DEVIL MAY CRY

THE

BATTLEGROUND

CHAPTER VI

Author's Note: I thought everybody should know that this chapter contains characters thatappear in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening.

Dante couldn't believe his eyes. He thought the great Mundus himself had killed the Legendary Kade many years ago. Kade would come to visit Sparda's family when Dante was just a boy. Vergil never had any particular interest in Kade. As a matter of fact, Vergil never had much interest in anyone but himself. He remembered how he would always call Kade strange due to his unnatural appearance.

Kade would always comment on how such good friends he and Sparda were, but Dante could never fully understand him because he would talk in a peculiar tone and would always use such large words.

Then one day, when Kade had taken Dante out for a walk at nighttime, he informed Dante that he could no longer visit him. That's where Dante remembered the voice from.

He would never forget those words….

"I must apologize to you, young Dante," Kade said as he leaned over and placed his massive hands on young Dante's shoulders.

"Why do you have to apologize?" questioned Dante.

"Because I can no longer come to see you. Your Father and I have some…unfinished business in a far away place, and I fear I might never return."

As Kade spoke, a small tear made its way down the right side of Dante's face. Kade took his charcoal hand and gently wiped the tear away from his eye.

"Don't cry, young Dante. Devils Never Cry."

"What?"

"You do not know it yet, child, but you have within yourself a gift that only you and your brother possess. It is right here, within your Heart; within your Soul," Kade said as he placed two fingers over Dante's chest.

"You cannot use its true ability yet, but someday, when you realize what you can do, you will fulfill your true Fate on this Earth."

"Really?"

"Yes, Dante. The blood of Sparda flows within your veins. That is a treasure you must value. Do you know what your Dad does for a living? He Hunts. He hunts all of the evil creatures in this world and sends them back to where they belong."

Dante frowned. "But I thought you were one of those creatures, Kade?"

"You're right, Dante. I am one of those creatures. But I am one of those creatures who decided to rebel against the Evil. Just like your Father."

"Really?"

"Yes. And guess what, you too, will do the same thing one day, Dante."

Kade took a short sigh.

"As for me, I must return to my home, to my World."

"Why, Kade? I don't understand?" Dante said as he began to cry again. He wrapped his small arms over Kade's midsection.

Kade smiled and closed his eyes. He returned the embrace. "I know you do not understand, young one. But someday, when you are all grown up, you will. You will."

Kade's body began to fade into a pale shade of white.

Kade removed his arms from Dante's body. "I have to leave now. We will meet again, Dante. Maybe not in this world, but we will meet again, I promise you that. Never forget that you are the Son of Sparda. And remember Dante,"

"Yes, Kade?"

"Devils Never Cry."

Dante quit his sobbing and nodded his head.

"Goodbye, Kade."

Dante remembered his last words to one of his greatest companions. He didn't understand it then, but he fully understood now why Kade left.

He had to battle Mundus in the Underworld.

Dante looked at Kade once again. "I thought I'd never see you again, Kade." Just like he had done before when he was a small boy, Dante shed a single tear down his cheek as he looked away from Kade.

Kade smiled. "You haven't changed one bit, young Dante."

Dante chuckled slightly as he aggressively got rid of the tear on his face.

Kade motioned his hand toward Dante's heart. "I see you have discovered the Devil within yourself."

Dante smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah, just like you said. I even opened my own shop for hunting Demons. Guess what I called it?"

Kade shook his head. "I haven't a clue, Dante."

"Devil May Cry."

Dante put on a stern glare. "I'll never forget those words you told me that night that you left. You were my Mentor, Kade."

Kade nodded. "What has become of your dear brother, Vergil?"

Date was instantly infuriated. He remembered what his brother had done to him. He remembered Nelo Angelo.

Kade could sense the growing anger within Dante. "I'm guessing he chose a different path than you."

Dante laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, you could say that. First, he resurrected the Ancient tower Temen-Ni-Gru with the help of a scholar named Arkham. Then, he tried to attain Father's power by merging our two Amulets together and taking the Force Edge Sword. After I defeated Arkham and Vergil, I tried to persuade him to come back to the Human World. But he refused, and said he wanted to remain in the Demon world."

It was now Kade's turn to shake his head. "It is so sad that Vergil turned out that way. I always knew that there was something evil inside of him."

Dante continued. "I thought I would never see him again either until the incident at Mallet Island. It was there I fought a greatly skilled Demon Knight who reminded me of my Father. I soon learned that it was Vergil. But it didn't seem like Vergil. It was almost like he was possessed. I had never seen such power from Vergil before, and there's no way in Hell he could have gotten that power without some kind of influence or dark magic."

"Dark magic?" Kade questioned.

