First off, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed my work. I really appreciate it. However I don't think I'll be able to write anything else for some time because of my exams. This is the last chapter and I'd like to thank everyone in advance for the help they've given me.
Chasm-for always reviewing my chapters at the beginning. Your feedback has been very useful.
Vampy Sparda- thanks for giving me feedback and thanks a lot for lending me one of your characters during the making of this fanfic. Not only that you got others to review my work as well. I owe you one. Thanks for being a friend.
Vergil Sparda- for giving me a laugh while reading my reviews. I got the hint and I figured out that maybe it was not a good idea to keep playing around with Dante's head like that. Lol. Two words. Blame Mundus.
Belldandy-sama: Well what more can I say? Advice, hints, tips and for being a friend. Thanks always. Not only that, but you also provided me with some good music to write to. Thanks. I appreciate it.
Everyone who reviewed. I'd like to say a big thank you. If anyone wants to somehow do a parody of this and just take the piss feel free to. Just get my permission first! I don't want to miss out on the fun! (Vampy Sparda maybe you'd like to take the challenge? Hint hint!)
I'm warning you all well in advance, I'm not that great at fight scenes!!! So don't flame me if you end up being disappointed!
And now on with the show.
Chapter 18
Arson slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Dante. His leg was paralysed in pain. He could no longer move it, and he still didn't have enough energy to trigger. His body was slippery with blood. Dante glared down at him, a smile on his face. He loved this. Watching his enemies suffer and weep at his feet.
Arson was crying now. Not out of fear at all. Anger. He suddenly managed to pull himself into a kneeling position. Shaking with exhaustion, he suddenly lunged at him, managing to hit Dante hard in the stomach.
Dante groaned slightly in pain but then straightened up again. He looked down at the boy in disgust and then grabbed him by the neck. Arson closed his eyes, fearing for the final blow that would kill him. Surprisingly, there was nothing. He chanced to open one eye, only to be hurled to the ground.
Dante hissed in sudden pain, his hands running to his head. Arson yelped in pain as he landed on his stomach, where he had been stabbed again. Dante's devil trigger was still going strong. Dante suddenly hurled himself at Arson. Arson screamed with panic just before Dante traded weapons for Ifrit and punched him in the stomach. It gave Arson the energy he needed. But again, something was wrong with his trigger. It hurt him to even try and transform, but yet instead of making him angry, he felt more at peace. The pain grew in a crescendo and then suddenly deserted him. Arson looked down at his hands eagerly, searching for any change but there was none. He had failed to transform.
Dante looked at Arson suddenly, as though in shock. Then he started laughing cruelly as he saw Arson's confusion. He had realized his mistake. The Ifrits had invigorated Arson instead of doing the opposite. Arson suddenly felt the flat of the blade knock into his head. He crumpled to the floor, his senses deserting him completely. Dante looked at his still form and smiled.
'Mundus…will be pleased,' he murmured. He gently picked up the young warrior and carried him out of the room, a smirk still playing on his face.
Rayne groggily woke up to find himself chained to a wall, beside Dawn. He looked towards her only to find that she was still out cold. He heard a sound from in front of him and frowned as he saw a silver haired man chaining up a bloodied mess to the wall in a similar fashion. His eyes widened in recognition.
'Arson!' Arson slowly opened his eyes and looked into the eyes of Dante. They were now a pale blue again, but they looked exhausted.
'Gran'pa?' he whispered weakly. Dante looked completely ashamed of himself. He tried to answer but then found he couldn't. It was then that Arson noticed that Dante too had manacles on his feet. He looked up at his elder's face again. 'Gran'pa?' he muttered thickly.
'Quiet. Just get some rest.'
'But…but why?' Arson's head suddenly slumped forward onto his chest. Dante shook his head almost regretfully. He turned around to see Rayne glaring at him.
'Jerk,' he growled. 'Man you should hear the way these two talk about you,' he said bitterly. 'They treat you with such respect. And now you do this to your own grandson. Some legend you are.'
'Not all legends are good…and anyway…this isn't my fault.'
'Then who's is it? The Great Mootah?' Dante looked confused.
'What?'
'You heard me!' Dante looked at him nonplussed.
'It wasn't my fault,' he repeated again.
