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Joe: Well, here we go again-…what's that? Why am I late?

…

So, as I said, here we are again, with a new chapter of…

You want to know what's up with the timing?

…

So, if anyone would let me finish, I would have told you that you're about to get another fighting filled chapter and…

You have a one track mind, you're relentless, you are.

…

Anyway, here we go - the thirteenth (no time to be superstitious) chapter of the Justice Within Two Evils.

"Everyone ready? Guns loaded? Tailor, you okay with that gun there? Looks like a strain to hold, maybe that Boydes Anti-Tank - fine, Dante, have it your way - maybe that 'Spiral' isn't a great weapon to have at the moment."

"It's fine, don't worry about it"

"Good. Everyone here is sure they're ready? Lady, stop sticking your tongue out at Dante. Yes, Lady - in fact, you too Vergil, it's not like you to act so immature."

…

"I heard that. Stoppit, Dante, for my sanity's sake. Right, we go in a few minutes, we've just to wait for Anvil's signal, remember, that means her team is ready. Ready? - Yes, smartass, I do realise I've said that word at least three times in the past minute. Pike - put that damned thing out, they'll see and smell the smoke."

Pike grumbled as he spat out the cigar and squashed it with his foot, using every given chance to glare at Trish.

Nobody was really exactly happy with her right now, as she was proceeding to boss everybody else around. Nobody had assigned her to leader, she just took it up herself - to everyone's dismay.

They were standing near the church, well concealed in the garden by the side. The midday sun was shining overhead, an ideal weather situation for the time being.

It was agreed that the plan should definitely not be carried out at night. At night, demons blended into the darkness - especially shadows, who were bastards when you couldn't see them - and there was less security around the place. The Anti-Demon patrols that had the late shift were normally groggy eyed and not at full attention, and the NYPD got to go around in their patrol cars, not taking in every detail before they drove away. Demons could hide brilliantly in the dark.

In the sunlight, however, it provided the humans with good sight, essential for killing demons.

The stereotype that demons could not stand the sun was just a stupid thought. All the sun did was provide heat and light. Demons originally dwelt in the Underworld, for god's sake. The place with all those boiling rivers, occasionally filled with lava or magma, and with absolutely nothing to cool them down, with absolutely no wind. It was a stuffy place. They obviously had resistance to heat, so the sun would only make them more at home.

A flare went into the air, a strange sight considering they were on dry land. But, the group of people there were expecting it.

"Anvil's group's ready," Dante said "Time to go in"

They went in through the back entrance, going along with Vergil's plan. He had seen the designs for this church as being Gothic, and had been told it was Catholic. Most churches of that design had a few chambers in the back where the priest got ready, or the altar boys and girls.

That being the same kind of room they entered. No demons in there, though, for some strange reason. The group inspected the room.

Kegs were in the room, apparently filled with supplies for the sermons. Being a catholic church, it would probably be filled with the 'holy' bread and wine for blessing by the priest during mass.

"I can see why no demons are in here," Dante stated as he ripped the lid off a keg, which was filled with holy water "They're not taking any risks…either that, or they still haven't figured out on how to open a door. Most likely the door thing."

Tailor chuckled as he opened the other kegs, proving their assumption correct. Many of them were filled with circular, wafer thin bread pieces, and some form of wine. Dante dipped his head in for inspection of the wine, much to Vergil's disgust.

"We move on?" Pike grunted.

"No" Vergil replied "Beyond that door would be the chapel, where all the demons would be. Wait for the second signal before we go in"

Trish took out an empty phial from her belt and dipped it in the holy water for later use.

Dante dipped a phial of his into the wine. He inspected the keg of holy water.

"I got an idea"

He held Rebellion and dipped in into the liquid. Due to the fact that Rebellion was made of demonic metals, it sizzled, but, being a sword of Sparda's, remained intact.

For once, Vergil was impressed by an idea of Dante's, then dipped his katana in as well.

"For extra damage" he explained to the surrounding raised eyebrows.

While they were there, Tailor dipped the Impaler in as well.

A shine, dimmed by the stained glass window, slightly lit the room. Lady opened the door and peeked outside.

