Jill had seen some things she never thought she would see that night. The dead rising back up and attacking the living, even as their flesh rotted. Animals normally timid or at the least manageable attacking them in a frenzy. A gigantic snake with roughly the mass of a station wagon (that hadn't crashed through the wooden floor it slithered across). Those were severely messed up, but she'd handled them. With difficulty, true, but she'd done it.

Seeing a clawed, lizard-like creature burst out of a coffin levitating in the air, then covering itself in crackling electricity and taking both a grenade and a double blast of shotgun to the chest, then shrugging that off and dropping to the ground, snarling at them?

That…that was impossible.

"Jill!" Dante roared over the sound of the creature's snarling and their weapon fire. "Whatever you do, don't try to fight it hand to hand!" As if giving a demonstration, he leapt out of the way as the monster lunged towards him, cutting a large "X" in the wall with its claws.

"Oh, damn, and here I was about to punch it to death!" she snapped back, firing another double shot. "What the hell is that thing?!"

"Long story, tell you later! Keep shooting until- Yes! Now hold your fire!" The aura of electricity around it had disappeared; Dante drew Rebellion off his back, charging at the monster with a roar of bloodlust.

Jill managed to reload quickly. Watching Dante fight this thing…She'd just assumed the sword on Dante's back to be a glorified "problem solver" that he'd use to get around (or out of, in the case of the snake) obstacles, using his firearms to take care of the real fighting. He'd used it a couple times, but she'd waved it away as him wanting to show off or plow through solid walls. She hadn't stopped to consider that he might have skill with it.

He was practically a blur, slicing and stabbing at the monster with fierce determination. With a yell, he thrust the sword into his opponent at blinding speeds, yelling "Breakdown!" as he thrust a final time. He leapt backwards as the electricity covered the beast again.

Jill resumed firing as Dante drew his twin pistols, firing a few shots to warm up; then, as his pistols crossed over each other horizontally, he began to pour shots into the monster with a speed Jill would have expected from an MP5. Within seconds, the electricity was gone again.

Dante dashed in, a pair of gauntlets and boots appearing on him in a flash of light. "I'll punch you right in the joules!" Before the Blitz could react, his fist rocketed into the beast's gut. As it staggered, the wind knocked out of it, he jumped back, a metal mask appearing over his face and an odd fang-like structure popping out of the gauntlet. It began to rumble and shake, almost as if it were an engine. With an odd noise, it began to glow. A few moments later…

The beast had just regained its breath when the gauntlet, the instant a powerful shine issue from it, shot forward in a right cross so powerful it knocked the creature across the room. It got up, snarling with fury. It opened its arms wide as its electricity returned; orange this time.

Dante gaped for a millisecond, then raced back towards Jill. "Look out! It's gonna throw lighting at you!"

"…It's gonna WHAT?!"

Dante had tackled her out of the way as the demon thrust its hands forward, a bolt of crackling electricity impacting the wall she'd been standing in front of a second before. He dropped her without fanfare, pulling a strange briefcase out.

"I was always saying I should test out more of what this baby could do. Lucky me." With that, he pulled on the briefcase handle…

And to Jill's astonishment, it began to shift and change until just a second later…

Dante pointed all his fingers at the Blitz, the tips of the gauntlets covered in odd extensions. Ten darts shot at the demon from the extensions, embedding themselves in its thick hide. They'd only been in there a second before they lit on fire. "Talk about giving someone the finger…"

Jill's mind was nearly blank by now, only registering that she had two last shells to use on this monster. This is a dream she thought desperately as she reloaded. Chris somehow talked me into eating that green tea ice cream he was going on about; I ate it right before bed and now I'm having a crazy dream. That's the only explanation for this nonsense. I'm going to wake up soon, and the first thing I'm going to do is throw out the rest of the carton.

Maybe…just maybe that was true…she just had to keep repeating it to herself…

The briefcase had reappeared in Dante's hands. He stored it away in his coat, pulling out a massive rifle almost as long as he was tall from somewhere in his coat.

