Hey you all. So I've been busy recently with getting ready to go back to college and with my schedule being the way it is, I might not have as much time as I use to in updating new chapters. That doesn't mean I've given up on this story so don't worry. So anyway, I'm psyched that DmC has a Definitive edition coming out along with a DMC4: Special edition. Don't really care for the DMC4: SE and am more excited for the cool stuff in the DmC: DE.

Now for this chapter, there's a special cameo surprise added in for the story.

Anyway, let's begin the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 21: Burn This City

Mugen Tenshin Village

Shrine

5:48 p.m.

Ryu had appeared within the shrine as instructed by Hayate in a bellow of black crow feathers. However upon his arrival, he was only met with the scent of smoke corroding the sacred shrine of the Mugen Tenshin Clan. But it wasn't until he looked outside the doors that his heart sank in horror at the once proud village now set ablaze in an inferno that stretched all across the land. Such a sight only brought bad thoughts as to the villager's well-being. Especially Ayane and Hayate's.

"Mr. Hayabusa!"

The black cladded ninja turned to see a familiar hooded girl behind him. He also took note of Kat's stencils on the ground and her spraying it across the straw floor. He had hoped that the spray was at the very least removable. The last thing he needs is Hayate or his father copping a 'tude with him.

"Kat! What happened here and where are the others?"

"The purple haired ninja and the coppered haired ninja went into the village. The elder man joined them. Meanwhile Tina and Mila also—"

"Wait. Tina? As in Tina Armstrong—is here?" This just added to the stress already building up. "Never mind."

"Anyway, Mr. Hayabusa, I would prefer if you please look over my body for me." Kat asked him as she finished tagging her pentagram pattern into the floor.

"What are you going to do?"

"I plan to enter my spirit form. For a while now I've felt a strange essence in the fire beyond normal human sight. I need to find out what it is." Kat stood up and stood within the boundaries of her self-made circle. "If you can, please hide my body somewhere I'll remember it to be."

"Of course." Ryu nodded. "Also…If you don't mind, I would like to ask a favor of you while you are in your astral visage."

"Yes…?"

"I need you to tell someone about this…I'm sure she'd want to hear it."

MIST SECRET LOCATION

UNKNOWN CITY

5:48 p.m.

Kasumi had her fingers at the ready with a kunai in her sleeve in case something goes array in this little "talk". She was a konoichi first and foremost. She knew plenty on deception. And knowing who she was dealing with, deception was a double edged sword for both of them if they didn't pay attention to every movement they both made. The konoichi stared daggers towards the blond haired man in his white suit and filth of luxury. Victor Donovan; the man who was the former leader of DOATEC and the bastard who was responsible for most of Kasumi's problems. It was through him that ALPHA-152 lived and everything fell apart with her village's trust in her after her brother was stolen by him. Donovan was the sole reason why everything's gone to shit, and Kasumi knew it. And now she had him right in her sights.

"Please, have a seat." Donovan smiled as he strolled to his desk and took a seat in his comfy chair. "Would you like some tea as you wait, or—?"

"Cut these games, Donovan!" Kasumi interrupted. She tried her hardest to keep her composure intact, but her clenched fist made it obvious how difficult that was. "I don't have the time for your retched form of hospitality. You know why I'm here."

"Hmmm yes, I do." Donovan said. "And we may talk all you like. But first, I'm quite famished. Hope you don't mind, do you?"

"I said—"

"I didn't think so."

With a snap of his white gloved fingers, out of nowhere, a young woman walked towards his desk from the side of him with absolutely no indication that she had been standing there this whole time. Kasumi got a good look at the servant in the maid outfit. She noticed something odd about her though; her body, her large chest, her copper hair—copper hair as long as her own…it suddenly clicked in her head as to who that woman was, only to leave both a shocked and disgusted look on her face that the servant was one of the clones of herself. It was scary how close to detail it was to Kasumi's very image from the copper orange hair to the hazel eyes. She bowed to him, which only annoyed the original Kasumi deeply. Of course Donovan was looking for that reaction in her.

