Ascension
Dante awoke to the smell of musty air and rain. He blinked a few times until his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He lifted his arm to look at his wrist; there was no wound, no scar, nor blood. He rolled to his side to stand. A flash of lightning illuminated the building.
"I'm back at the temple. What the hell happened? Lilith!" The memory of the previous several minutes made him stiffen. "Shit! She's still down there!" He leaned against the nearest bench as his mind tried to find a new solution. He ran a hand through his hair. "I wonder if I'm gray yet?"
Another flash of lightning brought his attention to the altar. A sword and four guns were set on his red trench coat. Floating over the altar was a sigil dripping some red substance that seemed like glowing blood. "That must be it."
*
Raynok approached the large rock that stood between him and Lilith. He waved his arm towards it. The rock was lifted from the ground and flung through the air. It soon disappeared over the horizon. Raynok saw Lilith crouched on the ground as if she were in pain. A puddle of blood was forming on the ground in front of her. Raynok smirked and kneeled before her.
"What do I have here?" He lifted her face and wiped the blood away. "What are you doing?"
"Get away from me!" She pushed him back with a force even she was unaccustomed to. Raynok landed on his back several feet away.
"I will gut you, you fucking whelp!" Raynok jumped to his feet and ran towards her. She casually blocked the incoming punch with one hand. Before he could react, Lilith kicked him in the gut. As his legs flew past her, she grabbed one, spun him around, and slammed him against the ground.
Raynok's body unexpectedly splattered as it hit the ground. Lilith stepped back as thick black ooze burst from his chest. She withdrew Sparda and kept her distance. The ooze picked itself up as if it were alive. Lilith watched in disgust as it gathered over Raynok and formed its own humanoid body. Its arms became long blades with jagged edges. A pale flat face with narrow black eyes and undefined tight lips emerged to contrast the inky black body.
Lilith lowered Sparda slightly. "It's you. You don't look so hot."
Raynok shrieked as the being pulled itself free. Saying nothing, the being turned to look down at Raynok. "Quiet, worm." It raised its left arm and sliced Raynok across his throat. The being watched as Raynok bled to death. "You have finally outlived your usefulness."
"Welcome back," Lilith said. "Now I must finish what I began 2,000 years ago."
"Do I know you?" the being asked in a voice that echoed.
Lilith took another step back as she was engulfed in black light. When it died a second later, she had sprouted six wings. Horns that dripped blood lay against the sides of her head. Curved spikes protruded from the sides of her arms. Lilith closed her wings and pressed them tightly against her back.
"Is this how you intend to fight me, child?" the being asked.
"I am no child. Though I am young in body, her soul rests safely while I take care of you myself. We have business to settle."
The being narrowed its eyes. "I do know you! You're the one who bound me. Sparda!" Lilith slightly bowed her head to acknowledge him. "You're not the same, though. Now you hide behind a little girl and put her at risk. I'm disappointed."
"Then you don't know my granddaughter."
"Granddaughter? Of course. I'll kill you by killing her first!"
Lilith remained perfectly calm as the creature charged at her. She effortlessly deflected his attacks with Sparda for a few seconds. When she found the opportunity, she stepped aside and activated her time effect. Everything was covered in a blue, black, and white negative as her perception of time slowed down. She rolled behind the creature, knocked him into the air, and sliced his through the torso three times with the sword. She stepped out of the way and deactivated the time trigger. Four portions of the creature's body fell to the ground. Lilith showed no surprise when the pieces merely pulled themselves into one form again.
"You're getting pretty slow," Lilith chided. "Is it the time you spent cooped up, or are you just getting old?"
"On the contrary, the time I spent imprisoned has made me stronger. Just watch, and behold the power of an ancient god of destruction."
"You're no more a god of destruction than Mundus was a god of good grammar."
The creature drooled as it spoke. "Two millennia give one a long time to grow, even when imprisoned. Behold my power and quake in the presence of Fluffy!"
Lilith exploded in a fit of hysterical laughter. "I never grow tired of hearing that! It's hilarious! A god of destruction named Fluffy! I've waited all this time to hear that again!"