"Yeah. That's where Mundus came into the picture. Once I defeated Vergil for the last time, his soul was thrust up into the sky, and from it fell his memento from Mother, his Amulet. It was then that I realized that once I had defeated Vergil, his soul was free from Mundus' spell. I knew Vergil would never try to fight me again, let alone serve someone from the Underworld."

Kade had to take a moment to grasp what he had just heard.

Dante broke the silence with another speech. "Which brings me to my latest Hunt. After Mallet Island, I couldn't find mine or Vergil's Amulet. I got a call from a unanimous tipper that a Demon, larger than he had ever seen, wasflying toward the outskirts of the city. Once I got there, I saw Mundus resurrecting a temple in the middle of sea. He knew exactly where it was hidden. I had never been more angry in my life. As we began to fight, he seemed stronger than ever. We fought long and hard, and in the end, I was defeated. As I lay in the middle of the Temple, Mundus decided, for some reason, to reveal to me his plans. He said that in the middle of the temple lie our Amulets, and with their combined power, he could use them to bring the Demon world to the present day. I had to stop him. Before he struck me down, there was an explosion, and that's when…" Dante was interrupted.

"That's when Sparda returned and took his long-awaited revenge," Kade finished.

Dante looked confused. "How did you…?"

Kade pointed to a large mirror-type portal at the back of the Sanctuary. "He entered through that Portal. After he defeated Mundus, he had to seal the power of the Temen-Ni-Gru by sacrificing your Mother, Eve, at the center of the Tower. I helped him in this. I was Mundus's greatest General, Dante. And it wasn't until I met your father that I realized that killing innocent humans to achieve misappropriated power was wrong and ungrateful. That's when I decided to help Eve and Sparda. That is when I left you. That is when your Father left you. After we sealed the tower, we were returned to the Underworld. We've been alive all these years, Dante. We have been watching you through that mirror over there. Your father had to wait until Mundus set foot on Earth's soil again before he could return."

Dante smiled, then lowered his head. "I only had the chance to see him once before I died. I was all because of Mundus. He started all of this!"

Kade held up his hand. "Do not anger yourself, young Dante. You must rest for now."

Dante raised his voice slightly. "But how are we going to get out of this place, Kade? We need some sort of special power to return to the Human World."

Kade silenced Dante. "We mustn't fret about such things right now. The most important thing for you right now is your health. That wound on your chest isn't fully healed yet."

Mundus broke open the door leading to the underground tomb. He slowly descended the spiraling cracked stone stairway all the way to the bottom. The Demon Guard behind him was trying to keep up with him.

"So you saw Dante and another Demon leap into the water and escape?" he questioned the guard.

"Yes Sire. We do not know the identity of the other Demon, but he managed to slay Ukrin in one strike."

Mundus stopped. "He killed my Torturer?"

The Demon Guard was hesitant to answer. "Yes, my lord."

There was a small entrance and a large torch hanging from the wall next to the entrance.

"We managed to find out the their location. It is somewhere underneath the water."

Mundus removed the torch from the wall and kicked open the door to the tomb. He glanced back at the guard. "That is all."

The Demon guard bowed and turned around. He exited the tomb.

"So, Sparda wants to return and take my soul once again?" he began as he walked past tomb after tomb, casket after casket.

"Let us see how he feels after his son is murdered by a dead soul." Mundus reached his destination. He removed the lid to the giant coffin lying on an altar at the back of the dimly lit tomb.

As the dust settled, he peered into its contents.

There was a body of a man laying on his back in the coffin. He was wearing a short, dark grey overcoat and matching pants. His hands were gripping a red-covered, small leather book. The torchlight Mundus was grasping illuminated a shine on his bald head. The left side of his face was twisted and scarred. His dark red veins were exposed leading all the way up to his temple. His eyes remained open, the left one orange, the right one blue.

Mundus held out his hands and placed them over the casket. A red glow lit it up and from it rose the inhabitant. He crawled slowly out of the casket and faced Mundus.

Mundus smiled.

"Arkham."

Arkham glanced down at himself, then at his surroundings. "Where am I? What is this place?"

Mundus spoke. "You are in Hell, Arkham."

"Where is my daughter, where is Mary?" Arkham tilted his head at Mundus as he asked the question.

"Your daughter remains in the Human world. You arrived here after she shot you in the head several times. Don't you remember?"

Arkham nodded slowly. "Yes, yes I do remember. I was lying on the Tower's platformafterI had fallen. I betrayed Vergil. I stole Sparda's power."

Mundus nodded. "And now you will serve me, Arkham."

Arkham shook his head. "It was bad enough that I tried to become a Demon, Lord Mundus. But killing my own wife in the process…"

Mundus interrupted. "Yes, your actions remind me of Sparda himself."

