamato. Vergil just completely ignored him as he looked right at Dante.
"Yeah, it is, Barret. So it's no wonder Vergil wanted it back. And it's no wonder he needs Sephiroth's sword." The Demon Hunter said not looking away from his twin brother. "So, Verg. What's your plan? You going after Sephiroth, or Mundus on your own or what?"
There was a long pause as Vergil thought to himself before he shook his head. "No. I would think it wise if we call our brotherly hatred a truce for now. Mundus in Sephiroth's body is too dangerous for only one of us alone. And probably more dangerous for just the both of us. So, therefore, I will ally myself with you and your..." He paused eyeing the A-Team with a frown before looking back into his younger twin brother's eyes. "Companions. It would be wise if we worked together if you truly want to save this world from Mundus. He wants to rule both worlds, using this world's life power to create a indestructrable demon army."
Dante just nodded as he eyed his twin brother carefully before he turned around and looked at Cloud and Vincent. "All right, then. Looks like we have one more on our side. It'll be better this way. Fighting Sephiroth, Mundus and Vergil at the same time wasn't exactly only my to do list." He shrugged as he looked at the everyone. "We should probably get back to the airship and enlighten everyone else on what's going on. We're going to need to find the other two Hell Gates before they open up. And I have a personal score to settle with Mundus." He told them. Cloud nodded as he flipped his blonde bangs out of his eyes. "All right then." He turned and looked at Zack, who glanced back. "Let's head back to the Avalanche right now." He said. Everyone nodded as they turned and started out of the mines. Dante walked beside Vergil though, who was eyeing Nero as he walked near Marlene and Denzel. "Verg," The red wearing half demon said, frowning before glancing side wards at his twin, who glanced back at him. "There's something you've got to know about Nero. Something I just found out with Lady's help. She found some very interesting information on the kid that also deals with us and Sparda." He told him.
"Hmm. Really? I'm curious to know what you found out then." Vergil said, lazy eyed.
Dante nodded as he turned his face forward again and kept walking after everyone. "Later. On the airship. I think it's best if we discuss this with Nero too. 'Cause I don't think he has a clue of who he really is." He stated quietly. With that said, no other word passed between the twins as they left with Avalanche and Nero.