Disclaimer: Joss, WB, UPN et al. own Buffy. Capcom owns Devil May Cry. Dennis is mine. Use him at your peril…
Title: Better the Devil You Know…
Author: Paradigm Shifter
Feedback: Yes! It doesn't take much time, and it lets me know if you like it...
Rating: I personally don't think this is too bad... but better safe than sorry... R.
Notes: Finished the game on Hard. Now on 'Dante Must Die' or 'Lucia Must Die' mode. Some of the bosses are so hard it makes me want to give up in frustration…
Crossover: Devil May Cry / Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Continuity: DMC1, not 2, (except for Blood Goats) as it fits in between. Xander's road trip. That's pretty much it. Enjoy.
*
Xander approached the demon kneeling before him with his sword raised to defend himself. "What have you done with Dante?" he asked with unnecessary force.
Dante, still in his devil form, stood wearily. "I have done nothing with him. He is still here."
Xander cast his eyes about quickly. "Where? I don't see him."
Dante shook his head. "He stands in front of you, Xander… watch."
The devil in front of Xander began to glow slightly. Then the glow receded and it began to loose its demonic form. The horns shrunk and vanished, the wings did likewise, with the tears in the fabric of his coat mending of their own free will. Skin lightened back to the colour skin should be, instead of a scorched colour, and the talons became hands once again. As his face began to return, Dante stepped forward; ignoring the danger posed by Xander's sword, and clasped Xander's head with both hands. Xander stared wide-eyed, transfixed, as the demon standing in front of him slowly became Dante, his devil-hunting friend. The final change occurred, as Dante's hair returned to the pure shock of white it had been, and at last, Xander looked into the eyes of his friend.
"How… how did you do that?" he asked with no small degree of fear.
Dante shrugged. "Its part of my nature. My father, as you probably found out when you read that grimoire of mine," Dante sounded amused rather than angry, "was Sparda, one of the seven 'Devil-Knights' of Hell. Its what comes when you have supernatural parents. Or one, at least…"
"How can you be so flip about it?"
"Because I can," snapped Dante. He sighed, and began to apologise. "I'm sorry. It's always a strain, returning to human form. Its so easy… everything is so easy… as a demon. Sometimes I forget what I should be…"
Xander sheathed Ragnarok, and placed a hand on Dante's shoulder. Squeezing gently, he nodded. "I might not understand fully, Dante, but I will try…"
"Thank you…" breathed Dante, and then a new urgency entered his movements, and his voice. "You have the Stone?"
Xander nodded sharply, once, before reaching in his pocket for the Stone. "Yep. I tell you, when that spider thing took you out, and headed for me… I was close to cacking my pants, man. I have never seen something that big, move so damn fast…"
"Welcome to the world of the supernatural, my friend. Where nothing is as it should be…" Dante took the proffered Stone from Xander's hand, and wrapped it in a cloth. Then he handed it back. "You look after it. Most of the devil's we encounter on the way out should be aiming at me."
"Right," Xander said, "you know, I feel like I should be in an episode of the 'Twilight Zone'…"
When Dante frowned, Xander shrugged. "Guess you're not a TV buff then, eh?"
"Hardly ever watch it, myself," said Dante. "Its mostly Trish when she drops in."
"Your loss, man, your loss…"
The two walked out of the hole left by Phantoms attack on Xander. Dante leapt nimbly down the damaged rock, while Xander picked his way down more carefully.
Reaching the roadway back to the main gate of the mansion, the two turned in the direction of the dock, and bantered lightly as the sun rose, and morning once again protected the world from the darkness…
~
End Flashback…
~
*
Xander shifted in his sleep, and rolled over out of the bed he was sleeping in. "Dante?" He called, and then turned over and began to push himself to his feet.
A few seconds later, Dante appeared, looking blearily at the now wide-awake Xander. "What?" He asked, sleep making his voice heavy, and fatigue making his mind slower to wake than usual.
"When do we leave?" asked Xander, getting to his feet.
"What?"