Arkham frowned. "Why couldn't you let me rest, Mundus? I've had enough of trying to gain power. I underestimated the power ofSparda's twins. I underestimated the power of my fellow humans. I realize now that I will never escape this place. My soul will never be purified. All I want to do is sleep for the rest of Eternity."

Mundus held out his hand and shook a finger back and forth. "I'm afraid I have a different plan for you."

Arkham shook his head. "Don't you realize, Mundus? I will never get the chance to see mywife's sweet face again, or hold my darling daughter in my arms again.My fate has already been given to me. It was my destiny to fail. It was my destiny to end up in this place."

Mundus held up his hands and waved them around. "And you see all of this, Arkham? It is mine. I control it. I am its master. Everyone and evrything that occupies it bows down to me, not some power-drivenscholar with a twisted face!"

Arkham looked the great Mundus square in his eyes. "Is that perhaps why you could not defeat Sparda? Because you didn't have the strength?"

Mundus grunted. "That may be, Arkham. But at least I was not sent to this place by the hand of the child that I raised!"

Arkhamthrew down his book of spells and charged at Mundus. "Damn you, devil!"

With one swift motion Mundus clutched Arkham's throat in the air. Arkham dangled in Mundus's hand.

"You will serve me, mortal," Mundus began to say as he held out his other hand and shot a red beam of magic through Arkham's heart. "Even if it means possessing you. Even if it means turning your soul black."

Arkham screamed through the pain. Mundus dropped him to the dusty ground. He clutched his chest in pain. The red beam was slowly getting smaller and smaller. As the darkness consumed his soul, Mundus laughed.

Arkham let out one final scream before throwing his hands in the air. As he brought them down, he closed his eyes. The process was complete.

When Arkham opened his eyes, they shone blood red.

Mundus smiled and crossed his arms. "Go now, Arkham, and eliminate the Son of Sparda!"

Arkham said nothing. He just kneeled over, picked up his book, and walked past Mundus out of the tomb.

Arkham leapt off of the giant Amphitheater and landed on the cliff near the edge. Without hesitating, he held out his hands and parted the water below. He leapt of the cliff's edge and descended the rocky surface as the two sides of water raged dangerously close to him.

He eventually came to the entrance of the Sanctuary.

Kade held up his hand and silenced Dante from speaking again.

Dante stood up. "What is it?"

Kade also rose from his stone chair and walked near the entrance doors.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"The swords, they uncrossed."

"So?" Dante questioned, dragging out the end of the word.

Kade shook his head. "Someone is here, on the other side of the doors."

Before Kade could even get the last of the words out of his mouth, the giant double-doors flew past him and Dante. They both leapt for cover from the blast. A mirage of orange and bright yellow instantly flooded the room, piercing both Dante's and Kade's visions.

Dante held his arm above his head and shielded the light from his eyes as he looked at the entrance. Both doors were blown off. Random parts of the small Sanctuary had caught fire. Each side of the walls where the doors were was also on fire.

Dante noticed the silhouette of a tall man standing in the middle of the entrance.

He stood up, along with Kade. They glanced back at each other, and then back at the entrance.

"Who are you?" Kade demanded as he took a step forward.

The dark figure didn't move.

Dante now took a step forward. "Show yourself, coward!"

With those words, the figure stepped forward. The fire from the burning walls was enough light for Dante to see that it was a bald man with a small book in his hands.

"Arkham!" he said as he clenched his teeth. Dante prepared to leap forward, but was held back by a large, charcoal hand.

"Do not attack him, Dante," Kade said as he pushed Dante back slightly.

Dante's eyes widened. "No Kade, you don't understand! He's the one who helped Vergil erect the Tower, he's…"

Kade once again interrupted. "Dante, Dante! Look at his eyes!"

Date looked at Arkham's eyes. They were abnormally shining red, even brighter than the fire that surrounded him.

Kade lowered his voice. "He is possessed."

Dante quit struggling to strike. Kade removed his hand.

He stood up straight and faced Arkham. "Listen to me, human. Are you aware that you are not yourself? Are you aware that you are being used as a pawn?"

Arkham did not respond. He only opened his book the middle and began to recite a spell. From the two sides of the book came two symmetrical shooting streams of fire.

The fire hit the ground, then began to swirl in place. Slowly, two great Demon Abyss warriors rose from the pools. Their main color seemed to be a bright shade of white, which was surrounded in dancing flames of orange and red. They each held a demonic staff with a large, curving blade. They were much taller than Arkham and seemed to fill the rest of the space between Arkham and the entrance.

They each took a step forward and snarled at Dante and Kade.

Arkham turned around, but glanced back at the two warriors inside the Sanctuary.

"Destroy them."

Kade glanced at Dante, who quickly grabbed his sword, which was leaning up against the bedpost.

Kade shook his head. "You can't possibly fight, Dante. Your wound is not yet healed."

"Screw healing," Dante began. He swung his sword around and pointed it at the two Abyss Knights.

