Disclaimer: Joss, WB, UPN et al. own Buffy. Capcom et al own Devil May Cry. I do not. I'm just borrowing them.
Title: Elysium
Author: Paradigm Shifter
Rating: R
Cross: Devil May Cry
Continuity: Better the Devil You Know. Read or be confused.
Feedback: It's kind of like a fifth element: Earth, Air, Fire and Water... and Feedback. It's important, and yes, I would love some. ;-)
Thanks: Teri and Trevelyan. Thank you, both.
Recommended Listening: Fields of the Nephilim; 'Elizium'.
Notes: The scene I wanted in the previous chapter didn't want to be written. Even still, I wonder if it will allow it. Which is annoying, 'cause I kinda need it for story advancement... ;-) Also, to say Adam is unhinged would be putting it mildly. Assume that some of his programming has gone even more wrong.
The cavern was filled with vampires.
Hundreds of vampires.
Adam stood on a raised dais, so that they could all see his pronouncement, and Spike stood with him. Only the countenance that Adam gave Spike stopped many of the vampires from staking him outright. He had worked with the Slayer: that was tantamount to a death penalty.
Adam turned, and he seemed to look at each vampire individually. Then he spoke.
"I want you, all of you, to begin a campaign for me."
The vampires roared in agreement.
"You will turn as many as you can. If you cannot turn someone, do not attack them."
There was another roar from the assembled vampires, but this was a quieter one. Some of the smarter ones realised that they would not be feeding as often.
"At all costs, you will avoid the Slayer. And her little groupies. Do not go near them. If you feel her coming, run."
There was some muttering in the ranks.
"I mean this completely: do not engage the Slayer. If you do, you will die. Whether she kills you, or I, it matters little. I have decreed that you do not harm her, and that is final."
One of the more stupid vampires – you couldn't really call him intelligent at the best of times, and what he was about to do was suicide – spoke up. "Why should we do that? We're vampires? We're meant to kill the Slayer!"
Adam looked at the vampire, and gestured him forward. Continuing to show just how foolish he was, the vampire did as he was bid, and stepped through the crowd.
Adam appraised him. "Andy, isn't it?" he asked almost kindly.
Andy nodded. "Yeah."
Adam moved lightning quick, and Andy was suddenly missing his head. The body teetered slightly, before bursting into dust.
Adam looked over the crowd. "Let that be a lesson to you. Do not argue with me."
He turned, and his arms encompassed the whole hall. "I want this town to have more vampires in it than humans! I want to be able to give the word, and every living thing in this town dies in a night! Each of you, eachofyou, is part of my plan! When I say the word, I want to be able to walk across the world, in a path of BLOOD!"
The shock rode high for a moment, before Spike took up a cheer. The rest of the cavern quickly followed his example. The initially ragged bursts became louder and more certain. This was a leader to be feared. And one that the humans had made themselves...
Within seconds, the roar was deafening. The walls, and very ground itself, shook in fear at what was to soon be unleashed...
"You."
"You."
Xepto turned away from the arrival. "I tire of these games, Dante. Either fight, or flee. But do not try my patience any further."
"I try your patience! Who..." Dante began, but Xepto cut him off.
"What? You ask 'who do I think I am?'" Xepto sneered. "As if it is not obvious, half-breed. You fight for those who can equally well defend themselves... if you did not hide the truth from them."
"People are not able to deal with the truth in this day and age." Dante replied. "Maybe once, I could have revealed everything that happened, and still happens, but now? No. There would be panic, mass genocide on scales unseen since the Campaigns."
Xepto paused, before brushing off his words. "You speak of that which you do not understand. I led the Campaigns. I know of what happened."
Dante rolled his eyes. "And yet you do nothing."
"NOTHING?!" Xepto suddenly spun, rage on her features, hatred a palpable essence in the air around her. "I do that which I can to prevent the things I fear! You think you fight me... you think you fight the whole of Hell!" She gripped Dante roughly by his shirt, and he knew at that instant she could break him in two if she so chose. "Know this, Dante: if Hell was united, nothing on this earth – nothing – could stop the wave that would come."
Dante calmly raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
Xepto felt the cold of a pistol wedged against her neck, and realised that Dante was indeed a far more dangerous opponent than he first appeared: and he appeared dangerous indeed.
She dropped him suddenly, and he rolled away as she laughed in contempt. Not at him, but at everything.