"Yes, master?" Kasumi scoffed. It even had her voice down packed.

"An espresso and the cotillon chocolat for me and a nice cup of tea and a strawberry mille-feuille for our lovely Kasumi." He glanced at the copper haired konoichi. "That is your favorite food, correct?"

A twitch surged through her eye at this man's filth. He knew way too much for her to be comfortable with. And now he even knew her favorite food to boot. She swore if he began listing off her measurements, she wouldn't hesitate to sink a kunai into his forehead.

"Understood." The Kasumi clone answered. It left the room without a single word or even emotion to its face and closed the door behind itself.

All was silent within the office with not a single sound to be heard from anyone. The tension was fierce—coursing through Kasumi's veins with an unsettling reaction. She wasn't afraid of this man, far from it. What she was afraid of was the result of if she let this man escape. And it certainly wasn't the first time she's thought this way. All eyes on him for the smallest movement of resistance. Ears focused for the sound of a gun cocked or a button pressed.

"Speaking of French pastries…" Donovan began, "I've yet to hear from Helena for a while now. Quite a shame that such a worthy adversary to my plans has suddenly vanished off the face of the Earth as she did in only a single night's time."

"Helena-san's…missing?" Kasumi said with genuine reaction. This was news to her. But how did he know Helena was missing in the first place? Does he have some sort of tracking on his enemies or something? "I assume her disappearance has your name written all over it."

"To the contrary, I've no hand in her vanishing." Donovan said, "This was all a convenience in my plans. Not that I'm complaining or anything." He then clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them. "But I assume that's not the reason you've brought yourself before me, is it?" He once again extended his hand. "Please, sit."

Kasumi did what she was asked to do earlier and sat in the chair before his desk. Not even the admiration for the comfort of the chair could distract Kasumi from her original purpose for meeting the ringleader of all this madness. This would probably be the only chance she'd have to question the sniveling little worm for all he knew and she sure as hell wasn't going to waste a single second anymore.

"Firstly—"

Before she could get a sentence out, open, the office door went by the Kasumi servant with a stroller holding two platters of the requested courses were ready for consumption; Donovan's cotillon chocolat with tea prepared in his usual preference, and Kasumi's strawberry mille-feuille. The clone pulled towards the real Kasumi and placed her pastry onto the coffee table that sat next to her seat.

Kasumi looked deep into the clone's eyes. It was mortifying to see herself with such hopeless eyes locked in servitude to a mad man. It worried her just how many of them there are with those same dark eyes; all being created solely to serve whatever desires Donovan requested. Even worse, Kasumi could see the intricate attention to detail with the body measurements. It was no mystery to the konoichi that she had a voluptuous body (most likely due to all her training) that most would call "distracting". But seeing an exact replica of herself giving snacks to Donovan made her paranoid; what has Donovan done with these clones in his spare time? Could he have…with…

Kasumi felt dirty. Like she had rolled around in feces and dirt. Every time she locked eyes with that thing, all it reminded her of was the horrors it had possibly seen in this man's hands, and by extension, those horrors transferred into the real Kasumi's mind through those cold eyes. Her anger had reached past her normative shield of hidden emotions and reached her narrowed eyes of daggers aimed right towards the white suited man before her. But alas, she had to stay her trembling hand filled with rage until she got what she arrived for.

And judging by the ear-to-ear smirk on his lips as he received his cake, and per-knowledge of his sick and twisted mind, Donovan was enjoying every minute of this psychological warfare. He wanted to continue the push. He wanted to see the anxiety and shame in her eyes. He wanted her to know the insult of seeing her own face cater to his every whim. To have her mind wander in terror as to what other acts this and his other clones have done for him. In reality, he's only ever used them for servitude and assistance in his work. But why spoil the amusement and tell her that?

"Thank you, Kasumi ." Donovan replied.

"My pleasure." She nodded. "Will that be all this evening, mas—"

"Damade!"

