A Ranma ½ / Yu Yu Hakusho / Sakura Wars / Inu Yasha / Darkstalkers / Devil May Cry / Multi-crossover
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ and Yu Yu Hakusho or any other anime/game titles for that matter. Though I sometimes wish I was a class-S youkai…heh.
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Lilith snarled and immediately encased her hands with youki. Oh, how she hated it when she guessed these things right. Ranma reacted a little differently though, he actually squealed in delight as he summoned his Sei Kou Ki, no matter how weak it was at the moment. He smiled and hovered in the air as he asked, "Hey Mister, you look really strong! Can I know you're name? Will you fight with me?"
The man raised a puzzled eyebrow at Ranma's innocent behavior before shrugging his shoulders at the boy's curious inquiry, "The name's Dante," he paused before he aimed the gun back to the teen, "And yes, I'll fight you and the rest of your friends, that's why I'm here kid."
Lilith just stared at the two incredulously. Ranma should know that he would be trampled the minute he fights this man! So why was he so eager to fight this man… oh yeah… he wasn't stable mentally to begin with. 'Uh, guess I also forgot about that little fact. Ugh, why am I so forgetful all of a sudden?'
"Eheh, I don't know what you mean by 'friends'," he took a second to look at Lilith, who just shrugged her shoulders in bewilderment, "But I'm glad that I'll be getting to face you," Ranma said with a smile before swooping down while summoning several energy orbs around him. Lilith also took to the air and seemed to be concentrating on an attack of her own.
Dante bowed his head, lowered his arms and smirked knowingly as he awaited their descent.
Bang! Bang!
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Dark Ascension
By Insane Blight
Dance Macabre
Dante frowned as he looked up at the two airborne demons. Those energy orbs swirling around the kid were not just for show after all. He quickly aimed for the two again and proceeded to bombard Ranma and Lilith with devil bullets, which they frantically tried to dodge. Jumping up high, Dante stretched his arms to his sides and began to spin around as he let loose another seemingly endless amount of bullets all over the place.
"Yipe! Ow! Hey, watch where you're going Ranma!"
"You try moving around these bullets!"
"Argh! Enough of this! Shining Blade!!!" she shouted, stretching her wings and morphing them into a shield to protect herself from the bullets. "Now… diamond radiance!!!" she yelled as she used the reflection from her wings, along with a good amount of youki, as a means to blind the Devil Hunter.
Dante shielded his eyes from the attack as he landed, and that was all Ranma needed. He swooped down, landed roughly in front of the blinded hunter, and began to punch him a couple of times in the gut, then on the face. Recovering from his temporary blindness, Dante grabbed both of Ranma's fists and then delivered a headbutt to the teen, blood gushing out the moment their heads collided. Ranma didn't let up though, he freed himself from the hunter's grasp and continued to attack him with a playful smile, not even once minding the fact that blood was flowing down his face.
"Take this!" Lilith shouted as she dove down and tried to take Dante's head off with her wings. She cursed when Dante ducked and she almost struck Ranma instead.
"Tch… pest…" Dante muttered as he took a side glance at the airborne Lilith. He continued to dodge Ranma's punches and kicks, patiently waiting for the perfect time to strike. When he noticed that the boy in front of him was not leaving any openings whatsoever, he reluctantly went for the offensive. He ducked and delivered a rising knee strike to Ranma's face which was blocked, but it was quickly followed by a kick to the chest, pushing the teen back from the force behind it.
The Devil Hunter didn't continue his attack though. He grabbed his sword Alastor and quickly threw it to the direction of the airborne succubus with a spin. He smiled when Alastor homed in on the girl as it tried to stab and fry her with electricity, "That should keep you busy for awhile," he said as he turned back to Ranma, "I hope that's not the best you've got kid."
Ranma chuckled at that, "Heh, you have no idea mister… you really have no idea how easily you've fallen into my territory…" he said as he literally melted on the spot.
Dante had to admit, if it wasn't for his large amount of fighting experience, he would've been a goner when Ranma appeared above him and brought down a weapon of sorts. He quickly pulled out a gun, spun it in his hand, turned around, and used its side to block Ranma's weapon before it sliced him in two. When he got a good look at the weapon though, he snarled and pushed Ranma back with all his strength, with him jumping back as well, "Oh, for the love of god, can't you come up with something more original?"
"Huh?" Ranma responded dumbly. He blinked a few times when Dante sighed in frustration, buried his face in one hand while his other hand pointed to the long, black scythe he was holding. "Eh? What's wrong with having a scythe for a weapon, mister?"
"Never mind, just die already," he said as he raised his arm and took another shot at the teen which successfully struck the right shoulder. He rushed in and grabbed Ranma's injured shoulder as he punched him several times with his free hand, then he threw Ranma to the direction the forest, shooting the kid in the air a few more times just for the heck of it.