Dante slowly managed to get his anger back under control. Almost growling, he ground out, "where is Xander? What have you done with him?"
Xepto looked at him in open surprise. Yes, Dante's loyalties ran deep. He felt the need to save a man he would never see again, save on a battlefield. "Do not concern yourself with my son, Son of Sparda. He is somewhere where... neither of us can free him."
Dante stepped closer, his whole body radiating menace. Even Xepto, standing feet taller and eons older and more vicious was taken aback. "Where?"
"Mundus," Xepto snarled the name, "has trapped him in a place where none but he and his fears can go:"
Dante's eyes flickered with awareness, and the two spoke in unison: "...his mind."
Dawn winced at something. Something had changed, and she knew that it wasn't for the better.
Looking around the classroom of her peers, she frowned as she realised – sort of – what was wrong. "Sir?" Dawn raised her hand, "may I be excused?"
The teacher nodded. "Certainly, Miss Summers."
Dawn stood, and walked calmly out of the classroom. It was only once she was out of the school gates that she took off at a run for the Magic Box.
If she was right – if her feeling was right – then Giles was about to have a visitor.
Dante stalked around Xepto angrily. "So. Mundus has trapped Xander. In his own mind. His dreams, as far as he is concerned, made reality."
Xepto nodded. "Yes. But it is unlikely to be his dreams... Mundus will have trapped him in a limbo state: neither truly waking nor sleeping, but unaware of what his body does."
"Can we get Xander out?" Dante knew the answer to this question, but asked it anyway. It was a vain hope that the answer would have changed.
Xepto shrugged. "Only if he wants to come out."
"What can you do?"
Xepto walked a few steps away, to watch the ocean. "I? Little. If I overtly stand against Mundus, Hell will be torn in two, true... but factions who are, as yet, undecided on which they support will be forced to choose to survive. It will lead to bloodshed on earth, whether you want it or not."
Dante spoke quietly, uncertain whether he should suggest what he was about to. "There is one person who could help..."
Xepto sighed. "And that is?"
"My father." Dante said in a whisper. It was loud enough, though.
Xepto exploded in rage. "You expect me to beg for help from him?" The glow of her eyes gained in intensity until Dante was sure they would be able to compete with the sun itself. "That... that traitor?!"
"Are you forgetting who you speak to, Xepto? I am no mortal. I might, as you call me, be a 'half-breed' but at least I know where my loyalties lie. As did my father. He followed his heart... have you so forgotten yours?"
Xepto's inadequately bottled anger rose to new heights. Launching herself at the half-Devil who had prodded that emotional wound, incoherent with the sheer fury she was experiencing, she beat him.
Dante, for his part, did little to resist. He blocked where he could, but knew full well that the power Xepto could bring to bear would far outstrip his abilities even when she was in full control of herself. As driven as she was, her strength was magnified ten-fold.
He Triggered as bones broke, allowing them to heal almost instantly. Then they were simply broken again under the assault.
"Did I hit a nerve?" Dante hissed in Xepto's face as she paused in her attack for a second. "I've never seen anyone get so..."
His words were cut off as Xepto backhanded him over the cliff, and he crashed inelegantly into the rocks below.
Laying there, he groaned.
Xepto landed next to him, still primed for a fight. "Not so able now, are you, half-breed?" Xepto taunted him in the hopes of getting him to stand and fight. "Seems you were not so much a problem as Mundus made out..." she sneered at him. "Pitiful."
"Nothing will go well for you, Xepto, if you refuse to see what is in front of you!" Dante spoke with a passion he had been unaware he had: his partner's loss and the looming feeling of failure was much of that.
"I see what is in front of me: death, despair and endless torment if I defy someone I have no hope of overthrowing!"
Dante struggled to his feet, lacking even the strength to Trigger and heal his wounds. "I don't ask you to go to Sparda – that would be too much – I ask that you help me to reach him."
Xepto shook her head, eyes flaring. "No. Out of the question. You would die before you even got within a years journey of Sparda's Exile."
"I have ways." Dante said quietly. "I believe I can make it."
"Then you are delusional."
"I know I am not, Xepto," Dante pressed, "all I ask is that you help. If I die, then you will have rid yourself of one opponent, and gained face with Mundus for it. If I succeed..." Dante let the words trail off. He had tried the Stick method, and now this was the Carrot. If this didn't work, there was nothing he could do...
