"What madness is this?!" Vergil yelled as he found himself flying through the air following a sharp blow to his side.

"I hope you bought home insurance," Dante quipped as he quickly dodged the brick fist heading towards him, a shower of plaster coating him in the process.

Lady quickly got to her feet and stumbled over to the Kalina Ann, which had been thrown towards the kitchen by the blast. "We need to get out of here!" she yelled over the sound of splintering wood and cracking plaster.

"You don't say," Dante said, shaking his hair free of dust. He looked over his shoulder at Nero who appeared to be desperately trying to dodge some large spikes coming out of the floor. "Nero! Grab your old man and let's go!"

"Hey, I can barely defend myself here," Nero panted, his skin slick with sweat.

"I don't need your assistance," Vergil grumbled, pushing himself to his knees. His eyes darted around the room. "Where's the Yamato?" he asked as Lady rushed over and tried to help him up.

"It'll be here somewhere," Dante said, looking around for his own sword. The wailing of sirens began to sound in the distance and Dante let out a quiet curse under his breath. "I was hoping to keep this casualty free for once…"

"There!" Vergil called out, spotting the Yamato through the now splintered bedroom door. He frantically started to crawl towards it, only to watch in horror as the floor beneath suddenly opened up and disintegrated into a fiery pit. "Damn it! " he yelled, throwing himself forward. His fingers only just managed to grasp the edge of the ribbon, yanking it towards him before it fell into the flames. Before he could fall in after it, he felt himself being pulled backwards.

"Can you stand?" Lady asked sharply, kneeling next to him.

"...We need to get to the basement," Vergil stated, brushing her hand aside. "If we use the Yamato-" he tried to get to get up again, only to collapse forward with an irritated grunt.

"You're not the only one," Dante said, dragging himself across the floor and rolling out of the way as the ground continued to disappear beneath them. "That guy's spell really did a number on us, huh?" he continued, finally locating his sword under a pile of rubble.

"Just tell me what I need to do," Lady said determinedly, helping Vergil to his knees again. "It looks like I'm the only of us still at full strength, so I'm going to have to be the one to fix this."

Vergil scoffed and looked up at her. "I wouldn't exactly call this full strength," he said, glancing at her cast. "Besides, there's no way a mere-" Vergil's words were cut off by a sharp flick between his eyes.

"That's enough of that," Lady said, preparing to do it again when he opened his mouth to protest. "I helped you fight an entire forest, I think I can handle a pissed off bunch of bricks."

Dante watched the pair and chuckled quietly. With some effort, he pushed himself to his feet, using his sword for support. "Take Nero with you," he said, drawing a gun and shooting through a pile of bricks that Nero was desperately fighting against. "He can at least stand unsupported."

"Thanks," Nero said, wiping his forehead. "Who'd've thought fighting a building would be so hard…"

"It's not the building you're fighting, you fool," Vergil stated. "This is five years worth of stolen demonic energy - including that of three descendents of Sparda himself - manifested into one, uncontrollable force."

"Well when you put it that way, it's not surprising the guy exploded," Dante said, grinning. "Anyway, enough chit-chat. Lady, Vergil's right - we need to get down there and destroy whatever weirdass hex this guy has going on. I'll take care of him," he said, nodding in Vergil's direction.

"What do I do when I get there?" Lady asked, standing up.

"We'll deal with that part when we get there," Dante said, staggering over to them.

" We ?" Lady asked doubtfully. "But how are you guys gonna-"

"There's more than one way to reach the ground floor," Dante grinned.

Vergil looked between his brother and the missing wall, a sudden feeling of dread pooling in his stomach. "Dante…"

"We've fallen from higher places," Dante said, wrapping his arm around Vergil's waist.

"Wait!" Lady said frantically. "How are me and Nero supposed to get down there?!"

"You will," Dante said. "I trust you."

"But-"

"I don't exactly feel great leaving you here in the middle of all of this," Dante said seriously. "But if we try to go together, we'll only slow you down. I'd bring you with us, but I have a feeling you wouldn't survive the fall - you're tough but you're still human after all."