Dante raised his arm and a few seconds later, Alastor returned to his grasp. Lilith actually avoided it for the most part, but she tired near the end and so she got slashed and electrocuted for her troubles, hey at least she was still breathing. The Hunter watched as the succubus shakily flew into the forest, probably to check on the kid, but he blinked when he heard Ranma's scream, right before he sensed the kid's presence disappear completely. "What the…"
Dante quickly snapped out of it and narrowed his eyes when Lilith screamed as her presence disappeared completely as well, "Shit…! Nightmare!" he yelled when ooze started yanking at his feet from the ground as it slowly covered his entire body and pretty soon, it swallowed him whole. A chilling laughter echoed inside the recesses of the castle walls as Nightmare slid under the castle door.
"Whoa… this is just like Itsuki-niichan's shadow demon," he paused for a moment, "Cool! Are we being eaten alive? Are we? Are we? Hey mister, are we being eaten?" he kept asking in his 'kawaii' tone
"Shut up," Dante muttered. How could he have been so stupid? He should've at least expected that kind of attack but he shrugged the thought out because, well, technically, Nightmare was supposed to be dead. That ooze along with the rest of that bastard's followers, were dead, most of them were killed by him, but some were killed by Mundus himself, the bastard.
Oh well, at least he found out that the two demons with him were not in league with Mundus, but he still had his doubts. That succubus, Lilith, was a horrible liar, he could easily tell that from her reactions to the boy's questions as he looked at them. The boy on the other hand, well, either he was an excellent actor or he was simply too innocent for his own good. Anyway, you couldn't blame the guy for being suspicious, he had been tricked before.
"Mou, we're inside a high level shadow demon, what next?" Lilith whined before glaring at the innocent teen, "This is all your fault! If you didn't go off on your own, we wouldn't even be in this mess!"
Ranma simply smiled at her, "But I felt a very strong spirit inside this castle! I feel that if I could assimilate something as powerful as that, then my powers would be restored completely and maybe then some! Isn't that what you wanted? For me to get strong again so that I could search for this person you're looking for, right?" he finished sweetly, even though there was a demonic look in his eyes.
Lilith gulped and nodded slowly as she shrank back from the gaze.
"Mundus," Dante started, catching their attention, "The spirit you're talking about is probably Mundus. He's a demon, a jerk, an asshole, a shithead, a bastard… you get the picture," he finished with a shrug, "I defeated him once in the human world, guess he was sent back here in this, whatever the hell this place is…"
"Makai," Lilith answered.
"Yeah… Makai," another shrug from Dante, "I thought I'd settle it once and for all but… heh, guess I was kinda careless back there, just didn't expect this moving blob to pop out all of a sudden," he muttered, shooting the ground a few times but it regenerated almost instantly. He turned towards the two and said, "You should probably prepare yourselves, Nightmare will most likely spawn out copies of some of the creatures all of us have faced…" he closed his eyes and smirked, "Speak of the devil…"
Lilith gasped when the creature that appeared in front of her was none other than a silhouette of her master, Jedah Dohma, "Aha ha ha, oh yes, I forgot… I tried to fight him that one time…"
Dante immediately pointed a gun even before the figure formed in front of him, but it wasn't a certain demonic Black Knight though, it was none other than a silhouette of his partner and fellow demon hunter, Trish. He chuckled at the mere sight of it, "Holy hell, guess I get to kick her ass again."
Ranma's eyes widened when a silhouette of a woman appeared in front of him, no, it wasn't his mother, but it was of a woman whom he was very fond off during his stay with his brother, a long, long time ago, "You… you'd make me fight her again…?" he whispered, trembling uncontrollably as he did so.
The three silhouettes laughed, seconds before lunging forward. Lilith and Dante avoided the attacks easily enough but Ranma simply stood there and took the hard blow to his chest, sending him flying into one of the blob pillars and embedding him there.
Having gotten used to this sort of thing, Dante casually disposed of Trish's silhouette by driving his knee to her stomach, jumping back, and then driving his sword through her body several times, Lilith also had an easy time with her opponent, sure, it had her master's moves but it couldn't do Jedah's assimilation techniques, which was the only reason as to why she couldn't drain the old coot. Since it couldn't copy it, she quickly sucked the life out of it and it swiftly turned to dust.
The third shadow ran towards Ranma and did a spin kick to the hybrid, hitting him on the side of his face. Spinning once more, the shadow kicked him yet again but it was then followed with an unusual attack. While still in the air, she held her palm up and a symbol appeared just in front of her hand. The shadow giggled before chuckling something at Ranma, it was a rain of ice daggers that struck him all over his body. Blood splattered out almost instantly as Ranma screamed from the intense pain it caused.
Lilith quickly flew in front of the embedded hybrid, oh no, she won't let him die yet! "If you want to kill him, you have to beat me first miss prissy!" She rotated her arms in a circular pattern as she gathered youki, "Soul… REFLECT!!!"