"That's Enzo's flare - his team is ready"

"'Bout damn time" Dante grumbled, cracking his neck from side to side, along with his fingers "Let's go"

He walked up to the door and kicked it open, Ebony and Ivory spinning in his fingers. Before he could point them at anything, he let loose a noise of surprise, caught unawares by the strange sight before him.

More involuntary gasps from behind him as they joined Dante into the main room.

The chapel was a mess. Benches were knocked over, the altar had been cleaved in two. The balconies had collapsed down onto the ground, making piles of rubble where they met the ground. Poor Jesus on the cross had several unholy blades stuck into him, as if it had been used for target practice. The canvases on which the stations of the cross were painted were slashed, apparently the demons did not like what they saw in here when they came.

Carcasses of dead bodies hung from the ceiling, mainly by arachne webbing. Others were all in piles. The ghastly thing about it was that they were mainly human bodies. The entire thing created a miasma of depression to those who were human. Bodies of actual humans lying around the place - defilation of anything that was considered 'good'. They destroyed everything that the church once stood for.

Dante's mouth was still agape when Lady managed to break the silence. "…Well, Enzo's team should have done their part outside by now, and so must Anvil's"

They all nodded dumbly. The main plan was for their team to go in and storm the demons (A plan made due to the arrival of the twins) while the other two teams loaded explosives in their designated spots. Anvil the front entrance (which was barricaded, hence the need to blow it up) and Enzo the ceiling near the front door, on the opposite side of the church that Dante and co. were. It was intended that half of the demons would be wiped out for the rest to be slain by the team.

BOOM!

The entrance flew into countless pieces as it exploded, sending charred fragments of wood and stone at the demons that got in the way.

"That's the entrance gone, now hold back the demons to get in the way of the next one!" Vergil said as he rushed forward, Beowulf strapped on his knuckles.

He punched a Goatling in the face, then tripped it up with his feet. He was about to uppercut it into the air when a sword came out of nowhere, piercing his target and killing it. He turned angrily to Dante, who caught Rebellion as it returned to him.

"He was mine!" he barked.

Dante smirked as he spun round to cleave a Hell Pride in half. Vergil cursed to himself as he looked at the others actions.

Tailor was fumbling with the Impaler, and had received a slash across the chest. Eventually, he got sick of his Devil Arm and took out Spiral, finally being of use in the battle.

None of the others were in any trouble, Lady pumping anyone with lead, Trish (Vergil's eyes bulged) using Sparda to slash at any demon near her, and Pike was carelessly firing rounds expertly at demon's heads.

He turned round, then unsheathed Yamato, which was glowing after being dipped in holy water. He cut sideways at a Hell Sloth, and found that the blade left a steaming gash in the enemy. He left it for a while, watching with amusement as the devil screamed and writhed on the floor, the holy water spreading throughout it's system and causing it's entire body to steam. It then turned to sand, defeated.

Suddenly remembering his secondary weapon, he took out Betsy and fired at all surrounding enemies.

Trish ducked as a Blade tried slashing at her, then swung Sparda upwards, breaking a segment of it's armour. Trish aimed her handgun, then fired at the spot where the armour had previously been, right at the shoulder. The Blade screeched as it fell over, blood pumping out of the major blood hotspots on the body.

"Get outta the way!" Pike called out of the fight "The ceiling at the front of the place should be going off any minute!"

Vergil leaped out of the path of a Scythe, then sprinted towards the back of the church where everybody else was heading to.

BANG!

Dante looked up in amazement as the ceiling gave way. Demons that were chasing after the apparently retreating humans halted and looked up, then screeched as they were crushed by the collapsing ceiling, the sky falling in on them.

There was a silence for a while.

"Everybody okay?" Trish asked "Everybody here? No-one missing? Good. Let's check for any survivors"

They searched around the rubble for living demons that had escaped from the crumbling ceiling. Nothing.

"Wonder why none of them stayed near the top of the place? They could've survived if they did" Dante queried.

"Most likely some holy water at the altar," Lady answered "They'd stay well clear of that stuff.