It had happened. Sometime, when she hadn't been watching, the world had taken a sharp left turn at fifth and bonkers…

Dante gripped Spiral, taking quick aim. He fired, the anti-tank round drilling through the demon's head. He switched the rifle out for Ebony and Ivory, and pulled Cerberus from his coat in a ready posture. Doing so, he noticed the Blitz had not dropped its barrier. The barrier had instead changed color once again.

Red.

The electricity was red.

"Ah, hell…Jill! Good news, bad news! Good's that it's almost dead!"

"And the bad?" she said faintly, barely thinking about what could get worse.

"Well…that pissed it off."

"Wonderful," she hissed. In an odd way, being angry seemed to be pulling her mind back to solid ground. See ugly monster. Kill ugly monster. It sure simplified things, anyway.

"Don't bother shooting it! It'll burn itself out, just don't let it touch you or you'll die with it!"

And if Jill thought it had been moving fast before, it was now zipping around in the blink of an eye.

All the sarcasm in the world wouldn't have been enough for her irritation. "Sure, no problem." But she made do.


"No, honestly, what on earth were you thinking?" Rebecca demanded. "Running off with a half-healed wound and no weapon to take on a poisonous snake…the same snake, in fact, that filled you with poison that we had to flush out with serum in the first place!"

Chris cringed. Rebecca had been yelling at Richard ever since he'd swaggered in two minutes ago, only managing to get out "I got that legless bastard-" before she snapped at him. From what little he'd heard about her from the rest of the team, Rebecca had a sweet demeanor in pretty much all circumstances, and was level-headed to a fault.

He forced himself to keep the smile off his face, so she didn't turn her fury on him, too. Those guys must never have been her patient.

"I did have a weapon!" Richard insisted.

"Oh, that's solved the problem," she said acidly.

"But you left it for me! You said so on your note!"

"My note told you to wait here until I got back! Not go chasing after-"

"But the note also said you knew I wouldn't listen," he interrupted.

She looked at him almost as if he'd grown a second head. " 'Knew you wouldn't listen'?! If I'd known that, I wouldn't have left in the first place!"

"Um, Rebecca…" She flinched back at the look on the young medic's face. "I'm not agreeing with what he did. However…now that he's back, and hasn't been hurt…maybe you can help us explore?"

She stared at Lady for a long moment. Then she let out a long sigh, her face once again taking on the gentle look it usually had. "You're right…he didn't get hurt, no matter how foolish the risk." She looked at him pleadingly. "But please don't run off alone again. Can you at least agree to that?"

He nodded eagerly. Chris smiled. "All right, then. Now, did you see anything or anyone else when you went to get that snake?"

"Yeah. Met Jill and a guy called Dante…"

At which point he got a flurry of questions from Chris and Lady.


Jill ran and dived and rolled as the furious creature chased after both of them. Her intuition told her the only reason she'd managed a couple of her misses was the beast's hesitation on which one of them it wanted to attack first.

Dante was managing to hit it with precision shots even as it moved around the chamber at inhuman speeds. It wouldn't be long now…it was almost exhausted, he could feel it.

Suddenly, the thing seemed to have come to a decision. Launching a beam of lightning at Dante to make him dodge away from it, it spun around and launched itself at Jill at full speed.

Contrary to earlier, time seemed to slow down around Jill as adrenalin flooded her. The monster was leaping towards her, arms outstretched. Dante was across the room; he'd never make it in time…

She felt her finger twitch as she leapt backwards, and the shotgun spat its final two shells into the creature's face as she crashed into the wall, sliding down to the floor. It paused for only a fraction of a second…

But in that fraction, Dante had suddenly appeared in front of her, holding a bundle of three blue rods chained to a metal ring.

This time, as the creature lunged at them, Dante began spinning those strange blue rods above his head. A bright dome appeared around him, swirling and…snowing?