'He's right,' said a voice softly. Rayne looked to see Dawn awake. 'Remember I told you that his scent was mixed. It was his own scent and that of Mundus'. You smelt him when you tried to attack him.' Dante quirked his eyebrows.
'You tried to attack Mundus?' Rayne nodded.
'She was in trouble.' Dante nodded his understanding and then moaned in pain again. The red glint returned to his eyes.
'Fight him, Dante!' cried Dawn. She struggled against her bonds but it didn't work. Dante gasped in pain and hunched over in agony, both hands to his side. He suddenly growled and somehow fought down the blinding rage that was welling up in him.
Dante shivered slightly.
'Y'see? Y'see what it's like? I won't be able to fight it off much longer. It wasn't this bad before. But it gets stronger each time.' Dawn's eyes met with those of Rayne as the cell door suddenly clicked open. A hooded figure walked slowly into the room. Arson opened his eyes and looked around in panic, unable to realise where he was.
He was in a room filled with water. It was rising slowly but steadily. He screamed, knowing only too well what would happen once it reached his body. He would die. The water and the cold would weaken him and force him to give up his life. He struggled, tears in his eyes.
'No! Let me go! Please let me go!'
Rayne and Dawn looked towards Arson as he struggled and as tears rolled down his face. However he made no sound of distress. He wasn't crying. It looked as though he were in the midst of a panic attack. He suddenly took a deep intake of breath, but did not breathe out. His head shook from side to side and he flailed helplessly against the bonds on his wrists and ankles.
Arson strained against the manacles, terror robbing him of all sense, of all understanding. The only thing he knew was that he was going to die unless he could find a way out. Dawn's eyes widened with horror. Dante looked at her.
'What is it?'
'Arson! Don't believe what you see, Arson! Don't believe it!'
Muffled voices were calling out to him, cackling and mocking him as his head became completely submerged by the water. He thrashed around wildly, trying to get at the voices. Laughing at him…they would be made to pay for that. How dare they laugh at him? But of course they would. He didn't have a single friend in this place. Those he thought he could trust, were also his enemies. His eyes turned into a shade of red again and forgetting himself in his rage, he roared his anger out, his breath escaping in huge air bubbles.
The hooded figure stepped back as though in surprise as Arson managed to break free. Instead of rushing in to attack, Arson simply lay on the floor, his eyes wide with fear, coughing and choking on air.
'Let him go!' cried someone. The hooded figure turned around only to have a head slamming straight into his stomach. Dawn watched in confusion as a girl crashed straight into the person before them. She flipped backwards, landing neatly on her feet and tried to run to Arson's side. Instead, a red spear like shape propelled itself forward, driving itself into her shoulder. The girl gasped in pain and whirled around. Dante's eyes narrowed as he remembered events.
He could still remember the white walls and the shining tiles of Mundus' throne room. He could even remember the scent of the room. It smelt of one thing and one thing only. Death. He caught sight of a silhouette at the door. Trish. She had died that day for him after he had been pierced with three of those energy bolts. He turned to face the hooded person, the identity revealed to him.
'Mundus!' he growled. The demon emperor simply laughed as the silhouette walked into the light of the room. Trish smiled almost smugly at Dante and then returned her attention to the tyrant that stood before her.
'Apparently he's taken the form of a Pyromancer,' she murmured softly. 'How very strange.'
'What was wrong with the statue, Mundus? Did it get a little cracked?' No answer. Mundus raised his staff and took aim. Dante tripped over his manacles at that point and lay sprawled out on the floor as flames raced overhead. Trish dodged to one side. Rayne's eyes widened as the fire streaked towards him. He braced himself for the attack but then opened his eyes to see that Arson stood in front of him, absorbing the energy.
'No more mind games, Mundus!' he said, his voice low. Dawn looked at him in surprise. She had been expecting Arson to have at least trembled with fear. But no sign of terror was on his face. His brown eyes were calm and his face emotionless. He really was a fool. Dawn frowned. Or maybe not.
A look of peace settled on his features and a thin white mist surrounded him. Arson winced slightly but then stood his ground as the aura grew in intensity and colour, dying his clothes white, and streaking his hair with gold. He had closed his eyes as the transformation took place but now he opened them, looking stunned at his own power. He looked towards Dante and Trish in bewilderment but then focused on Mundus again. Rayne flinched as Arson turned around to look at the two almost owlishly.
