Authoress' Note : Yes, I know. It originally WAS going to be one chapter. But I decided Bustahead deserved more than one (even though this is way late). This is really just something I wrote so I could practice doing action/fighting scenes. Mostly, this is my first one, so be nice. It's really early in the morning at the moment, so I'm sure there are some mistakes I missed when reading over it, so forgive me.

I guess you could see this as continuing off the first chapter, but I didn't really intend for it to. And I have no idea why I decided to call them Red/Blue-coat for half of it. I wanted to do something a bit different, I s'pose. I think Imight continue this chapter, so be on the look for it later on. Sorry if it's a bit short, too. These things always look a lot longer in Word...

The Battle

He swung the blade up hard, deflecting the down-coming broadsword with an enormous clang. A swift roll to the right had him back on his feet in seconds. Promptly he lunged forward at a great speed, feeling a slight jerk as his blade hit flesh. He cut downward, slicing through flesh like water until his sword hit the wet ground, bouncing back up so hard that he almost stumbled. He regained himself quickly, standing up straight then turning to face his opponent with a grim face. His dark blue coat shivered in the wind, whipping around his wet body. The thunderheads above the duelers roared their approval, unleashing more torrents of rain upon the two figures.

A steady drip of crimson streamed from the other man's body, covering his bare chest in a color as red as his coat. A deep slice decorated his muscled torso, showing off the pale pink of muscle. As he touched the injury instinctively, the blood flow slowed. The skin on each side of the cut began stretching, lacing and covering the gaping wound. Within seconds, the cut was gone, and only a small pink line was left in wake of the sword wound.

"You've gotten faster," Red-Coat growled.

Blue-Coat smiled as he slid the edge of his Yamato along the slick cement. "I've been practicing." He stopped, thoughtful. "Waiting for my power to awaken." He lifted his weapon to chest-level, leveling it out and watching Red-Coat's blood drip onto a wet finger. He licked it off, slowly and casually. "I see your blood still has not awakened yet."

Red-Coat smirked, stifling a laugh. "Awakened? I don't need that form to beat you."

"You still hold a grudge against Father," Blue-Coat stated. A silence pierced the night, and it seemed to block out even the pitter-patter of the steady rainfall. Another stark-white bolt flashed overhead, highlighting the dragon-esque statues atop the tower. The moon moved out from behind a cloud, covering the world in a chilled white glow. Red-Coat ran forward without warning, his broadsword aiming straight for Blue-Coat's ice-covered heart. Blue-Coat didn't even twitch.

The sword's aim was true.

But Blue-Coat's skin was skin no more.

Rebellion bounced off as easily as a rubber ball, surprising Red and throwing his balance off. The sword fell to the ground with an audible clang. He looked down to see a silver steel claw – which had erupted from Blue's arm – stuck in his gut. Again he found himself covered in his own blood.

Blue's face was splattered with his brother's blood, his father's blood, and he could not help but feel elated. "'No grudge with a serpent ever lasts.'" He quoted, his voice tinny because of his metal-imbued body.Pausing, a look of regret passed over his demonic features quickly, but soon enough his face reverted to its normal coldness. The tips of his blackened horns shined dully in the moonlight as the moon slowly rose higher towards the zenith. "Do you really suppose you could kill me with that human blood of yours? Father left us a great legacy, Dante. Embrace it."

Despite Dante's situation, he grinned impishly as he looked up to the cold steel of his brother's demon face, Vergil's metallic wings making ringing noises echo hollowly through the icy night. "Don't forget, Verge. You have the same blood as I do. As Mother does."

With that he ripped himself away from the deadly appendage, rolling back and leaving a slick, ragged trail of blue-tinted blood behind him. The blue and black striped demon followed suit, its katana held firmly in its hand, ready to finish the battle. He made a quick jab at the rolling form of Dante, missing it by inches but receiving a boot to the knee as its reward. Vergil stumbled, landing on his other knee and sending a painful jerk up his leg and into his spine. Before he had a chance to recover, another kick sent him sliding backwards, metal skin scraping along the hardened stone of the tower, sending sparks flying and making the knee still on the ground heat up quickly.

Vergil stifled a grunt of pain as the burning sensation sunk in. Looking down, he saw that friction had caused the iron spikes decorating his knees to be sharpened into deadly points. Using his wings to propel himself forward, he slammed the sharpened knee into Dante's sitting form, pushing him backwards and making him fall hard onto his back. Stillness settled over the twins, both breathing heavily and letting the rain wash off the sweat, grime, and blood from the on-going feud. Dante's hair stuck to his face in clumps, impairing his vision slightly. He pushed his ivory bangs behind his ear without a second thought.

A whoosh came from Vergil as he reverted back to his human form. He wavered slightly as he labored to stand up, feeling drained from the transformation. Dante sat up slowly, bones cracking loudly as he looked to find Rebellion resting coldly beside him. Putting a hand around the old sword's hilt, Dante felt a ping of familiarity.

Audible footsteps caused the twins to look in unison to see a young girl around their age walking towards them. A scowl was lying across her pretty face, making her usually soft features harsh. The scar on her nose seemed even more prominent as she frowned. Her ebony hair seemed to become even darker as the rain splashed against her, soaking her through. A regular white blouse exposed pale, white flesh as she shifted her enormous firearm across her shoulders. Dante instinctively looked her up and down as he always did when a female entered the scene as Vergil remained as calm as ever. Both did not like the intrusion of this female human.

Breathing shallow breaths, Dante used Rebellion to stand up and face her. He grimaced, though he was relieved to see her still alive. "Get out of here, Lady. This is no place for a little girl."

She scoffed at the comment, kicking a dark red boot across the stone ground. "Well isn't this interesting. I see you demons have been fighting without me." The word 'demon' dripped with malice and hatred. She smiled at the demonic duo as her eyes shown with murderous intent. "Didn't your mother ever tell you, 'Ladies first'?"