DISCLAIMER: Capcom and Square-Enix own DMC and FFXIII respectively, and all references and characters from Ninja Gaiden are owned by Tecmo and Team Ninja. Other references to the God of War series is owned by Sony and Santa Monica Studio, references to Bayonetta are owned by Sega and Platinum Games, and references to the Metal Gear series are LEGALLY owned by Konami, but were CREATED by Hideo Kojima . This story was written for the enjoyment of reading and writing purposes only. No profit is being made out of this.

The cover art was made by hanamimi, aka Naomi Gumbs.

Revised: 11-4-2022

Prologue: The Fal'Cie

The hums of distant booms, wind colliding against the structure, and the grindings of shifting metal were the only things audible in the chamber.

It wasn't before long, however, when a loud, angry voice shattered the silence. "HEY, JACKASS! WHERE'RE YOU HIDING?!"

Six figures, each different in appearance and from separate walks of life, stormed into the chamber that housed the fal'Cie.

One of them, a boy, spoke up with a shaky voice. "So this is... the fal'Cie?"

This youth was light-skinned, with short-length platinum-colored hair, and bluish-green eyes. He wore a short-sleeve orange and yellow jacket that hid a black shirt underneath it, while a green detailed neckerchief covered his collar. Black gloves with white palms were on his hands, with a yellow wristband over the left glove. He also wore deep green pants, with a black storage pack hanging from his belt, and a pair of green sneakers on his feet.

The other figure who had broken the silence, a young man only more than half a decade older than the boy, looked upon their surroundings with frustrated confusion. "The hell is it? I can sense something here, but I can't see a damn thing!"

He had icy blue eyes, light skin, and short-length platinum-colored hair like the timid teen's, along with a long blue coat with red crests on both shoulders. Under his coat was a red, sleeveless zip-up hoodie which hid a navy muscle shirt under that. The youth also wore blue pants, with a brown leather pistol holder on the left, and a pair of brown boots. His left arm held a black band over his wrist, and a silver ring - a rose design on its face - on his ring finger. His most noticeable - and somewhat shocking - feature was his right arm. It was disfigured, and nearly draconic. His claws, palm, and forehand illuminated the room with its almost translucent blue skin, with a large blue crack in the middle of his forearm. The rest of his arm was covered in red organic flesh, with a spike protruding from his elbow. Purple strap-like flesh covered the top part of his arm, where the human flesh met its cursed counterpart.

Another man stepped up to the being. He was light skinned, with stubble beard growing on his chin, and wore a black bandanna over his head, which hid his light, shoulder-length blond hair. He wore a long beige trench coat, which hid a light blue vest under it, as well as a pair of dark grey pants. His blue eyes glared at the being with defiance, his black gloves squelching as they clasped in anger, stepping forth with his large, gray combat boots.

"Serah's a crystal now. You gave her a Focus, and she did it! You got what you want! Now let her go!"

The group waited for the creature to respond, but they were only met with silence.

Suddenly, the man fell on his knees.

"Please... Turn her back! I-I'll...!" Without warning, he rose up, putting a hand to his chest. "I'll be your l'Cie, instead! Just let her go!" he pleaded loudly.

The blue-coated boy groaned in annoyance. He knew that simply asking it to free their peer was getting them nowhere. "No offense, Hero, but I don't think cryin' to the junk heap's gonna get us anywhere."

Then, as if in response to his statement, one of them - a young woman - scoffed. Her right hand reached for the black weapon case strapped behind her. She wore a white sleeveless overcoat, with a red cape attached behind her left shoulder, and a brown turtleneck-like shirt with a zipper underneath. A green metallic pauldron with yellow stripes was strapped her left shoulder, while a long black sleeve covered her left forearm. Two blue finger-less gloves with golden bullet holders on the forehand were on both of her fists, along with a pair of brown boots with gray straps was her feet. A red ammunition pack was strapped to her left thigh, and a brown mini-skirt over high-topped shorts right above it. She had clear skin, and shoulder-length rose-colored hair, which was her most noticeable feature, that went over here left shoulder.