Kasumi rose from her seat, practically knocking the chair on its back. She breathed through her nostrils as her large chest rose up and down in regaining her proper breathe. She clenched her fist tightly to hold in the tears that she swore to herself would not fall in the presence of this filth. But the more she looked at that smug grin of his, the harder that became. And seeing that clone next to him only made it worse on her. So she broke eye contact and turned bowed head to the side. She was so frustrated by all this that she failed to realize that she was biting her lip to the point that it bled a bit.

And there it was. The seething ugly rage that peaked through that pretty little face of hers that Donovan longed for. His clasped hands clenched tight and his wide smile showing teeth gritted with excitement. If it wasn't evident enough that he was more than enticed by her shame finally at its peak, the tightening of his trousers was more than enough proof. He got off to this helplessness whether man or woman. Just as long as he saw someone suffering ghastly, he could feel satisfied. Hell, he might even begin to use the clone next to him for other purposes after all.

"That'll be all." He requested. It was obvious he was holding in that gleefulness through the skin of his teeth.

"Of course." The servant nodded. She rolled the squeaking stroller out of the office and through the doors.

Once the doors had closed, all was silent. No sound besides the honking cars from bellow filled the room.

After a few moments, Kasumi was able to breathe and regain her proper state of mind once the clone had left. She walked behind the fallen chair to raise it back to its legs. After which she sat back down; legs crossed and hands rested on the arms of the seat. Her eyes now intense in bitter hatred for Donovan but not brash enough to lose sight of what her original goal was for sitting before him.

"Enough of these mind games, Donovan…" Kasumi said calmly, "…I want answers and I will use force if I have to. We can settle this like two adults, or I'll get my answers by force. It's your decision"

"Hmm yes. Of course." Donovan agreed as he took his tea and stirred it with a small spoon. "I had no means to fight you, nor attack you in any way. I understand your urgency and will more than gladly aid you in your search as much as I can."

Kasumi's eyebrow arched with skepticism. Despite him agreeing to it, this all seemed far too easy to be going as smoothly as it was. The smugness he displayed as he took a sip of his tea held an under handed, ulterior motive.

"So…you'll tell me where ALPHA-152 is?" the konoichi specified, "And you'll tell me why Dante is the key to ALPHA's freedom?"

"Ah yes, Dante. Son of the Demon, Sparda and the Angel, Eva. He's quite the history behind him." The white suit delicately cut his cake and placed a piece in his mouth. Kasumi just hated how unapologetically pretentious he was. Not even bothering to speak before eating that piece of cake in his mouth. Kasumi finally sighed to herself as he swallowed and continued. "To be the last species on the planet and hunted down like an animal by the surges of the underworld—that's a life I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemies…or would I?"

"I think we both know the answer to that. Now quiet pussy-footing around the questions." Kasumi demanded.

"Yes, yes. By the way, you should eat as well." Donovan pointed out. "Don't worry. I promise you, I have not asked my servant to tamper with it. I may be a bit villainous in your eyes, but I'm not under-handed."

It was hard to believe any of that with that smile he wore.

"Later." Kasumi growled, "But first; the answers."

Donovan sighed. "So impatient. Psychic disease of the 21st century, I say…but very well. You're answers." Donovan took a sip of his tea and sat it down on the table before sitting back in his chair. "To answer your first question, ALPHA-152's location; now you'd think I'd be so cautious to keep her hidden and locked up in a facility in which I know she would be kept completely cut off from the outside world and close to my current position at all times. To which you would go off on your own—searching for the closest locations you would assume she'd refuge in; including this building, correct? And knowing you, Kasumi, and trust me when I say I've known you for quite a while…" And there came the tingling discomfort in Kasumi's spine. "…you'd storm out of here, search this building head to toe, defeat some of my most elite guards money can buy, and wouldn't stop until you've found ALPHA. Am I hitting the nail on the head?"

Damn him and his knowledge of her. If she could, she'd love to bludgeon that info from his skull herself. However that could possibly kill him, and she preferred not to have to kill anyone—and that included this revolting scum sitting across from her.

"What does any of this have to do with ALPHA's location?"

