Johnny had never been afraid of death or men. This "man" was neither death nor a man. He was something beyond both. As hurt as Johnny was, he focused on him and watched as he thumbed out his sword, and before catching any movement, he had cut down half of the squadrons in one fluid motion. The demonic toys fell like October leaves as the blue-clad man spun his sword, approaching the hellish horde. What was left of the fliers went after him, but he easily disposed of them, never breaking his stride, slicing several of the beasts out of the air. His piercing gaze didn't falter from the marine nor his enemies.

"Kill him!" the voice yelled.

The entire force turned from the marine and marched for the swordsman. This was when the fur flew. He made minced fluff out of the clapper monkeys, diced up the dinosaurs, sliced through the Indians, the big bears, and anything else that dared to confront him. Soon, the entire floor was covered in white stuffing, crushed gears, and rent rubber.

When the last flier was destroyed and the final clapper monkey was crushed under his boot, the man proclaiming himself as Death put his sword away and asked with a quick glance, "Marine?"

Johnny swallowed and nodded. He held Brunhilda close.

"Name?"

Knowing that Death could have killed him instantly, the marine gladly gave it. "Johnny Saber."

Death nodded and gave him a name, a true name. "Vergil."

"Like the poet?"

Those piercing, icy blue eyes glared at the soldier and said with a slim, confident smile. "Yes." He then seemed to give Johnny another quick glance, turning his attention to the rest of the warehouse. "No gun?"

"Been better with a sword."

This got Vergil to smile wide, something Johnny could tell didn't happen often. Vergil hissed out, "Me too."

"Plan for getting out of here, Vergil?" Johnny asked.

"Of sorts," Vergil said shortly, scanning the warehouse.

"Not much for words, are you?" Johnny said.

Still scanning, not taking his eyes away from the walls, Vergil said, "Simplicity is sophistication."

"Leonardo Di Vinci," Johnny said.

Another small, barely visible smile crossed Vergil's lips as he spared a respectful gaze at the marine.

"As we must account for every idle word, so too we must account for every idle silence," Johnny said.

"Benjamin Franklin," Vergil correctly said. "When words fail, music speaks."

"William Shakespeare, but I don't hear any music," Johnny said, disheartened.

"Then clearly, you aren't listening," Vergil said, his eyes locking on a target, ripping his sword from its sheath. It was another large bear, which he quickly disposed of.

Slowly sheathing his sword, Vergil told the marine, "We need to get you out of here."

"I will not abandon my mission!"

Vergil walked past him, not giving him a second glance. "I understand your position, but if you don't leave you won't survive the night."

"I will die with my boots on then. Under the service of God and country," Johnny said.

Vergil grimaced over his shoulder and said, "Afraid not." He ripped his sword from its scabbard and walked up to Johnny.

The marine reacted quickly, unleashing Brunhilda and said, "Her and I have slain many, I will not falter… even in the face of death."

"You misunderstand my intentions, marine," Vergil hissed. He spun his katana and said, "Yamato."

At first, Johnny was confused. It had been too long since he had been around anyone with this level of warrior pride. Vergil wasn't going to fight him, he was introducing Yamato, stating that him and his weapon were joined to Johnny's cause now. The marine hid a smile of respect and followed suit and stood at attention, bringing his saber to his face, looking at Vergil past the blade. "Brunhilda," he said, introducing his weapon.

Slipping Yamato back into its sheath, Vergil said with a cautious gaze at the warehouse, "Come on."

"Right behind you," Johnny confirmed.

The two proceeded through the warehouse as Johnny asked with Brunhilda close and his head on a swivel, "Who does that voice belong to?"

Vergil walked with Yamato at his hip, seemingly not caring if anyone saw or heard them. "I don't know, but I do know whom he serves."

"Yeah, who?"

Vergil turned a corner and three toy-sized helicopters came at him. They fell to pieces at his boots before they fired a shot. "Samhain."

"The druidic lord of All Hallows Eve?" Johnny huffed. "It's Christmas not Halloween!"

"Tell them that," Vergil said.

The marine looked at the approaching army of prehistoric plastic. There were all types of small dinos coming right for the two as Johnny said, "Damn, I thought kids played with safer toys nowadays. This stuff looks like bargain-basement evil. As if a demon possessed a yard sale and all these toys came from it."

Vergil spun Yamato and said, "Probably because they are. Most of these toys came from the same place: The Keeper."