Caught by surprise, the shadow didn't have time to jump back. The spherical, spinning projectile went right through her by tearing a hole on her chest. To add insult to injury, Lilith smiled and gave the shadow a quick peck on the cheek before it turned to dust.
Dante stood there, looking at Ranma's form with a frown. If he didn't know better, the kid's behavior was unusual, yet quite understandable considering the situation. Repressed memories, the kid's reaction to that shadow led him to that early conclusion. Something happened between that kid and the woman that silhouette tried to copy from his memories… that was all he could think off to explain the kid's fear and hesitation the moment he saw the shadow.
Before anyone could say or do anything, the ground began to wobble, the pillars of ooze started melting, and a small crack can be seen from up above. The three had to shield their eyes when a bright light nearly blinded them all.
Dante, Lilith, and a badly wounded Ranma found themselves inside the castle, in the main hall, with the shadow demon Nightmare just a few feet away from them. Dante was about to attack when he noticed that Ranma was tugging at his coat, "What are you doing kid?! Let go, I have to kill this blob!"
Ranma smiled maniacally, "No, allow me. I already found its real weakness while we were inside it," he said with a murderous glare. Jumping forward, he buried his hand into Nightmare's center, instantly breaking its dimensional wall and easily grasping its real spirit, "YOU WILL NOT USE HER AGAIN!!! DO YOU HEAR ME?! NEVER AGAIN!!!"
Nightmare howled before taking a more solid form, with Ranma's hand still buried in its center. It howled again and the solidified blob began melting on the spot, Ranma was laughing like a madman as he watched it slowly wilt to nothing. Lilith gasped when she noticed that the teen's wounds were closing up, and his power was returning at a tremendous rate, "He can already assimilate that large amount?!"
"Die! Die! Die!"
Nightmare howled for the last time as its liquefied body vanished forever.
Ranma panted as he tried to catch his breath, assimilation was hard, but at least he got most of his powers back and it was all thanks to that blob. Still, he wondered if there will be stronger demons besides Nightmare, and that made him turn to Dante with a serious look, "Hey mister, if we are going to get out of here in one piece, I think a truce is in order, don't you think?" he said, offering his hand to the bewildered Devil Hunter.
Dante looked him in the eye and could see nothing but childish innocence, guess he blocked it out of his mind again. He hesitated for a moment before finally shaking Ranma's hand, "Yeah, for now…"
Lilith rolled her eyes at the whole thing.
Just then, a sick, twisted giggle echoed throughout the corridor, right before several gigantic scythes phased through the wall, it was followed by floating spirits in dark, hooded cloaks, and animal bone heads.
Dante turned to Ranma and in a deadpan, he said, "See what I mean when I said that your weapon was unoriginal?"
Mukuro smiled slightly as a certain Wargod entered her chambers. She hadn't expected him to arrive at her domain this fast, in less than a day even, guess there still was some fire left in him after all. She could sense that Yomi was also running towards her place at high speed, my, my, these two sure didn't like to let a woman wait. She focused back to Raizen, giving him a friendly nod as she said, "It's been a long time, old friend. I presume that you're here because of a certain plague that has resurfaced?"
Raizen grunted a bit, "You know that it's the only reason for me to see you after the countless arguments we had over the consumption of human flesh."
"I'm deeply hurt by that. You were the one that said that I was like a sister to you, yet our arguments over human consumption quickly broke our relationship. I truly missed those times, you know, with you and the rest of our group, Enki, Koko… I hear she still drinks too much, huh?"
Giving a low chuckle, Raizen nodded in response.
Mukuro smiled slightly at that. "It was too bad things had to go this way, I mean, the three rulers breaking up and dividing Makai like that. But what's done is done… we have to live through our decisions, no matter how difficult they might seem," she coughed a bit before she continued, "Well, I sensed your involvement with a fight a day or two back, care to tell me what was that all about? Especially the one you were fighting against."
"Just teaching a brat of a descendant some lesson in 'power'," he answered, shrugging his shoulders at the whole thing. His eyes turned serious when he said, "His opponent at the time however, was another story. He's a descendant of that bastard, and I don't think I finished him off back there."
"I see…"
"Aha ha ha! What is this? The ever so powerful Raizen admitting that he couldn't finish a mere descendant? I never realized you have gotten that weak!"
Raizen and Mukuro turned towards the door, where a smirking Yomi was standing with his arms crossed.
Mukuro shook her head, "You never change." She motioned for the two to join her, "Well now that the three rulers are here, we should start our talks about the Dohma family and their plans to destroy Makai…" she paused when her general Kiri burst into the room with a shocked look.
"Lady Mukuro, Lord Yomi, Lord Raizen! The Soul Bee tribe is attacking Lord Yomi's domain!"
"What was that?!"