Fluffy growled. "If your name were Fluffy, wouldn't you want to destroy things!"
"I'll never know." Lilith lifted Sparda horizontally over her head. Flashes of lightning erupted over the sword and across her body. A sheet of ice spread from under her right foot while flames erupted from under her left foot. "Now I have to kill you." With a powerful flap of her wings, she leapt several feet into the air. Fluffy backed out of the way just before she plummeted to the ground. The impact crater she created swallowed her body. A second later she leapt from the crater and landed safely in front of Fluffy. She left a trail of lightning, fire, and ice in her wake.
Fluffy swung at her with a jagged arm. She dodged it, but she couldn't completely avoid the other arm that pierced her right shoulder. Rather than squeal, as Fluffy expected, she plunged Sparda straight through his chest. The lightning that surrounded it exploded into a shower of electricity. Fluffy screamed and pulled himself free from both her shoulder and the sword.
"That was for my granddaughter!" Lilith yelled to Fluffy. Before Fluffy could recover from the lightning, Lilith folded her wings and delivered a swift kick to Fluffy's jaw. "That was for my son!" Fluffy fell to the ground. Lilith placed her foot on top of his head. "This is for Deanna!" Lilith lifted her foot and stomped Fluffy's head three times into the ground. Blood splattered and bone shattered under the force of her foot.
After the third strike, Fluffy seized her foot and flipped her into the air. Lilith prepared to strike him with the sword again on her way down. Instead, Fluffy stretched himself as if he were putty. His body split into two halfway down and attacked her from both sides. He caught her off guard. As she attempted to strike at one side, the other wrapped around her and encased her within a prison of sludge. Her arms were trapped against her sides. A piece of sludge wrapped around her fist and forced her to release Sparda. It landed on the ground with the tip embedded in the dirt.
Fluffy deliberately slammed Lilith against the ground until she reverted to her human form. Then he held her down with her face against the dirt. "What's wrong?" Fluffy teased her as he pressed his bland face against hers. "I can't believe you were that easy."
Lilith glanced towards the sky. Fluffy grimaced when she grinned. "I'm not that easy. It's not over yet. You forget there are two of us in here."
"Two heads are not better than one. You proved it."
"It's not over yet," Lilith repeated. She turned her face away.
"What are you doing?" The next thing Fluffy heard was a gunshot. The next thing he felt was something piercing the back of his head. He screamed again as part of his head splattered against Lilith. She scrambled to safety as Fluffy cringed against the ground in an effort to pull himself back together literally.
Lilith wiped her face as she approached the red and black clad figure that dropped from the sky. "I didn't think you'd make it back," she said.
"How did you expect to get out of here?" Dante asked.
"The same way I got in."
"Like what you did to me?"
"Nothing that dramatic." Lilith turned to face Fluffy again. "I lost the sword. You have to take him on so I can get it."
"Lilith . . ."
Lilith turned her head slightly to acknowledge him. "Yes, Dante?"
"What did you just say?"
Lilith turned to face him completely. She appeared somewhat hesitant. "Lilith is taking a little nap. She'll be back." Lilith reached up to touch Dante's face. "It is good that I got to see for myself how much you've grown." Before Dante could back away, Lilith stroked his cheek and held her finger up for him to see. A drop of blood balanced on her nail. "I sorrow no longer." She casually wiped the blood on his shirt and darted off to grab the sword.
Fluffy was already on the move. He met her halfway to the sword. He knocked her into the air to do to her the same thing she had done to him earlier. As he watched Lilith spin in the air and waited for his opportunity, a red blur slammed into him. The two figures skidded several feet. Lilith landed on her feet. A sudden flash of energy in her body dropped her to her knees and elbows. She placed one arm against her abdomen.
"Boy, am I gonna be sore in the morning. Both of us." She looked over to see what was happening.
Fluffy continued skidding a few feet after the red blur had stopped. He glanced up at the intruder. A black demon with wild white hair and dressed in red stood over him. "And who the hell are you?" Fluffy asked.
"It doesn't matter." Fluffy perked up at the sound of the voice. "You must be Dante. How you've changed. Just moments ago you were my dinner."