"Well for starters, she's not here." Donovan took a sip of his tea before continuing. "I've actually made arrangements for her to be moved to a more distant area; far from even I. I was hesitant to go through with these precautions, but considering my enemies, it was a necessity that I had to bare. As for where, that's just going to have to be something you'll have to find out for yourself."

"So much for aiding me in my search as much as you can, right?" The copper haired ninja sassed.

"Humph. A smart-mouth on a smart girl…" The platinum haired man scoffed, taking in another piece of cake. "Instead, why don't we go on to your second question, shall we? Dante's position in all this."

"I'm listening." Kasumi said.

"Right. Well first thing's first; are you familiar with what's called the Astral Plane?"

Kasumi's eyes narrowed curiously. This Astral Plane was foreign to her. She'd heard of the phrase astral and assumed it had to do with space and galaxies of some sort. However on another universe or something. Though she didn't want to admit it to him, she wanted to know more on it. "No, I'm not."

"No surprise there." Donovan began. "The Astral plane is a mysterious concept even to science itself. It is another plane of existence beyond our own that came from past philosophies and religions before us. Some say it is a world of celestials and souls and is even the place after death. Others say this is where Angels and other celestial beings reside…including even God himself." Donovan stood from his chair to look back out his window to the nightly city below. "However what also resides in the astral plane are other beings as well. Some say demons, others say corruption. Depending on who you ask is anyone's guess. But one thing is 100% certain…" He turned back towards the konoichi with a smirk across his lips and narrowing darkness in his eyes. "…Somehow, someway, ALPHA has entered this plane as one of their own!"

Kasumi took a moment to contemplate what this exactly meant for ALPHA and for Dante's involvement.

"I can see by the expression you're wearing that it hasn't fully set in as to what I'm trying to say." Donovan figured. He took a seat back in his chair, hands clasped together in his own thoughts. "I cannot deny, I too, was in denial of all this. I had always believed that life and existence had nothing after death to offer. That our lives on this planet were out of mere coincidence and once we die, that would be it. No afterlife, no heaven, no hell, no angels, no demons, and certainly no such thing as God. Just darkness and eternal sleep through the galaxy's natural implosion…" He then sat back, looking up at the ceiling as if he'd seen such heavenly light above him. "But now…now the world seems bigger. The universe larger than I've ever imagined! Finally man has the answer as to whether or not there exist a place after death! Never in my life did I ever believe that the bible was more than just a bunch of messily written fairy tales by holy men who indulged in more sin then most at that time! Demons, Angels, the Astral Plane; it's all coming in full circle! All of it is revealing itself unto me…!"

Donovan took a moment of silence in his ecstasy and breathed deeply as to not forget his own composure. Now was not the time to lose his head. Especially with an enemy of his sitting right across from him. He sat back up once more and took another breath before speaking again. "As I was saying; the Astral Plane and its beings have accepted APHA's creation as a resident, and by extension—me."

"You? They accepted you?" Kasumi couldn't believe that such a higher plane of existence would even consider such a lowly form of humanity to even step foot into something no human has ever physically gone to before.

"Well not necessarily. However it'd be a shame not to, considering it was of my own genius that ALPHA 152 came to exist. But it appears only ALPHA was called and not me…but that will change once I have Dante in my hands."

Kasumi began to put the pieces together. ALPHA, Dante, the Astral Plane; it all was connected somehow but she didn't know exactly how. Dante's involvement with ALPHA was strange enough, but finding out that ALPHA was going to be a being in the Astral Plane was beyond anything she imagined. But that still didn't answer what her Nephilim companion had to—

Suddenly her eyes went wide, and just like that, it hit her.

"Of course…" Kasumi realized. "Nephilim are a hybrid of Angels and Demons…They can travel alternate plans of…existence…including…"

"Yes, yes. You're getting it now." Donovan reveled in her realizing but took his time. "Now I'm afraid that's about all I can help you with."

"What?-!" Kasumi rose from her chair furiously. "We are NOT done here! I still have more questions! I didn't come here to listen to your philosophical bullshit and I certainly haven't the time for it either!"