"Let me go with her," Vergil said. "I'm feeling stronger already-" Vergil's words were cut off as the floor beneath them rose into the air and threw the trio against a wall as if they weighed nothing. Dante let out a groan as his head hit the wall with a sickening crack. Before they had time to catch their breath the wall pushed back against them, and they found themselves falling again. They landed in a crumpled heap, mere inches away from the hole leading outside.

"Are you guys okay?" Nero called out, running over.

A high pitched scream suddenly filled the air above them. The group looked up to see a very confused and scared looking man sitting on a toilet, suspended in the air by yet another brick fist. "Vergil!" his squealing voice cried out. "This is all your fault!" the man sobbed, tears streaming down his face.

"Who-" Vergil began, squinting to try and see the person through the smoke and dust. The fist rose higher into the air before crashing down onto the floor in front of them, crushing the man beneath it in the process. Lady and Nero both let out a surprised gasp. "...Ronald?" Vergil asked, shuffling closer.

"You…" Ronald gurgled as he looked into Vergil's eyes.

"I had nothing to do with this," Vergil stated. Around them, the floor was continuing to disappear. A muffled whooshing sound began as the bedroom wall started to collapse. Dante raised his sword and managed to stop it in its tracks moments before it crushed them.

"This is really sad and all, but if we don't leave soon…" Dante said, his voice strained with the effort of holding the wall up. Lady reached for the Kalina Ann and aimed it at the brickwork, blowing it to pieces. Dante let out a sigh of relief and gave her a shaky thumbs up.

"...I'm sorry," Vergil said quietly as he watched Ronald's eyelids begin to fall.

"Watch out!" Nero yelled as another hole opened up beneath them. He lunged forward and managed to grab onto the Kalina Ann, using it to pull Lady to safety. Dante and Vergil were not so lucky.

"Use this!" Vergil yelled, throwing the Yamato towards Lady as she stared after them in shock. She reflexively reached out and grabbed it before it fell with them. It was only after she stepped away from the edge that she realised what exactly it was that she was holding. She turned to face Nero, who appeared to be struggling to drag the bricks away from Ronald's body.

"We have to free him before he falls too!" Nero said desperately, weakly swinging his sword at the rubble to try and break through.

"Nero-"

"Don't just stand there, do something!"

Lady walked over and placed a hand on Nero's shoulder. "He's gone," she said sadly. "Come on, save your strength - you'll need it."

"But-"

"If we don't start moving soon, he won't be the only casualty," Lady said sternly, starting to pull Nero towards the front door. "Come on, we've got work to do."

Nero let out an irritated grunt and straightened up. "...Why do you have that?" he asked, pointing at the Yamato.

"I'm not entirely sure myself," she replied, sliding it into her belt and attempting to secure it as best she could. The pair looked back towards the pit. "...Do you think they'll be okay?" Lady asked hesitantly.

"They've dealt with worse," Nero said, concern evident in his voice.

"We'd better get moving," Lady said, wiping some sweat out of her eyes. She lifted the Kalina Ann and aimed it at the door, destroying it in one shot.

Outside, the hallway was a smoky mess from both the spreading flames and the rapidly disintegrating interior of the building. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of motorcycle goggles. She slipped them on before removing her jacket and turning it into a makeshift mask over her nose and mouth. Behind her, Nero took one last look at Ronald before sighing and quickly doing the same with his sweater. As he shrugged his jacket back on, the two of them nodded to each other and stepped through the doorway.

Vergil landed on his side with a painful thump, the air instantly expelled from his lungs. He gasped heavily as he tried to reintroduce oxygen into his body while Dante crushed him from above. They had landed somewhere a few floors down it seemed - a utility closet of some sort from a quick glance.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," Dante said, rolling away from Vergil. He stared up at what used to be the ceiling for a moment, trying to catch his own breath. He could just about see a hint of daylight through the swirling dust. "Much faster than taking the stairs."

"I'll kill you," Vergil rasped at last, collapsing onto his back.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Dante said, stretching slightly. He squinted as he saw a black shadow pass overhead. "...Seems the battle isn't over yet."

"What now?" Vergil asked, looking up through the hole through which they had fallen. He watched with both intrigue and repulsion as the edges seemed to throb slowly in and out. After observing it a little while longer, he slowly began to realise that it resembled a heartbeat.