"Cold day in the Fire Hell before I let you hurt her!" his voice rang out as the beast bounced off the dome he'd made, and then it shattered into what looked like ice, which melted right before Jill's eyes. He stared down the creature, which rose up into the air, its electricity arcing around it wildly. It curled in on itself, and then…

Dante covered her with the hem of his trench coat as it exploded in a shower of crackling energy and blood, both coating the ground under it. After a few moments, the energy had disappeared; he moved away from her, sitting down next to where she'd fallen.

"Is there always so much blood?"

He sighed. "Yeah. You sort of get used to it after a while."

The red web of energy on the gate glowed brightly, and then made a sound like glass shattering. The gate itself, however, remained down.

"To answer your question," Dante said without preamble, "that…was a demon."

"I'll say…" she mumbled.

He chuckled. "No, I mean it. A demon. Hellspawn. Think what you like, but I promise that's what it was."

"A demon," she said, though she couldn't bother to lace it with doubt. "A monster from Hell." She sighed. "Why not. Every other damn thing in this madhouse…"

"See, that's the spirit! You know…you did pretty well for fighting your first ever demon." He held up his hands at her look. "No, really! That was one of the type even I don't like fighting often. For your first time, that was impressive," he said, winking. "Gives you something to look back on and smile. You always remember your first."

"I'd hope so. I'll have a tough time forgetting a man-sized lizard with lightning shooting out its ass."

They both looked at each other for a few seconds. Then Jill began to snicker. A small chuckle escaped Dante's lips.

…And just like that, they were laughing the tension away.

"Still…" Dante said, his laughs tapering off a bit later, "we're not done here. We'd better find out how to get out of here again."

They picked themselves up, Jill's smile reluctantly fading. "Not just yet. We've got a few things to talk about."

"If you're that curious, that type is called 'Blitz'." He looked carefully at what was left of the coffin.

She nodded; that had been one of the questions on her mental list. "And what was it doing here?"

"…That's what I'd like to know…" he said softly. Looking inside the grave's remains, he saw a small stone and metal object with red and white bits on it.

"You said you don't like to fight them…how often do you fight them?"

Did she mean demons or Blitzes? Assuming it was the second… "Not that often."

Jill frowned, but pressed on. "How the hell did you pull out half those things?"

"Magic," he replied, casually scooping up the object. "And before you roll your eyes, remember what we just killed."

She wasn't giving up that easily. "And how exactly do you know magic?"

"Special line of work, special set of skills." He looked at the odd object, trying to think if he'd seen it before. "Picked up the guns and other stuff along the way."

They were both quiet for a moment.

"…Can I learn magic? How did you learn?" She still wasn't really sure she believed everything he was saying, but…

He wasn't exactly sure why, but he felt a bit guilty at that. Still, what was he supposed to say? 'Dad's a demon, mom's a human, that sort of thing'? Although…

"It's…sort of hereditary…"

She blinked. "Hereditary?"

Well, he could sort of tell the truth here… "I got it from my dad's side. Mom was a great woman, but she was normal. Still, he passed it on to us…to me," he corrected quickly. Not having that conversation right now.

She gave him an odd look, but let the last part be. "So…what you're saying is…"

"Say for example you and I have kids…" he began.

"Okay, stop. Got it. No worries. Cleared everything up."

He grinned. "You asked." He showed her the object. "This look familiar to you?" She turned it over in her hands, frowning. Dante knew what was coming…a simple "no" and then they'd be wandering around, trying-

"Of course I do."

He blinked, looking at her in surprise. "You…do."

She nodded. "Of course I know. Don't you?" He stared at her blankly. She frowned. "Kind of surprising…this is the Spencer crest over the symbol of the Umbrella Corporation. It's kind of obvious."

Dante nodded. "Right, right, the Spencer crest and the Umbrella Corporation." He kept nodding for a few seconds. "So, just for the sake of conversation…what are they?"

She gaped at him.

