Author's Note: I own nothing from Bayonetta.

Chapter 9: The Ark

The Prophet shook his head at the scene unfolding in front of him; the Valor he had sent being dragged into Inferno, and the troublesome duo sent deeper into the catacombs of Noatun. He had not banked on the experiment also being there, but it was not an unexpected move from the puppet. Did he expect what had transpired to happen? Yes. Did that mean he had to like it?

Absolutely not.

He stood up, one hand on his face in a mixture of embarrassment, boredom and expectancy. Waving away the image, he stopped shaking his head and turned to the right. Pacing in a small line in front of his throne, he began to ponder, ponder about what to do next.

"Typically," He began aloud, his voice easily carrying around the large room. "I go and help Balder right about now. But I, for one, have never tried not helping him."

He paused and rolled his eyes. "Right. Now I remember; that doesn't work."

Continuing in his pacing, he returned to his original train of thought. "I do think the correct cause of action is to help him, but if he is just going to betray me later…"

He let out a bark of laughter at his unspoken suggestion. "Do it out of the goodness of my heart? I know what I am, and I am not a good person. "

"Well, it will not be another failure." He then recalled that Valor would probably be long dead by now. "Well, actually it is. But these pawns can no longer serve my purposes."

He waved his hand, and a small blue portal opened up in the centre of the room. Walking towards it, the Prophet felt lightheaded as his spirit abandoned his physical form, and it fell backwards in a heap.

"Power must be held in my own hands to truly be attained!" He smirked as the small portal began to react and warp reality around him. Letting it settle a few seconds later, he found himself staring up at the Cathedral of Cascades for the first time in his life.

"And that's only because I normally look down upon it." He reminded himself, letting his ire fill. Taking a small note of the ruin that was the top of the building, and the freshly destroyed bridge strewn up the mountainside, he figured that they would already be well on their way.

"To the Gates then." He let reality fold around him, taking him to his destination.

He did, however, miss the curious mortal staring at him through a pair of enchanted lenses, utterly confused and worried at the implication.

"Who the hell was that?"

…

The Lumen Sage pushed passed the crowd in front of him and stormed into the cathedral, his entire body shaking with rage.

He had been this close to ascertaining his revenge on the boy, and then even closer to finishing off the blight that was the Umbra Witches from this world forever. They would both be dead, their souls being judged into eternal damnation for their sins, if it wasn't for that meddling Sage.

Who was that? The Sage could wield both powers that were only accessible to one of the clans, and powers that seemingly no one could ever master. Could he beat him? Easily. From what he had seen, the Sage was relatively inexperienced, and he knew how to turn raw power into arrogance, and arrogance into a downfall.

Whether the surroundings survived or not was another story.

He stepped into the cathedral proper, and immediately his Eye and senses tingled. Not caring for the mortals that saw, he stepped into Purgatorio to watch as an armoured angel plummeted through the floor in front of him, two small figures following it. Frowning slightly, he jumped after them, his glaive appearing in a flash and ready to slow his descent if need be. Landing in the water with a small splash, he continued to observe the one-sided battle with curiosity.

Watching with apathy as the angel was trapped by a demon, he noticed the floor underneath them was hollow. It seemed the angel had noticed this too, and it swung its massive sword at the ground, splitting it in two and causing all other objects in the room to immediately be sucked towards it. Letting his glaive guide him, his eyes now burning on the witch, he followed after them, ignoring the screams and laughter of the angel behind him.

Jumping out of the steam and slamming his glaive horizontally through the wall, he twisted up onto the makeshift platform and watched as the witch landed gracefully onto her feet like a cat, the impostor Sage in a crater on his back and the boy into the water itself.

"Fuck!" The boy cried out as he resurfaced. "Why am I the only one stuck in the drink?"

"Shut up." The Sage glowed green as his healing spell took effect. "At least you landed on something soft."

"Come on; you could have landed on your feet instead of taking that fall like a champ." The witch pulled him to his feet, and the Sage glared daggers at her.

How did she not know? Did she not care?

"Just where are we, anyway?" The imposter asked as he pulled the kid out of the water.