Xander repeated what he had said, slowly stroking his fingers down four thin scars on his cheek, "When do we leave?"
"For where?" asked Dante, still not completely awake.
Xander just fixed him with a look. "For Sunnydale, Dante..."
Dante looked up, "Oh..." he said, with a frown on his face. "Tomorrow, if you're ready. But I told you, first Maine, then Seattle. Then we head to Sunnydale. So you have a bit of time yet..."
Xander nodded. "Thanks. Just time to get... some stuff sorted, then."
Dante looked suspiciously at Xander. "Stuff? What stuff?"
Xander shrugged. "Not a lot..." he grinned. "I have this feeling that if I turn up with a sentient sword, my 'friends' will ask some... uncomfortable questions. I wont leave it behind, but I'll need somewhere to keep it hidden."
Xander turned his back to Dante, and shrugged on a shirt, plain white, except for several strange patterns on the cuffs, intertwining images that wrapped around the edge of the sleeve.
"How are we going? I take it we wont be flying if we have to pick items up... too many questions, even with the stuff in diplomatic bags..."
Dante nodded. They had tried that method once, and had succeeded in getting stuck in an airport for nearly ten hours while security checked them out. Security didn't expect guys not in suits to be diplomats, apparently. Not a lot of help when devil-chasing. "We'll be driving. Well, you'll be driving, I'll be sleeping, and making sure that our package doesn't do anything strange. That Travers guy freaked me out a bit..."
Xander nodded, and walked out of the door of his room, picking his green trench coat off a hook as he did. "I know what you mean man... it's almost as bad as meeting Ethan Rayne. Damn... do all Watchers take courses in 'how to be a weird as possible?'"
"Beats me, Xand..." muttered Dante, as he headed back to his room in Xander's wake. He could get a couple more hours sleep before duty called.
Xander's voice floated back to him from the entrance to Devil Never Cry. "I'm just going out for a while, Dante! Be back in a few..."
"Yeah, right." Called back Dante. "Just don't make me come rescue you like last time..." With that, he collapsed unconscious onto his bed once again.
*
~Flashback~
Dante and Xander once more approached a small island, this time one off the coast of Indonesia. The plane ride had been a bitch, and both were still suffering from the effects of jet lag. The boat ride hadn't been much better, as it was only just pulling into the tiny little jetty that served the island. It was nearly seven hours behind schedule, and Dante was beginning to chafe at the bit on such a small craft.
Xander, on the other hand, was using the time productively, trying to sleep off the plane trip, and get himself ready physically and mentally for what they could face this time. He still had the borrowed gun from Dante, Ivory; strapped to his hip, and he now had a sword to accompany that weapon, which was in a sheath on his back, under his dark green coat. Ragnarok, as the blade had named itself, was certainly a powerful force for Xander to wield, but he couldn't just set it down now he had picked it up. It seemed to bond to his mind, telling him in advance what was going to happen. It wasn't major foresight, being at most only a few fractions of a second, but it was usually enough to let him defend himself against an opponent that would otherwise kill him. What worried him about it was the bloodlust he seemed to work into when injured. The slightest scrape brought out a mad edge, throwing himself in without regard for what would happen. At least he came out alive when he did that… usually. Once, he had died, and it had only been by Dante having a strange glowing orb that had returned him to life.
Dante privately wondered, however, if Xander might not have returned from the grave- so to speak- by his own methods anyway. Something rang wrong about the boy; both he and Trish had detected it… as had the sword he now wielded so surely.
Dante groaned, and said a few harsh words to the Captain in Bahasa, the local language, who gibbered back that he could not go any faster, and if Dante didn't leave off, he would just turn around. The island was bad luck, and the few island inhabitants that had gotten off the island spoke of the horrors committed by the ones not lucky enough to do so, and left stuck on with the demons and devils that had suddenly appeared one day. Many terrors, and disgusting things that Dante didn't even want to believe were possible, despite the fact he knew they were…
~
A few hours later, Dante and Xander stood on the jetty, watching the boat retreat into the sunset. Dante had arranged with the man to come back at midday and retrieve them- he had paid a healthy sum of money to get him to agree to it, but he had this sneaking suspicion that the boat would not be back, and that the island would have to provide some other means of getting off.