Pike looked around one last time before lighting a cigar.

"Looks like the job's done" he croaked "Finally, that group of bastards we're startin' to get on my nerves…"

Cheers greeted the group as they walked (with only a little hint of a strut) into the HQ. Dante took little notice, like Vergil, who did not normally acknowledge praise, as they were used to it.

Tailor, on the other hand, acted awkward. In the army, success was merely nodded at, as it was expected, yet failure was punished. Any outstanding success was rewarded with a day or few leave.

Lady and Trish smiled, for this was a huge victory for the cause. It should have dented the demon's operations severely.

Dante leaned against the wall, facing Enzo with a glint in his eye.

"Even you have to admit, that was pretty well done, wasn't it?"

Enzo grinned weakly. "Yes, but-"

"You are not going to tell me that there's something else to do" Dante growled.

Enzo's slight grin expanded. "No, I'm not, I was going to say that your team barely did anything, it was mine that made the huge landslide in our chances of winning."

Dante gave Enzo a look of mock anger.

"Then I suppose that since there's nothing left to do, we can go now?" Tailor asked hopefully, now weary of dark, depressing backgrounds.

Enzo shrugged. "Do what you please. Could've left whenever you wanted, we can't stop you."

Dante and Tailor were already heading towards the door at the end of the sentence, while Vergil and Trish gave them disapproving looks.

"What!" Dante asked "I'm only going for a drink!"

"Then, I'm coming too," Pike grunted as he joined them.

Before anyone could interject, the three headed out into the tunnel, back into the Underground.

They made their way through the passageway, onto the railway tracks, through Grand Central Station and outside, in the space of half an hour of a swift pace.

The sun was starting to sink, casting an orange glow to everything. Dante sniffed the fresh air and gave a loud exhale.

"Missed the place. Never really got time to think about anything until now"

Pike lit a cigar and looked around. "Which bar?"

Dante shrugged. "Whichever is closest."

Pike took the lead, heading into the streets, where barely anyone were going to their business. There was definitely an immense difference to the New York Dante left and the one he was in. It lacked the atmosphere it once had, where there was once a constant stream of people there was the odd scattering. Instead of people yelling into their cell phones over the noise there was silence and emptiness.

"Here we are. Mike's place" Pike suddenly grunted out of the blue.

Dante jolted. He hadn't been paying attention to where they were going, as he was looking over the differences of the place.

Mike, the barkeeper, had never bothered to come up with a proper name for his place. Outside, a sign indicated that alcohol was served here, and that was normally enough for most people. His usual customers referred to the place as 'Mike's Bar'.

The bar, like the streets, lacked the once busy atmosphere it once had. People from all around the area once came here, now the only other occupant of the place (Besides a forlorn looking Mike) was an old man at the bar who was asleep with his head resting on his empty glass. Mike hadn't the heart to wake him.

They found a table in the corner, then Dante went to fetch some drinks.

"Very quiet nowadays, Mike," he said to the man "I suppose that you're almost alone here most of the time?"

Mike nodded sadly and sighed.

"Yeah…and Trace has left as well"

Dante looked surprised. "So it's only yourself here serving? What's she gone off to do now? - Oh yeah, three pints please, don't be particular on what beer type"

Mike shrugged as he poured the first drink. "She said she's off to her family in Massachusetts. Good idea, I say. Leave this Goddamn place before it has it's affect on you. Things are changing here, Dante."

Dante nodded glumly in agreement. "I noticed. The streets are almost bare, have people stopped working? Are they all gone or hiding in their homes?"

Mike pulled the second one as he answered. "Most are still working. Taking extra time, so they won't have to spend as much time in fear at their houses. The workplaces are getting filled with people who are working themselves to exhaustion or to silliness"

"Hmm," Dante responded "I would have imagined that a lot would have left to other places"

"That too," Mike stated, handing the second one and starting on the third "But not all. Some find it cowardice, others find it just plain sense. Suits themselves. There you go, Dante, it was nice to see a friendly face again."

"Cheers," Dante replied, then told Mike to put it on the tab, and headed to the table.