"Well, I can say for certain that we are further away than when we started." Loki answered nonchalantly. "But this place… it is familiar to me…"

The Sage tilted his head slightly. The child had no memory? No matter; justice and vengeance will be served. At least it was returning to him. He surmised that he could let his memory return, then kill him. Let him understand the full weight of his actions.

"There should be…" The child then dove back into the water, disappearing into the murky waters. The Sage frowned, and peered closely at the depths. He could see an outline of something in the water, but to his knowledge it was just a giant rock.

He did know better. Very rarely was a giant rock just a giant rock in a Sage's life.

The water glowed blue, then the rock surfaced itself with a roar, strange sigils glowing along its hull. Sigils he recognised from the Prophet.

What had the spirit not told him?

"What is this? Some sort of boat?" The impostor asked, staring at the hull in fascination.

"An ark, to be exact." Loki answered. "I- Aesir used to use these to traverse the depths of the oceans if he needed to. If you two are willing, I think I may know a way on this ark to a shortcut to the gates."

"On this thing?" The witch raised an eyebrow. "I do hope you know where you are going, little one."

"I do!" The Sage dropped down and into the water with a silent splash, swimming up to the ark. "If we continued to Fimbulventr, we would have had to go down the mountain and underneath it anyway. This circumnavigates that."

"I think he is right." The Impostor nodded his head as the Sage split his glaive and slammed both ends into the hull, forming two handholds for him. "And besides, worst case scenario is that we don't get to the Gates, but get to the mountain itself. I say we try it."

"Just try to hold on, mate." He watched with anticipation as the Sage and Witch climbed onto the ark, the Sage summoning his katana and sticking it point first into the hull. The witch merely activated her witch walk and stuck herself on, her hands on her hips as the boy placed his hands onto the hull, it glowing brighter at the response of his touch.

"Next stop, the Gates of Hell!" Loki called out gleefully, and the Sage smiled.

Revenge would be his.

…

Damien stared at Bayonetta. She stared back at him.

Loki merely rolled his eyes and turned back to face the pair.

"You know, I've never seen you two this quiet before." He began, humour bolstering his words. "Or quiet at all."

"Sometimes little one, you need to remember what you have." The witch answered, breaking eye contact with the man and looking over to the crouching pilot. "And take in what everything is."

"Or…" Damien added in a huff, rolling his eyes. "You both think you sensed something, and you are looking over to the person that might have also sensed it for confirmation."

"Wait… what?" Loki immediately turned around, scanning the view in front of them. "You've sensed some- oh, I sense it too."

"I'm pretty sure it's a demon." The winged man turned to Bayonetta, and she nodded.

"An Insidious. One of the, if not the biggest, demon." She turned around, looking behind them. "But what I want to know now is why Infernals, of all things are after me?"

"You are their overseer." Damien pointed out. "They might think that killing you will allow them unrestricted access to Purgatorio, and by extension the mortal realm."

"That's not how it works." A fist appeared next to her and she fist-bumped it. "At least someone is keeping their part of the contract."

"It's not like I have a choice." He answered, glancing around.

Bayonetta frowned as something appeared behind them in her periphery. "And I think it just found us. Prepare yourself little one; we may be in for a bumpy ride."

"You concentrate on the Infernal, love." Loki leaned forward, and the ark's speed increased as well. "We are nearly there."

They both saw it at the same time, and they both hardened at the prospect of the upcoming battle.

A giant manta ray shaped Infernal was gliding towards them, its two fin eyes staring at the ark. The skull shaped stomach grinned at them, and Damien glared back at it. Bayonetta reached over her shoulders and grabbed her guns, smirking slightly at the demon.

"What a party crasher. Shall we kick him out?" She glanced over at him, and he drew out Shuraba.

"The eyes look like its weak point." He studied the eyelids, noting their thickness.

"Most correct." She jumped up. "Insidious's eyes contain its brain, since most of it is empty space for its meals."

Damien joined her as the Infernal roared. Loki glanced back, noted that he was actually being chased, then hit the accelerator so to speak.

