Note: First let me express how sorry I am that I have left this fanfic unattended for so long. Last year my PS2 went Kaput and it would have taken me roughly the price of a brand new PS2 to repair it. In the end I decided that I would just wait until the PS3 came out and get that rather than spend my money on an older system. Due to this though I no longer had DMC3 to draw info on and could only utilize information from walkthroughs and which up until recently I thought was insufficient. However in the last month though I came to the conclusion that I could feasibly write about the Temen-ni-gru and the rest of the DMC3 game without the game itself since there was no reason to believe that the section of the tower that Xander entered would be anything like the sections that Dante fought through. Because of this realization I now had much more freedom to work with and as long as I made sure that certain key areas were pretty damn close to the way they were in the game I wouldn't get flamed too badly by the canon mongers. In any case here is a new chapter fresh from my warped mind for you to enjoy so WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE AHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… Cough, Cough, A-HEM! Well you get the idea.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The Great Cathedral, Five Minutes Later

O-kayyy! First thing on the Xander L. Harris to-do list is find the nearest pharmacy and get some extra strength Tylenol. Xander thought to himself as his breathing and vision finally settled into something that matched normal parameters.

Bringing his right hand to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose he took no notice of the fact that it was still bound by the same chains that he had been unable to break free of less than twenty-four hours ago. The chain snapped not even a second after it had been made taunt by the young American's movements and hadn't slowed down those movements one little bit. Still this should not be construed as him being unobservant but rather a sign as to how hard his head was pounding. While he himself had never had a hangover he had a feeling that this was what it felt like to wake up after an all night drink-fest. While this would in no way affect how he saw his parents, the lousy drunks, it did provide him with some extra incentive never to drink any beverage with alcohol in it as long as he lived. Once he had massaged his brain back into a more reasonable size he dropped his right hand down onto his lap and it was then that he noticed the broken chain dangling off of a metal band on his wrist. His quickly recovering mind didn't take long to add the evidence together and let him know that he had somehow managed to snap the chain that had been around his right hand. Looking down at the part of the chain that was still connected to the stone slab beneath him he confirmed that the metal did indeed look as though it had snapped rather than say been cut. Knowing that when he lost consciousness he was nowhere near strong enough to snap a heavy duty looking chain like this using brute strength along he decided to try the chain tying his left hand to the stone slab and see if he could break it as well.

Well that's something I didn't expect would happen. Xander thought with a remarkably calm voice as it took barely any effort at all for him to break the chain binding his left arm.

Deciding that was proof enough for him to believe that he could get off the slab easily he wasted no time in yanking on the chains binding his legs and jumping off the smooth surface of the slab that he had experienced so much pain on. He knew it was odd that he was able to snap the chains like that considering how thick they looked but brushed if off as shoddy workmanship or maybe an after affect of whatever Father Baldy was trying to do. In any case he got off of the slab and the first thing he noticed, aside from the fact that he was alone, was the fact that his pants were pretty much ruined. Almost completely turned red by his own blood, which had likely ran down his body when Father Baldy had been cutting him up, it now smelled like most demons did after Buffy hacked them to pieces. Add the smell to the disgusting feel to them when he moved and finding some new clothes went right to the top of his to-do list with getting some Tylenol moving down to number two. Looking around for a way outside that didn't involve breaking through the stain glass window that while above the surface was also likely quite a ways above ground as well. What he spotted while doing this wasn't an exit but it did solve his clothes problem.

Off to the far side of where he was sat a table and on that table was a stack of clothes and the weapons Father Baldy had use as bait to lure him into that demon free for all in Sunnydale. Not exactly trusting of the psycho's fashion sense given what he did for 'fun' he nevertheless decided that he didn't exactly have much choice unless he wanted to attract some seriously unwanted attention all the way back home. Walking over he took a look at what was on top of the pile and found that it was a white leather trench coat with black inner lining, black buttons and black cuffs just to top it all off. Not exactly the colors he would have chosen but at least he wouldn't be accused of being a Deadboy impersonator if Buffy and the others wound up seeing him with it on. Plus there was the awesome fact that he didn't own anything leather given how expensive it was. Who knew? He might just wear it around school if there was the slightest chance that it might boost his image among his peers.

