Dante barely gave mind to the transition into the darkness as he continued up the stairs. The dilapidated town stood exactly as it had during his last entry, save for a few shards of glass from when he had been thrown out the window. He broke his stride only when he came to the chapel's great foreboding entrance, measuring it with his eyes for a few seconds, muttering a little about how heavy onyx doors must be, before he raised a boot and gave them a kick. He'd have liked to force them over, but instead just made himself an entrance and proceeded inside.

"You ham," the familiar voice criticized.

The Plutuson did not sit on his throne this time, instead waiting at the end of the aisles, arms crossed, eyes looking intense and stern. The rubble of the chandelier's collapse had been cleared, and in place of their light the three firey eyes of Mundus stared downward from his statue.

"Hey, I got two modes, okay?" Dante said. "I can do over the top, and I can do brooding kid in the back of the school bus. You didn't like it when I did the second one, so make up your mind." He glared upwards at the three eyes of Mundus, "Guess I'm not the only one having a family reunion today either."

"I'm going to enjoy seeing you silenced for good, Son of Sparda," Mundus voice sneered across the chamber.

"Yeah yeah yeah, cracks from the peanut gallery, good times," Dante said with a wily smile. He then turned back towards Nero, his brow turned, a seemingly sudden seriousness to him. "Hey, listen though… Before we start this… I want to make you an offer."

Nero double took at this notion for a moment before asking, "A… What?"

"Listen up," Dante said, beginning to pace, intentionally adding a dramatic and thoughtful layer to his words. "Why don't we both do exactly what we want to right now? Why don't we both just stop fighting eachother, for just a minute… And focus on your old man?"

A silence took over the chapel for a few seconds before Nero asked, "What are you-"

"Oh come on, don't play so naïve," Dante said. "I know full and well you want to kill him too. Mundus just has that quality to im', just about everyone he encounters wants to gut him for some reason or another." Again a tense quiet came into the room before Dante continued, "You know you're disposable to him, right? You're a weapon, and he can always figure out a way to make another weapon."

"Such talk from the precocious insect," Mundus roared. "Try to turn my own son against me? This is our empire, not my own Nero, I assure you."

"I'm just sayin'," Dante resumed, "My brother was already a corpse when he was working for you. He doesn't even need you to be alive to use your power Nero… And you're supposed to inherit his throne as emperor? Here's the million dollar question for you- When's that gonna be? Bastard's already two thousand years old, he won't die unless somebody kills him… Why don't we handle it together before we start clawing at each other?"

A look of slight uneasiness was coming across Nero's face, his breathing growing a little heavier and the tiniest of beads of sweat on his forehead before he shook it quickly and said, "No… No deception will not work on me! Our empire. Our!"

Dante shrugged, "No skin off my bones… But I do have another thing I wanna say before we get this show on the road… I wanna talk to the real Nero."

At this The Plutuson threw back his head and cackled, "You really don't get it yet do you? I am the real-"

"Fine then. I wanna talk to the "fake" Nero. My Nero… The good Nero." The words and interruption ended Nero's laugh abruptly as an ugly look came across his face. "I know you're still in there… Kyrie told me you are… Listen to me. I know this whole thing isn't your fault… I want to save you, more than anything, I don't want to have lost another friend… I don't know if I can Nero… But if I find a way, I'm going to." Nero's fists were clenched tight, his whole body beginning to go rigid in anger. "If there is a way, I will find it. I will save you from this madness… But first… I need to literally beat the hell out of you."

At this point Nero snapped. He pulled his longsword from its place and its coat and extended it into its whip form in Dante's direction, aiming to wrap it right around his throat like the last time.

Dante drew his mother's sword and retaliated quickly, thrusting its own chain whip outwards and catching it around Nero's. For a moment the two stared intently, the ends of their whips wrapped tight around one another, until Dante gave his a yank. The force, to Nero's shock, was enough to pull him off his feet and across the room, where Dante raised his arm upward like a bar and smashed into his neck, putting him to the ground.

Dante drew Rebellion out next and attempted to slash at him while he was grounded, but Nero quickly recovered his footing and swung at him, their two caught again in a blade lock.

"You are better than before," Nero said bitterly. "But this is one chasm you can't just jump over!"

Dante threw him from the lock, Nero regaining his stance quickly and making a rush at him, only to flinch as he seemed to disappear in a red blur.

"Good thing I can just teleport across it."

Nero felt the slash of Yamoto on his back and let out a small growl of pain. Dante raised it to slash at him again, but this time Nero managed to catch it with his Devil Bringer hand.

"A good weapon it is," he muttered. "I should have never let you get ahold of it." He raised a foot and kicked Dante in the gut forcing him backwards as he looked at the sword. "But… It is of no use to me now," and he quickly repositioned his hold on it and threw it like a javelin, skewering Dante through his stomach.

Dante gripped at the bloody wound in a look of actual pain, but managed to draw it out with little difficulty. As he did Nero's blade again took its battle-axe form and he charged his opponent. Knowing the increased weight, Dante knew he'd be allotted a little more time to make a response as he considered how to overcome its superior weight.