The Insidious swam above them, and then its skull opened, and torpedos flew out at the ark. Loki cursed and swerved to the side, brushing up against the wall of the trench they were in. The winged man sent a blade beam at the left eye, but it was ineffectual against the thick skin. It rotated around and slammed the ark further into the wall.

"PDEE BARMA!" Bayonetta implored, and Madama Butterfly answered by grabbing onto the fin, tearing the top half off and then started to claw at the eyelid.

"PDEE BARMA!" Damien gestured, and Madama Khepri joined her fellow Infernal. They both grabbed onto an eyelid and tore it open, leaving the eyeball exposed to the elements. The winged man tossed his katana as a spear into its iris, and Bayonetta sent a wicked punch after it. The Shuraba drove itself deeper into the eye, and the fist exploded it. The pair of demons released the Insidious, then drew their fists back and punched the stomach to send it back. The second eye opened, and Loki turned around and saw his opportunity.

"Now!" Four cards appeared above his head, and they glowed bright blue. Energy crackled from them and flowed into his palm, and then he splayed it out and shot a bright blue laser at the final eye, burning through it and killing it instantly.

The two Madama's looked at the boy, impressed. Nodding their heads, they melted back into portals and disappeared from

"Well, that was easy." The young god turned around, a wry grin on his face. Bayonetta smiled back at him, and Damien resummoned the Shuraba back to his hand, his face in a small smirk. "Shall we continue then?"

A shadow passed over them and the ark exploded as a pair of lasers sliced through it. Another Insidious grinned at them, and then its stomach mouth opened.

Then all went dark as pieces of debris smashed into the backs of their head.

…

Bayonetta opened her eyes to see Damien crawling groggily over to her, his eyes trying to focus. Something sticky and pink was underneath her, and it felt fleshy under her body.

"Hey…" She called out, reaching for him. He grabbed her hand and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself and centre his mind. "You ok?"

"I'm fine…" He whispered, his hand tightening. "I should have seen it coming…"

"It's ok." She began to pull herself up, keeping him still. "Insidious travel in pairs. I should have remembered that."

"Where's…" He opened his eyes and looked around. "Loki?"

"Oh fuck!" She whirled around, her eyes frantically trying to find the missing boy. "Little one? Loki!?"

"Don't panic…" She felt a hand on her shoulder. "He's still here, I can sense him."

"There's too many paths!" She cried out in frustration. "We aren't ever going to fi-"

"Bayonetta, calm." She heard him whisper under his breath, and then felt a spell enter her. Instantly her mind cleared, and then she focussed. "Think."

"Are you one hundred percent?" She asked, her mind whirring.

"About eighty." He was now standing next to her. "You want to take the right passage?"

"I was thinking the left." She answered, her lips curling into a small smile. "I'll reach you in the stomach?"

"Stomach?" He looked at her, eyebrow raised. "Wouldn't the left lead to the lungs?"

"You aren't thinking laterally." She walked forward, Love is Blue dropping into her hands. "Don't get complacent now!"

He smiled and ran into the right. Entering the oesophagus tube, she warily explored the interior of the demon, trying to find their little friend.

Several portals to Inferno opened up, and several demons stalked out of each of them. Rolling her eyes at the Hideous that growled at her, she watched them slink around and surround her.

"You are some naughty boys, you know that?" She took her stance as they hissed at her. "Why are you now, of all times, deciding to betray your contracts and take your little problem up with me?"

They screamed at her, and she winked back.

They launched themselves forward and she answered with a cry, Madama Butterfly launching out of the wall to aid her contracted.

Within seconds, they were all dead. Glancing at the wall, shivering in repulsion at the fleshy substance, she continued down the passageway.

…

Damien walked into the stomach, his eyes darting around, looking for a sight of either the Lumen Sage or Loki. Shuraba flickered into his fingers as he walked forward, trying to find any clues to the whereabouts of the missing pair.

His attention went up, and he saw Loki trapped in a bulbous sac, filled with a red liquid. He had been swallowed or something, and the impact from the Insidious was apparently enough to have knocked him out.

"Loki!" He called out, hoping for something in response. The young god continued to sleep, and the winged man cursed. A flying white and gold object from behind him surprised him momentarily, but several gunshots from the witch arriving from his right broke him out of his stunned state.