Putting it aside for the moment he looked to see what was next in the stack of clothes and was both surprised and embarrassed to find it was a pair of black silk boxer shorts. The thought of that mad preacher picking this out for him made him shudder at the images it brought to his mind but after pushing said thoughts aside he had to admit that if his pants were a bloody mess than chances are so too was his underwear. While not exactly a believer of the whole 'make sure you have a clean pair of underwear on in case you die' thing he suspected that he had lost control of his bladder during the torture session so it would be better to risk a clean pair than wear a stinky & dirty pair. Looking around briefly to make sure that there wasn't anybody looking he quickly yanked off his dirty pants and underwear. Not wasting a second he grabbed the silk boxers and slipped them on immediately and that was when he noticed that his legs were definitely more toned than he remembered. From there he noticed his arm and then his chest and then before you knew it he was finally clued into the possibility that maybe the chains had been good quality merchandise.

That's just plain crazy talk! He thought to himself as he grabbed the black leather pants that had been beneath the boxers and slipped them on, Just because I've suddenly put on some muscle doesn't mean I'm strong enough to snap solid steel without trying. After all if looks determined how strong you were then Buffy would be about as strong as any other teenage girl!

He quickly rationalized it off as one of those adrenaline things he heard so much about where people temporarily gained superhuman strength in emergency situations. Given how much pain Father Baldy had caused him it was likely that all the adrenaline from that had just weakened the chains during the madman's bit of 'fun'. Yeah, he had just weakened them before during all the screaming, that was all it was.

Doing up the button and pulling up the zipper of the pants he cringed at how they reminded him of Lord Forehead's usual attire but decided to endure it at least until he found something more to his liking. The next article of clothing for his consideration almost immediately got the negative as it was a white poet's shirt with poofy sleeves and frilly cuffs. Obviously Mr. Insanity was going with some kind of white knight ensemble idea that made him wonder just how many demons Angelus had rattled off his chosen knick name for the founding male member of the Scooby gang. Now he had one more reason why to hate the asshole and make plans to covertly dust the vamp without Buffy being the wiser. Growling in anger he debated for a moment whether to toss the shirt or just make some quick alterations to make the thing more modern and manly. Picking it up by the shoulders he held it out in front of him trying to decide which parts to rip off and which parts would be okay to keep. Fortunately a brief flashback to a show he had been watching on TV a few days earlier gave him an idea and with a quick yank on both sleeves he was done. The tears had been clean so he didn't have to worry about it 'looking' like he'd ripped the sleeves off and it looked much better than it had before. He had gotten the idea from the shirt/vest thing that Kevin Sorbo wore on 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' and just modified the poet's shirt to more closely resemble it. Slipping it on he debated for a moment whether or not to leave it untucked or to tuck it into his pants but in the end decided to leave it out.

Last but not least was a pair of black combat boots that looked like they were stolen straight from a military supply depot. This was probably the only item he didn't have a problem with as he had worn a pair like them during the whole 'turn-into-your-costume' Halloween thing a year or so ago. They weren't exactly the most comfortable in terms of footwear but they were sturdy and were built for combat. Of all the things that Father Hairless had left for him these were the only things he could say he approved of without hesitation. Slipping them on he tied the laces good and tight to make sure the boots stayed on but not so tight that they'd cut off the circulation of blood to his feet.

Okay clothes accounted for and put on for the most part. Xander thought as he looked over to where the twin kodachis and revolvers lay on the table, Time to arm my self just in case I run into any trouble on my way home.