Steal a soul for a second chance
or you will never become a man
"Look!!! It's the Soul Bee tribe!" a demon shouted in a mixture of shock and fear. It couldn't be helped. The Soul Bee tribe was well-known for their enormous numbers and an even bigger appetite for demonic souls. One thing that bothered the demon was that the Soul Bee tribe never moved in this part of Makai before because of Lord Yomi's power so what purpose do they have in coming here… unless…
One woman screamed when a couple of bee drones went inside a few houses, their break-in was followed by blood gushing out the windows and screams of their fellow demons. The woman's scream became even louder when the drones moved closer and closer to where she was at, "T-T-They're coming this way!!! Run!!!"
I just told you all, it makes me stronger
in a life that creeps no longer
Several more drones swooped down and slashed the heads off of a few demons with relative ease. Q-bee buzzed loudly as she pointed toward Yomi's fortress, to which most of the drones nodded and immediately went for it with the intent to kill Yomi's elite army before they could even be deployed into the city.
Screams echoed throughout the fortress, screams of the soldiers dying, being dismembered, or both. It wasn't like they were weak or anything, they were ranked lower B-class after all, but the Soul Bee tribe was simply too strong for them to take on. A-class demons were having trouble stopping this tribe because of their strength in numbers alone, what could an army of B ranked demons do against thousands of Soul Stealers?
Fade away, a quest for life
Until the end, judgment nighs
"Get the women and children out of here! Well try to hold them off… ahhh!!!"
"Somebody help us please! My child is dying! Please save us…! Aaaahhh!"
"Lord Yomi!!!!"
Stepping forth, the cure for a soul's demise
Reap the tears of the victim's cries
Yearning more to kill the suffer of a
brother demon that's supported under
The drones had a sick smile on their faces as they ripped out souls from the dead demons scattered throughout the city. Some of them chased after the remaining demons and killed them via a stinger to the head, absorbing their souls as they did so. Q-bee buzzed loudly to catch her army's attention, she raised an arm up and the drones nodded with a smile. They quickly began to torch the buildings, houses, and the bodies of the demons. It was obvious that no one was going to be spared from this massacre, absolutely no one.
Kill before a time to kill them all!
Backstab the righteous law
Serving justice that dwells in me
Nothing comes as far as the eye can see!!!
"Heeeeeeehaahaahaahaahaahaahaaaaaaaa!" a sick and twisted laughter echoed throughout the area.
The entire Soul Bee tribe stopped in their massacre of the city, looked up to the blood red sky, and gave a bow and dark smile to the winged figure above them. Jedah smiled back at his servants before gesturing for them to continue the massacre of the city. "Hear me people of Makai! Give your souls to us! I swear that it will be used for the good of the realm! It's something that your beloved ruler never, ever tried to do!"
We are falling, the night is calling
The tears inside me, coming down
Jedah stretched his wings, ripped open his coat and exposed his demonic chest. He smiled maniacally as the souls proceeded to go inside his demonic heart, slowly assimilating them into himself and making him stronger with each successful assimilation. He then noticed a small demon child crying right below him. He frowned, stopped his assimilation, and flew down to land right in front of the boy.
Midnight coming, here softly sobbing
Ground me without your relief
Q-bee frowned when she noticed Jedah's hesitation. Why was he stopping? Did he have a sudden change of heart? Her frowned deepened after every thought, but the frown quickly turned into a sick smile when she saw what Jedah did to the boy. Nope, he hadn't changed at all.
Bless me with the leaf of a poetryOn it, I see the freedom reign
"I'm sorry, but it is for the future of Makai…" Jedah whispered as he drove his hand inside a small demon child, forcefully pulling the soul out. "You, the populace, may not understand it now, but the rest of Makai will understand my actions in due time. Until then, I'm so sorry…" He swiftly crushed the spirit and looked up, his sad eyes gazing intently at the dark-red sky.
Raised through my father, blessed by the water
Black night, dark sky - the devils cry
Yomi screamed as he slammed his fists on a table, smashing it in two. He growled out Jedah's name over and over again, and tears of blood surprisingly started to fall down his closed eyes. "They're dead. My army… my generals… my people… Shura… Curse you!!! I will kill you Jedah!!!"
Raizen had his back turned against him, probably because he saw the image of himself when his comrades were killed in front of his eyes all those years ago. Mukuro uncharacteristically went over to Yomi and placed her hand on his shoulder. Yes, quite a pitiful attempt at being sympathetic but at least it was a start. This threat was the only one that bonded them as friends in the past, and ironically, after many quarrels throughout the years, it seemed that they were reliving old times once more.
Yomi slapped Mukuro's hand away, "Leave me alone, I don't need your pity."
Raizen snorted, "Leave him be. He's too damn stubborn for his own good."
Mukuro glared slightly at Raizen before turning to her general with a sigh, "Kiri, what is the report on the Soul Bee tribe's location? Did you find out where they are headed?"
"Reports say that the Soul Bee tribe is now crossing the sea of ice, Daimasou, and from the looks of it, it appears that they're headed towards Gilala Gila, the center of Makai." Kiri finished in a slightly shaken voice.