The Sage merely waved his hand, and time stood still. Collecting the bullets, he moved faster than light and seeming teleported behind her, releasing and changing their path to into her back. Cursing, the witch threw herself out of their path, and the Sage jumped back at the boy, his glaive held out.

To Damien's relief, Bayonetta also recovered and jumped up after the flying Sage.

…

The Sage glanced at her in surprise, but readjusted his attention back to the sac in front of them

"If I didn't know any better." She began casually, a small smile gracing her lips. "I would say you are the most persistent stalker I have ever met."

The Sage returned his attention to her slowly, almost in shock and indignation at her words.. Winking at him, she twirled around in a kick and launched him back towards the floor of the stomach. Sending down a hail of bullets, she watched with an impressed look as he both separated his glaive and twirled the pieces around, deflecting and blocking each projectile as it came. Throwing both ends in two wicked arcs at her, Bayonetta contorted like a dancer to dodge the attacks, her limbs showing their dexterity as she allowed the halves to pass over and underneath her and boomerang back to their owner. He caught them as he landed, reattaching the two back into the glaive and putting his attention on the winged man behind him.

"And here I thought you were our type." She landed and tilted her head as both Damien and she began to circle the trapped Sage. "Looks like I was all wrong about you."

"Step away, Lumen Sage." The Sage pointedly ignored her and pointed his glaive at her brother. "This is not your fight."

"You threaten my family, you threaten me." Damien's lips were tight as he finished, his eyes focused on the Sage in front of him. "So you have made it mine."

"You have no sins." The Sage dropped his glaive and gestured to both Bayonetta and Loki. "I do not wish to slay what is not more than necessary!"

"Is there something you aren't telling me, sister?" Damien asked aloud, his eyes not leaving the man in white.

"Unless someone has taken the memory, there's nothing I have personally done to this Sage, or any Sage yet." She answered, shooting a heart into the stomach above them, spilling out its contents around them. The Insidious groaned in pain, and all three glanced at the walls of the stomach, hesitant to start.

"Are you including your father in that?" He reminded her, and the Sage whirled around and focused on her.

"Your father was a Lumen Sage?" He snarled, the voice distorted by the mask. "Impossible! The tenets were never broken!"

"Well, they were." Bayonetta smirked. "And I'm the result of it."

She could make out Damien's eyes beginning to glow. She understood what he was doing and decided to try and occupy the Sage's attention.

"You lie!" The Sage was trembling in fury. "No other Sage broke the Tenets, for fear of unleashing the chaos of light and dark on the world, and bring forth the prophecy!"

She paused. Damien paused.

Three full seconds passed.

Something in that sentence didn't mesh well with her. She tilted her head with confusion. "What did you just say?"

They were both interrupted by a roar of pure fury, and the Sage disappeared into a puff of blood, feathers and light. Throwing up a small witchtime spell, she barely managed to release it in time when the Sage activated his light speed.

Damien froze, his hands out-stretched and his face contorted with rage. Bayonetta stared at him in confusion, then turned her attention back to the Lumen Sage who was dragging themselves back up to their feet.

"What is your problem!?" The Sage roared at the immobilised man. "My thoughts are mine and mine alone; you are not allowed to see them!"

"He got through…" She whispered, and the Sage turned to her.

"Your friend has a lot to explain." His glaive snapped into his hand, and he pointed it at her. "After you pay for your sins, and the boy has answered for his!"

"Me?" She pulled herself into her stance, her eyes narrowed. "What did I do to you?"

"You have forgotten?" He hissed. "Then I will make you remember it!"

He clicked his fingers, and a stream of light burst in front of him. Cartwheeling to the left to avoid the trap, she flicked her guns into a ready position and began to fire one at the Sage's head. He summoned a small barrier, walking with it held out, deflecting each bullet as they came. Letting her hair fly from her body, she raised and slammed her foot, Madama Butterfly answering with a wicked stomp right onto the Lumen. The Sage bounced from the impact, and Bayonetta jumped up with an afterburner kick, immediately transitioning into a witch strike to throw the Sage up higher.