Fortunately Mr. Clean's evil brother had gotten holsters from the revolvers as well as belts for them as well as the sheathed kodachis so he could strap them around his waist. It took him about a minute or two to decide on how the two sets of weapons should be placed before he settled on putting them both close together on his hips. While this might seem a bit awkward to some he thought it was highly efficient to have both types of weapons close together. With them set up this way he wouldn't have to reach far to draw a revolver or unsheathe a kodachi and it might leave the enemy guessing as far as what weapon he'd use next. Still he tested his theory a few times just to be safe and wound up having to adjust the belt the revolvers were on so they hung a bit lower on him since he found that the handle often bumped up against the kodachis when he drew them. Once he was satisfied that neither weapon would interfere with the drawing/unsheathing of the other he slipped on the trench coat and began to look for an exit.

Unfortunately that search ended almost as soon as it began because in less than a minute he determined that the only way Dr. Evil's Dad got out of the room was using some kind of magic and knowing the Harris luck it would be magic only Baldy could perform. That left him with the unenviable last resort of blowing out the stain-glass window and hoping that he could climb his way down to solid ground without killing himself. Drawing both his revolvers he began firing at the glass and blew himself a nice hole in it for him to climb through. Once the last tinkles of falling glass faded away he moved over to the wall beneath the hole he had made and began to climb up. It was an easier climb than he had expected it to be but her mostly attributed that to the incentive of freedom and the fact that there were hand and footholds in all the right places. Once at the top he took a look outside and for the first time got a chance to see where in world he actually was and estimate how long it would take him to get back home. It had been something of a worry for him ever since he had come too after being hit with that tranquilizer dart. It wasn't exactly easy to tell how long you've been unconscious when knocked out by unnatural means so he had no idea how long he had been out or where Father Baldy had taken him during that time. Given the lack of doors back in that cathedral-like cave he suspected that Sir Hairless had either teleported in or phased through solid matter. His bet was on teleportation since he doubted phasing through matter could have gotten Kurt Angle's cousin very far away from Sunnydale and he knew that there was no place like this anywhere near the Hellmouth since this was definitely something G-Man would have been worrying about. If it was teleportation though it would mean that he could literally be anywhere in the world since he had no clue as to what sort of limits Baldy had on how far he could teleport.

Looks like I might have to call up G-Man and ask him to loan me enough cash for a bus ride home. Xander thought to himself as he took in the city a short distance away from him.

From what he could see at this distance it looked to be your typical American city with a smidgen of eighteenth century architecture for aesthetic appeal. There were no landmarks or anything that could tell him exactly what city he was near so he could be all the way on the east coast if his luck was as bad as it usually was where weirdness was concerned. He knew that it would probably be quicker if he could con G-Man into buying him a plane ticket back to California but given how the gang had been treating him lately he'd probably be lucky just for the cross country bus ticket. After all Giles and the gang had been trying to get him fray adjacent with the whole slaying thing so the gang probably wouldn't be thrilled with having to pony up the money for a bus ticket much less a plane ticket. True he figured that Giles was probably only tentatively in favor of getting him out of the fighting but when you added Buffy, Faith and the others into the mix you had a group that was beginning to see him as an annoying groupie. He had gotten a little on edge when he first caught wind that they were going to try and push him out of the fighting and wound up doing some pretty stupid things. However after his victory over Jack O' Toole and his buddies he didn't need to prove anything to anyone but himself and he had done that in spades as far as his ego was concerned. For him all that was left was to prove to the rest of the gang that he belonged on the front lines with the rest of them.

At the moment though what I have to do is get to the ground without killing myself. Xander thought as he looked down to where the ground was over twenty feet away, After all I can't prove anything to the gang if I wind up breaking my neck.