In a flash he raised Kilianna Anne and caught the axe, both oversized weapons now threatening one another, but a small look of fear coming over Nero's face.

"Can your axe do this?" Dante asked, pulling the trigger.

The rocket fired propelled the demonic prince backwards into one of the chapel's walls, cracks in the stained glass audible after the crash.

"What are you doing?!" Mundus demanded. "You devastated him in your last battle! Retain your focus Nero! Now!"

"You heard him daddy's boy," Dante mocked. "Go on, get back to fighting me, like the weapon you are."

The rage within Nero was still building as he thrust out his Devil Bringer arm in an attempt to close the distance, Dante managing to dodge it out on his first attempt, but finding himself slammed into a line of pews when he did it again. Nero pushed himself back out from the wall, his sword changing shape again, this time to a sinister looking scythe.

Nero rushed forward and resumed his assault, the scythe proving surprisingly quick and effective, slashing Dante over and over as he laid in amongst the broken wood of the pews. After numerous bloody shots to his body, Nero raised the scythe high up, intent on cutting right into Dante's forehead, but it was all the time Dante needed to again disappear.

Having grown savvy to his strategy, Nero returned his weapon to its sword form and jerked around, catching Dante and Yamoto as he attempted another slash from behind. What he had not prepared for was Dante's other hand on Rebellion. Dante broke their blade lock and managed a firm stab into Nero with Rebellion, wrenching the blade out a moment later and again inflicting a very real wound into the demon prince.

For his trickery Dante received a punch to the face from the Devil Bringer, its force enough to blast him backwards and leave his mouth bloody. Both of them paused for a few moments thereafter, both of their breaths growing heavy, but Dante's confidence remaining in place as Nero's seemed to slowly, but surely, run farther and farther away.

"I… I don't get it!" He yelled, pointing the Devil Bringer at Dante in accusation. "I- killed- you! Just days ago! You weren't your usual, shit-eating-grin self, but it shouldn't matter! You barely laid a finger on me! What is this madness?!"

"I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, that's all," Dante assured him.

Now almost shaking in anger, Nero thrust both arms forward, lines of the threatening inky black firing towards Dante and stabbing him through the chest repeatedly before he was thrown back against the wall behind him, another window of glass shattering as he did. From the black blades tiny hands began to materialize and reached for the ground, grabbing pieces of the shattered glass and began stabbing and slashing him with them as well, Dante letting out a few cries of pain as they did and Nero closed the distance.

"I changed my mind. I'm getting real tired of your bullshit real fast." Dante was now pinned against the wall by the planes hands holding him squarely in place.

"Someone really outta wash your mouth out with soap," Dante said. "Hey Mundus! You ever think about-"

Nero grabbed at his face, fingers pressingly deathly in on his cheeks as he was turned to face him. "No! You look at me! You look at me you son of a bitch!" All three eyes were ignighted, burning like fire, Nero beat Dante farther and farther into the wall with his fists. Punch after punch to the face and stomach, the mortar in the bricks coming apart as he finally smashed a hole through the wall and knocked Dante into the outside courtyard on his back.

Delerious from the beating, Dante pushed back onto his feet with some dizziness before Nero grabbed ahold of his hair and threw him back into the church. Nero took another swing at Dante, but was parried successfully, Dante returning the beating by smashing into his head with the butt of Ivory before firing a round into it with Ebony. The magic lightning wrapped around the bullet created an opening again, allowing Dante to land a few good hits with Rebellion in before Nero recovered his stance and the two landed mutual slashes.

The two devils paused for the moment, the battle already taking its toll, every slash a screaming confrontation between their souls. Both of their blades were now covered in blood, their eyes meeting and, for only a moment, both of them seemed to demand, "Why?"

Nero broke their stance and made a jump into the balcony, clutching his forehead with his deep red hand, gnashing his teeth in confusion as Mundus continued to shout commands from the statue.

"Geeze Mundus, you're like one of those over-obsessive parents at their kid's baseball games. 'Come on damn it Tim! You hit that damn ball or you're not gonna eat tonight! Hit the damn ball boy!' Have a little dignity there, your majesty."

"Another word out of you and I'll finish this battle personally!" Mundus asserted.

"I'm just curious as to why you haven't already… Oh, that's right, because even someone as stupid as you wouldn't dare steal from a bigger dog."

"You dare-"

"Of course I dare!" Dante challenged. "I beat you once, I'll do it again! Get your sorry three-eyed ass out of that statue and I'll finish you off once and for all… Unless Nero would like to do the honors that is-"

"SHUT UP!" Nero roard. "ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU! ENOUGH!"

In a speed and with a force Dante could not properly prepare for, Nero thrust down his sword, it again taking on its whip form and attempted to wrap it around Dante's neck. Having learned from the last time, Dante raised his hand to his throat, catching it between his neck and the bladed noose. Nero made a lunge towards the rafters and then back onto the hands of his father's statue and, in a motion the church again began to shake, the pool of black fire revealing itself underneath Dante exactly as it had before.