Mukuro gasped loudly while Raizen's eyes widened slightly in surprise. The dormant Volcano Gilala Gila? Of course, no one in their right mind would want to go there unless they want to commit suicide by attempting to use one of the three secret gates it had inside it. With the Soul Bee tribe taking over it and its surrounding land, it was safe to assume that the higher nobles guarding it, the Lepe family, had been wiped out.
"I should've known… the Dohma family was very fond of that place."
Raizen quickly slammed his palm on a table, fire burning in his eyes, "I say we stop them while we still have the chance. The destruction of Yomi's army was a great blow to the strength of the three rulers but all is not lost. We can still stop them if we attack them this instant, right when they're least expecting it."
Mukuro nodded, "Agreed. We will destroy Gilala Gila as soon as possible."
"Good. I already called my comrades yesterday… they'll arrive in my tower in a day or two. You should do the same to the generals of your army, Mukuro. We all know now that it was a mistake to underestimate his power."
"I never realized I was this irritating to fight," Ranma muttered, chopping a Death Scythe in half, "But it sure is fun to hack and slash while we go up this spiral staircase!" This was so much fun! It was also quite fun when they were fighting those shadow hounds while they introduced themselves to each other, Lilith was practically running like a bat out of hell in that one!
"Figures you'd enjoy fighting death," Lilith mumbled, blasting three Death Scythes with a barrage of Soul Reflects, "You should be partnered with this hunter. I bet you two will get along just fine."
Dante grinned, shooting quite a number of them down with several well-placed shots to the head, "Kid, you're alright, dunno about your baby sister though. She seems more like excess baggage… you should just get rid of her, it's for your own good." 'Not to mention she's lying out of her ass with that innocent act.' He pointed a gun at Lilith before she could even react at his comment, "Care to tell me otherwise, demon?" he said coldly.
Lilith glared at the Devil Hunter, but said nothing.
"Hey come on now, Lilith's not all that bad," Ranma began, making a certain succubus to blush slightly, "I mean, yes, she's a bad kisser, more annoying than any human I've ever encountered, and as you would put it, a pain in the ass at times but you'd get used to her soon enough."
"Gee… thanks for the vote of confidence Ranma," Lilith said with a twitch.
Ranma smiled widely before suddenly turning serious, "Uh-oh, two powerful spirits lie beyond those doors… but it's odd… it's like that they are cursed… like they're under some kind of spell or something."
Dante frowned, "Probably Mundus' handy work." He placed both hands on the steel doors and began to push them with all his might, "Might as well get this over with."
The door opened and the Devil Hunter's eyes widened when he saw a large arena, and in the center stood two figures, one was a gigantic bird who had electric arcs circling its body while the other caused him to curse loudly. It was a Black Knight, a Knight he killed long ago… a very goddamn familiar Black Knight.
The three walked into the arena, eyeing the two figures cautiously. It was then that Ranma noticed that Dante's eyes were focused solely on the Knight. He smiled happily as he said, "Looks like you have some business to take care of with this knight-wannabe so we'll take on tweety bird instead, see you later mister!" he yelled as he and Lilith flew up and looked down at the gigantic bird, "We're up here! Your fight is with us!"
Dante kept his eyes focused on the Black Knight in front of him, his grip on his handguns got tighter with each passing second. He finally growled, held up an arm, and pointed a gun to the Black Knight's head, "You're not him… you're just a fake."
The Black Knight known as Nelo Angelo just chuckled darkly.
Meanwhile, at the very top chambers of the castle, Mundus sat on his throne, his attention completely on the fight going on downstairs. If Dante could see the look on his face when he saw his brother in that arena… ha! Priceless! Did he really think Nelo Angelo would die that easily? Did he really think that he had saved his brother's soul back then? If he did, then he was Sparda's son indeed! No one could be more gullible than him and his pathetic line of half-breeds!
The only thing that irked him now was that wretched clone wasn't with the Hunter. The fool, if she just did the things he had told her then Sparda's son would've been dead by now. But the fool had to follow her demonic heart as she chose to side with the Devil Hunter… 'Looks like we have a winner', bah! He'll get her yet!
Mundus smiled, the demonic bird Griffon did make a fine servant back then, but he was even more excellent now that he had become just another mindless puppet for him to use. He was sure that the demonic bird can take those two nuisances down with little trouble at all.
Speaking of the nuisances, there was something about those two that made him tense for some odd reason, some familiar presence… some kind of power that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He quickly shrugged it off, no use worrying about such things when they were about to die. Besides, he wanted to watch the Devil Hunter in action.
Ha ha! He still had so many things to tell him. Did that hybrid really think that he knew all about his father? That demon was one of the most fearsome demons in Makai. Yes, a fearsome demon, not a fearsome Devil Hunter. He laughed out loud as he concentrated back on the fight that was going on down below. He never did notice the small, parasitic demon that was slowly crawling up his chair…
Nelo Angelo successfully stabbed Dante on the shoulder, continuing the attack by lifting the Devil Hunter via the embedded sword, and slamming him on the opposite side. He pulled the sword out and chuckled as he stomped hard on Dante's exposed wound.