'Hey! Arse-wipe! Instead of staring at us as if you've been hit with a shoe you could at least get us out of here!' Arson blinked once and then grinned before turning around, leaving Rayne to fume. Instead, he simply bent down and touched the chains that bound Dante's feet. They seemed to melt and come away instantly, leaving Dante freed. Dante smirked.
'Oh yeah! It's payback time!' he smiled dangerously. Mundus had frozen almost in awe when he had seen Arson's spectacular change but now he was fully in command of his own actions. His eyes, hidden by the hood, quickly looked around the cell and settled on Xyphos, who was crouched down, one hand to her shoulder. Arson seemed to sense his intentions and ran to protect her as two feathery white wings unfolded from either side of his body. He felt the soothing warmth of the flames but quickly grabbed Xyphos, at the same time feeling some of his power desert him as a purple sphere surrounded the two. The flames bounced off the force-field and scattered in different directions. Arson felt Xyphos shudder slightly in his arms and held her closer to him, his eyes narrowing.
Trish and Dante had seized their chance when they saw Mundus' confusion. Obviously he had no idea of how to deal with a guy who had to ability to turn into an angel. Dante would have laughed at his lack of sense. Had he not been able to feel Arson's aura? He was suddenly thrown to the ground as Mundus chose to transform again.
Trish backed off as Mundus suddenly turned into a puddle full of sludge. Her eyes widened.
'Well this is new!' Dante sat up and took in the sight.
'Trish if they had an award for making understatements, you'd win hands down.'
'Oh shut up!' she snapped.
Arson looked on in silence, his eyes taking in everything. The pool seemed to expand to fill up most of the room. He backed away and into a wall, still holding Xyphos. The pool suddenly contracted and turned into the shape of a huge bird. Dante groaned.
'I don't get this! First he's Nightmare and then he's Griffon?' Arson looked at him questioningly and cocked his head to one side in bewilderment. Mundus took off into the air.
'You fools! Time has passed! Surely you would have thought my skills would have improved? You underestimated me, and you shall die because of it!' Mundus sent out two powerful red laser, knocking Rayne and Dawn out cold and then flapped his powerful wings thrice. Arson's wings billowed outwards like sails, pushing him backwards. Xyphos looked over his shoulder and screamed as she saw that they were heading directly for a lance that was protruding out of the wall.
'Arson! Your wings!' Arson looked over his shoulder, taking in the situation with a single glance. He tried to pull his wings in, but the force of the wind was too strong. He dropped Xyphos quickly before he was launched straight into it. His eyes automatically dimmed as he struggled to pull himself free. Luckily for him, it had pierced his stomach.
Dante and Trish both looked up at the huge bird. Trish had no firearms to speak of, and neither did he. Mundus was out of range for their attacks. They were completely vulnerable to all of his. Dante cursed under his breath as he back flipped away from a thunderbolt. Xyphos suddenly ran up and launched herself at Mundus, snatching Dante's sword away from the devil hunter.
Mundus shrieked with pain as Xyphos drove the sword into Mundus' eyes, blinding him. Xyphos fell back down in an awkward heap as Mundus transformed yet again into Phantom. Dante and Trish scattered in different directions as Mundus crashed down into the spot where they had both been a minute ago. Dante whirled around and quickly jumped onto his back, slashing away repeatedly at him before he was knocked off heavily by a vicious swing from Mundus' tail. He was promptly deafened by his agonized scream as Trish charged at Mundus and attacked his back straight afterwards. Mundus bucked wildly, flinging her into a wall and knocking her into unconsciousness.
Dante slowly got onto his feet and gasped when his eyes met the new form of Mundus.
'Shit!'
A familiar figure stood in front of him, clad in black armour and wielding a huge blue sword. Nelo Angelo. Virgil. His brother. Dante knew better, even though the sight of this knight saddened him and caused him a deep pain. He snarled and crouched down into his fighter's stance. He suddenly smiled thinly.
'You know…I won't be able to fight to my best abilities in this crowded room.'
'It should make no difference, boy. You'll die no matter the size of the room.' Another smirk.
'Whatever.'
'However, it's been a while since I've had the good fight.' Mundus grabbed Dante roughly before disappearing in a haze of blue smoke, taking Dante with him.