Mike sighed and went to clean a glass that was already sparkling.

Dante sat down and handed the drinks over. The three drank deep in unison, then placed the drinks down one by one (Dante being the last).

Tailor looked out the window. "It's not exactly what I expected New York to be like," he said "Thought it would be much more packed."

"It's just fear of the demons keeping most off the streets," Pike said "It's normally filled to the brim with people"

Another silence, where drinks were taken.

The door opened, and a disgruntled looking Vergil stepped in cautiously. He looked around, then his eyes rested on their table. He shut the door and walked over.

"Finally fallen for a nice bottle of stout?" Pike smugly asked.

Vergil looked revolted at the thought. "No," he replied back coldly "I don't drink that vomit. It makes idiots out of anybody and is terrible for your health. I joined you because there's nothing left for me to do."

"Then where's the others?" Tailor asked.

"Enzo and the group have gone on a small extermination. Told me that it was nothing to worry about, and that there was no need to be involved."

Mike was ecstatic at the arrival of another customer. Five people was a new record for these days. (The old man included)

"What'll you be havin', then?" He called across the bar. The old man snoozed on.

"A wine, I suppose…" Dante mumbled to himself. Vergil glared at him and called back to Mike.

"…What stouts do you have, barkeep?"

This was out of pure spite for Dante, rather than anything else. It wasn't pulled off very well, and Dante almost laughed at Mike being called 'barkeep'.

"Ehh…" Mike was hugely surprised at the name 'barkeep' and it showed "We've got-"

"I'll just have what they're having" Vergil interrupted.

Mike nodded the affirmative. Dante snorted.

"Would you like a bib with that? Wouldn't want you to spill it on yourself…Drinking big grown up drinks like this…"

Under the table, Vergil kicked Dante. A large crack appeared on Dante's chair with the force.

Mike poured it and looked at Vergil pointedly.

"Is there anything wrong?"

Pike laughed into his drink. "What? Do you expect him to bring it over on a silver plate or something? Do you need a red carpet, or are you just stupid?"

Vergil stood as if he had just received a shock. He was definitely not at home in the bar. He mumbled to himself as he went to get his drink, and told Mike to put it on the tab.

He sat down and took a testing sip.

Nope, he didn't die.

He took a mouthful and swallowed disdainfully, his discomfort evident. He said nothing.

"So…tell me," Pike drew the attention away from Vergil "Tailor, what's your story? Never heard you talk about yourself."

"I'd like to hear this myself," Dante stated.

Vergil merely nodded.

"Well…" Tailor started uncomfortably, unsure on how to start "I was raised in an orphanage in Virginia - don't know where I was originally born, but it was in America. Never knew my parents… They all knew I wasn't from the state, I had something in my voice - apparently from my father - that distinguished that I was from somewhere else. When I got eighteen, they sent me out, with all my possessions. Spent ages looking for a job, but nothing seemed right. Didn't like Law - everyone in it's a soulless bastard if you ask me. Couldn't be an electrician - too fiddly job for me. Then I saw an advert for the Army. Went and applied, because there was nothing else that I felt like I wanted to do.

"They sent me off to a training program - bloody hard piece of shit, you two are lucky that they just recruited you straight on, instead of giving you proper training. Went through it, became a private. Then there was an incident - a group of people had an important hostage held. Daughter of the President of some important corporation, can't remember which. Police couldn't handle the situation, and the group demanded a huge sum of money from the father. A million or something like that. People in charge panicked and sent in my squad - well, the squad I was in as a last resort (before they would hand over the money. Daddy was a stingy bastard) They were in some abandoned house. We went in the back way - shot the guy that was keeping guard there. Got into the living room where they were situated. Guy pointed a gun at the girl and threatened to shoot her if we didn't back off and drop our weapons. We did just that, I dropped my assault rifle and backed slowly, like everyone else. Then, as he took the gun away and was about to do something, I took my pistol from my sleeve (A trick I had learned) and quickly shot him once in the neck, before he could react to anything. The rest of the group went quietly. The heads rewarded me with a promotion - the Daddy made sure they did. I had a love for weaponry and went through any given mission quickly. After a while (a year or two) I became the youngest General for a while - at the moment I'm twenty-seven…and, well, that's about it."