"Who is The Keeper?"

Vergil was already slashing and trashing the child-sized stamped as he told Johnny, "Take too long to explain." Before he was finished, he kicked away a toy looking more like a machine replica of a horned worm. Seeing if there were any more, Vergil was doused in orange as a flash of lightning came from outside.

Suddenly, Johnny was attacked by this pink, thick coil wrapping around his throat. He nearly dropped his saber, grabbing at the machine. Feeling two, long fangs go into his neck, he dropped to his knees with a gurgling scream.

In no time, Vergil was on top of him, ripping the thing off and slicing it in half.

After a few coughs, Johnny slapped his neck to stop the gusher of blood. He barely got out, "What the hell was that?"

Vergil ripped a long strip from Johnny's dress pants and tied a tight wrap around the marine's throat, stopping the blood.

"That," Vergil said, finishing the wrap, "was not a toy."

"No kidding!" Johnny croaked out. He looked down at the dismembered machine and said, "Are they changing?"

"Yeah," Vergil hissed.

This was when the marine saw his torn dress pants. He looked away, trying to swallow a large, choking lump of sadness. It was only now he saw what a sorry state his dress blues were in. He had made a critical mistake and probably would never forgive himself for it. He should have known better than to go into combat with his dress uniform. Swallowing another chunk of depression and self-hate, he admitted, "Shouldn't have gone into a mission dressed like this. Woe to this broken tin soldier. My training lost to time, my reflexes lost to age, my good combat sense lost to inactivity. Woe and death unto thee."

"A simple guard mission, Saber?" Vergil asked rhetorically. "A lack of intel, ambush scenario, an enemy you have never faced before—I don't have time for illogical pity parties and paltry poetry, Saber. And neither do you."

Standing up with the aid of Brunhilda, Johnny was about to defend how he felt, but then more blood came from his neck. Ripping off more from his own pants he strapped another tight wrap around his neck. Several swallows later, the marine told Vergil, "Let's get going."

It was another fifteen minutes of prowling around the warehouse before Johnny said, "Thanks, by the way."

"For what?" Vergil asked.

"Keeping me on point."

Vergil shrugged. "Not the first time I've worked with a solid, human soldier before. Won't be the last."

"You say that like you're not human," Johnny said.

"I'm not."

"Look pretty human to me."

"Things are seldom what they seem."

"W.S. Gilbert," Johnny said. "Though, there is no aspect of reality beyond the human mind."

Vergil cut down two more mechanical worms that were bigger than the last. "Stephen Hawking," he candidly said. "What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing and what kind of person you are."

"Lewis Caroll. If you are -"

"C.S. Lewis, actually," Vergil corrected.

"You sure?"

Vergil turned towards Johnny. "I'm never wrong."

The marine doubted that.

However, he couldn't get into a debate about it now as two slithering machines came at him. They raised above him and hissed. Large, robotic cobras with razor panels for hoods and what looked like daggers for fangs. Red lit eyes with black, rubber tongues. Johnny just said to himself, "This is just getting ridiculous! No way kids get these!"

A blue blur crossed Johnny and the snakes fell to the ground in sparking pieces. Vergil's voice then said, "They don't. Told you, they're changing."

"I don't understand," Johnny said, hobbling over to a wall. A small robot with shoulder-mounted lasers fired at him, but he took care of it with a quick kick.

Vergil came up behind Johnny, asking, "You alright to go on?"

Sweat beaded from his head, his muscles felt tight and useless, his whole body ached and felt on fire, his head drummed with pain and his breaths were becoming more and more shallow. Nodding against it all he took a big inhale and said, confidently, "Soldiering on. I am a marine, master of the battlefield, weapon to the weak, I will prevail." His voice was strained, his eyes fluttery. He lifted Brunhilda slowly, reminding himself that he was still alive.

Vergil growled, "I'll take point."

Johnny agreed.

The two proceed through the warehouse, keeping vigil for any mechanical monsters. They ran into a few, Vergil destroying them easily.

Johnny asked, "Why are they changing?"

Vergil answered, "We got a report that Professor Keeper was in the area a couple of weeks ago. Weren't really sure what he was up to, but then we got a tip about him pedaling off toys to the Toys-For-Tots. Looks like he was hoping that these evil trinkets would go out and tear the children apart. Warehouse is built on an evil zone, a perfect place to cause the demonic power in them to react. Simple plan, however, very effective to cause chaos and hysteria. Samhain's M.O to a tee."

