Author's note: Hello again guys! Insomnia sucks, I'm afraid this chapter's a product of my sleep deprived brain, so I can only hope you will like it..-hides-

Well, the metamorphosis continues, this time without Trish. Please read on…

Special thanks to Seeker and Cosmic Water. You know you rock!

They were screaming his name in pure, fervent adoration, the crazy fans that swarmed the mosh pit, going wild to Dante's music. Riff after riff of metal assault blasted from the massive speakers. Dante was on his knees on stage, his long fingers dancing over the electric guitar's battered strings with lightning speed and masterful finesse….

"DANTE!"

Someone was indeed screaming his name.

Very loudly.

Instead of young, pretty, sweaty fan girls, Dante awoke to find Vergil trying to find his way around a mountain pile of dirty laundry, empty pizza cartons and various other trash that cluttered the 17 year old's room.

The silver haired young man flicked one eye open, muttering into his pillow grumpily. He suffered from a filthy hangover, a splitting headache, and was in desperate need of sleep.

"Go pester someone else, Vergil, I'm hammered…" Dante regarded his brother with bleary eyes.

"Dante, do you have any idea what time it is?" Vergil glowered, opening the curtains and letting the bright midday sunshine flood the room.

"I don't care!" Dante wailed and grumbled as sunlight glared into his eyes, rolling over and preparing to drift back to sleep.

"Dante, it's nearly one o'clock in the afternoon. Mum's going ballistic."

"Right… Give me a sec." Dante sighed, rubbing his face groggily. He stretched languidly with a loud yawn and straightened in the bed.

He reached for the painkiller on the bedside table and washed the pill down with some water from a glass Vergil provided.

"Dante, I need you to do me a favour." Vergil said casually.

Too casually.

Something was up.

"Yeah?" He yawned tiredly, cracking his neck.

"I need you to take my girlfriend out to dinner tonight." Vergil said, his face unreadable, passive.

Dante's eyes opened wider as he stared at his twin incredulously. He couldn't have been more shocked if Vergil had just announced he was having a sex change. Initially, he thought this was some kind of prank, but Vergil was a serious young man with no nonsense attitude.

"Uh, come again, Verge?"

"You heard me." Vergil said stiffly.

"You really have a girlfriend? How come I don't know anything about it?" Dante asked with an ill-concealed hurt look.

Since when did Vergil keep secrets from him?

"Dante, just because we are twins it doesn't mean we should be in each others' pockets all the time. Anyway, that's beside the point. Will you hear me out?" Vergil said brusquely.

"Sure…"

"I promised Lily I'd take her out to dinner for our first anniversary, but I've got heaps of assignments due Monday." Vergil sighed.

"Don't tell me you're going to spend Saturday night studying…" Dante blinked.

"I plan on doing exactly just that." Vergil said firmly.

"Ok o.k. I get it. But, why do you want me to take her out, I mean, she's your girlfriend, Verge." Dante mumbled sleepily.

"Dante, haven't you been listening to a word I said for the past five minutes?" Vergil frowned, and seated himself on the bed next to Dante, carrying on in a calmer, cooler tone.

"Look, we're twins; she won't know the difference, if that's what you're worried about."

"Hold on a sec there, you actually want me to pretend that I'm you?"

"Jackpot." Vergil said dryly, rolling his eyes.

Seeing Dante frown at this thoughtfully, he offered a controlled smile.

"It's not like we haven't done it before." Vergil coaxed gently.

"Yeah, but this is your girlfriend we're talking about here, Verge. I mean, that's pretty slack. Why don't you just simply tell her the truth?"

Vergil's clear blue eyes flashed with sudden irritation.

"I should've known better than to ask for your help!" He snapped coldly.

"Wait! Okay, I'll do it…It's just that…"

"Don't worry; we're identical twins, Dante. As long as you behave decently, and keep up the act, she won't suspect a thing." He said hurriedly.

Dante regarded his brother warily…He never thought Vergil could be so conniving…

"Well, can you handle it?" Vergil asked, in his voice rising a faint tone of challenge as he grinned softly.

Dante sighed. He felt hurt and betrayed.