"I figured you would react as such." The white suited man sighed, "And speaking of time; rather than worrying about an aging man's ramblings, shouldn't you be more concerned with another pressing matter that could desperately call for your assistance?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh yes." Donovan smirked. "Tell me; how is your brother, Hayate these days? I'm certain he's busy at the moment. Perhaps you should visit him and the village. From what I hear, things are heating up there."

Heating up? What could he have meant by that? Kasumi never enjoyed his riddles because they always meant something…literal. Kasumi's heart dropped and she began to break out in a cold sweat. Her spin began to tingle in fear while her fist clenched so tight that they almost bled. Her eyes narrowed into a deep stare towards the suited smiling mad man before her.

"You…! What did you do to my village?-!" Kasumi shouted.

"Instead of baring your fangs towards me, maybe you should worry about your kin instead. Barbatos! See our guest out will you?"

"Yeah yeah."

Kasumi heard the voice of that blond demon once again before she suddenly felt her ankle being grabbed so forcefully. She frantically looked down to see a black armored hand grasping her from some distortion on the ground.

"Until we meet again, Ms. Kasumi." Donovan waved. "Ta."

"No!" Kasumi exclaimed, "Donovan! I swear I'll get—"

And just like that, Kasumi was suddenly speechless as she stood not in the presence of Donovan, but instead in the tunnels of a train station with the rest of the waiting passengers for the next train to come. "How did I…?" It appeared she had been transported there due to the blond demon—now revealed as Barbatos—sending her there.

"Weird…Shit! The village!" In all that development, she had slightly forgotten about the condition of her village. Without a second thought, she ran right for stack of stairs on her way out into the night streets of Tokyo with millions roaming around and the night lights of businesses and late night restaurants brimming brightly. A minor grasp for her attention as she ran into the nearest alleyway and leaped from wall to wall till she finally touched onto the roof of one of the towering buildings above the civilians bellow.

She turned towards the direction she knew her village to be. It may have been a while, but she could still memorize the exact location of the village with the right bird's eye view over the city of Tokyo. North. And by the distance it would take at least a few hours to get there on foot. She needed to teleport there to reduce time. Even so, it would only be reduced to a good 30 minutes out of what could be happening in an hour.

But all the thinking was only wasting more time. She prayed they were alright. Hopefully it'll all work out once she got there.

And so she disappeared into a small spiral of sakura petals.

Mugen Tenshin Village

Japan

5:49 p.m.

The flames had practically engulfed the village in its bright wave. Straw-weave houses had been set a blaze while crops that were to be used for food were burned away in seconds. The scorching heat was hot enough to turn away those who tried to put out the fires as the rest of the innocence of men, women, and children fled from the burning village to safety. But as they did so, something else had stopped them in their tracks; and that something was packing heavy heat with them.

For the cause of said fire was from none other than masked army men wearing protective gear and carrying heavy artillery rifles and machine guns in hand, while burning away what was once a peaceful village into nothing. The screams of the villagers echoed to their graves along with the multiple rounds of gunshots that cut off those shrieks into silence one by one.

The Mugen Tenshin ninja's fought valiantly to destroy this threat from spreading farther into the village, but there was so little a ninja can do when such powerful guns were aimed right at them. And with the shadows filled in with the fires of their village, stealth was not an option anymore. They were now just annoying gnats waiting to be swatted.

One soldier had just wasted an innocent woman who did not even fight back, but instead, chose to run away from all the danger. But she was only the last of the 100 him and the rest of his squad were ordered to mercilessly massacre on the North end of the village.

"Black Sparrow. This is eagle-342. We've just finished clearing out the North end of the village and are moving towards the East, over."

"Confirmed eagle-342. Continue operation: purge. Next mission towards the East district of Mugen Tenshin Village: approved. Make no mistakes. All must be eliminated. I repeat; all must be eliminated."

"Copy that, Black Sparrow. This won't take long at all." The soldier replied, shutting off his communicator.

"Black Sparrow? Lame."

The soldiers quickly turned on the heel for the mystery voice that called from behind them all. They aimed towards the voice's last sound, only to be lost for words at the absence of a single soul there. Was their minds playing tricks on them or were the fumes of the burning village around them cracking through their mask and getting into their heads?