Spitting up blood, Dante grabbed Nelo Angelo's foot and twisted it slightly so that he would fall to the side. He twirled back up, pulled out his own sword, and pointed it to Nelo Angelo's direction, "Come on… let's finish this."
The Black Knight laughed before rushing in and attacking Dante with an overhead, two-handed, downward swipe which the Hunter blocked and parried quite easily, leaving Nelo Angelo open for a brief second. With uncanny speed, Dante crouched low and pulled back his sword before thrusting it forward, with his sword going right through Nelo Angelo's chest.
Time seemed to stop right then and there, but to Dante's surprise, Nelo Angelo laughed and even had the strength to stab him right back into his already injured shoulder, pushing him back and forcing him to lose his grip on his sword Alastor. Nelo Angelo snarled as he pulled Alastor out of his chest, completely bearing the intense pain it caused with its lightning attack, and then he threw it to the side.
Dante shook his head slightly to get rid off the dizziness he was feeling. He looked up and screamed as his body was encased with youki. Wings sprouted from his back, his hair stood up, and his body took on a monstrous form. He cocked his head to the side and growled at Nelo Angelo, his hand gesturing for him to make a move.
Ranma snarled as he was struck down by Griffon's beak. He flew back up and groaned when he looked at his energy-induced clothes. It was a good thing they can be repaired when I get healed up. Still, for a large bird, Griffon sure moves fast in the air, faster than him even.
Griffon sent a dozen red orbs towards the hybrid, followed by massive gusts of wind courtesy of the demonic bird's wings. Ranma avoided the orbs, but he had to shield his eyes from the wind gusts, and that was what Griffon needed. The bird quickly threw a red blast that struck the teen's chest, it then began to wrap around his body, forming an energy bind. Ranma struggled to get free but the demonic bird had other ideas. Griffon flew in front of the teen and began to gather a huge amount of energy on its beak, he then released it, and a large energy blast was sent towards the teen seconds later.
"Ranma!"
Lilith shoved the teen to the side and she took the brunt of the energy blast instead. Both crashed down on the ground hard. Ranma broke free of the energy binds and took a short glance at the grimacing Lilith, then at the two glowing pillars just across him. He shakily stood up, and immediately ran towards the two pillars. He looked back at Lilith over his shoulder as he shouted, "Lilith, keep the bird busy for a minute will you? I'm gonna go try something!"
"Not even a simple thank you… ugh, men, no wonder we enjoy sucking the life out of you guys." she snarled as she tried to get up. She immediately snapped her head up when Ranma's words kicked in, "Keep him busy?! That's easy for you to say!"
Dante, still in devil form, punched Nelo Angelo in the face several times. Staggering from the assault, Nelo Angelo tried to fight back with a few random punches and kicks but Dante just countered with well-timed punches of his own, delivering them with such force that it made the Knight jump back from each blow.
Nelo Angelo took another random swing to which Dante avoided with a backflip. The Devil Hunter cupped his hands to the side and began to gather energy, and then he threw a number of energy blasts at Nelo Angelo's wounded chest, pushing him way back with each connecting blow. He was surprised yet again when the Black Knight was still standing after that attack. He morphed back into human form, pulled out his guns, and started pumping him with lead instead.
Nelo Angelo covered his face for the most part, until Dante kicked him down to the ground. The Black Knight tried to reach for the sword near his side but to his dismay, Dante already stepped on it. He hesitantly looked up, only to see a shiny little gun barrel before seeing nothing but white…
Bang!
Lilith screamed when Griffon swooped down and clamped his beak to her body, forcing her to spit out blood by the force applied behind it, 'I can't… help me…'
Ranma was standing between two energy pillars, oh, and he had a smile as he watched the succubus being gnawed by the demonic bird. He can't help it, it looked like fun! Breathing deeply, he closed his eyes and concentrated his Sei Kou Ki. A moment later, he snapped open his eyes as he buried his hands into the energy pillars, with him instantly absorbing the large amount of power they had, "Yes… just what I needed! I'm back at full strength!"
Another piercing scream from Lilith brought him back to reality. "Oh! Right, the bird…" he muttered as he pulled out his hands from the pillars and cupped them in front of him. He grinned when an enormous energy orb formed soon after. He didn't realize he had become this powerful! "Reikou Resshuu Shien Dan!"
Griffon screamed as he was struck with what seemed like an endless blast of homing reiki, allowing Lilith to fly to safety. They repeatedly tore through his wings, his legs, his beak, and his tail. Ranma smiled darkly when Griffon came crashing down head first onto the concrete floor, "Ouch… maybe I overdid it… naaah!" He topped it off with one very large ki wave that destroyed the demon bird's body entirely.