Before he could do anything more in terms of finding a safe way down some higher power decided to solve the problem for him as all of a sudden the ground began to shake like the mother of all earthquakes was starting up. Given how suddenly it started he wasn't able to brace himself for it and thanks to the less than suitable surface he was standing on there was only one possible outcome. He lost his balance and fell right off the edge and plummeted to the ground below. He made a half-hearted attempt to at least land feet down but the short distance to the ground combined with the unexpected nature of his current crisis only made it so that he didn't land on his head.

His ass on the other hand was not so fortunate.

Needless to say the pain he felt when his backside touched down was not pleasant but when he finally sat up with his eyes looking in the direction of the city all thoughts about his sore butt vanished to be replaced with something else entirely. Erupting from the very center of town was a tower of monumental proportions that made the leaning tower of Piza or the Washington monument look like a hood ornament by comparison. The only thing those two tourist attractions might have over the mammoth structure was that they were probably in better condition as there were several sections of the tower missing. Up and up it went until finally it came to a rest at a height that made it a serious threat to passing aircraft for sure. When he strained his eyes though to try and make out some of the spots on the tower that were harder to make out something seemed to click in his head and an image imposed itself on top of the tower. From what he could tell it seemed to be an image of what the tower originally looked like before the landlord let it fall into disrepair. One thing he knew for sure though was that it was most definitely not of the good and the giant whale like demon that was flying around it now only served to confirm this suspicion.

What do you suppose the chances are that Father cue ball is behind that? He asked himself as he had a sinking feeling manifesting in his gut.

He shook his head in frustration as he knew that the fact that Father Baldy had brought him to a unknown cathedral for some ceremony and then seeing a tower spring up out of the ground a few hours later couldn't be a coincidence. Either the ceremony/ritual that Scarface had used him for had caused the tower to rise up or Vin Diesal's ugly uncle had intended to use him for something in that tower. One way or another he was connected to what was now going on so the thing he had to decide was what he was going to do now. On the one hand no matter what had happened to him between getting hit with that tranquilizer dart and waking up after Two Eyes played doctor with him he was nowhere near good enough to take on this problem alone. On the other it was pretty obvious that something big was on the go and if it wasn't stopped soon then it might become to messy for anyone to stop a few days from now when people with the know-how and reputations showed up. Then again with all the portents and visions the gang got back in Sunnydale before something seriously hellmouthy happened there was a good chance that there might already be someone here to stop this 'End of Days' scheme of Father Baldy's.

Then again there might not be which brings us back to where it all started. Xander thought to himself with a frown, To stick my neck out like an idiot or to run away as fast as I can like any sane person would?"

With a sigh he began to walk towards the tower and began to wonder for the umpteenth time whether he actually had any survival instinct at all.

One Hour Later, The Streets of the Unknown City,

Heading in the Direction of the Tower

Looks like there were some warning signs happening around here before the big tower pop up happened. Xander thought to himself as he rode the motorcycle he had 'borrowed' down the deserted streets, This city is emptier than the local liquor after Dad gets his bi-weekly paycheck.

When he had started his trot towards the city to deal with the potential apocalypse that had been dropped in his lap he had thought that it would take him two hours to get to the base of the tower. After all even at his best run he knew it would take a lot of time to cover the distance between him and pillar from hell. Fortunately though he had the good luck to find a neon yellow Ninja 250R motorcycle in a ditch apparently abandoned by the owner when he/she tried to leave town. He had been skeptical about whether or not it would run or even if the keys were still there but apparently he had at least one goddess of luck on his side because the keys were present and the bike purred like a kitten when he turned the key. With the aide of some wheels it had cut the time it would have taken him to walk to the city by more than half and hopefully would be good thing if this turned out to be a 'the clock is ticking' sort of apocalypse.

However as he turned right and headed down a street he thought would take him right to the base of the tower he found he had two obstacles to overcome first. Problem number one was a group of scythe wielding demons dressed in red with heads that looked like they were related to the Cryptkeeper. There were six in total and had apparently heard him coming as they were all doing a really creepy laugh thing as well as stalking towards him. Problem number two though was that there was a sizeable hill of debris blocking the street that would keep him from reaching the tower. It was a little over ten feet tall and blocked the street completely off so there was no little crack or clear area he could squeeze himself through.