"The hell was that?" One soldier questioned.

"Who cares? Stay on course. We got a job to—" He turned back around, just in time for him to be met with a soaring kunai that pierced through his shielding mask and broke right through his forehead. Not even did he get a chance to shriek in pain before his neck felt the painful separation from his neck and body.

The soldier had fallen with his head rolling further away from the rest of him.

"Ah, shit!" Another soldier exclaimed at the sight of the assassin who had beheaded one of their own being a young woman with oddly light purple hair and dressed in black. The last thing that very soldier saw was her pure red eyes of rage as she made him gurgle on his own blood with her kunai.

The other soldiers reacted fast in trying to aim their guns to fire on her, but alas their luck had run flat as another ninja appeared before one of them and did away with his upper body with a single swing of his katana. A male ninja dressed in black armor himself and copper orange hair. But his eyes…his eyes were of that of a wolf ready to rip its prey to shreds.

"Fuck, it's more of them ninjas! Kill 'em!" One of them shrieked. Their guns barked loudly at nothing as the ninjas had seemingly vanished from sight. That was at least what they wished. Instead, the ninjas had begun to slaughter the army men's numbers down to zero as they swiftly hacked and slashed through each and every one of them with mercy being the last thing on their minds. It was so fast and within a blink of an eye that none of them could defend or even try to run away from all the blood and gore. Some in the face of death prayed that they would live to see their wives and kids one last time. Others swore up a storm at the sight of their guts oozing from their bellies.

But the result was all the same—each one fell in their own pool of blood and insides till the scent of blood reeked just as bad as the burning wood of past village homes.

The two ninja swatted their blades clean of the filth that killed so many innocent and sheathed them.

"It seems we've prevented another banner from causing more harm." Ayane confirmed in Japanese.

"Yes, but we can't be thankful yet." Hayate reminded. "There's still much to take care of. We'll cover more ground if we split up. You take to the West side, I'll go east. If anything else, protect the remaining villagers. That's an order."

"Without fail."

With that, the two ninja's disbanded from each other and took to the heels towards the districts they'd assign themselves towards. Whilst her sister took to the West, Hayate went towards East with great speed. All was but a simple blur in his periphery—a fiery blur that filled his very core with anguish the more he ran through the blaze that had set on both sides of his precious village. He blamed himself for its untimely fallings. He was supposed to be the one to lead the ninja towards a stronger tomorrow. He was the leader of the village and as such, the one all would look towards for order, guidance, and protection from all threats. He was supposed to be the leader of the Mugen Tenshin Clan and village…instead he now has to run with haste towards part of the burning of his village like some late school boy, and save what little of the villagers that were left standing or hiding from the fire and guns of outsiders.

But he knew now wasn't the time to beat himself up about all of this. That would come later to eat him alive. Now was the time to act on this pressing matter at hand. He may not have been a good protector of his village as of now, but he was damn sure he would avenge it at all cost.

He was almost towards the East district within only a few minutes left till he had arrived into its literal district. However, something had taken him off his very feet and forced him to land right onto the ground with harsh slam. Quickly his breathe was stolen from him as his neck was being squeezed so hard that the fingers were actually puncturing and drawing blood.

"Gah…! Wh-What is this…?-!"

Hayate slipped a hidden blade from his sleeve in an attempt to wound his assaulter. Though the assailant luckily removed the neck hold on the Mugen Tenshin leader, she was also able to escape his assault. He quickly got to his feet and coughed out the pain of those gloved hands around his neck. Hayate looked forward to bear witness to his attacker—a human being who was distinctively female draped in a black robe with her hood covering the upper half of her face, and black leather gloves on her hands. But what truly worried him was how fast this woman was. She had practically teleported her way towards him without a single notice and was able to bring him down so easily.

"Who are you?" Hayate demanded. "What is your purpose here?"

"…"

"Are you with the soldiers, here to burn our village?"

"…"

"Failure to reply an answer will result in you getting hurt." Hayate warned as he reached for his katana. "This is your final warning."

"…"

"So be it then!"