Ranma frowned when he noticed that Lilith crashed down as well. He ran up to her and he was surprised to see her bloody and unconscious, near-death to be exact. "I really thought you were playing around," he whispered, stroking her hair a little. 'I'll probably gonna regret this but…' With a small sigh, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips, allowing Lilith to drain some of his energy for her to recover. Since he was back at full strength, and since he was now stronger than her, he can now control the amount of energy being drained from him if he concentrated enough.
A few moments later, he broke the kiss and pulled back, but he blinked when Lilith, having recovered slightly, simply stared back at him with raised eyebrows.
"What? You were expecting me to say 'My hero'? Please!" she said, pushing the hybrid aside as she got up, "Why do you always make me do the hard work? You two hybrids are unbelievable…" she continued on and on, much to the building ire of the two men.
Dante's hand visibly twitched as it inched closer and closer to his gun, 'Should I kill her or not? Questions, questions, questions, ah, what the hell, it's not like anyone, including the kid, will miss her that much… what the…'
"Hey mister, let me do it… lend me a gun and I'll gladly blow her head off," Ranma whispered to the Hunter.
Dante paused for a moment then replied, "Deal! Just do it quick." He handed the kid one of his handguns and stepped back, quite curious if the kid will really shoot the nuisance, but he had a feeling that he was only playing…
Bang!
Okay, so he was wrong on that one.
At the Saotome, now Kirishima home, Nodoka sat next to a window and stared expressionlessly at the sky, with Ayame standing right beside her. Nodoka had visibly gotten paler, and the air surrounding her was 'unfriendly' at best. Ever since Koenma revived her, she had never spoken to anyone other than Ayame, but it was very clear that hatred was the only thing going on in her mind right now.
Ayame shivered every time she looked at her friend. She shivered even more when she remembered that one time when someone accidentally mentioned Ranma's name in front of the ex-tantei. Nodoka snapped, breaking any furniture she could get a hold on, blasting everything in sight, and screaming her son's name every time she opened her mouth. The worst part was that she was still as strong as back when she was still a Reikai Tantei, maybe even stronger.
Ayame choked back a sob. How did things get this worse? From what Kurama had told her, Ranma knew that his mother was still alive, and she just knew that he'll come back one day to finish the job once and for all, no matter what. That was the least of her concerns though… she was more worried about her friend. Nodoka was up to something. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but she was sure that the ex-tantei was planning something against her own child.
The dark-haired spirit woman looked at her friend once more. Her eyes widened slightly and she shook her head, sobbed once more, and looked outside the window as tears fell freely from her face.
Nodoka simply had an innocent, yet eerie smile on her face.
"You should've killed her."
"Meh,"
Dante and Ranma were walking up a flight of stairs. Lilith was currently shot, gagged and all tied up by Ranma's morphed wings and was now being carried up the stairs by the hybrid. She also had a flesh wound on the side of her face due to Ranma's poor aim with the gun earlier.
Ranma whistled, "How much longer do we have to climb up?"
"You know, you could just put the girl down and fly up."
Lilith nodded vigorously at the suggestion, to which Ranma intentionally ignored, "Yeah I could, but do you really want her out? Do you really want to listen to her constant whining and nagging again?"
That was all Dante needed to hear, "Good point."
Lilith struggled even more and with tearful, pleading eyes, she looked at Ranma over her shoulder, hoping that the hybrid would at least look back at her, "Mrrrphhh! Mmmnnnn!!!!"
With a sigh, Ranma looked back at her and said, "Fine, I'll let you go if you promise to shut up, alright?" Seeing quite a vigorous nod from the succubus, Ranma sighed again as he willed his wings to release the bound and gagged girl.
"Finally!" she exclaimed, stretching her arms, legs, and wings, "I thought I'd never get out of that hell hole! I swear, if it wasn't for his ability to locate my sister, I would've sucked him dry by now…" she stopped when she saw Ranma staring at her with a sweet smile, a smile he used before ripping the soul out of that dog demon. She chuckled nervously as she said, "Eheheh, right, sorry, I'll shut up now."
"Good girl."
A thunderous scream echoed along the corridors, startling the three. Dante knew it was Mundus, but he knew that wasn't a scream someone would do when his lackeys were defeated, it was a scream someone would do when he was very close to dying. The three looked at each other, and then rushed up the stairs that led to Mundus' chambers.
The three arrived at the very top of the castle and were now standing in front of a closed, gigantic metal door that no normal demon or human could possibly open. Dante stood back as he tapped a handgun on his lap, obviously in deep thought at what he had heard a little while ago. Ranma was trying to push the doors open but to no avail. Above him was Lilith, who was also trying her best to help the teen out.
Lilith flew down and leaned on the door, exhausted, "It's no use. Nothing can move this thing unless you have an army of demons with you," she whined.