"Ready, Xander?" Dante asked, with no emotion in his voice.
Xander pulled Ivory, and frowned. "Yeah… but I don't think that guy is gonna come back…"
Dante turned to him. "I'll let you in on a secret: neither do I. He's got the money, why would he want to risk his life a second time? And from the stories I got from some of the villagers that lived here… there would be no guarantee that the two people he picked up would be, firstly, us… and secondly, human…"
Xander nodded.
Dante stepped forward, off of the jetty. "Oh, and by the way… I hope you don't have a weak stomach… the gestation period of some demon spawn is low enough that some of them will be 'born' soon… it's not going to be pretty. If you have any qualms, fire, and keep right on firing until the thing is nothing more than ragged flesh… and even then, sometimes it'll still come after you…"
"Thank you for that wonderful image, Dante…" replied Xander dryly; "I'll remember that speech for the rest of my life now…"
Dante turned, and his eyes showed the hard look he always got when hunting. "Good. If your frightened, or you remember that, it may keep you alive." His voice offered no comfort, and Xander was left with a chill up his spine. This was not merely serious… this was deadly…
It would stay with him for as long as he remembered the island he was now on…
~
"Duck, Xander!"
Xander ducked at Dante's cry, and flung himself to the ground as a large winged beast flapped by almost lazily overhead. Xander knew that it would have dived on him if he had not hit the ground, but the creature was an air elemental, and could not risk the possibility of touching the ground. Even slight contact with another element would cause the creature to go up in flames. They even varied in colour, depending on how powerful the elemental was, and what element it was aligned to.
Pulling Ivory, Xander sighted at the retreating form of the elemental, and increased pressure on the trigger.
As the elemental swooped behind a pillar, Xander released the gentle squeeze he had maintained on the trigger, and cursed quietly to himself. As the elemental came around for another pass at him, he smiled and fired at it.
The bullets from the weapon carved into the unnatural flesh of the creature and tore out the other side. As tears from the piercing bullets appeared in it wings, the elemental struggled vainly to maintain its height, but the force of gravity slowly pulled it down.
As soon as one foot touch the ground, a bright blue flame travelled up the length of its leg from where it had made contact with the floor. It slowly worked its way over the body of the elemental, until it was engulfed in the flames, at which point it began to burn fully. Pale skin charred as the flames ate away, to leave exposed flesh, then merely bones.
Then nothing, as the bones themselves burned up.
Xander looked at where seconds before, there had been an enemy, and then hurriedly rolled out of the way as he felt another fly past him. This one turned in the air much quicker than the other had, folded it wings, and dived at Xander, even though he was near prone on the floor. It seemed to have no fear of death.
As it flew, Xander fired, but was shocked to see the elemental dodge quickly to the side, avoiding the bullet by mere inches. He fell back as its hand, tipped with vile claws, reached for him.
He cried out in a surprised voice as it ripped his pistol from his grip, and then batted its powerful wings once, reversing its direction of flight and escaping. With his pistol in its grasp.
"Hey!" Xander shouted, causing Dante to look round in surprise at the sound, "That's mine!" he chased after the elemental, and dodged round the enemies he faced on the ground, twisting and turning as he went.
Dante watched in shock, as Xander's sword seemed to leap into his grasp without his reaching for it. Almost as if the sword knew it was needed. Xander spun round a marionette that was standing between him and his target, and as he reached it back, swung the Ragnarok round in an arc that cut cleanly through the puppets middle, ending its usefulness to the devil that empowered it, and causing it to fall to the floor in a heap.
Xander never even looked round.
Dante blocked an attack from his one remaining opponent, and hit it twice, followed by an uppercut with his blade that sent it crashing into the ceiling and back down again. Then he returned to watching Xander.