"It's Showtime!"

Sparda landed on one knee. He gripped his sword in chest and with one motion, yanked it out with a grunt.

He stood up and looked around him.

Large, black trees hung over his head that curved in to one another, forming a crooked, twisted path into darkness. Smaller, more livelier plant life surrounded his feet and stretched as far as the eye could see. Large, uneven spider webs prevented him from seeing beyond certain places. The moon was shining down on the area, causing certain parts of the path to light up. This wasn't Hell. He was in a forest. A cold, strange forest.

Sparda glanced up at a single tree branch. A small black bat hung from the tree. It screeched at him. Sparda looked beside it. There was another bat there. He frowned.

Sparda looked around him, and eventually two bats turned into one hundred bats, screeching and flying around him, soaring past his eyes and underneath his arms. Eventually all of the bats flew in unison and began to spin rapidly in a circle.

Eventually, the one hundred bats morphed into a strikingly attractive half-naked woman. Her skin was a pale shade between purple and grey. Her lips were blood red and her eyes were a translucent orange. The only thing covering her breasts were tow long strands of her fire-red hair.

As she stretched and yawned, she revealed a naked leg from her black bat-like gown and placed her hands on her hips.

She smiled as she gazed at the Knight before her.

"Ooh, it's been a while, Dark Knight."

Sparda smiled and held out his hand. "It has been a long time,"

The woman moved forward and shook Sparda's hand.

Sparda nodded his head and shook her hand.

"Nevan."

Nevan smiled and laughed slightly. "You always were such a gentleman, Sparda. Even when I tried to tear that pretty little face of yours off."

Nevan caressed Sparda's cheek as she slowly circled around him.

"What brings you to my forest, sugar?" questioned Nevan.

Sparda followed her gaze as she continued to move around him.

"I don't know how I ended up here. I tried to teleport back to the Demon World to find my son, but instead, I appeared here."

Nevan put her hands around Sparda's shoulders and embraced him.

"Poor baby. Is big old Mundus picking on you again?"

Sparda shook his head and laughed to himself. "You could say that, yes."

Nevan released Sparda. "Did you mention your son?"

Sparda nodded. "Yes. His name is Dante."

Nevan nodded in return. "I have met your darling son before, Sparda. We had a little fun in the Temen-Ni-Gru a while ago."

"So, might I ask, how did I end up here, Nevan?" Sparda stared her straight in the eyes.

"Oh darling, ever since Mundus left the Demon World and returned, everything was altered and changed around. You are still in Hell, just very far away from where you want to be."

Nevan held out a hand and ran it down Sparda's armor. "Why don't you come with me. I'll take care of you. It can be quite tricky to find your way in these forests."

Sparda nodded. "So Mundus is here somewhere. Very well. I'll join you. But on one condition, Nevan."

Nevan held out her hands. "Anything for the Legendary Dark Knight."

In an instant, Sparda unequipped his sword from his back and held it at Nevan's throat. Her eyes widened. She continued to keep her hands away from her body.

"Do not betray me. You did trick me many years ago, and I understand why. You had to serve Mundus, or he would of eliminated you. I forgive you for that, but this is a matter that involves my son. And when my son is involved, I consider Demons like you to be stones; stones I might just have to step over in order to reach my goal."

Nevan smiled. "There is absolutely no chance of me betraying you again, Honey. I cross my heart." Nevan took her hand and moved it seductively around her chest, forming an invisible cross.

She gently gripped Sparda's sword and began to push it away.

"Now, why don't you put that big old sword away and follow me."

Nevan turned around and walked away with here hands still on her hips. She purposely added a little bit of a curvy bump in her steps and glanced back at Sparda.

"Are you coming, dear?" she asked, grinning.

Sparda closed his eyes for a moment. Something didn't feel right. But if placing his trust in Nevan was what he had to do in order to save Dante, he was willing to.

After a moment Sparda opened his eyes and quickly caught up to Nevan, who was already somewhat fading away under the moonlight in the dark trail of the forest.

Author's Note: Well, since my fingers won't work anymore, I decided to end the chapter here. I also decided to make it a bit longer because of a small request from Bustahead in his review of Chapter VI. Also, I finally finished DMC3. The ending blew me away. It was awesome! I won't give it away to those who haven't played the game yet, but let me just give you a hint of advice: after the ending sequence, you get to just play around and kill random demons as the credits roll. DON'T WASTE ANY TIME THOUGH! If you look to the upper right portion of the screen, there is a counter for every demon you kill. When you get to kill # 99, you have to fight a Van Hellguard. Trust me when I say it's well worth it. Let's just say you get a certain prize. And don't worry. You can't be damaged because you don't have a Health Meter. In the meantime, hope you enjoy this chapter. Please keep reviewing!

-Chris