Scars
Disclaimer: Go away, I don't own Devil May Cry
Chapter 4: Final Trial
Do you still carry hope? Hope will do nothing for you. It will not end your nightmare. Only when you are free will the nightmare end.
"But..." The prisoner's blood red eyes glared at the dagger in her hand. "If they...What if they...?"
Who? Those intruders? the voice chuckled. I have no doubt that they will take you away from this place. But that will not set you free. I assure you, you'll know when you're free.
Morrigan stood before Petalir in her complete demon form and immediately did Petalir noticed a great change in her strength, but no fear came to his mind, only satisfaction. The demon ninja charged Petalir again, but at an unprecedented speed, and swung her kodachi—which glowed now a shining gold—at the Rose Knight's sword. Unable to predict the attack, Petalir's weapon slipped from his hand and he received the ninja's weapon through his gut. Morrigan glared up at him, her face now carrying the look of disappointment.
"You're holding back too, aren't you? I know you are."
Petalir grinned and slid the sharp edge of the Japanese blade across his bare hand, cutting it open. Then, by throwing the blood of his hand into Morrigan's eyes, Petalir blinded her temporarily. Morrigan stumbled away, struggling to get the thick crimson out of her stinging eyes. Petalir hurried to his katana and recovered it. As her eyes cleared, a sharp pain coiled itself around her wrists and neck and dug into her skin. She saw the Rose Knight, holding a weapon which looked as nun chucks do, but in an extended form. The blade of the katana was evenly separated by chain links now, thus creating a deadly chain of numerous blades. Shock, which stemmed from the wielding of this exotic weapon aimed upon her, only intensified her pain. Her pain intensified, and the worst part was, he did not relent. Petalir held onto his chain blade as it tightened around her and he pulled it above his head, bringing the demon ninja over him and onto the cabinet behind him, crushing the aged wood. Then, he brought Morrigan down onto the desk in the office, thus producing a similar result. The ninja, bleeding severely from the recently inflicted wounds, barely managed even labored breathing.
'Maybe Dante should have done this fight,' she thought regretfully. 'Even with my full strength unveiled, my powers do not compare.' Though this was true, Morrigan also knew that there was an even greater force beyond the stairs leading to the dungeon. Dante would undoubtedly have to fight with full potential if he were to fight and win.
Petalir dramatically raised the hilt of the chain blade into the air and then jolted it up and back down again, slamming Morrigan solidly into the floor. She screeched her pain, unable to take much more of this torture. The blades of the chain released their blood thirsty grip on Morrigan's neck and wrists, and with a flick of his wrist, Petalir snapped the nun chuck weapon back into the original katana. The Rose Knight calmly walked to Morrigan's feverishly bleeding body. He put his sword back in its sheath, knelt to her level, and raised her head so she could see his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said dutifully, lifting his other hand, which carried an emerald energy, to her face. "This will hurt you more than I." He tersely released the raw power upon Morrigan's face, swinging her head back violently, forcing her body to follow into the wall.
The ninja, unable to take any more, began to plead for mercy as Petalir approached her. "Please, no more..." Morrigan moaned. "Please stop, Petalir!" But the Rose Knight was not deterred, rather he came even closer. Morrigan would have run, but her body was much too sore to even move, let alone dash, so she closed her eyes and awaited the pain. But pain, to her surprise, did not come, rather a strange feeling that ended the pain. Her golden eyes opened to see Petalir holding his hand aloft over her, casting a powerful recovery spell on her, as well as on his own wound with the other hand. "But...why?"
"I've fulfilled the orders which bound me to fight you. You know me well, Morrigan. I do not kill unless I'm ordered." After he finished the spell, he turned his back to her, "You should go now, and the Dark Knight is probably near death."
She stared at him for a few moments, and took a long breath. "Why don't you come with us and help rescue Lilith?"
Petalir looked back at her, his eyes filled with a great sadness, but it was clear that he held back his tears. "You should know why I won't come, Morrigan." A surreal light slowly emerged from Petalir's right hand. The hue changed from white to pink then red. Petalir looked squarely at Morrigan, with a longing in his voice and a deep sadness showing in his eyes, Petalir said simply, "Goodbye... For now." Then in a sublime display, crimson petals began to swirl out of Petalir's hand in the form of a swirling vortex. The petals path changed and turned upon Petalir. In a few seconds, the petals enclosed him in a firm shell-like casing, and then they wilted and fell away. When all of the petals had fallen to the ground and disappeared, Petalir had also.
Dante rushed down the spiraling steps that led to the dungeon, gripping his sword firmly. He sensed a great power awaiting him below, and as he reached the last step, he noticed a man in a blue suit before him.
"Son of Sparda..." He spoke, his lips curling into a sneer that grew more evil and pronounced by the second. "Finally, I get to meet you. The slayer of devils and destroyer of evil, or so they say. It's so good to see you." Mundan unbuttoned his aqua-colored jacket and tossed it aside, saying without words his desire to fight. "I've never had a doubt that you had come. Ever since the first of my demon soldiers was killed, I knew you had arrived. Tragically, I am now the last obstacle standing between you and success," he said quietly.
"Yeah, whatever! Hey, are you gonna fight or what?" Dante readied his sword, "Bring it on, you poser. I'm gonna open up many cans of whoopass just for you before I'm through!"