Dante swung Merciless in a low arc. Fluffy slid out of the way and stood. Dante go a good look at Fluffy's face. A large chunk of the left side was still missing and oozing black sludge.
"It appears you're losing face," Dante taunted, "literally."
Fluffy raised one arm. The end of it began to shrink and change form until it was a human hand. He stuck two fingers into the face wound. More ooze gratuitously spurted over his hand. Then he flung the ooze onto the ground. "Then how about a little company to our party!" Where the ooze landed, several small reptilian figures emerged. At first, they were small enough to step on. When Dante actually stepped on one, it slipped from under his foot and flew into the air. The other slimy reptiles followed suit. Dante and Fluffy watched from below as the ooze reptiles soared through the air like miniature dragons. The dance eventually formed into a circle, where they collided with each other and grew until they were one large dragon.
"Oh shit." Dante leapt out of the way as the dragon dropped to the ground. "This brings back memories." He suddenly remembered a decade ago when he fought a similar creature on Earth, though the reasons were completely different. He was running away with its mate's head at the time.
The dragon gained altitude with one powerful flap of its wings. It held its head back as if preparing for something. It opened its mouth and screamed. A large blue fireball and a beam of light shot from its mouth. Dante flipped out of the way before the beam hit where he had been standing. Lilith curled into a defensive fetal position as flying debris buried her alive. There, she waited.
Dante flew after the dragon. Merciless spun from his hand and hit its mark on the side of the dragon's neck. Lightning sparked as Dante let loose a barrage of bullets from Toot and Puddle, his submachine guns. "I knew I should have brought the TDC," he silently lamented while thinking about his trusty rocket launcher that Lilith absolutely hated. He caught Merciless on its return trip and waited for the dragon to respond.
He didn't expect a verbal response. "I hope you don't think that hurt." The dragon looked down at him and opened its mouth as if to smirk. With one swing of its left claw, Dante flew backwards and landed next to Lilith's living grave. He skidded a few feet on the back of his neck. The impact knocked him into human form.
"Ouch."
Fluffy wiped his face with one hand, but the ooze continued flowing from his face. He approached the dragon and placed a hand against its side. "Isn't he marvelous? One of my pets from my days on Earth, before your father came along."
Dante stood and wiped blood from his face with his thumb. "He's not all that."
Fluffy narrowed his eyes. "We shall see." Fluffy pushed his hand into the dragon's side. The dragon shrieked as it absorbed Fluffy's body into its own. It bent its head towards the ground as a mound of fleshy ooze throbbed on the nape of its long neck. The mound elongated and took the form of Fluffy. He was attached to the dragon's back at his waist. Fluffy extended his arms until they took the form of jagged swords again. "This is your end!"
Dante grimaced. "That's one way of putting it."
* Under the debris and rocks, Lilith struggled to hold herself together. What are you doing? Sparda asked in her mind.
"I'm taking over."
You must not. You don't know what you're doing.
"Yes, I do. You have shown me the way. Now, I have to do this myself. I have to prove my worth to myself. Let me."
You don't know what you're up against. If anything happens to you . . .
"It won't. After all, I am my father's daughter. Trust me."
*
Dante twirled Merciless habitually as he pondered his next move. Stand down, he heard Lilith's voice in his head.
"What?"
Stand down, Dad. Let me do this.
"What do you think you're doing?" He turned to face the mound of rock she was buried under. He leaned over to touch the nearest rock.
I wouldn't do that if I were you.
"Right." Dante stepped back just as the dragon raised its foot. "What should I do?" As if guided by instinct, Dante dropped to one knee. He was oblivious to the foot that was coming down to squash him. He didn't hear Fluffy's laughter. All he felt was anticipation.
The dragon's foot got as close as one foot to the mound of rock and Dante's head. Dante closed his eyes as a wave of heat and a powerful light emerged from the rock mound. A moment later, some force blasted the rocks in ever direction. Most of them pelted the dragon and Fluffy. The massive energy shock knocked the dragon several feet back. Fluffy's extra weight pulled it off center and sent it crashing to the ground.