Grunting, the Sage tossed his glaive at her like a spear. Grabbing onto its hilt, she followed its path back to the Sage's hand back on the strange platform in the stomach, and then felt a punch to her jaw knock her off of the weapon. Not letting her recover, the Sage burst forward in a sliding kick, knocking her back and completely off balance. Letting his momentum carry him back into a standing position, he held his glaive out wide and swept it around his body, aiming for her stomach. Transforming into a dozen bats, she let the attack pass through her with no effect, and retransformed into a human with a cocky grin. She slammed both fists into his stomach, then sent one into an upper cut into his chin, then swept slow with her leg twice, the first knocking the Sage over, and the second keeping him in a tumbling state. Standing back up, she felt her hair leave her as she thrust at him with one leg, sending a weave at him. It crashed into the Sage and pushed him towards the end of the platform, knocking them both out of lightspeed and back into normal time. Damien burst forward, flying through nothing and straight through the stomach of the Insidious.

"Idiot." She cursed him lightly, only to see the Sage toss a feather into the air.

"OBELISON!"He roared, and Sapientia burst out of a portal and into the strange liquid surrounding them, his voice echoing throughout the chamber. Swimming around, the angel trained its head on her, its eyes glowing red in anger.

"CANILU!" Bayonetta answered, her hair flying off to summon Hydra behind her, its six heads trained on the Auditio in front of them both.

The Sage ran forward, his glaive spinning in his fingers. Twisting around, he launched himself in a torpedo attack. Stepping to the side, she kicked him in the stomach as he flew passed her, knocking him off course and over to the far left, knocking a resurfacing Loki back into the red waters behind them.

"Shit!" She cursed as Hydra finally reached the Auditio and began to bite and snap at it it. Sapientia roared and sent swipes in response to it, and the Lumen Sage slammed his palm into the ground, knocking her down and the Infernal back. The air surrounding him began to shine with a golden light as he began to levitate and the Auditio's head split apart to reveal four tentacles, each beginning to glow with energy.

Damien burst through the walls of the stomach, slamming into the Sage and knocking him out of the sky and interrupting his attack. Hydra crashed into the Auditio, and Bayonetta saw Loki pulling himself out of the liquid again.

"Little one!" She ran over and pulled him up, not caring about the stench. "Are you-?"

"Bayonetta!" He pointed over to the battling Sages. "Look out!"

Several blade energy beams burst off of the sword and impacted around the platform, sending more ripples through the Insidious.

"Why!?" The winged man was roaring. "Why you, of all people?!"

"What do you mean me of all people?" The Sage answered, kicking down the man to the ground. "I have been bought here to deliver justice to those who deserve it!"

"What justice!?" Damien screamed. "I know who you are, I know what you are!"

"Darling, who-" She tried, but was silenced by his glare.

"You know who he is!" The winged man shot her down with a growl. "You know exactly who he is!"

"Enough of this!" The Sage landed on his feet and splayed his hand out. Sapientia drew itself up behind him, and roared as missiles launched from its back, aimed at the trio. Damien summoned a barrier and stepped forward, only to be stopped by a gloved hand.

"You think I bought her along for the ride?" She smirked, and then six ear-splitting screams filled the air as Hydra bought its heads in front of them, sending the missiles off course and into the walls. The Insidious shuddered, and all four of them looked at the walls in apprehension.

The two celestial beings did not care and continued to fight each other. The four tentacles reappeared, and lasers shot out of them, aimed at Hydra. Letting the horns on its head split and deflect the beams, the Hydra bore down on the Auditio and wrapped its head around the neck.

The beams fired into the walls, burning and destroying the flesh, sending pain-filled screams throughout the Infernal. It shuddered, and they all fell, and a curious cylindrical object fell from the Sage's upper body, attached to his neck as a necklace. Her eyes narrowed, and then widened at it.

Her mother's lipstick?

The Sage noticed her gaze and grabbed the tube and shoved it back into the confines of his cloak. He grabbed his glaive and launched himself at them, only for the Insidious to explode apart, throwing all four of them in opposite directions and away from each other, each tumbling down to a strange collection of debris below.

Only Bayonetta realised that they weren't underwater anymore.