Hayate drew his katana and charged right towards the hooded woman…at least that's what he thought.

Suddenly that blur of black appeared right before him, followed by a swift slam across his face with a heel that almost knocked him off his own feet. Not even enough time to fully recover his proper defenses, the brutality that was this hooded woman's attacks were both swift, deadly, and beyond the speed of a normal human being. Her kicks—quick like lightning. Her punches—hard and bone-shattering. And her movements—almost like that of a demon.

Hayate did his best to hold off some of her strikes, but the result proved useless. With a great palm strike, the hooded woman had slammed it right into Hayate's gut—almost knocking the wind out of him from how deep her hand really went into his stomach. She used this opening to grab Hayate by the arm and collar to throw him over his shoulder and send him across the ground.

He tumbled and tumbled until he got his footing once again to throw shuriken at her. Naturally she dodged them with no trouble at all, but was at risk of her being open for Hayate to attack. Hayate saw said chance and ran at her with sword in hand. The hooded woman was able to see just in the nick of time for her to also dodge Hayate's slices. Precise as he was, Hayate's efforts were in vein to get a single mark on her. She was just too fast for him to keep up with and was barely making any leeway in taking her down. This game of cat and mouse annoyed Hayate as he had the rest of the villagers to save from the flames.

In the mist of his sporadic cuts, he had finally been able to cut through something—her hood had slightly split open before her very eyes. This released a small gasp from her and even made her lose her balance a tad.

This opening may have been small, but it was enough to allow Hayate to strike while the iron was hot.

"You're mine!" Hayate proclaimed. His quickly dropped his katana and shot his palms right into the hooded one's stomach. "Mugen Tenshin Critical ougi: Kasane-Ate!" Within seconds Hayate had instantly swiped through her with a full-on assault to her gut before proceeding into a frenzy of strikes that zoomed past the hooded woman with swiftness and power to every strike. Hayate held nothing back as every punch felt like a bone shatter. Finally, he had appeared back in front of the heavily wounded hooded woman and with a final push of his fist into her stomach, he had given it his full flow of chi into this final hit and sent the woman flying right into the blaze of a burning fire that engulfed the home of villagers who use to reside in it.

Hayate had finally gotten that breather he had desired and used his knees for support before he could stand on his own two feet by themselves again. Just what was that he had fought? Was it a demon? The movements and attacks were far beyond that of a human being. Even the most well-trained of martial artist would have a tough time being able to exceed such a velocity of prowess.

"What…what was that…?" Hayate wondered in exhaustion. "Her moves…though quick in execution, they were too similar to…No matter…it's dealt with…The village still needs assistance…!" Hayate stood back on his two feet and grabbed his katana from the ground. "I pray I'm not too late."

Hayate immediately disappeared into a bellow of wind, off to aid the rest of his village.

However, what he failed to realize was from the burning blaze of a once well-constructed home, stood a shadowy silhouette as its hooded cloak flowed through the inferno.

"...please..."

?

?

?

The fires of Hell were beginning to burn hotter than when he first entered. The cities becoming more and more ravaged by the eternal suffering of human souls to fire and endless death. The skies—cloudy with a red tan across the ways. The stench of rotting corpses and sulfur were raping his nostrils while the sounds of screams and inhuman roars grew louder and clearer. The feeling of hopelessness and despair was rampant and oozing from every crevice of the world he continued down.

But such things didn't affect Dante as much as he at first thought. To him, this pain and suffering was no different from what he had seen back on Earth. Humans were already capable of inflicting this kind of torture and pain on each other. Dante had seen it all first hand when he was in the orphanage. To him, death was a reward rather than a fear of the unknown. But he had no right to say that anymore, given where he was. But unlike Earth, he felt…passive towards it all. He knew it was all wrong and horrendous to look at but…on the other hand, it felt like he was just taking a stroll through the city…city of flames that is.

"But why…?" Dante wondered, "Why am I so alright with all this…? All this shit goin' on should have me quivering in a corner but…it feels like I'm just taking it all in like nothing…" Dante inquired it to possibly have something to do with his origin. He was part demon after all. Maybe that has some psychological control on his emotions and mind set as well. "…Well whatever the reason, it sure as hell isn't making it any easier to find those two for me."