When the heat and light dimmed, Dante looked at what had become of Lilith. She was in her new devil form again, with the spikes, horns, and six wings. She was surrounded by a blue light that danced around her like an aurora. Her hair billowed around as if she stood over a wind. She glanced down at him. "What?"
"Oh, nothing. I've just never noticed the new look."
"Very funny." Dante stayed where he was as she strolled towards the fallen dragon. "Get out here, Fluffy! Don't you want to see me!"
The dragon squealed as Fluffy forced it to right itself. Fluffy glanced down at Lilith. "Where did that come from? Who are you? Are you Sparda, or his little whelp?"
Lilith narrowed her eyes. "You shall never again show such blatant disrespect for my family." She reached out towards Sparda the sword. It pulled itself from the ground and flew into her hand. Bolts of lightning flashed across her body. Fire danced around her left foot while sheets of ice spread from under her right foot. Lilith raised her free hand and motioned for Fluffy to approach her.
"When I'm done with you," Fluffy taunted, "I'll finish what I started with the world and everything else beyond it."
"You talk too much."
The dragon raised its head and opened its mouth. A large ball of blue and white flame shot from its mouth. Lilith simply stared at it as the ball of flame fell upon her. Fluffy laughed as Lilith and Dante were engulfed in blue fire. He didn't stop soon enough to see that the flame didn't touch them. Instead, it veered off in every other direction as if it had hit an invisible force field. Lilith and Dante remained unscathed and nonchalant. He stopped laughing only when the rebounding energy nearly scorched what was left of his face.
"Is that the best you can do?" Lilith taunted.
Fluffy lowered his head a bit as if to threaten her. "Not in the slightest."
Lilith risked looking down at Dante. She nodded at him. He stood and returned the nod. Fluffy saw Lilith raise the index and pinky fingers on her right hand towards him, but he didn't see what she intended to do. Dante plunged Merciless into the dragon's chest. The dragon backed away. Dante twisted Merciless and slid it free. Then he transformed and flew into the dragon's face. He aimed one submachine gun at the dragon's head and the other at Fluffy's.
Lilith swung her hand around as she muttered something she did not understand. The lightning intensified. Large bolts shot off her body as if to prevent an electric overload. As she moved her arms around, flames and ice shards flew in every direction. When she finished the quick incantation, she drew some of the lightning into a ball between her hands and waited.
Dante plunged Merciless between the dragon's eyes. He struggled to pull the sword free as he felt static crackle through his hair. In the back of his mind, he knew that was his signal to get out of the way. Just as he pulled the blade from the dragon's brain, or what pretended to be a brain, a large spear of electricity pierced through the dragon's chest and emerged from between its shoulders.
"What the?" Dante took to the air as the dragon convulsed. Fluffy coughed up blood as the dragon leaned forward and fell face first into the dirt. Dante saw a small shadow beneath him. Lilith dropped from above him and landed in front of Fluffy on the dragon's back. Her feet landed on Fluffy's arms and crushed them with her momentum. Fluffy screamed as one arm caught on fire while the other was encased in ice.
Lilith stood and raised her right arm. The spikes along her arm seemed to stand more erect. "If you fuck with my family," she threatened as she drove the spike closest to her elbow into Fluffy's neck, "you fuck with me." She pivoted on her right foot to drive each spike across Fluffy's neck. When the last spike went through, Fluffy stared at her in utter astonishment. He coughed more blood before his head fell backwards and pulled free of his neck. It rolled down the dragon's body and several more feet before finally resting at the dragon's tail.
Lilith stared at her handiwork in disbelief until Dante called her name. She jumped from the dragon's back and trudged to him. They reverted to their human forms simultaneously.
"That was amazing," Dante said.
"Just wait until you get the opportunity to do it yourself. It was Grandpa's idea." Dante grinned. "Dad," Lilith inquired, "would you understand if I asked you to carry me out of here?"
"Absolutely."
"Thanks. I appreciate it." Before either could say another word, Lilith fell forward into Dante's arms. He could hear her snoring.
He gently patted her head. "Next time you're carrying yourself."