Review? :-)
Title: Elysium
Author: Paradigm Shifter
Rating: R
Cross: Devil May Cry
Continuity: Better the Devil You Know. Read or be confused.
Feedback: It's kind of like a fifth element: Earth, Air, Fire and Water... and Feedback. It's important, and yes, I would love some. ;-)
Thanks: Teri and Trevelyan. Thank you, both.
Recommended Listening: Fields of the Nephilim; 'Elizium'.
Notes: The scene I wanted in the previous chapter didn't want to be written. Even still, I wonder if it will allow it. Which is annoying, 'cause I kinda need it for story advancement... ;-) Also, to say Adam is unhinged would be putting it mildly. Assume that some of his programming has gone even more wrong.
The cavern was filled with vampires.
Hundreds of vampires.
Adam stood on a raised dais, so that they could all see his pronouncement, and Spike stood with him. Only the countenance that Adam gave Spike stopped many of the vampires from staking him outright. He had worked with the Slayer: that was tantamount to a death penalty.
Adam turned, and he seemed to look at each vampire individually. Then he spoke.
"I want you, all of you, to begin a campaign for me."
The vampires roared in agreement.
"You will turn as many as you can. If you cannot turn someone, do not attack them."
There was another roar from the assembled vampires, but this was a quieter one. Some of the smarter ones realised that they would not be feeding as often.
"At all costs, you will avoid the Slayer. And her little groupies. Do not go near them. If you feel her coming, run."
There was some muttering in the ranks.
"I mean this completely: do not engage the Slayer. If you do, you will die. Whether she kills you, or I, it matters little. I have decreed that you do not harm her, and that is final."
One of the more stupid vampires – you couldn't really call him intelligent at the best of times, and what he was about to do was suicide – spoke up. "Why should we do that? We're vampires? We're meant to kill the Slayer!"
Adam looked at the vampire, and gestured him forward. Continuing to show just how foolish he was, the vampire did as he was bid, and stepped through the crowd.
Adam appraised him. "Andy, isn't it?" he asked almost kindly.
Andy nodded. "Yeah."
Adam moved lightning quick, and Andy was suddenly missing his head. The body teetered slightly, before bursting into dust.
Adam looked over the crowd. "Let that be a lesson to you. Do not argue with me."
He turned, and his arms encompassed the whole hall. "I want this town to have more vampires in it than humans! I want to be able to give the word, and every living thing in this town dies in a night! Each of you, eachofyou, is part of my plan! When I say the word, I want to be able to walk across the world, in a path of BLOOD!"
The shock rode high for a moment, before Spike took up a cheer. The rest of the cavern quickly followed his example. The initially ragged bursts became louder and more certain. This was a leader to be feared. And one that the humans had made themselves...
Within seconds, the roar was deafening. The walls, and very ground itself, shook in fear at what was to soon be unleashed...
"You."
"You."
Xepto turned away from the arrival. "I tire of these games, Dante. Either fight, or flee. But do not try my patience any further."
"I try your patience! Who..." Dante began, but Xepto cut him off.
"What? You ask 'who do I think I am?'" Xepto sneered. "As if it is not obvious, half-breed. You fight for those who can equally well defend themselves... if you did not hide the truth from them."
"People are not able to deal with the truth in this day and age." Dante replied. "Maybe once, I could have revealed everything that happened, and still happens, but now? No. There would be panic, mass genocide on scales unseen since the Campaigns."
Xepto paused, before brushing off his words. "You speak of that which you do not understand. I led the Campaigns. I know of what happened."
Dante rolled his eyes. "And yet you do nothing."
"NOTHING?!" Xepto suddenly spun, rage on her features, hatred a palpable essence in the air around her. "I do that which I can to prevent the things I fear! You think you fight me... you think you fight the whole of Hell!" She gripped Dante roughly by his shirt, and he knew at that instant she could break him in two if she so chose. "Know this, Dante: if Hell was united, nothing on this earth – nothing – could stop the wave that would come."
Dante calmly raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
Xepto felt the cold of a pistol wedged against her neck, and realised that Dante was indeed a far more dangerous opponent than he first appeared: and he appeared dangerous indeed.
She dropped him suddenly, and he rolled away as she laughed in contempt. Not at him, but at everything.