Guess its time to get resourceful! He thought as he stood up on the seat of the bike, while keeping his hands on the handlebars, he waited until the last possible moment before leaping backwards into the air. With all the subtlety of train wreck the bike slammed into the middle of the Crimson Reapers, as he had dubbed them, and that set things up for the next part of his plan. Pulling out both guns from their holsters he aimed for the center of the engine of the motorcycle and let loose with a volley of six bullets from each gun. He knew that a professional would have been able to pull this trick off with only one or two bullets but considering he was pretty much an amateur at this he wanted to make certain he hit the jackpot. Luckily his shots hit pay dirt since after the third bullet hit the target the bike exploded as the fuel in the gas tank was ignited and the blast destroyed some of the demons while disorienting the rest. Landing on the ground with a slight backwards skid he went on the offensive to dispatch the disoriented Crimson Reapers before they could do anything offensive first.

Of course their looks and smell are plenty offensive already so I guess I'm stuck in second place already. He thought with a smirk as he holstered his guns and pulled out his two kodachi for close quarters combat.

A thrust from the right kodachi started things off as he impaled the first of four Reapers through the head with the blade before he spun around clockwise to slash at Reaper number two taking one of its hands off. He didn't even bother to appreciate the sight of the first scythe wielding demon turning to dust/ash before he parried an attack by Reaper two in order to execute a decapitating horizontal slash with the right kodachi. However by the time he'd dispatched two of the Crimson Reapers the remaining two had come to their senses and began to prowl around him looking for an opening. Slowing things down he kept his arms loose and the grip he had on his weapons firm as he waited for the demons to make their move. He knew the weapons he wielded had a reach disadvantage when compared with the scythes of the Reapers and that they were designed to be more defensive than offensive so attacking now that he had lost the element of surprise would not be a smart move.

A cackle of distorted laughter was the only warning he got before one of the demons, just on the edge of his field of vision, attacked with a vicious slash no doubted intended to cleave him in half. Rolling with the attack but in the opposite direction he managed to bring himself into prime position to deliver a devastating double diagonal slash with both swords resulting in the Reaper looking like quite the ashhole. That left only one demon to deal with and this one didn't seem as sure of itself as it had been when it had three buddies to back it up. It was then that the former Zeppo's mind caught up with his body as he realized that he had managed to dispatch three fast and deadly demons with skill bordering on what one would expect from a Slayer. Considering he'd only been in the demon bashing business for a little over two years and hadn't received any real training that was somewhat disturbing.

Just what did that bald freak do to me?! He thought with a little fear as he began to wonder just how deep the changes went in him.

However he was kept from any further thought when the final demon decided to go for an all out assault charging him with double the speed the previous one had. With no time to dodge and not wanting to try and stop that much momentum using brute strength alone he dropped to one knee allowing the scythe to pass over his head before putting his left kodachi into position and letting the Reaper's own momentum do the rest. Before the feral demon even knew what had happened it collapsed into a pile of ashes on the ground leaving only a troubled member of the Scooby gang kneeling in the middle of the street.

Father clean had better have a good explanation for all this AND a way to change me back or I'm gonna introduce my kodachi to his colon in a very painful manner! He thought as he stood up and moved to begin climbing over the wall of debris that had been the second problem he had to deal with after the Crimson Reapers.

Grumbling the entire time he slowly began his climb up the mound of trash and debris while trying very hard not to think about how 'not human' he had become since first waking up in that damn half assed cave cathedral.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Within the Temen-ni-gru, Same Time

"What?" Arkham asked an empty room as he sensed something on the periphery of his senses that he did not expect at all.