"You said 'We?' Who's we?"

"My associates."

"Why do I feel that it's not the most legitimate business."

"Completely legitimate. We have our demon liquidation licenses thoroughly up to date."

Johnny fell to the ground with exhaustion and breathed out a chuckle. "Heh, that was a joke, wasn't it?"

Vergil stopped and said, "Yes." Not looking at the marine, he commanded, "We'll rest here."

"No, we have to get -"

"You need rest," Vergil harshly said. "Catch your strength, human. I'll stand guard."

Thinking he should be insulted but letting it go, Johnny slid down the wall and rested. It was about twenty minutes before he started feeling a little better. He asked, "So, you got any family?"

Vergil scowled as he said, "Loaded question with a very loaded answer."

"What?"

"Mother and father dead. Got a brother, but…" Vergil stopped.

"Not close?" Johnny asked.

"Too close," Vergil said.

"Well, actually, when I asked you about 'family,' I meant like wife, kids, pets, that kind of thing."

"I see."

"So?"

Vergil stayed silent.

Nodding, Johnny said, "I can respect that. Why don't you talk to me about something, anything."

The tall, white-haired man continued to stayed quiet. He stood as silent and as still as stone. He scanned the area like a machine, but after giving up, Johnny heard a small sound come from him. "What?"

"A… a son," Vergil said like he was under torture to say it.

"Is he like you?" Johnny felt a snap of pain, but it felt more like something snapping into place. He was ready to go, but figured Vergil wasn't. He decided to push, if only to make him uncomfortable. Get him talking to stop him from talking.

"No."

"He's his own man?"

"He is," Vergil said. Again, it was like he was under incredible duress.

"Grandkids?"

"Not yet. He has a fiancee."

"Oh? Well, are they going to tie the knot or what?"

This was when Vergil spared a glance at Johnny and said, "You look fairly well-rested. Come on, we should get moving."

Using Brunhilda to stand, Johnny smiled and said, "Thought you'd never ask."

Vergil stopped. He looked at Johnny angrily and growled out, "You were using that just to push me along?!"

"Sort of," Johnny confessed. "I was genuinely curious though. You seemed to want to talk about it more than I did."

A gruff, harsh grumble came from Vergil as he led on, looking away from the marine. "Don't do that again. I'm not like you humans. Don't need to talk about trivial trite like family."

This was when they were attacked by at least twenty or more toys. They circled the two, but Vergil and Johnny dispatched them quickly. Mostly it was Vergil, but Johnny did his best to fight alongside the death dealer. This was an effort in futility. Even if he had been younger he wouldn't have stood a chance. Nothing Johnny had seen could move like this man. No enemy used their sword as gracefully, no human was as strong or as fast, not a single thing Vergil did was able to be defended or countered against. Astounded, the marine mostly just watched.

In a weird way, he wished he had met Vergil in the forestation of Vietnam, or the open plains of the desert. He would have died to a better swordsman than himself. To take on such an enemy in combat, to be killed by an opponent of this superiority—Johnny could not imagine a better end.

After their attackers lay in a heap, Johnny heard a light, yet disconcerting noise. It was a strange bark of some sort. Vergil didn't seem to hear it, and Johnny went to investigate. It sounded like it came from behind a wall.

Bark…

There it was again. A little more pronounced this time, and it wasn't a bark, it was more like a child pretending to be a puppy. Putting his ear to the wall, he listened for a third time.

"Get away from –"

Suddenly, Johnny was knocked to the ground in a wave of plaster and concrete, landing hard on his back. A hole in the wall had been made and standing on top of him was some kind of ape-like, grizzly bear. It must have been eight feet tall or more, and weighed as much as a building. It pounded it's chest and looked down at Johnny. It's face was bear-like, but also had some canine features too.

That voice from before spoke as a crack of orange lightning and thunder flashed outside. "I call him Mr. Snuggles. Don't you just want to snuggle with that adorable belly of his?!"

Not being able to help it, Johnny did catch sight of its stomach and it was round enough to look like the creature had eaten a cannonball. Personally, he was sickened by the whole thing and wanted it to go "snuggle" with Brunhilda, but she had been thrown from his grasp.

"Mr. Snuggles, show the tin soldier how we snuggle around here."