Trish regained her senses shortly afterwards. She could hear a steady dripping sound. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around the cell. There was no sign of Dante or Mundus. Rayne and Dawn were blinking and shaking their heads groggily as they tried to clear their vision. Xyphos was lying on the ground, shaking from exhaustion. Trish's eyes widened with horror as she looked towards the source of the dripping liquid.
Blood ran off Arson's body and into the small puddle that had formed directly below him. He had returned to his original form some time ago and was miraculously still conscious, though barely. Trish gently eased him off, causing more blood to flow and laid him down on the ground. Arson turned his eyes onto Trish.
'You were great, Arson,' she whispered. Arson blinked slowly, tried to move and moaned. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he breathed. Trish looked over his wound as it slowly began to heal. Arson screwed his eyes shut with pain; the agony of healing himself was just about killing him. Finally, the torture stopped. Arson opened his eyes and slowly sat up to hear a chuckle.
'I'm guessing you won't have an appetite for some time!' Trish glared at him.
'Oh shut up!' Dawn looked around as Arson knelt by Xyphos' side.
'Where's Dante?' Trish shook her head in bewilderment.
'I don't know. What happened to Mundus?' She looked around the group and her eyes settled on Arson. She grabbed him. 'Arson? Do you know?' Arson looked at her silently and then vanished amidst white smoke. Trish bit her lip in frustration.
'Shit!'
Arson found himself in a huge chamber. He looked around, hoping to find any sign of Dante. He didn't have to look far. Dante was sitting in the middle of the room, polishing his blade. He looked up when he saw Arson and smiled.
'I was wondering when someone would find me.' Arson looked around and noticed for the first time that there was no way leading in or out. 'How did you find me here anyway?' Arson shrugged.
'I don't know. Something just told me you'd be here.' Dante looked at him seriously at that point. Probably something to do with his angelic side. He slowly got up and looked back, over his shoulder. A black armour clad knight lay on the ground motionless. Arson looked at the corpse and then back at Dante.
'Was it a hard battle.' Dante shook his head.
'I don't want to talk about it.' Arson nodded silently and then turned so then his back as facing Dante.
'Hold on.' Dante smiled at that point.
'Time to go.'
Rayne had ended up with so many phone calls from different girls begging for a date with him that he had ended up ending his mobile phone contract. All others seemed to pale in comparison to Dawn. Though she was often a little harsh on him, he still loved her and enjoyed her company. Rayne had moved out of the city with Dawn shortly after returning from their trip. Not that anybody was really bothered by this. After Rayne had made some more jokes at people's expense, Arson was more then happy to see the back of him, as was Trish.
Dante had moved back in with Trish and surprisingly had managed to carry on his life as normal as though they had never been separated. Arson had moved out and into his own apartment, which he kept religiously neat and tidy, much to Trish's surprise. It seemed as though Dante and Arson were different in almost every possible way imaginable.
Seeing as Xyphos had no other place to stay, she had practically begged Arson to allow her to stay with him. Seeing as he had no other alternative, Arson had grudgingly allowed her to stay with him and so they had become room-mates and from there something much more.
…
'Devil May Cry?' yelled Xyphos as she picked up the phone. 'Yeah? Okay, we'll be over in ten!' Xyphos turned to look at Arson. 'You got a call out.' Arson readied his blades.
'What for?'
'Frosts. A big pack of them.' Arson smiled confidently.
'No problem.'
'Oh and Arson?'
'Yeah?'
'Don't forget! You've got a Chemistry exam tomorrow too!'
'Oh shit!'
Looks like some things will never change!
The End
Well guys! That's the end of it! ^_^ (sobs and sniffs) Now what should I write? Oh yeah, take a look at my other fanfic, A Visit To Paris! It's not the same thing and no it doesn't have Arson in it at all but hey, it might make some people laugh! And yes…that was a might!
Like I said! If anyone wants to take the piss out of a couple of things go ahead!
Oh yes…they DO trip a lot…hmmm…Well maybe they drank too much before. I've heard that Barcardi Breezers can do that sometimes. Thanks for pointing that out Chasm…or maybe it's just because of uneven stones? Yeah I did that yesterday and ended up flinging my violin into the road. Luckily for me the car stopped before it ran over the damned thing.
Anyways, look out for a sequel if I get enough requests for it! You never know what surprises could be in store!