"And if you come back again," Nero said through a grit of teeth. "Don't be stupid enough to come back!"

"Kill me once," Dante said, "Shame on you." He pulled Madonna from its place behind his back and thrust it forward, "Kill me twice," the blade created its own noose and slashing harshly into the shocked Nero's throat. "Not happening."

With a jerk he pulled Nero from his place in the statue's hands. In a scream of horror Nero fell into his own pit, his body instantly consumed by the flames. Without his hand on the sword, Dante too began to fall, but had managed to recover Madonna in time that he could slash towards the ceiling, catching himself before he again fell into the darkness and pull himself onto the balcony. For a few seconds there was no sound save for the sizzle of the flames beneath before Mundus asked, "What… Are you?"

Dante was about to give him an answer, before there was a lunge out from the pit of fire, Nero landing on the opposite balcony, barely able to breath, his entire body shaking erratically.

"Had enough yet?" Dante asked.

Nero turned towards him, both enraged and utterly stupefied.

"Don't feel so bad," Dante said in a condescending tone. "This? This was destiny Nero. You couldn't ever beat me… After all, you take after your father. You're good at getting your ass kicked. Me? I take after both of my parents. I'm good at kicking said ass."

Not saying a word, Nero starred at his Devil Bringing, still shaking in an utter confusion, unable to comprehend how he was being defeated.

"Oh sure, you've got some Sparda in there too, but you're about as bad at honoring my dad's power as you are good at honoring yours."

"Nero!" Mundus roared. "Don't you dare be distracted! He is manipulating you!"

"Go ahead daddy's boy, hide behind his powers, hide behind all that. That hand of yours? It doesn't mean a damn thing." Dante slipped Madonna away and opened his stance, "I'll prove it, right now. Use that hand of yours. Use my father's power. Hit me as hard as you can!"

"Don't do it!" Mundus commanded. "It is a trap! You are walking right into it!"

"What are you worth?" Dante asked. "You're supposed to be the big, bad harbinger of the end of the world and your still sitting here being used? All talk and no action, just a foul mouthed pretty boy who left pretty a long time ago."

"NERO!"

"HIT ME!"

The voices screamed as loud as Nero's instincts, pulling and tearing him in every direction at once. He didn't know how to react, he was now shaking and convulsing violently. Attack? Don't? Strike? Wait? The commands blended violently inside his head as the two continued to shout.

It was too much noise. He had to make it stop before he cracked… But it was already too late.

"FUCK YOU!"

With the roar Nero threw all his strength behind an attack from his Devil Bringer and positioned it right at Dante. The demon hunter smiled to himself, a hand slipped into his pocket.

The blast hit the tiny golden ring he had carried throughout the conflict. The ring shined in an immaculate light, bathing, for one small moment, the entire corner of Hell in its majesty. The blast from the bringer was redirected, but as Dante pulled the ring from its place across his body, something else, though it wasn't clear what, was clearly being pulled with it. As the brilliant flash of light faded there now stood two body-like shapes before Dante, diverging at the chest like a Siamese twin. The demon hunter drew his father's blade in preparation and jumped from his balcony to the next.

Connected at the hip to his opponent was the Nero he had known before: two eyes, white hair, everything properly in place, looking sickly and confused. As Dante closed the distance he raised the sword and slashed the two apart, the Nero he knew only shouting a "No!" In objection before he faded from view.

"What… What have you done?" Mundus demanded.

"My mother's wedding ring," Dante said, raising it for the statue to see, the Nero behind him still shaking a little, but seeming mostly comatose. "I still don't know the extent of its powers, but I knew enough… Deals with souls, I had already used it to call some back to my aid… I figured why not see if it could save one that was lost… For all his screw-ups, Sanctus did do something right… My father's blood, his will to do good for his world? Thanks to the divide in instincts it created a second, separate personality in Nero, eventually even another soul, who I just dismissed… All I had to do was draw him out, and since he got it from my dad, using the Devil Bringer at full power was my best bet. And, without his more reasonable side," Dante paused a moment and ran his hand over the eyes of Nero, with no response, "I think I just shut down your weapon."

Another silence came into the room as Dante stood, satisfied with himself before the room again began to shake. The marble began to crumble from Mundus's statue, only tiny cracks at first before it began to break and shatter. A color like bloody magma was revealed underneath, countless tiny, firey hands clawing outward from the misshapen creature within, as all three of its eyes glowed with rage. The tiny hands grabbed Nero from his place and his lifeless body was sucked into the gigantic mess. In amongst the destruction, Dante made a lunge for the rafted and hacked open the ceiling, retreating to the outside of the church. He received only moments to regain his composure as the massive demon smashed open the ceiling after him, standing at his incredible, full height, Nero's body at the center of his chest, gripped by hundreds of the clawing hands. With the largest arm on his right, Mundus reached into the ruins of the church and grabbed a great, pointed piece of marble to serve as his blade.

"Plutuson or no Plutuson… Ring or no ring… Armageddon or no Armageddon… Son of Sparda, you will die here!"