The elemental dodged round behind a pillar, and turned to fly to the left with a deft flap of its wings. Xander went round the other side of the pillar and put one foot on the stone, launching himself into a sideways somersault with arms and legs spread open, and coat flapping as he went. He landed on the elementals back as it went past, and gripped on, dropping his blade while he did so. Dante couldn't decide whether the loss of his sword was accidental or deliberate. Given the blades apparent dislike of being separated from its bearer, Dante would have suspected the former.
The elemental shrieked at the sudden increase in weight, and sagged toward the ground. Beating its wings wildly to gain as much height as possible, it began a spiral upwards that carried Xander with it to the rafters. It right hand still carried the pistol that it had taken from Xander.
Reaching for the gun with his right hand, Xander felt his grip slipping, and shifted slightly, causing the elemental to give a piercing scream that nearly shattered his eardrums.
"Give…" Xander shouted at the elemental, "That…" he reached again for the pistol, and succeeded in getting a grip on it, "Back!" he tore the gun from the elementals grasp, and holstered it. Not one chance of losing it again. He cried out when the elemental reach back with both arms and raked him with its claws down both each cheek, leaving four bloody tracks down each side of his face.
"Son of a bitch! That hurt!" looking down, Xander saw the floor several dozen feet below him. While a fall like that might not kill him, it would certainly break more than a few bones. And then the devils and villagers of the island would then finish him off.
Xander changed his grip on the elemental, grabbing first one wing, then another, and holding them to the creature's sides.
The elemental, with the loss of its wings, plummeted to the ground. Xander kept hold as it fell, making sure it was underneath him when they landed.
Both Xander, and the elemental landed hard. Dante heard Xander's ribs crack as he hit the floor, and saw the elemental underneath him sag as his weight crushed it into the ground.
Then, as with all elemental creatures that encountered an opposing element, it burst into flames.
With Xander on top of it. The magical flames didn't ignite his clothes, but they certainly burnt his skin. He rolled over onto his back, and moaned in pain.
Dante rushed over to him and knelt by his side. "Damn, Xander…" Dante whispered, "don't do things like that…"
He looked down at his… partner. That was the only word that could be used. Who else came into situations this crazy with him, and survived? Well, Trish… OK, but Trish worked for herself, and herself first and foremost. She only helped if it was in her own best interests.
Looking at Xander's face, Dante winced. Both his face and his hands were badly burned, skin peeling off and lightly charred flesh oozing whatever it was that lightly charred flesh oozed. His hands were slightly open, and bone showed through ragged remnants of skin on the palms. Four cuts down each cheek burned angrily, and Dante knew that they had been caused by the elemental. Dante pulled Xander's coat open, and forgoing niceties, ripped open his shirt as well, popping buttons off as if they were nothing.
Xander groaned at the movement, and tried to roll away. Dante pinned his shoulders, and spoke to him sternly. "Xander. Xander!" He slapped him, and then hurriedly wiped his hand on his coat to get the blood off. "You've got who knows how many broken ribs… if you roll over, you could puncture a lung…" He added under his breath, "…If you haven't already…"
Xander moaned, but nodded slowly.
"Damn it…" Dante muttered. "I'm no doctor…"
Xander coughed heavily, and blood bubbles appeared at the side of his mouth, quickly popping and causing blood to run down to reach his jaw line.
Dante looked at him. "Xander! Xander! You're gonna be fine, Xand… just you wait… you'll be fine!" Dante watched Xander blink once, slowly, then shake his head.
Damn, thought Dante, this kid knows he's screwed…and so do I… I can't help him, I don't know how…
As Xander's head lolled to the side, facing away from Dante, Dante thought that maybe, just for a second, he had seen Xander's eyes flash. When Xander began to roll over, despite Dante's instructions not to, Dante merely sat back on his haunches.
Xander rolled over onto his chest, and winced at the pain in his ribs. Then he began to lever himself upright, and finally climbed to his feet. Staggering over to where his sword lay forgotten, Xander picked it up and gripped it tightly.
Dante felt a chill enter the air, and turned to see several new devils coming through the walls. Knowing that if he didn't take care of them, Xander wouldn't need anything other than a funeral director, and someone to consecrate the ground, he charged toward the new arrivals.