A few minutes later (following a brief discussion and Dante finding a switch in the coffin that raised the gate to outside), Jill followed behind Dante, her mind racing. All that about magic and demons…it's enough to make a person's head spin! After tonight, I can definitely say something that's at least close to demons exists, but… She frowned as she looked at him. That's not all. There's something else he's hiding; I could see it in the way he talked about them. Dante…what else are you keeping from me?

She placed the object in the indentation. With a loud clunk, she heard the door unlock. "I still can't believe you didn't know about Umbrella."

"Sorry. I'm not exactly in the business loop unless it involves demons and stuff."

"It's a medical company. You didn't notice their logo on a box of medicine or disinfectant or, hell, cough drops?"

Aaaannnd THAT would be why he'd never heard of them. All the benefits of demonic regeneration… "Knockoffs," he said simply.

She did allow for the possibility, but she still shook her head all the same. They stepped through the door beyond…


After reassuring Lady that yes, Dante was okay (though how, given what happened, Richard had no idea) and calming Chris by saying yes, Jill was fine, they left the room. Richard and Rebecca split off in one direction while the other three continued on.

"Any plans?" Lady said casually. "Most of the doors we've come across are locked."

"Way it sounds, Dante and Jill have been busy."

Lady arched an eyebrow. "Oh, do go on," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Just sayin', maybe they've unlocked a few we haven't been able to get through. Unless you've got a better plan."

Lady nodded, but sighed. "So more backtracking?"

Chris gave a tired smile. "Looks that way."


Jill and Dante, in the meantime, had gone through the door. Passing through a storeroom with no useful items, they took the side exit rather than the main one; finding themselves on a forest path outside the mansion.

Jill readied her pistol. "Watch for dogs," she warned.

Dante didn't respond. Instead, to her puzzlement, he sniffed the air. "Hmm…something stinks."

"Rotting zombies," she reminded him.

"Something else. Maybe…" He shook his head. "Whatever. Long as we're ready, we can handle it." They slowly wound their way around the path, coming upon a signpost with four arrows. "Let's see…" He scanned the directions. "North to Valley of Destruction, south to Cave of Hatred, east to Summit of Madness, and West to Path of Revenge." He rolled his eyes. "I'm guessing southwest to the Shortcut of Doomy Evil and northeast to the Tunnel of Bad Breath."

"Can we go west? If it leads us in the direction of revenge, I've got a few bullets I'd like to deliver to the architect."

"Hah! If only." He looked around out, assessing their options. "Well, looks like only one way to go…"

Jill led the way, eyeing the odd spinning red weathervane as they passed it. They continued on, finding another spinning weathervane (this one blue). Finally, she gave in. "Dante…is it just me, or are these spinning on their own?"

He studied the blue object, thinking. "The wind's not strong enough to be pushing this on its own; could be." They kept moving, Jill sensing that they were about to find out the point of those very soon.

Sure enough, they came upon a gate flanked by two dog-like statues. Dogs with three heads? But that was…

"Cerberus?" Jill and Dante said at the same time. They stared at each other. "You first." They stared at each other again.

"Okay, I had a friend in high school who liked Greek mythology," Jill explained. "What about you?" Much to her confusion, he didn't say anything, taking out those strange blue rods and waving them at her cheekily before putting them away again. Whatever THAT meant…

He turned to the gate. "Okay…this one says 'The hounds of Hell guard this gate; only when their appetites are sated shall the path be opened.'" He gave a 'hmm' of concentration. "Jill, is there anything written on those?"

She examined one of the statues. "This one says 'Last Gasp of Destruction'…" She moved over to the other one. "…and this one says 'War Cry of Revenge'." She gave him a look of comprehension. "This must be based on those signs we saw earlier. And those spinning things…" She sighed. "Now we have to run back and forth to figure out which is which."

Dante held his hands out in mock outrage. "Hey, remember who you're talking to. I can get through this no problem."

"You're not breaking the gate down," she said sternly.