What was this sudden talk of having a girlfriend? They had each other, and it should have been enough.

It was more than enough for Dante. We were more than brothers, Vergil. We were soul mates, you and I. We were the perfect harmony of opposites…he thought silently.

"Sure, Verge. What are brothers for…?"

Dante snapped out of his reverie, turning the basement light on.

The bulb flickered once, and died.

Dante found some candles at the back, lighting them, he arranged them on the floor. Glancing at the door, ensuring it was locked; he sat on the dusty steps of the basement, pulling the large cardboard boxes stuffed with Vergil's personal effects in front of him.

He placed a smaller box in his lap, and began rummaging through. Occasionally, he paused to take large swigs from the bottle of bourbon Trish had got him for his birthday. A cigarette rested between his lips, which he puffed on deeply from time to time.

His fingers touched the dust and cobweb covered textbooks…

Vergil's textbooks…His essays; written in that bold, professional, slanted black script of his…His cds…A samurai drawing he'd done in year eight…

Dante flicked the ashes from his cigarette and pulled out a half-empty jar of hair gel tucked at the very bottom, smiling to himself in astonishment. He flicked open the lid, smelling the noxious stuff…

Smelling memories…

Dante glided the razor smoothly down his lathered cheek, whistling softly, glancing at his twin frequently in the bathroom mirror, registering his every move, taking in all the details.

Vergil scowled in pure concentration as he gelled his hair back with precise perfection. He was always so immaculately groomed, while Dante was happy with a power shower and a shave.

Vergil was always trendy, always darkly hip, while Dante was in the habit of wearing clothes that were totally and utterly lacking in good taste or dress sense.

How beautiful he looked, as he continued to apply that sticky gel to his silky locks, his features twisted in concentration, as though hewn by a master sculptor.

"Hey Verge, have you met our creepy neighbours yet? I swear, the father looks like something out of Beetlejuice. Mum said to keep away from them, she says something's not right about them." Dante began by way of conversation, then elbowed his twin, grinning widely.

"As I was saying, the father's totally whacked. I swear, he looks like an undertaker, and keeps talking about the spiritual corruption of the world, whatever that means…"

"What's he preaching?" Vergil asked distractedly.

"I don't know, maybe he's a member of some weird doomsday cult or something."

"Dante, those so-called cults are mostly harmless. Leaders claim they're god, or one of his disciples. As long as you're willing to sit through boring speeches of how he'll redeem the world, it's all right. Then you got your creepy cults. Figureheads often demand blood and sacrifice as a sign of fealty, and members are fanatically loyal. I doubt we've got anything to worry about, period." Vergil said to Dante's reflection in the mirror.

The half-demon studied his twin with a long, thoughtful look as he continued shaving. How did Vergil know so much about all this crap…?

Dante sighed and dropped the jar back into the box. Vergil hadn't plunged into the world of chaos in one day; his corruption had been a slow, subtle slide into abyss.

Dante wondered when it all began, sighing mournfully…

It's my fault. I should have known…I let you down, brother.

From the depths of the box, he drew out a zippo engraved with an eagle and a V, and a matching silver tobacco case.

Happy birthday Vergil…

He fell into a silent reverie, watching the gauzy tendrils of cigarette smoke, taking another deep drag, he exhaled slowly.

Hot tears streamed down his face.

I should have saved you, Vergil…This is my entire fault.

The lit candles flickered eerily, shadows thrashed about.

A savage gust of wind howled outside.

An uneasy feeling swept over him, and Dante glanced about the dingy basement.

You can make it up to me, brother.

It was Mundus that dragged us all down this hellish path.

He must be destroyed in his own plane to put an end to this madness.

Kill Mundus, finish him off once and for all…

For both of us...

Dante's bloodshot blue eyes searched the darkness. "How? Tell me, Vergil? How!" He addressed the empty basement.

You have the two amulets, brother, and our father's blood.

Think.

Think carefully.

"I shall avenge you, Vergil. I promise." Dante avowed solemnly, and extinguished the candles...

For the first time in ages, he felt alive again.

He had a purpose...