Ranma placed a hand on the door, "Hmm… you may be right, but it still doesn't hurt to try," he said as he tried to blast it with Sei Kou Ki, then youki, then just plain reiki. He laughed nervously and placed a hand at the back of his head, "Eheh, not even a scratch…"
"That's what you get for trying to showoff, you can't destroy it with such a lame blast," Lilith muttered.
"Is that so? I'd like to see you do better, granny."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
Their argument was put to a stop when the door slowly began to open. What awaited them on the other side was not Mundus however, but an enormous monster. It was as tall as a four-storey building, had grayish armored skin, two massive, long arms and legs, and finally, it had a small, circular-type orb for a head. It howled once, and four, long whip-like appendages came out of its chest. Dante and Ranma quickly readied themselves for an expected attack, Lilith however…
Lilith had gone white as sheet as she stared at the creature in front of her in abject horror, "A Kamui golem! NO! They can't be active! It's impossible!!!!" she screeched in denial.
Dante and Ranma took a moment to look at the panicking succubus before jumping out of the way to avoid the golem's massive, elongated, long arms that tried to take their heads off, with Ranma pulling the horrified girl to the side with him. Dante rolled, got on one knee, and fired a volley of devil bullets to the golem but Kamui seemingly just absorbed the bullets. No, from the sound that it was making, it was as if that the golem was actually eating the bullets.
Ranma placed Lilith on a secluded part of the room before flying in front of the golem. He was surprised at the sudden burst of speed the four whip appendages had when they wrapped themselves around his neck, his waist, and his arms. They soon began to tighten their hold, choking Ranma as well as slowly crushing his internal organs in the process. "Ugh… I… can't… breathe…"
Dante jumped in and sliced the four appendages with his sword, successfully chopping it off before he pointed his arm to Kamui's head. Seconds later, black ooze wrapped itself around said arm and formed a weapon of some kind. The Devil Hunter smirked as the weapon launched a bluish blast that continuously struck the golem. Ranma added to the attack by forming a scythe in his hands and throwing it at the golem. It easily chopped off its arms and pretty soon, its legs, forcing it to fall flat on its back as Dante's blast continued its relentless attack until the golem stopped moving.
"That was easy…" the Devil Hunter muttered with a frown. He didn't expect that kind of opponent, plus where was Mundus anyway? Mundus wasn't in the room, but he was pretty sure he can still sense his presence around the area. Either he was good at hiding or… no… can't be… the golem…?
Ranma was on all fours and coughed a few times before chuckling out, "Heh, no kidding. It was pretty strong though, I couldn't move an inch when he grabbed me."
The two jumped when Kamui sprang forth a new set of appendages as it began to stir. Dante's eyes narrowed when Kamui's arms and legs regenerated as well but he was more concerned at what it was doing next, it was shedding its skin like a snake. Dante gripped his sword tightly while Ranma summoned his cross-shaped boomerang and the two readied themselves for an attack.
Lilith saw this and immediately began screaming to the two, "Stop fighting it! We can't defeat it with just the three of us so just stop!" she pleaded, "I don't care what you guys say but we really cannot stop it once it evolves into its first cycle! You can hack all you want but it will only regenerate and create a much more powerful armor around itself so please…!" she said as she got on her knees while sobbing profusely, as if she was a person who had lost all hope.
That little speech didn't faze the two hybrids one bit. Instead, they actually smiled and attacked Kamui again and again, neither one caring whether the golem regenerates or not. Their attack was stopped however, when they suddenly heard an irritating ringing in their ears, Lilith and the Kamui were affected as well.
"Ahhh! What is this?!"
Dante, Ranma, and Lilith were struck by a huge pillar of light. The light, to their surprise, protected them from any further attacks from the Kamui golem. The three screamed when the light intensified, pretty much lighting up the entire castle. A few moments later, the group vanished, leaving only the Kamui golem inside the room.
Lilith groaned, shaking her head as she tried to get up. She opened her eyes and groaned even louder when she noticed the odd structure of their surroundings, structures that were only present on one specific place, and it wasn't on Makai.
"Where are we?" Both Dante and Ranma asked, having come to and were now looking around the area.
Lilith sighed and rubbed her temples as she said, "Oh boy, looks like we got transported into Master Jedah's very own dimensional realm, the Majigen."
AN: That song when Jedah destroyed Yomi's domain was from the DMC3 trailer. Anyway, this chapter mainly focused on Dante and his DMC1 storyline, I thought it would help the readers understand him a little better. I used DMC1 because DMC2 was… better not go there. The Kamui golem is a variation of the Sakura Wars Kamui and a beast from a mythology I read a long time ago. (Dunno if it was Maya or Aztec… ah, I'll dig it up later)
The female shadow Ranma refused to fight? Well, it will be cleared later on, and let's just say that she was very important to our deranged teen.
Next: The Evil Realm Majigen I: The Gathering
"Whoa… is there a party or something going on in here Lilith?"
"Oh no, the Darkstalkers… I forgot about them…"