"Honestly, I hadn't really thought that far," Dante said, shrugging. "I just wish we'd kept falling all the way to the basement, would've made this a whole lot easier."

"What about Nero and that woman?" Vergil asked tensely, turning his head towards Dante. "We shouldn't have let this happen."

"They're more than capable of handling this," Dante said. "We'd only have slowed them down anyway."

"What part of 'five years worth of demonic power' don't you understand?" Vergil growled angrily. "Nero's powerful but I don't think even he can stop this with just a human by his side."

"And he won't need to," Dante said firmly. "It'll be tough, but they won't be doing this alone."

"You're insane," Vergil said. "Based on the amount we were weakened on the top floor, attempting to enter the basement will be suicide. We should have retreated when we had the chance and returned at full power."

"My, my, I didn't think you were the type to run away from a fight, brother," Dante teased.

"It's not running away, it's tactical," Vergil retorted. He sighed. "It doesn't matter now anyway, it's too late."

"It's never too late," Dante said confidently. "We just need to get to the basement, right?"

"If it were only that easy," Vergil spat.

"It's too bad you dropped the Yamato," Dante said, grinning slightly. "We might have been able to use it."

"I didn't drop-" Vergil began before catching himself. "You're right. That was... foolish of me."

"Guess you couldn't have done much with it in your current state anyway," Dante said, his smile widening even further.

"Enough chatter," Vergil said, managing to sit up a little. "Let's find a way out of here."

"Gone…" Lady sighed as she and Nero reached the staircase. "I don't really know what I expected."

"What do we do now?" Nero asked, looking into the black pit that had once been the stairwell. Behind them, the hallway had almost completely crumbled away save for a few apartment doors that had somehow managed to remain standing.

"Well, we can't use the lift," Lady said, pacing up and down. "Maybe there's a fire escape somewhere…" Her hand brushed against the Yamato and she glanced at it for a second before shaking her head.

"Maybe we could try making a rope?" Nero suggested.

"Out of what?" Lady said, spreading her hands. "In case you hadn't noticed, everything's kinda on fire."

"Let's check some of the other apartments," he said, carefully making his way over to one of the doors and giving it a swift kick. Nothing but a deep hole remained of what had been behind it.

"Great idea," Lady said sarcastically.

"Hey, at least I'm trying to find a solution," Nero snapped. "...I'm sorry," he added almost immediately afterwards. "I'm... not feeling too great."

"I understand," Lady said, blasting another door open. "If you need to rest, tell me. The last thing we need is you passing out." She stepped forward and was surprised to see that this apartment was mostly unharmed, albeit covered in a thick layer of soot. "Hey, check it out," she said, calling Nero over.

"Not such a bad plan after all, huh?" Nero said smugly. He grinned beneath his makeshift face mask, but Lady saw none of it.

"Let's look for linen, towels, anything we can tie together," Lady said, heading towards the bedroom.

"D'you think the residents managed to make it out?" Nero asked, spotting a picture of a young couple hanging on the wall.

"Let's hope so," Lady began as she stepped into the bedroom, only to find a misshapen hole where the bed had previously been. She looked over her shoulder at Nero. "Search the kitchen," she said. "I'll check in here."

"Sure," Nero agreed, oblivious to her findings.

Lady carefully stepped onto what remained of the bedroom floor and navigated her way around the edge until she reached some wardrobes. A short while later, she emerged with her arms full of various pieces of bed linen. Nero ran over to her holding what appeared to be a crumpled pile of clothing.

"I found these in the washing machine," he said, dumping the items on the floor between them.

"It'll have to do," Lady said, adding her own collection to the heap. "C'mon, let's get tying before this place collapses too," she added, crouching down.

"I'm amazed it hasn't already," Nero said cautiously, grabbing the corners of a sheet and a shirt in each hand. They worked in furtive silence, flinching every time they heard even the slightest creak around them.

"...I hope they survived the fall," Lady said at last, once they were almost done. "I think we should prioritise finding them first, whether they like it or not."

Nero let out a thoughtful hum then cleared his throat. "Hey, uh, can I ask you a question?" he enquired, somewhat hesitantly.