Dante slowly managed to get his anger back under control. Almost growling, he ground out, "where is Xander? What have you done with him?"
Xepto looked at him in open surprise. Yes, Dante's loyalties ran deep. He felt the need to save a man he would never see again, save on a battlefield. "Do not concern yourself with my son, Son of Sparda. He is somewhere where... neither of us can free him."
Dante stepped closer, his whole body radiating menace. Even Xepto, standing feet taller and eons older and more vicious was taken aback. "Where?"
"Mundus," Xepto snarled the name, "has trapped him in a place where none but he and his fears can go:"
Dante's eyes flickered with awareness, and the two spoke in unison: "...his mind."
Dawn winced at something. Something had changed, and she knew that it wasn't for the better.
Looking around the classroom of her peers, she frowned as she realised – sort of – what was wrong. "Sir?" Dawn raised her hand, "may I be excused?"
The teacher nodded. "Certainly, Miss Summers."
Dawn stood, and walked calmly out of the classroom. It was only once she was out of the school gates that she took off at a run for the Magic Box.
If she was right – if her feeling was right – then Giles was about to have a visitor.
Dante stalked around Xepto angrily. "So. Mundus has trapped Xander. In his own mind. His dreams, as far as he is concerned, made reality."
Xepto nodded. "Yes. But it is unlikely to be his dreams... Mundus will have trapped him in a limbo state: neither truly waking nor sleeping, but unaware of what his body does."
"Can we get Xander out?" Dante knew the answer to this question, but asked it anyway. It was a vain hope that the answer would have changed.
Xepto shrugged. "Only if he wants to come out."
"What can you do?"
Xepto walked a few steps away, to watch the ocean. "I? Little. If I overtly stand against Mundus, Hell will be torn in two, true... but factions who are, as yet, undecided on which they support will be forced to choose to survive. It will lead to bloodshed on earth, whether you want it or not."
Dante spoke quietly, uncertain whether he should suggest what he was about to. "There is one person who could help..."
Xepto sighed. "And that is?"
"My father." Dante said in a whisper. It was loud enough, though.
Xepto exploded in rage. "You expect me to beg for help from him?" The glow of her eyes gained in intensity until Dante was sure they would be able to compete with the sun itself. "That... that traitor?!"
"Are you forgetting who you speak to, Xepto? I am no mortal. I might, as you call me, be a 'half-breed' but at least I know where my loyalties lie. As did my father. He followed his heart... have you so forgotten yours?"
Xepto's inadequately bottled anger rose to new heights. Launching herself at the half-Devil who had prodded that emotional wound, incoherent with the sheer fury she was experiencing, she beat him.
Dante, for his part, did little to resist. He blocked where he could, but knew full well that the power Xepto could bring to bear would far outstrip his abilities even when she was in full control of herself. As driven as she was, her strength was magnified ten-fold.
He Triggered as bones broke, allowing them to heal almost instantly. Then they were simply broken again under the assault.
"Did I hit a nerve?" Dante hissed in Xepto's face as she paused in her attack for a second. "I've never seen anyone get so..."
His words were cut off as Xepto backhanded him over the cliff, and he crashed inelegantly into the rocks below.
Laying there, he groaned.
Xepto landed next to him, still primed for a fight. "Not so able now, are you, half-breed?" Xepto taunted him in the hopes of getting him to stand and fight. "Seems you were not so much a problem as Mundus made out..." she sneered at him. "Pitiful."
"Nothing will go well for you, Xepto, if you refuse to see what is in front of you!" Dante spoke with a passion he had been unaware he had: his partner's loss and the looming feeling of failure was much of that.
"I see what is in front of me: death, despair and endless torment if I defy someone I have no hope of overthrowing!"
Dante struggled to his feet, lacking even the strength to Trigger and heal his wounds. "I don't ask you to go to Sparda – that would be too much – I ask that you help me to reach him."
Xepto shook her head, eyes flaring. "No. Out of the question. You would die before you even got within a years journey of Sparda's Exile."
"I have ways." Dante said quietly. "I believe I can make it."
"Then you are delusional."
"I know I am not, Xepto," Dante pressed, "all I ask is that you help. If I die, then you will have rid yourself of one opponent, and gained face with Mundus for it. If I succeed..." Dante let the words trail off. He had tried the Stick method, and now this was the Carrot. If this didn't work, there was nothing he could do...
Review? :-)