Dante had finally had it with all the roaming around. He decided to take a break to gather his thoughts. He took refuge on large piece of rock and sat there to think about what to do now. In retrospect, barely told him where to go. And his amulet has had the same low hue of red for a while now. He was getting no closer to finding Vergil and Helena then when he got there and all this blood and gloom that surrounded him was becoming nauseous. The way things have been, it's felt like hours in the pits and he sure as hell wasn't having a good time.

Sitting around wasn't any fun either. Dante had a brother to find after all. The sooner the better he thought.

Dante slowly got up and stretched his arms up to wring out his tight muscles…just before he leaped forward away from the sudden explosion that appeared behind him.

Dante turned to see the explosion came from another resident of hell breaking through the rubble of a ran-down building. This creature was by no means small. It was in fact a towering four-legged beast of a demon. Its body—a muse of red, black, and purple as its veins pulsated through its hard, metal-like skin. Its long flowing mane filled with curved blades that matched the same blades poking from its sides. Atop this beast's long face was that of a giant red blade that looked as though it could slice a building clean in two.

The beast whinnied a demonic call with its hot breathe visible through its nostrils.

"Whoa. Spirit on demon steroids." Dante said, already reaching for his sword over his head.

"You can lower the sword, sweetie. This pets properly trained to listen to its master."

Dante had heard a voice that came from this giant horse demon. He had almost thought it was its own voice speaking to him, but quickly realized that the voice came from above the demon's head. The voice itself was that of a female's and was…British?

"And that master would be…?" Dante questioned.

"I'm glad you asked…"

The giant demon horse lowered its head towards Dante as the black haired Nephilim worried about that giant blade coming closer despite it still being so far from hitting him. From the top of its head leaped a figure and landed before Dante. Once he got a good look at the person, he couldn't help but give a flirtatious whistle.

And how could he not at the sight of such a beautiful woman standing right before him. Her body was the perfect figure and her height was about as tall as Dante's own. Her smooth peach skin and luscious red lips were just as much of a turn on as her lush short black hair and those uniquely made glasses making good note of her light blue eyes that were similar to his own. Her outfit was a black leather body suit that was tight in all the right places and a black flowing cloak with small medallion pieces hanging off. Another off-putting thing about her were the blue strange looking guns on the back of her heels.

"And what do they call you, babe?" Dante smirked. "And guessin' by the outfit, nothin' pure."

"Cheeky. I assume you're the one called Dante, correct? Bayonetta or Cereza. Take your pick. But my name's not exactly important right now." She replied. "I'm here to retrieve you, so let's move this along then, shall we?"

"Really?" Dante questioned, "And why are you retrieving me, Bayonetta?" He mocked with a crude British accent that passed off more as Australian.

"Hmm good looks and a sharp tongue. You are simply a means to an end. I bring you with me, I get closer to finding someone down in this infernal nightmare." Bayonetta explained, "Now off we go."

"Psh. Like hell I'm goin' with someone who looks like a show girl from the 1700s. Fuck that." Dante sassed.

"Now, that's no way to talk to a lady, boy."

"Oh, you were a lady?"

That was the final nail in the coffin. Or in her case, his coffin. "As I've said before; be careful about how you use those good looks and tongue, dear…" brought her hands behind her head and almost out of nowhere, what appeared in those same hands were a pair of dual blue handguns with the same odd design as the one's no her back heels. "…You might get separated from both."

"That supposed to scare me?" Dante grinned as he reached for his back waist and pulled out his twin pistols ala spinning them in hand before aiming them right for the mysterious gun-totting woman. "Well you just lost any chance of me being retrieved. You're gonna have to tie me down if you want me doing what you say…if you can, that is."

"I don't usually do things like this for free, but you'll be the exception." Bayonetta smiled back as she too aimed her guns at the Nephilim. "I hope you have a safe word or I just might not stop."

"Yeah, why not?" Dante said, "How about death?"