A maw of drool-soaked incisors stared back at him with these beady eyes of red and black. Johnny could see all the way to the back of the beast's throat and soon realized he was being engulfed.

Reaching for his sword, Johnny watched in horrid immobilization those wretched incisors close around him. The maw of the thing was cold, the drool stunk like silicone as the monster grabbed his shoulders, digging its claws into his flesh.

With what little of the outside world Johnny saw left, a bright, earthshaking flash of blue light blasted inside the warehouse. It drowned out everything and suddenly the big mutated bear was off of him, thrown back through the hole in the wall by some unseen force. Black blood splashed the floor and Johnny knew that the thing wouldn't be back on top of him. He tried to move, but the plaster pieces on top of him felt like a million tons or more. He cried out, "Vergil!"

He stared over at Brunhilda and again tried to reach her. He could move his left arm just a little, but it wasn't enough to grab her. Trying to turn, trying to reach, trying to fight, he looked back at Brunhilda and said, "Girl, I think this is it for us."

A shaking began to emanate through the warehouse and Johnny groaned with pain. His left arm was damn near useless and his right was much worse. He was stuck on his back, on the ground, covered in rubble. The constant quake got worse as he heard some kind of collapse behind him. He tried to turn again, but it hurt too much and he was pinned to the floor. "Vergil?! Help me!" he cried out.

Something told Johnny that he couldn't. The quaking stopped and the heat from the warehouse grew to where the marine could barely breathe. Pinned to the ground, he had to lay there like an invalid lobster and cook to death. He tried to at least turn his head, but it would only go so far. All he could make out were sounds and the barest glimpse of some kind of humongous, black, slithering tentacle. A blast of blue energy came again, and he could hear metal on some sort of plastic. It was loud and fast, sounding kind of like someone had put Legos in a blender.

Seeing Brunhilda, Johnny tried to lift the rubble off of him. It hardly budged as he roared out, exerting everything he had left. He grunted as he tried several more pieces before agonizingly giving up. "Damn it!" he cursed.

Meanwhile, behind him, he heard strange sounds. More of that metal on plastic, a few whips of wind, and a few, slimy splats. Above him, he saw a blast of blue. For a moment he caught a shape that looked like an angel, calling out for Vergil one last time. "Vergil! Get me back in this fight!"

That same voice he had heard from before in command of the toys said, "Son of Sparda, you have lost. You cared about this tin soldier and now he will be your downfall!"

"Never!" Vergil spat out. At least… Johnny thought it was Vergil. He recognized his voice, but it had changed somehow. It sounded more demonic and evil. It gave Johnny the chills. That or he was going into shock.

Suddenly, he saw another blue flash and watched Brunhilda disappear. A monstrous roar came out and the warehouse began to shake once again. Glass broke and a powerful orange light glowed outside. It became bright and surged with fire bolts that slammed into the warehouse, tearing into the floor.

'One last time!' Johnny thought. He tightened up his muscles and tried to move the rubble as suddenly he smelled smoke. Something was on fire and more was starting to burn. Screaming with force, Johnny felt some of the pieces move, but then was out of energy.

There was no way out of this. He was doomed. At that moment he wished he was younger, more agile, stronger, faster—he could have gotten out of this if it was a few decades back. If he hadn't made such a stupid mistake of putting his ear right to the wall, like a green maggot, he wouldn't have been in this situation. It hadn't even occurred to him that it was a bad idea. He started feeling that he wasn't a marine any longer. No fight he could win, no war he could survive. It might as well be better to die in this burning, damned warehouse then face down life anymore. At least here he would die in combat, dead to a supernatural army. He believed he could die like that.

Yet, not even that was a forgone conclusion. He had relied on Vergil all night to help him. He was no marine anymore. This person who wasn't even a marine had helped him along. What had he become but a soldier who could soldier no more? He whispered to himself, "Please, Oh Lord, I did my best, fought as hard as I could. I hope it was enough."

Before passing out, he felt himself lift from the rubble and hover into the sky, heading towards Heaven. An explosion below as the warehouse popped with a plume of fire and smoke. The sun was just beginning to rise and the storm had stopped. The clouds broke to reveal the sun and stars' heavenly glow. He smiled, welcoming death as the smell of smoke faded. He even saw Brunhilda hover with him and knew, right then, that he had done his job. Mission over. He was going home.