Dante awoke to the smell of musty air and rain. He blinked a few times until his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He lifted his arm to look at his wrist; there was no wound, no scar, nor blood. He rolled to his side to stand. A flash of lightning illuminated the building.
"I'm back at the temple. What the hell happened? Lilith!" The memory of the previous several minutes made him stiffen. "Shit! She's still down there!" He leaned against the nearest bench as his mind tried to find a new solution. He ran a hand through his hair. "I wonder if I'm gray yet?"
Another flash of lightning brought his attention to the altar. A sword and four guns were set on his red trench coat. Floating over the altar was a sigil dripping some red substance that seemed like glowing blood. "That must be it."
*
Raynok approached the large rock that stood between him and Lilith. He waved his arm towards it. The rock was lifted from the ground and flung through the air. It soon disappeared over the horizon. Raynok saw Lilith crouched on the ground as if she were in pain. A puddle of blood was forming on the ground in front of her. Raynok smirked and kneeled before her.
"What do I have here?" He lifted her face and wiped the blood away. "What are you doing?"
"Get away from me!" She pushed him back with a force even she was unaccustomed to. Raynok landed on his back several feet away.
"I will gut you, you fucking whelp!" Raynok jumped to his feet and ran towards her. She casually blocked the incoming punch with one hand. Before he could react, Lilith kicked him in the gut. As his legs flew past her, she grabbed one, spun him around, and slammed him against the ground.
Raynok's body unexpectedly splattered as it hit the ground. Lilith stepped back as thick black ooze burst from his chest. She withdrew Sparda and kept her distance. The ooze picked itself up as if it were alive. Lilith watched in disgust as it gathered over Raynok and formed its own humanoid body. Its arms became long blades with jagged edges. A pale flat face with narrow black eyes and undefined tight lips emerged to contrast the inky black body.
Lilith lowered Sparda slightly. "It's you. You don't look so hot."
Raynok shrieked as the being pulled itself free. Saying nothing, the being turned to look down at Raynok. "Quiet, worm." It raised its left arm and sliced Raynok across his throat. The being watched as Raynok bled to death. "You have finally outlived your usefulness."
"Welcome back," Lilith said. "Now I must finish what I began 2,000 years ago."
"Do I know you?" the being asked in a voice that echoed.
Lilith took another step back as she was engulfed in black light. When it died a second later, she had sprouted six wings. Horns that dripped blood lay against the sides of her head. Curved spikes protruded from the sides of her arms. Lilith closed her wings and pressed them tightly against her back.
"Is this how you intend to fight me, child?" the being asked.
"I am no child. Though I am young in body, her soul rests safely while I take care of you myself. We have business to settle."
The being narrowed its eyes. "I do know you! You're the one who bound me. Sparda!" Lilith slightly bowed her head to acknowledge him. "You're not the same, though. Now you hide behind a little girl and put her at risk. I'm disappointed."
"Then you don't know my granddaughter."
"Granddaughter? Of course. I'll kill you by killing her first!"
Lilith remained perfectly calm as the creature charged at her. She effortlessly deflected his attacks with Sparda for a few seconds. When she found the opportunity, she stepped aside and activated her time effect. Everything was covered in a blue, black, and white negative as her perception of time slowed down. She rolled behind the creature, knocked him into the air, and sliced his through the torso three times with the sword. She stepped out of the way and deactivated the time trigger. Four portions of the creature's body fell to the ground. Lilith showed no surprise when the pieces merely pulled themselves into one form again.
"You're getting pretty slow," Lilith chided. "Is it the time you spent cooped up, or are you just getting old?"
"On the contrary, the time I spent imprisoned has made me stronger. Just watch, and behold the power of an ancient god of destruction."
"You're no more a god of destruction than Mundus was a god of good grammar."
The creature drooled as it spoke. "Two millennia give one a long time to grow, even when imprisoned. Behold my power and quake in the presence of Fluffy!"
Lilith exploded in a fit of hysterical laughter. "I never grow tired of hearing that! It's hilarious! A god of destruction named Fluffy! I've waited all this time to hear that again!"