There was a silence, while everyone took in this information.

"What's your first name? You never told us" Vergil asked, now used to his drink.

They looked at him intently.

Tailor thought for a while. No-one had ever called him by his first name in years - not since his days in the orphanage. "David. David Tailor"

"David, huh…" Dante muttered.

The door opened again. Before Mike could say anything, Trish's head popped in the door.

"C'mon, guys, we're done. Time to go, finish your drinks and - Vergil, are you drinking beer? Anyway, time to go."

The three downed the rest of their drinks in a single gulp (Vergil required three) and headed for the door, as Dante paid the tab.

"General, look at this."

A man leaning over a monitor called for another man to come see. The entire room was filled with monitors and screens, with people watching over them. In the centre of the room were some superiors, mainly men and women in charge.

General Fredrick Granson looked over the man's shoulder and into the monitor. He did not like what he saw.

"For the luvva God…this has gone from a slight annoyance to an outright threat to the entire force…how many men did we lose this time?"

"Seventy-four losses have been counted, sir," the man hesitantly replied.

Granson slammed his fist against the wall in anger.

"GODDAMN IT!"

"Is there something particularly wrong, General?" a woman's voice asked.

The man sighed, not in the mood for this.

"Nothing for you to be involved with, Bayle."

A bespectacled woman in her mid-thirties walked over to him.

"Of course it is. I was sent here for a reason, Granson. And good thing, too - there's been nothing but blunders going on...more recently, you've been sending more and more troops away for international support...Am I to assume that the men we sent over to help in Egypt have been killed? I mean, another group of men we sent over to Egypt have been killed?"

Granson put his fingers to his eyes.

"Don't you worry, we'll get them…"

"No you won't." The woman said sharply "We cannot risk you sending more men to be slaughtered."

The man drew himself up to his full height and glared at her, only just resisting the temptation to yell at her during his sentence.

"Are you saying that this is all somehow my fault?"

Granson was a large bulk of a man. He was muscle bound, white skinned, bald (though, he wore his military headwear to hide it) and a strong man. He had a grey moustache that was just short of being bushy, and his tone was sharp and demanding all of the time.

Bayle didn't flinch, her gaze unyielding.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, sir. I'm sure the President will be glad to hear of your…attempts, shall I say?"

"The President has nothing got to do with this!" Granson spluttered.

Bayle was one of the secretaries of the President. She was the first person to be notified of conflict (which she would then inform the President). She had black hair tied in a bun, and pursed lips. Her bespectacled green eyes could look through most people that lied to her, and she was not one to be crossed.

"He has everything to do with this, Granson. Matters dealing with these…things are of utmost importance these days. If they are not wiped out in Egypt, they will start spreading. The President and all the other's in charge of their countries made a promise to each other - and signed a degree on it - to watch over each other during these times of need, it is of the President's highest interest -"

"…Er, sir, madam?" the man by the monitor asked cautiously.

"What!" they both snapped in unison.

The man quailed under both of their anger.

"Well, the survivors - I mean, I mean, those who weren't killed, they have, well, captured one of the demons alive."

Bayle looked thoughtful.

"Interesting…send orders to keep it under control and bring it over here. Our scientists might be happy to see how they tick…have they got it's weaponry? It's battle armour?"

"They have - they have it's blade and it's little black gun. It was wearing it's armour of course."

"yes, yes, silly of me…Time to see how their air quote) 'magical' weapons work, right, General?"

Granson grinned broadly.

"'Bout damn time, Bayle."

Joe: Hmm, More OCs, just what we need…

Right, I can finally tell you why I was so late…you're not going to like this…

First of all, I wasn't on FF or working on any of my fics for a good while, no excuse for that part.

Secondly, when I came to write more of this, halfway through this chapter, I couldn't remember how I was going to write this one. Did it come out okay in the end?

Hope so.

Well, thanks for the reviews, I'll hopefully be updating much quicker than I did this time.

Ciao.