"Sure," Lady responded, standing up and tugging on their makeshift rope. "Hopefully this'll hold…"

"...Maybe now isn't the best time to ask," Nero mumbled, getting to his feet.

"Hey come on, what is it?"

"It's just…" Nero glanced at the Yamato. "I was just wondering how you were already here when we arrived is all," he said, helping Lady to gather up the rags. "Weren't you staying with a friend or something?"

Lady froze momentarily then laughed nervously, shaking her head. "You're probably not going to believe this, but Vergil basically kidnapped me," she replied, hoping her face coverings would hide the redness on her cheeks.

"Why would he do that?" Nero queried. "And how did he know where you were?"

"Beats me," Lady said dismissively, heading for the door.

"Wait," Nero said, grabbing her arm. "I need to know, just in case something happens…"

"Nero-"

"Is there something going on between you two?" he blurted out, immediately regretting his decision to do so.

Lady stared at him in wide-eyed silence for a moment, before bursting out laughing. "Really?" she said at last, tears streaming down her face and leaving trails in the soot covering her skin. "Is that really what you think?"

Nero let her go and adjusted his mask, averting his gaze. "I just…"

"Nero," Lady said seriously. "Your father is a selfish, power hungry maniac. Do you really think I'd be interested in someone like him?"

Nero let out a sigh of what sounded like relief and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry for asking such a dumb question."

"I'll forgive you on this occasion," Lady said teasingly. "Now, let's go see if this works."

"Right," Nero agreed, heading towards the door.

Lady placed a hand on the Yamato and sighed. Just which of the two of them had she been trying to convince, she wondered.

Vergil shuddered suddenly and Dante looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. "You doing okay?" he asked.

"I just had this… unpleasant feeling," Vergil stated, looking up again.

"Well, I guess we are closer to the basement," Dante said, slowly pacing up and down.

"How are you able to move so freely?" Vergil queried.

"Determination," Dante replied. "That and I'm clearly just better than you," he added, grinning.

"The situation was reversed when we visited that maniac's house," Vergil recalled. "Perhaps your obsessive attachment to humanity is good for something after all."

"Hey, I'm not exactly having the time of my life either," Dante said, somewhat sternly. Vergil smirked slightly; he always felt a sense of achievement whenever Dante finally showed signs of being pissed off by his words. "Here we go," Dante said, coming to a stop near the centre of the room.

"...Did you find a way out?" Vergil asked, squinting through the dusty air.

"That's right."

"Well?" Vergil asked dryly. He glanced around the small room, taking note of the caved in walls and the fact that their only exit was miles above them.

"I'd have thought it was obvious," Dante said, kicking the floor with his heel a few times. "We obviously can't just walk out of here, and there's no way of getting back up to where we came from. Therefore…"

Vergil sighed as he realised what Dante was suggesting. "And how are we meant to do that?"

"Unlike you, I don't go around giving my swords away to pretty ladies," Dante said. "Watch and learn."

"That can't be good," Nico said, watching through her binoculars as Trish approached in the distance with a pained expression on her face.

"Who's that?" Alisa asked, trying to get a better look. The two of them were still sitting outside the van on the hill.

"That's Trish," Nico said absently, looking towards the town and seeing nothing out of the ordinary. "The, uh, pretty blonde lady you saw earlier," she clarified when Alisa didn't say anything further.

"Oh, Dante's friend?" Alisa asked.

"That's the one. She looks a little different now though," Nico mumbled as she realised that Trish was no longer wearing her disguise.

"Why would she be coming back here without them?"

"Beats me," Nico said, lowering the binoculars. "But I got the feelin' we better get ready to move."

"What about the other guys?" Alisa asked worriedly. "We can't leave without them!"

"They can take care of themselves," Nico said, standing up and brushing off her rear. "C'mon, into the van."

"Shouldn't we at least hear what she has to say first?" Alisa said, remaining seated.

"There's only two reasons that gal would be heading back here," Nico said. "Either there's somethin' hella dangerous up ahead, or she forgot to bring somethin' with her. And Trish don't seem like the forgetful type."

"But-"

"No more protestin'" Nico said, grabbing Alisa and throwing her over her shoulder. She opened the van and swiftly chucked her inside.