"…Oh. Still, I have a Plan B!" He walked casually over to one of the statues and grabbed the platform under the dog's likeness with his hands. Very slowly, he began to turn it until it was facing away from the path. Striding over to the other statue, he did the same to it, leaving both statues pointed outward.

A loud 'click' sounded from the gate. Jill looked at him, impressed. "I didn't think you'd figured it out so fast. You're more clever than you let on."

Actually…that had just been a very lucky first attempt…

"Well, you know me. Puzzle pro."

…Not that it was important for her to know that.


Chris's group, meanwhile, had (unknown to them) made their way towards where Jill and Dante had gone. Unlike their compatriots, they took the main doors.

They'd only taken a few steps when a noise made Nero jump. "Easy there!" Chris reassured him. "It's the radio Richard gave me." He pulled it out of his pocket. "This is Chris. Go ahead."

"This is Brad. S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team, please respond! Come in, Alpha Team! Can anyone hear me?!"

Nero frowned. Something in that voice sounded oddly familiar…

"I read you, Brad. This is Chris; are you getting this?"

"Alpha Team? Bravo Team? Anyone! Please respond! Repeating-"

"Brad, I hear you!" Chris said, an edge of frustration in his voice. "Brad! Respond!"

The radio emitted a sputter of static, and was silent once more.

"Damn thing's broken," Chris growled. He put it back away.

"Gonna toss it, then?"

He shook his head at Nero. "Even if he can't hear me, we might get some important information." He sighed. "Or not. But if I throw it, we'll never know."

He motioned for them to continue. Nero looked all around the corridor as they advanced to a small courtyard, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling. I think the Order might've found a rival in decorators. Something feels off again…is there something waiting for us here, too?

The sound of ragged breath came around the corner. Chris held up a hand to order them to halt; they drew their weapons. The breathing came closer…

Closer…


"A graveyard. I suppose it makes some amount of sense, given we just got done with a crypt." She turned around, expecting a quip from Dante. However, he had a solemn look on his face, and gave a brief (if horribly sloppy) salute.

"Dante?"

The moment passed, and a small smile returned to his face. "Sorry. Always best to pay respects on burial ground, even if it's short. Some spirits get awful fiddly about that."

"Seeing as how they'd be the spirits of the people behind this mess, I'm not feeling that fussy," she countered. Dante simply shrugged. "These gravestones…no way they're here just as a final resting place. There must be something in the puzzle department here as well." They both scanned the tombstones.

"This one talks about the 'breath of wind'." Dante took out the small medal he'd swiped from the room with fishing gear, giving a smug grin. "Too easy." He placed it in the hexagonal slot; with a scraping sound, the slab of the stone he'd placed the medal into swiveled around to reveal his reward.

"Three more medals. You sort of brought that on yourself."

Dante groaned, picking them out in resignation. "Yes I did."


The ragged breaths were getting closer…closer…

The monster making the noise rounded the corner, baring its fangs. An undead dog was staring at them menacingly.

Lady couldn't help but feel a bit let down. But the weaker the targets, the better. A swift two shots from her pistol brought it down with ease. I'll have to do a lot of training by the time we get home if I'm ever going to get back in top form.

Chris sighed with relief. "Well, a reanimated dog isn't exactly a picnic, but not as bad as I was imagining."

Lady stared at him, aghast. The way she looked, he might as well have thrown his boots at a heavy object dangling above him.

Not two seconds after he'd said this, he could hear a strange sound around them. It was…well…it was almost as if someone had mixed the sounds of an insect's wing, a high-pitched croak, and steam all together.

Nero gave a defeated sigh. "Shoulda figured…You guys." He readied Blue Rose…


Author's Note: I was eager to release a chapter on 3/3, and I already had it all fresh in my mind from last time, so...voila!

I had the thought while writing that I'd really like to get all of you involved in this too (your reviews and constructive advice being a big motivating factor), so I'd like to have something of a game with you. Two, in fact. But check my profile for the details; it's too long to drop all at once into an end-chapter note. Anyway, see you next time!

Next Chapter: Howling Abominations