Fluffy growled. "If your name were Fluffy, wouldn't you want to destroy things!"
"I'll never know." Lilith lifted Sparda horizontally over her head. Flashes of lightning erupted over the sword and across her body. A sheet of ice spread from under her right foot while flames erupted from under her left foot. "Now I have to kill you." With a powerful flap of her wings, she leapt several feet into the air. Fluffy backed out of the way just before she plummeted to the ground. The impact crater she created swallowed her body. A second later she leapt from the crater and landed safely in front of Fluffy. She left a trail of lightning, fire, and ice in her wake.
Fluffy swung at her with a jagged arm. She dodged it, but she couldn't completely avoid the other arm that pierced her right shoulder. Rather than squeal, as Fluffy expected, she plunged Sparda straight through his chest. The lightning that surrounded it exploded into a shower of electricity. Fluffy screamed and pulled himself free from both her shoulder and the sword.
"That was for my granddaughter!" Lilith yelled to Fluffy. Before Fluffy could recover from the lightning, Lilith folded her wings and delivered a swift kick to Fluffy's jaw. "That was for my son!" Fluffy fell to the ground. Lilith placed her foot on top of his head. "This is for Deanna!" Lilith lifted her foot and stomped Fluffy's head three times into the ground. Blood splattered and bone shattered under the force of her foot.
After the third strike, Fluffy seized her foot and flipped her into the air. Lilith prepared to strike him with the sword again on her way down. Instead, Fluffy stretched himself as if he were putty. His body split into two halfway down and attacked her from both sides. He caught her off guard. As she attempted to strike at one side, the other wrapped around her and encased her within a prison of sludge. Her arms were trapped against her sides. A piece of sludge wrapped around her fist and forced her to release Sparda. It landed on the ground with the tip embedded in the dirt.
Fluffy deliberately slammed Lilith against the ground until she reverted to her human form. Then he held her down with her face against the dirt. "What's wrong?" Fluffy teased her as he pressed his bland face against hers. "I can't believe you were that easy."
Lilith glanced towards the sky. Fluffy grimaced when she grinned. "I'm not that easy. It's not over yet. You forget there are two of us in here."
"Two heads are not better than one. You proved it."
"It's not over yet," Lilith repeated. She turned her face away.
"What are you doing?" The next thing Fluffy heard was a gunshot. The next thing he felt was something piercing the back of his head. He screamed again as part of his head splattered against Lilith. She scrambled to safety as Fluffy cringed against the ground in an effort to pull himself back together literally.
Lilith wiped her face as she approached the red and black clad figure that dropped from the sky. "I didn't think you'd make it back," she said.
"How did you expect to get out of here?" Dante asked.
"The same way I got in."
"Like what you did to me?"
"Nothing that dramatic." Lilith turned to face Fluffy again. "I lost the sword. You have to take him on so I can get it."
"Lilith . . ."
Lilith turned her head slightly to acknowledge him. "Yes, Dante?"
"What did you just say?"
Lilith turned to face him completely. She appeared somewhat hesitant. "Lilith is taking a little nap. She'll be back." Lilith reached up to touch Dante's face. "It is good that I got to see for myself how much you've grown." Before Dante could back away, Lilith stroked his cheek and held her finger up for him to see. A drop of blood balanced on her nail. "I sorrow no longer." She casually wiped the blood on his shirt and darted off to grab the sword.
Fluffy was already on the move. He met her halfway to the sword. He knocked her into the air to do to her the same thing she had done to him earlier. As he watched Lilith spin in the air and waited for his opportunity, a red blur slammed into him. The two figures skidded several feet. Lilith landed on her feet. A sudden flash of energy in her body dropped her to her knees and elbows. She placed one arm against her abdomen.
"Boy, am I gonna be sore in the morning. Both of us." She looked over to see what was happening.
Fluffy continued skidding a few feet after the red blur had stopped. He glanced up at the intruder. A black demon with wild white hair and dressed in red stood over him. "And who the hell are you?" Fluffy asked.
"It doesn't matter." Fluffy perked up at the sound of the voice. "You must be Dante. How you've changed. Just moments ago you were my dinner."