Kyrie let out a shocked gasp. "Nico? What's-"

"We got a situation," Nico said, interrupting Kyrie's query. "Keep holda this one, I'll be back in a sec." She slammed the door shut and jogged over to Trish as she approached.

"We have a serious problem," Trish said, bringing her bike to a halt.

"I figured," Nico nodded, lighting another cigarette. "What's the sitch?"

"...You sure this is gonna hold?" Nero asked hesitantly, tugging on their makeshift rope for the umpteenth time. The pair had tied it around the remains of what had once been the staircase's metal bannister.

"Not in the slightest," Lady said, looking into the deep pit that extended below. "But we gotta try, right?"

"Maybe I should go first," Nero offered. "I can probably break your fall better than you can break mine. Plus, with that arm…"

"Or you could stay here and hold onto it in case it does come loose," Lady retorted.

Nero sighed and shook some dust from his hair. "Alright fine, but can I at least hold your stuff for you?"

"I got this," Lady said confidently. She sat on the edge of the stairwell and dangled her legs over the edge. After briefly adjusting the Kalina Ann, she grabbed hold of the rope and took a deep breath. "Here I go…" she mumbled before sliding off. She gripped on tightly as she swung in the air briefly before stabilising. "So far so good!" she called up.

"Glad to hear it," Nero said, maintaining an iron grip on the rope below the knot, just in case.

"All right, I'm going down," Lady said, starting her slow and somewhat shaky descent. She was surprised to find that the rope they had made was long enough to reach the first floor of the apartments before running out. This meant they would just need to find a way to reach the ground floor before trying to find an entrance into the basement. What remains she had seen of the second floor on the way down made her more than just a little thankful for this fact.

The last of the material ended about three feet away from the first floor landing, with nothing but a dark pit beneath. She would have to time this carefully. With slight difficulty, she swung the Kalina Ann around and slid it off her shoulder before throwing it into the hallway. Using the momentum that the action had given her, she swung back and forth a few more times before letting go and rolling as she hit the ground, trying her best not to accidentally impale herself on the Yamato. Once she was stable again, she re-equipped herself and tugged on the rope to signal to Nero that it was safe for him to descend. She felt a slight twinge in her right arm and tried her best to ignore it. She had a feeling she'd probably need a new cast once this was all over.

While she waited for Nero, she had a quick look around. The situation here was much the same as the other floors - everything was covered in a thick layer of soot and there were almost no distinguishing features between what had once been the apartments on this floor. She idly stroked the Yamato and hummed thoughtfully. With their makeshift rope as long as it was, perhaps it would be possible for them to cut some of it free to try and help them reach the ground floor, but there would never be enough left for them to reach the basement. Plus there was still the matter of trying to find Vergil and Dante... She glanced nervously at the rope as it swayed from side to side while Nero made his descent. She turned her back on the stairwell and looked down at the Yamato, feeling a shiver run down her spine as she did so. Maybe … Before she could change her mind, she unsheathed the Yamato and held it in front of her, her grip shaking slightly.

A painful vibration made its way up Dante's arm as the tip of his sword hit the concrete flooring and bounced off. He shook his hand until the tingling wore off and then tried again.

"How many more times are you going to fail before you realise this is pointless?" Vergil growled. He wished he had the strength to at least cover his ears so he could think clearly without his train of thought being interrupted every few seconds by the incessant clanging of metal.

"You give up too easily," Dante panted, striking the floor beneath them again. He wiped some sweat away from his forehead and pushed his hair back from his eyes. "Damn, what do they make buildings out of these days? I should rebuild the shop with this stuff."

" Enough! " Vergil yelled. "You're lucky enough to be able to stand, but if you think you have even the smallest chance of breaking through in your current state, then perhaps you are even more moronic than I thought."

Dante cursed under his breath and threw his sword aside before crouching down next to his brother. "What's your plan then, genius?" he asked.

"Not that ," Vergil said bluntly. "Help me sit up, I'm tired of lying here like a newborn infant."

Dante propped Vergil up against some rubble and then sat down next to him. "This isn't like us," he sighed, looking up through the hole above.

"On the contrary; I'd say arguing is our usual method of communication."

