Lady Deadly Nightshade: Disclaimer: I do not own Devil May Cry or anything that pertains to them. I only own the character Gabriel and Amara, but she will not show up much in this fic.  Blah, blah, blah. ^_^

Lady Deadly Nightshade: I finally updated the story to Chapter 9. *looks around at the empty room* I realized I've lost most of my reviewers, but for the faithful few that remained (my two wonderful friends that never fail to review my stories. As a special Thank you, I dedicate the chapter to you guys, Ms. Flower and Ms. Luna.) Thank you very much! I wasn't going to upload anymore, but I never leave something not finished. I'm not a quitter damn it! So enough of my rant and on to the story! ^_^ 

Chapter 9- The Underworld and the Dark Fortress

            Gabriel still on his knees halted the flow of his tears. Tears were not going to help the situation, actions were. He had to save them, he had to be brave for them and with renewed determination, and he rose to his feet. He reached into his pocket and took out the keys he would need to open the portal to the underworld to rescue them.

            Damn, he cursed inwardly eyeing the keys. Trish never told him how to use them to open up the portal. He balled up his fist and struck the wall hard in frustration. Now what was he going to do? His hand throbbed in pain but he ignored it. Just when he had overcome one problem, another arose. He decided to walk back into the room, maybe there was some clue in there.

            He stepped back into the room to see the Shadow's carcasses littered all over the floor. He had only taken a few steps forward when the Shadow's bodies shifted and revealed flashing cores. "This can't be good." He said taking a step back; he quickly lunged out of the room as a loud explosion reverberated from the room. He sat up off the floor of the hallway and released a deep breath of relief. "That was too close." He got back onto his feet and walked back into the room.

            The explosion from the shadows had destroyed the room, but the blast had also destroyed part of a wall. Behind the half-crumbled wall stood a large door. On closer inspection, Gabriel saw some strange niches that had the same shapes as the keys in his pocket. He wasted no time; he reached into his pocket and placed the keys in their designated niche. Now only the niche for the amulet remained empty. He reached under his shirt and reluctantly took off the amulet. He placed it in the niche and stepped back to wait for whatever was coming next. The door opened and revealed a red-lighted portal. The light of the portal engulfed the room, giving everything a reddish tint.

            Before he stepped toward the portal, he glanced down at the amulet. Something in his mind informed him that he would need it, but if he took it would it close the portal. Only one way to find out, he thought as he reached out for it. He picked up the red-jeweled amulet and the portal remained opened. He put the amulet around his neck and tucked it back under his shirt. "Here we go." He said staring into the portal and he stepped into it.

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            Gabriel flew out of the portal, landing on all fours on the hard grassy ground. The transportation through the portal had left him slightly dizzy and he remained on the ground for a few minutes to collect himself. He stood off the ground, patted the dust off his clothes, adjusted his coat and glanced around. The sky was a bright red making it appear as if it were on fire. Yet the climate was normal, if not cooler then the normal world. Gabriel could see a large dark fortress looming in the distance. It didn't look that far. Something told him that the fortress was his destination, but for now, trees and plants surrounded him. He assumed he was in a forest or garden of some sort.

            Where ever he was there wasn't any time to waste, he needed to get to the fortress. There was a small path amongst the trees and he decided to follow it out. He had barely reached the edge of the forest when he heard a loud screech pierce the tranquility of the forest. He quickly pivoted around and faced a couple of thick bushes that were rustling and shaking. He watched the bush curiously as two large lizards known as Blades emerged from them.

            "Great just what I need," He replied sarcastically.

            A blade released a menacing screech at him and lunged at him. Gabriel quickly ducked and rolled out of the way. As he got to one knee, he unsheathed Alastor, just as the blade loomed above him, and with a quick thrust, he impaled Alastor deep into the Blades chest. Gabriel rolled out of the way; as the Blade's lifeless, body fell onto the ground where he had just been. One down one to go, he thought glancing over at the dead Blade.

            Before he could move, the other Blade attacked him, pinioning Gabriel onto the floor. Gabriel was trapped but his arms were still free and he quickly used them to pull out Ebony & Ivory from their holsters. As soon as he pulled them out, he sent bullets blazing at the Blade, causing green blood to splatter all over Gabriel and his clothes. The Blade tried to retreat and Gabriel rolled to keep it in his aim. He continued to shoot until the Blade fell to a lifeless heap on the ground. Gabriel raised himself to his feet and placed the smoking guns back into their holsters.

            "That was easy." He said panting, trying to gather his breath. He walked over to the other dead blade and pulled Alastor from the creature's chest. He sheathed the sword to his back and headed back toward the fortress.

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            He walked until he reached the gate of the fortress. The giant doors were locked and Gabriel once again had to use Alastor to slash the lock away. The doors swung open and Gabriel walked into a large courtyard. He surveyed the courtyard for any movement and found none. He walked up the stone steps and stood beside the door, Alastor already in his hand to break open the doors, but the door opened on its own accord. Allowing Gabriel to enter into an enormous room, the room contained two grand stairwells that led to a second floor where they connected with a large set of double doors. The room also contained statues of gargoyles in all the niches around the wall. All of the gargoyle statues had their wings spread out and held a human skull in its claws.

            Gabriel's boots tapped lightly on the marble floor as he walked over to the stairs. He climbed up on one of the grand stairwells and headed toward the double doors. As soon as he stepped in front of them, they swung open. He peered into the room; it was dark except for the opposite side, which shone above an unconscious woman. The woman was chained against the wall.

            "Trish!" Gabriel called out as he rushed into the room. He reached her side and tried to pry off the shackles that held her, but to no avail. "Damn it!" He growled in frustration. He turned to look at Trish. "Trish, can you hear me?" He asked her. He got no response from her. She was out cold.

            The loud bang of the doors closing shut brought Gabriel's attention to the front of the room. The whole room illuminated brightly as light flooded it. There by the doors stood a Nelo Angelo and beside him, clad all in red (including blank red glowing eyes), with Sparda in his hands stood Gabriel's father Dante Sparda.

            Gabriel knew he was trapped. Nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, his only option was to fight. Reluctantly he unsheathed Alastor from his back and held it by his side. He didn't want to fight his father, but if he had to fight him to survive then so be it.

Lady Deadly Nightshade: Chapter 9 is complete! The story is almost finished as well. So please review! See ya later peeps!