Dante swung Merciless in a low arc. Fluffy slid out of the way and stood. Dante go a good look at Fluffy's face. A large chunk of the left side was still missing and oozing black sludge.
"It appears you're losing face," Dante taunted, "literally."
Fluffy raised one arm. The end of it began to shrink and change form until it was a human hand. He stuck two fingers into the face wound. More ooze gratuitously spurted over his hand. Then he flung the ooze onto the ground. "Then how about a little company to our party!" Where the ooze landed, several small reptilian figures emerged. At first, they were small enough to step on. When Dante actually stepped on one, it slipped from under his foot and flew into the air. The other slimy reptiles followed suit. Dante and Fluffy watched from below as the ooze reptiles soared through the air like miniature dragons. The dance eventually formed into a circle, where they collided with each other and grew until they were one large dragon.
"Oh shit." Dante leapt out of the way as the dragon dropped to the ground. "This brings back memories." He suddenly remembered a decade ago when he fought a similar creature on Earth, though the reasons were completely different. He was running away with its mate's head at the time.
The dragon gained altitude with one powerful flap of its wings. It held its head back as if preparing for something. It opened its mouth and screamed. A large blue fireball and a beam of light shot from its mouth. Dante flipped out of the way before the beam hit where he had been standing. Lilith curled into a defensive fetal position as flying debris buried her alive. There, she waited.
Dante flew after the dragon. Merciless spun from his hand and hit its mark on the side of the dragon's neck. Lightning sparked as Dante let loose a barrage of bullets from Toot and Puddle, his submachine guns. "I knew I should have brought the TDC," he silently lamented while thinking about his trusty rocket launcher that Lilith absolutely hated. He caught Merciless on its return trip and waited for the dragon to respond.
He didn't expect a verbal response. "I hope you don't think that hurt." The dragon looked down at him and opened its mouth as if to smirk. With one swing of its left claw, Dante flew backwards and landed next to Lilith's living grave. He skidded a few feet on the back of his neck. The impact knocked him into human form.
"Ouch."
Fluffy wiped his face with one hand, but the ooze continued flowing from his face. He approached the dragon and placed a hand against its side. "Isn't he marvelous? One of my pets from my days on Earth, before your father came along."
Dante stood and wiped blood from his face with his thumb. "He's not all that."
Fluffy narrowed his eyes. "We shall see." Fluffy pushed his hand into the dragon's side. The dragon shrieked as it absorbed Fluffy's body into its own. It bent its head towards the ground as a mound of fleshy ooze throbbed on the nape of its long neck. The mound elongated and took the form of Fluffy. He was attached to the dragon's back at his waist. Fluffy extended his arms until they took the form of jagged swords again. "This is your end!"
Dante grimaced. "That's one way of putting it."
* Under the debris and rocks, Lilith struggled to hold herself together. What are you doing? Sparda asked in her mind.
"I'm taking over."
You must not. You don't know what you're doing.
"Yes, I do. You have shown me the way. Now, I have to do this myself. I have to prove my worth to myself. Let me."
You don't know what you're up against. If anything happens to you . . .
"It won't. After all, I am my father's daughter. Trust me."
*
Dante twirled Merciless habitually as he pondered his next move. Stand down, he heard Lilith's voice in his head.
"What?"
Stand down, Dad. Let me do this.
"What do you think you're doing?" He turned to face the mound of rock she was buried under. He leaned over to touch the nearest rock.
I wouldn't do that if I were you.
"Right." Dante stepped back just as the dragon raised its foot. "What should I do?" As if guided by instinct, Dante dropped to one knee. He was oblivious to the foot that was coming down to squash him. He didn't hear Fluffy's laughter. All he felt was anticipation.
The dragon's foot got as close as one foot to the mound of rock and Dante's head. Dante closed his eyes as a wave of heat and a powerful light emerged from the rock mound. A moment later, some force blasted the rocks in ever direction. Most of them pelted the dragon and Fluffy. The massive energy shock knocked the dragon several feet back. Fluffy's extra weight pulled it off center and sent it crashing to the ground.