"Not the fighting, dumbass," Dante said, scowling at him. "To think that the Sons of Sparda could be contained by a damn janitor's closet…"

"Help will arrive soon enough," Vergil said, shaking some dust from his hair.

"Not if they just head to the basement like we told 'em to," Dante said doubtfully. "And that's if they don't run into any trouble on the way."

"You're forgetting what they have in their possession," Vergil replied confidently. "Providing that woman isn't as stupid as she looks, she should figure it out in no time."

"Hey, we didn't do too bad a job huh-" Nero started to say as he landed behind Lady. His words were cut off as a bright blue light filled his eyes and he suddenly found himself thrown backwards towards the stairwell. He managed to steady himself just in time to catch Lady before she fell into the pit below. "What the hell was that?!" Nero yelled over the high pitched noise that still lingered in the air.

"I-I'm sorry!" Lady said, gasping for breath.

"What did you do?!"

"I thought I might be able to…" Lady pushed herself away from Nero and slumped against the wall. "...I thought I might be able to open one of those portal things…" she said sheepishly, avoiding Nero's gaze.

"Why would you- You know what, never mind," Nero said, rubbing his chest. Having the full weight of Lady and the Kalina Ann crash into him unexpectedly had done nothing to help the dark bruising that still covered his ribcage. He looked down the hallway, which was now nothing more than a dark tunnel. "What was he thinking…" he mumbled, reaching down to help Lady to her feet.

Lady quickly returned the Yamato to its sheath but hesitated before securing it to her belt. She looked up at Nero. "Maybe you can…"

"No way," Nero said immediately. "I'm not touching that thing; too many bad memories." His right hand twitched slightly.

"Come on, Nero!" Lady protested. "He must have given it to me for a reason; perhaps he was intending for you to use it!"

"I have my own sword, thanks," Nero said, revving the Red Queen.

"Can your sword make portals?" Lady asked teasingly.

"It doesn't have to," Nero said, walking back over to their rope. He reached as high as he could, preparing to start cutting away at the material to form a new one. "Besides, I thought you couldn't stand those things; the last thing we need is for you to be too ill to fight as well."

"Emergency situations require emergency solutions," Lady shrugged. "C'mon, think about it - Vergil is hardly the type to just throw his precious sword away for no reason. There's no way he could have expected me to be able to use it so-"

"Forget it," Nero said, tugging on the rope.

"Hey, wait a sec," Lady said, placing a hand on Nero's shoulder. He gave her a quizzical look and lowered his arm. "If you're going to insist on doing this the hard way, we might as well work with as much material as we can," Lady said.

"What do you mean?"

"If I sit on your shoulders, we'll be able to retrieve more rope," she explained. She suppressed her laughter as a deep blush started to spread across Nero's face, visible even through the soot.

"You wouldn't be able to cut it with your arm injured the way it is," Nero said quickly, turning away from her. "B-Besides, we should have more than enough-"

"Don't worry, I won't tell Kyrie," Lady said, punching Nero lightly in the arm. "Besides, it's your fault for being so stubborn."

"But-"

"We don't have time to argue," Lady said sternly, leaning the Kalina Ann and the Yamato against the wall. "Now come on, kneel down."

"Maybe we could-"

"You're the one making this harder than it needs to be," Lady said, placing her hands on Nero's shoulders and pushing down on him with surprising force. Nero let out a reluctant sigh and lowered himself enough to allow Lady to climb on top. With slight difficulty, he stood up again, balancing himself on what remained of the staircase rails and the nearest wall. Lady reached into a holster on her left thigh and retrieved a small knife. "Okay, hold still," she instructed.

Nero stared straight ahead as Lady got to work, trying to distract himself by seeing if he could remember the layout of the block of apartments from the few times he had been there. Just as Lady declared that she was almost done, he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye and managed to turn in time to see the Yamato disappearing into the darkness. "Shit!" he cried out, quickly lowering Lady to the ground before chasing after it.

"Hey, what gives?" Lady called after him. She hastily ripped the rest of the rope free, slung it and the Kalina Ann over her shoulder, then ran towards Nero. By the time she managed to catch up, Nero was engaged in combat with what appeared to be a group of shadowy figures.