The girl glared at the being pale aqua eyes, bringing out her weapon, a prototype gunblade. "Fine, you go on begging. Like this thing gives a damn what we want!"

She charged at the fal'Cie, and struck her sword against it. Despite the ferocity and force of her swings, they seemed to have little effect on it. The third, last strike was enough to force back two steps back.

"Lightning!" the man called out as he got up.

Everyone turned their attention to the woman, Lightning, who was heavily breathing in frustration. "It's this thing's fault the Purge started, and it's people who are dying... Serah told us to save Cocoon. That means that this thing needs to die!"

He wiped his nose with the thumb of his left hand, before reaching for the weapon strapped to his back, a customized Durandal sword.

In moments, the fal'Cie responded to the group, activating mechanisms throughout the chamber.

The young man in blue grimaced in distaste upon beholding the being's true form. "So that's what you were hiding under your hood, huh? You really are just a mismatched piece of scrap, ain'tcha?"

He wiped his nose with the thumb of his left hand, before reaching for the weapon strapped to his back, a customized Durandal sword.

The other silver-haired boy panicked and ran away from the group. He was about to reach the exit, but was cut off by a magical field with an ominous symbol on it.

The teen fell on his rear, but was helped up by another teenage girl, this one with bright red hair tied into curled pigtails, her green eyes looking him over with worry. She wore a light pink halter top and an orange-yellow skirt with a bear pelt around her waist, along with a pair of beige boots around her feet, with fur along the collars. Around her neck were three beaded necklaces, which had various beaded extensions surrounding her attire.

"You're not fighting this alone, Sis!" exclaimed the trench coated man, getting into a brawler's stance of his own.

"Don't call me that! And don't get in my way, Snow!" Lightning snapped.

Another individual, a middle-aged man older than the rest of them, stepped forward, dark brown eyes narrowing in anxious alarm toward what was all happening. He was dark-skinned, and wore an olive coat which hid a white buttoned-down shirt underneath, as well as beige khaki trousers, with two brown leather gun holsters on the side - a gun strapped in each one - and black buckled engineer boots. His most noticeable feature was the large, black afro on his head. It housed a round, golden-feathered baby chick.

"Come on, now. You really think you can kill a fal'Cie?" the afro-haired man tried to reason.

"Do what you want! I'm doing this for Serah!" she exclaimed.

"Stay outta this, old man. We've got it covered," the older boy waved off.

Upon hearing the youth's casual dismissal of him, a solemn look fell over the older man's face, the reason he had even bothered to venture this racing through his mind.

"...Dajh..." he whispered.

The baby chick on his afro suddenly popped out of his hair, and chirped encouragingly.

Hearing it, his solemn look became one of determination. "I'm in!" he affirmed. "Hope you guys don't mind amateurs." He pulled out the pair of black pistols from the holsters on the sides of his trousers. "I've got these things. Might as well use 'em."

The other man, Snow, smiled in appreciation, raising his fists towards the being in defiance.

Lightning only looked over her shoulder. "...Thanks."

The platinum-haired man watched the fal'Cie as he placed his sword over his shoulders. "Hope you had fun while it lasted, tin can, 'cause I'm puttin' you outta everyone's misery."

Snarling in anticipation, the boy then twisted the sword in his hand before piercing the ground with its tip, following up with a twist of the top part of his blade's handle. This caused a loud engine noise to erupt from the mechanism around the weapon's handle, flames shooting out of the exhaust ports.

"TIME TO SHUT YOU DOWN!"

..Looking back, I realize that our fight with that thing was the day our fates were intertwined permanently. We didn't even know it yet, but that was the first of many battles we would take part in. It all started that day, when we were marked and became l'Cie.

But even that wasn't what connected us. No. It happened way later, on that starry night. That night, we made a promise to see everything through to the end. To make sure we made it together. But the road to that end wasn't gonna be easy. We had to overcome monsters, weapons, and, ultimately... ourselves.

My name is Nero. I'm a descendant of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda, and a l'Cie. And this is my story. The story of how the battle within began.

Devil Fantasy XIII

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