When the heat and light dimmed, Dante looked at what had become of Lilith. She was in her new devil form again, with the spikes, horns, and six wings. She was surrounded by a blue light that danced around her like an aurora. Her hair billowed around as if she stood over a wind. She glanced down at him. "What?"
"Oh, nothing. I've just never noticed the new look."
"Very funny." Dante stayed where he was as she strolled towards the fallen dragon. "Get out here, Fluffy! Don't you want to see me!"
The dragon squealed as Fluffy forced it to right itself. Fluffy glanced down at Lilith. "Where did that come from? Who are you? Are you Sparda, or his little whelp?"
Lilith narrowed her eyes. "You shall never again show such blatant disrespect for my family." She reached out towards Sparda the sword. It pulled itself from the ground and flew into her hand. Bolts of lightning flashed across her body. Fire danced around her left foot while sheets of ice spread from under her right foot. Lilith raised her free hand and motioned for Fluffy to approach her.
"When I'm done with you," Fluffy taunted, "I'll finish what I started with the world and everything else beyond it."
"You talk too much."
The dragon raised its head and opened its mouth. A large ball of blue and white flame shot from its mouth. Lilith simply stared at it as the ball of flame fell upon her. Fluffy laughed as Lilith and Dante were engulfed in blue fire. He didn't stop soon enough to see that the flame didn't touch them. Instead, it veered off in every other direction as if it had hit an invisible force field. Lilith and Dante remained unscathed and nonchalant. He stopped laughing only when the rebounding energy nearly scorched what was left of his face.
"Is that the best you can do?" Lilith taunted.
Fluffy lowered his head a bit as if to threaten her. "Not in the slightest."
Lilith risked looking down at Dante. She nodded at him. He stood and returned the nod. Fluffy saw Lilith raise the index and pinky fingers on her right hand towards him, but he didn't see what she intended to do. Dante plunged Merciless into the dragon's chest. The dragon backed away. Dante twisted Merciless and slid it free. Then he transformed and flew into the dragon's face. He aimed one submachine gun at the dragon's head and the other at Fluffy's.
Lilith swung her hand around as she muttered something she did not understand. The lightning intensified. Large bolts shot off her body as if to prevent an electric overload. As she moved her arms around, flames and ice shards flew in every direction. When she finished the quick incantation, she drew some of the lightning into a ball between her hands and waited.
Dante plunged Merciless between the dragon's eyes. He struggled to pull the sword free as he felt static crackle through his hair. In the back of his mind, he knew that was his signal to get out of the way. Just as he pulled the blade from the dragon's brain, or what pretended to be a brain, a large spear of electricity pierced through the dragon's chest and emerged from between its shoulders.
"What the?" Dante took to the air as the dragon convulsed. Fluffy coughed up blood as the dragon leaned forward and fell face first into the dirt. Dante saw a small shadow beneath him. Lilith dropped from above him and landed in front of Fluffy on the dragon's back. Her feet landed on Fluffy's arms and crushed them with her momentum. Fluffy screamed as one arm caught on fire while the other was encased in ice.
Lilith stood and raised her right arm. The spikes along her arm seemed to stand more erect. "If you fuck with my family," she threatened as she drove the spike closest to her elbow into Fluffy's neck, "you fuck with me." She pivoted on her right foot to drive each spike across Fluffy's neck. When the last spike went through, Fluffy stared at her in utter astonishment. He coughed more blood before his head fell backwards and pulled free of his neck. It rolled down the dragon's body and several more feet before finally resting at the dragon's tail.
Lilith stared at her handiwork in disbelief until Dante called her name. She jumped from the dragon's back and trudged to him. They reverted to their human forms simultaneously.
"That was amazing," Dante said.
"Just wait until you get the opportunity to do it yourself. It was Grandpa's idea." Dante grinned. "Dad," Lilith inquired, "would you understand if I asked you to carry me out of here?"
"Absolutely."
"Thanks. I appreciate it." Before either could say another word, Lilith fell forward into Dante's arms. He could hear her snoring.
He gently patted her head. "Next time you're carrying yourself."