Xander could look after himself.
~
Xander fell to his knees as the pain became overwhelming, both from his face and hands, and his ribs. To top it all, another feeling was gnawing at the pit of his stomach, one that whispered, one that cajoled, one that told him both things wonderful and things horrific, neither of which he wanted to know.
Ragnarok, his sword, nuzzled the back of his mind, kick-starting his adrenal glands and causing a rush of hormones to block the pain he was feeling. It didn't last long, however, as with blood running into his eyes, he turned his head to see Dante fighting with half a dozen various spectres, Sin Scissors, Sin Scythes, Ghosts, and Wraiths.
The blood lust of his blade burned strong, goading him into fighting when both knew he would not survive. Xander turned back, and felt his head flop forward as a new rush of pain hit him.
Forcing himself upright, Xander stood up, placing one foot next to the other, and reversed his grip on his blade, pointing the tip at the floor, which he then rested it upon. As the pain intensified once more, Xander felt the whispering in the back of his mind turn to insistence. It was accept or die, and under the circumstances, Xander didn't particularly like dying.
He accepted.
He felt the eagerness of Ragnarok once again enter him, and give an almost satisfied feeling to him as he accepted.
The pain ceased as Xander… changed.
Muscle and height were added, bulking Xander up and making him stand a good eight feet tall from the shoulder. Charred skin healed, becoming its natural colour, which then quickly darkened again to reach jet-black. Short brown hair grew out to shoulder length and lightened to near dazzling white. His nose flattened in, and disappeared, leaving an expanse of empty skin where it had been. Hands with long fingers grew longer, becoming talons, and curling completely around the grip of his sword. Deep brown eyes turned completely black, and then the pupils began to glow green in a way it looked as if his eyes had emerald fire burning within them. All his teeth lengthened and sharpened, but did not poke out of his mouth; it was only shown when Xander opened his mouth to roar. Two streamlined black wings burst out of his back, dark green veins pulsing as they did so, and flapped once, airing, before furling up once more and vanishing. A row of small horns, less than an inch each, began to grow from between his second and third knuckle on each hand, before continuing down the outside of his forearm and ending at his elbow. Four more, two on each shoulder began to appear, and lengthened until they suddenly stopped as they began to curve toward his head, all four or five inches in length.
Xander stamped on the ground, and reversed the Ragnarok in his grip as he did. The burst of pleasure from the blade was inexpressible, and a deep roar exploded out of his mouth, announcing to the world that something… someone… had just come of age…
~
Dante heard a roar from where Xander had last been, but didn't have time to look round. The six opponents he was facing didn't want to cooperate. As fast as he attacked one, it became insubstantial to avoid his blade, while the others attacked. If he shifted his target, the same thing happened.
As much as Dante hated to admit it, he was being worn down…
~
Xander, in what Dante had once referred to as a 'Devil Triggered' state, heard a cry from behind him, and turned to see Dante collapse onto his knees on the floor. A wraith flew away from his back, showing to Xander how Dante had been hurt. When a wraith flew through a human body, it brought with it an indescribable feeling of unnatural cold as the body's life… the person's very soul… was sucked out by the wraith. While Xander knew that it wouldn't kill a half devil, it would still hurt them if they were not in their devil form.
The other spectres used the chance to attack, all charging for the prone man at once. Xander's eyes flashed brighter as he broke into a run, and finally, tens of yards away, launched himself off his feet and felt his wings burst from his back and keep him aloft, flying mere inches from the ground at speeds he never thought possible.
Xander took the Ragnarok through one spectre, and then rolled on his back and through another as he flew past. Dante recovered sufficiently to block the attack of one of the Sin Scissors, and whipped his sword through it in a counter that showed absolutely no mercy. As if their opponents would have given them any…
~
Well? Should I continue? Does 'cliff-hanger' sound good to you too, or just annoying? Personally, I like cliffhangers… as long as the writer updates quickly. [Grin] oops…