"Hopeless..." Was all Dante heard from his opponent, before Mundan's knee struck the demon slayer's rib cage and Mundan's elbow connected with the back of his head. Using his levitation powers, Mundan kicked his other leg up and struck Dante's back bone, sending the devil hunter soaring into the stone wall, shattering it. Mundan chuckled, the scar in the middle of his forehead no longer a scar, but a demonic eye. "Dark Knight, I know you are in immense pain and if you aren't, then you must be dead." His face twisted. "How could a pathetic half-breed like you have defeated my father?" He paused, then said, "I guess that's it then... I just sort of send my enemies crashing into walls, or flying off of some monstrous building. That's what it amounts to I guess. All of them. They just go and throw themselves down in front of me. A shamish pity," Mundan said morosely. He turned his back to the half demon under the pile of rubble. He was about to head up to kill the other intruder, but stopped with sudden fear when he heard, "Don't worry, I'm not dead."
He peered over his shoulder to the pile of stone and saw the devil hunter already out of his predicament with only minor scratches and bruises, and a smile as if he had enjoyed the assault. Dante pulled his dragon-hilted weapon from the rubble and sheathed it across his back. Shouting a battle cry and charging Mundan again. The three-eyed demon awaited Dante's assault and at the last moment, Mundan leapt high over the demon slayer's head and hovered behind Dante, as he aimed his index finger towards the half demon. A thin crimson line fired from Mundan's finger at a speed faster than Dante could perceive. The small beam pierced Dante's chest and barely missed his heart. It arced around the devil hunter and returned to its owner's hand.
Dante cringed at the sharp pain and fell to one knee. Mundan smirked and the power in his hand grew. He opened his palm and hundreds of crimson beams fired towards the demon slayer. As the beams neared Dante, a powerful aura surrounded him. Dark wings sprung from his back; his gauntlets became flesh, melding with his hands; his body formed into that of a full-blooded demon's, and his eyes glowed a bloody red. Dante raised his claw and the many beams were sucked into it like dust into a vacuum. Then, by tightening his grip, Dante vanquished the attack. He rose to his feet and glared up to Mundan, who had never seen such powers in a half breed before. Fear was in his eyes. The Dark Knight aimed both his claws to the three eyed demon as crimson power formed in his palms. He unleashed his onslaut on the three-eyed demon, holding nothing back. The receiving hand attempted to back the attack, seeing no way to avoid it. Barely did the demon survive, but his hands burned intensely.
Mundan glared at Dante, who remained in his devil form and glared right back. The demon brought his hands around his third eye and began chanting in an ancient language. As his spell grew, magic runes glowed before him until they formed a circle. This attack was familiar to the devil hunter for he had seen it used on another in earlier times. From the circle of runes, a white beam was unleashed and pierced through Dante's demon armor. Dante stood there wide-eyed for several moments before the immense pain forced him to his knees. The demonic armor donned upon him faded into nothing and he was left in his crimson coat and black clothing. "Painful, isn't it?" Dante glared up to the demon speaking, "I wouldn't be surprised if you died now. Few have received a direct strike from that attack and lived." Mundan slowly advanced to the hunter, grinning evilly. He took Dante up by the collar and his middle eye began glowing again. Just before Mundan released the lethal attack on Dante's face, the hunter acted quick and fired a bullet at the eye, causing something like a backfire. Mundan released Dante and covered his eye, crying out curses at the demon slayer.
The white haired half demon stared at his guns and praised them, "Damn, I love these guns!" How many times these guns had saved him was uncountable. They were lucky and that's all Dante had to know about them. He changed his attention back to Mundan, and before the demon could forget the pain and lashed out at Dante, the devil hunter had already aimed both Ebony and Ivory to Mundan's face. "Which goes first? Your left eye, the right, or both?"
"Damn you, Son of Sparda! How could a half human like you defeat me? It's impossible!"
"Correction, it's unlikely, but not impossible." Dante said, grinning. "But I'll do anything to stop you hell spawned bastards!"
"Then why are you helping them too?"
Dante stared at Mundan confused, "What do you mean?"
"Let me tell you this. The one that you are saving is actually what you despise! She is a half-breed, but not half human! She is of the succubus kind along with the vampire race! It is difficult to believe that a vampire and a succubus fell in love, but then again so is the fact that a human and a demon did the same!"
"Shut up!" Dante barked at the demon, "It's my job to kill you evil low-life sons of bitches, not the ones you torture!"
"Are you sure? If she dies, then all your problems die with her. She'll bring forth an era of destruction and chaos if kept alive. You're only making your troubles worse!" Mundan cackled, his heart as dark as a black hole, with no light to be found.
"Don't you ever shut up?" The hunter pulled the triggers of both handguns, striking the devil in the forehead. The evil laugh ceased to be and the demon grew silent as he fell over and lay motionless.
Gemakai-Damn, I took a long time, eh? Fortunately, I have two reasons to back me up. One is that this was a hard chapter and possibly one of my worst.
Astar-The other reason was that he was too busy sitting on his ass, playing Devil May Cry 2.
Gemakai-(Glares at his assistant) Oh well. Now, tell me, my fans, what you thought of this chappy and maybe give some ideas on what may happen. Don't worry you'll be given credit...probably. Now, it is my intention to sit down and play video games for several hours.