"They're after the Yamato!" Nero called over his shoulder as his sword collided with various fangs and talons. The enemies had ganged up on him, and he was using all of his remaining strength to try and hold them back as they attacked from what seemed to be the walls and ceiling. The Yamato lay on the floor beneath his feet, and in addition to deflecting attacks with his sword, the sound of his gun rang out every few seconds as he tried to prevent the Yamato from being taken again.

"Leave him alone!" Lady yelled, firing a shot into the writhing group and dispersing them momentarily.

"Take it!" Nero shouted, kicking the Yamato towards her. She managed to grab it just as a slimy tendril wrapped itself around the hilt. With a disgusted cry, she swung the Kalina Ann at the creature and yanked the sword free.

"It hurts... " the creature hissed, much to her surprise.

"What-"

"Mama, why is the bad man hurting us? "

"I love you darling… "

"I'll never leave you. "

"What the hell are they saying?" Nero asked, swinging his sword in a large fiery arc and sending some of the shadows flying. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air.

"Mmm, what's for dinner tonight? "

"Why are the hallways always so dirty here…"

"They're talking nonsense," Nero panted, unleashing a round of bullets into an unseen enemy behind Lady's back.

"Wait…" Lady said, her voice shaking slightly. She jolted as something wrapped itself around her ankle.

"Pretty …"

"Let me go!" she said, weakly trying to pull herself free.

"What are you doing?!" Nero yelled, slicing through her unseen assailant. "Did you forget how to fight?!"

"Listen to them, Nero!" Lady cried, trying to steady her voice. "Something's not right!"

"We don't have time for this!" Nero replied, pushing Lady aside as the group of enemies merged together again and rushed towards them.

"I hope we have enough detergent left for this… "

"There goes my rent this month… "

The murmurs were cut off as Nero revved his sword and cut through a group of shadows. "T-They just keep coming!" he gasped as the creatures he had split in half began to merge together again.

"Let's get out of here!" Lady said, trying to drag Nero away.

"No way," Nero said resolutely. "We can't risk these things escaping outside. We'll just have to keep going until they give up!"

"Nero, just listen to me for once!" Lady said, angrily grabbing Nero's hair and forcing him to look into her eyes. "You asked earlier if the residents had managed to escape - well here's your answer!" she turned his gaze towards the approaching shadows and watched his face fall as realisation set in.

"Th-They're just pretending…" he said, shakily trying to raise his sword again. "Trying to trick us so we won't kill them…" He watched as the creatures approached them, obscured by the darkness and the dust that still swirled through the air. He and Lady were backed up against the furthest wall of what remained of the hallway. The only way out would be through the things in front of them.

"Help me… "

"Free us… "

"Maybe this is why they want the Yamato," Lady said, clutching the sword by her side.

"How could they have known about it though?" Nero asked, aiming his gun in front of him.

"The power released by that guy exploding is all throughout this building," Lady said. "It's not surprising that they'd pick up a few things here and there."

"So what now?" Nero asked, staring ahead. "...They don't seem to be attacking."

"Maybe we can help them," Lady said, carefully unsheathing the Yamato. As the blade came into view, the shadowy mass seemed to grow in size, completing blocking their view of anything but each other.

"I don't think that seems like such a good idea," Nero said, feeling himself start to sweat more as the temperature somehow rose even further.

"Give it to me! "

"It's mine! "

"Screw this!" Nero said as the mass started to rush forward. He fired a round of bullets, clearing enough space for him to be able to swing his sword upwards. "These things are too far gone to help!" he yelled over the high pitched hissing that suddenly filled the air.

"Maybe you're right…" Lady said sadly. She fired the Kalina Ann and rolled into the small space it opened up. "But I have to at least try…" She quickly ripped some of the material free from the rope they had made and hastily wrapped it around the Yamato and the Kalina Ann until she had created a makeshift bayonet parallel to the one current one, only much longer, and much more powerful.

With some effort, she raised the modified weapon and ran back into the fray. The Yamato cut through the shadowy creatures effortlessly, and she watched in mild disgust as they split in half, spraying a thick black liquid into the air before falling to the ground in a charred mess. Before she could even fully comprehend what had happened, she felt her arms move again, almost as if on their own, and she stepped towards the next enemy. Nero stopped his own barrage of attacks and stood back as Lady got to work. Within a few minutes, all that remained of their assailants was a smoking pile of melted skin and a few bones. Lady yanked her weapon out of the torso of the final creature and slowly turned to face Nero, panting heavily. She was coated head to toe in black slime. Through the dusty air, it almost looked as if her eyes were glowing.

"Well, I guess that's one way to help them…" Nero said, cautiously walking over to her with his hands raised slightly.

"We were too late to save them…" Lady said quietly, tossing the weapon aside. As soon as the Yamato left her grasp, she fell to her knees and let out a pained growl, grabbing onto her right arm.

"Adrenaline's a bitch, huh?" Nero said, kneeling down next to her. "Still, that was amazing! I never would have thought of doing something like that-"

"It wasn't meant to happen this way," Lady mumbled, staring at a small skull in front of her. Despite being almost completely devoid of flesh, it still wore an expression of fear somehow.

"Hey come on, there's no way we'd have been able to help them, you must know that," Nero said. "You said as much yourself about that guy back at Vergil's apartment-"

"This was different," Lady said, pushing Nero away and getting to her feet. "If I'd only been more competent…"

"No-one knows how to use this thing correctly except him ," Nero said, picking up the modified Kalina Ann. "And even he probably couldn't have done anything for anyone this far gone."

Lady's mind flashed back briefly to the memory of her father in the moments before she had ended his life. Had he not looked similar to these creatures just minutes before? She shook her head. "You're right," she said coldly. "Come on, let's find Vergil and Dante."

"...Something isn't right," Vergil said, looking up.

"You don't say," Dante said, casually inspecting one of his guns. He aimed it at the spot he had attacked with his sword and fired a few rounds. Not even so much as a dent was left behind.

"They should have been here by now."

"Maybe they decided to head to the basement like we, you know, told 'em to?" Dante suggested, holstering his gun.

"No, they're still above us," Vergil said. "They've been in the same spot for a while."

"You do realise how creepy that is, right?" Dante said, looking over at his brother. "You'll never manage to keep a girl if she finds out you can stalk her everywhere."

"I'm tracking the Yamato, you imbecile," Vergil growled.

"Maybe they dropped it?"

"Surely not…"

"To heck with this," Dante said suddenly, shakily getting to his feet and picking up his sword again. "I'm not just going to sit here and be useless while our friends do all the fighting."

"Dante, we've talked about this."

"Well, obviously I just need to try a different approach," Dante said, taking a deep breath. "If we can't go down, we'll go out!" He mustered what remained of his demonic strength and charged towards the back wall, the tip of his sword aimed at an area with the least amount of debris covering it. A deep shockwave filled the room and Dante found himself thrown backwards by the force, his sword remaining firmly impaled in the wall. "See, progress!" he said smugly.

As he tried to stand up, the small room around them began to shake. Dante looked up just in time to see the layers above them starting to cave in. He quickly threw himself over Vergil as a shower of stone and plaster fell on top of them, pinning them to the ground. Had it not been for Dante rolling them out of the way at the last minute, they would have been crushed completely. Once the dust had settled, Dante looked down to find Vergil beneath him, glaring into his eyes with an expression of pure hatred.

"Remove yourself from my presence immediately," Vergil said icily.

Dante tried desperately to push the rubble away, only to find that it wouldn't budge. He gulped and turned to face his brother again. He forced a shaky grin. "I, uh, have some bad news…"

A/N - Hey everyone! I'm so sorry this has taken so long to update - and you're just getting a 'Part 1' after all that!
I won't bore you by going into all the details of why it's taken so long, but let's just say that being an essential worker with shift work during the Covid situation makes having any energy left for writing a bit difficult...

This was meant to be a grand 'final chapter', but I realised if I tried to write it all, it would take me literally forever to finish and it's already been long enough. I actually started writing this in... April I want to say? But actually ended up re-writing it about three times, and I'm still not 100% satisfied. I think the pressure of it being the last chapter was getting to me a bit too, which is why I've decided I'll split it into two parts and give myself some more time.

I really wish there was an easier way to update people on here lol. But thank you everyone who has been waiting, and hopefully the FINAL chapter won't take so long (I may still need a while though, sorry!)