He had been on his way down to the lower levels of the tower, both to drop an anvil sized hint onto Dante's head as Jester and make sure his 'daughter' kept pace with the rest of them, when out of nowhere a ping of a familiar essence touched his mind. That brought him to where he was right now running continual arcane scans to confirm what his basic occult senses were telling him. Somehow against all odds his pet project was not only alive once more but felt almost identical to Dante and Vergil in that the boy felt like a Son of Sparda. His mind whirred in concentration as he tried to figure out what had happened and why his alterations had taken this long to go into effect. In the end he could only presume that the transformation required a sort of 'death and rebirth' period before the alterations could take full effect. In any case his replacement piece for Dante was now in play so he'd have to cut some of his visits with either Dante or Mary short in order to properly guide his pawn through the labyrinth that was the Temen-ni-gru.

It might be best though to observe how he deals with Paine first in order to measure just how strong the changes of taken to his body. He thought as he teleported to a window on the fifth floor where he would have a bird's eye view of the battleground where the demon of hellfire waited unseen for unwary travelers attempting to gain entry to the tower. The structure had guardians and enforcers scattered throughout its corridors and chambers with each charged with protecting some vital point. While none of them were beyond a Son of Sparda's ability to defeat it would require a considerable portion of their strength and that was exactly what he wanted. The heat of battle would bring the devils in them to the peak of power and at the same time weaken them so that when he chose to reveal his true agenda they would be easy to deal with. Against two Sons of Sparda, both rested and at full strength, he would be no match but against two that had been worn down and weakened they would prove to be little challenge. As for his pawn, well, maybe he'd keep the boy around for entertainment value or perhaps as his subordinate depending on what he decided upon opening the portal and obtaining what he sought.

In any case here comes the young man now. He thought as the pure white leather duster made it easy to pick the boy out of the devastated environment, Time to see how he fares with this first test of his prowess.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Approaching the Entrance to the Temen-ni-gru, Five Minutes Later

Somehow it looks a lot more intimidating up close than it did back at the cave cathedral. Xander thought as he looked up at the monstrous tower that had sprung up out of the ground a little over an hour ago.

Even with the pieces missing and the other numerous signs of damage the place still looked to be mighty intimidating and tres evil. Evil enough that he was beginning to question the sanity of his choice to try and stop this impending apocalypse all on his own. After all new powers aside he had been a support player since the very day he had learned about the darkness of the world. It was a completely different situation to be the star of the show instead one of the supporting characters. For one thing whether or not the good guys one often came down to whether or not you, specifically, managed to beat your assigned bad guy or came up with the right plan. His foiling of the plans of the undead O'Toole and his pals may have gone a long way towards boosting his confidence but paled in comparison to stopping something on this level. For a moment he considered just turning around and getting the hell outta dodge before one of the demons that were surely inside decided to have a nice light Xander-snack.

Then again Father Baldy's in there and unless I want to show off my new look to Buffy and Faith, the Slayers, back in Sunnydale I don't really have much of a choice do I? He thought rhetorically as he resumed his trot towards the entrance about two football fields away.

He made it about halfway before the ground began to shake like the tower was getting ready to sink back into the ground taking half the city with it. Instead of something going down pillars of flame began to rocket out of the ground all around him creating a circular wall of fire that prevented him from either retreating or proceeding into the tower. Unsheathing his two kodachi and bringing them into a ready position he waited for whoever or whatever was responsible for the pyrotechnics that continued to burn all around him. He didn't have to wait long before a form appeared from within the flames and a distinctly well curved female form it was indeed. A long leg that went ALL the way up stepped out of the flames clad in a leather boot that covered the appendage up to about mid-thigh. This was soon joined by another shapely leg before they joined together to some nice hips clad in a crimson thong before revealing a toned stomach and then a leather bodice done in warrior style. Framing the ample… endowments… were two firm yet supple arms wearing those silk women's glove things that almost went all the way up to the shoulders. Now normally at this point he'd be pinching himself to make sure he hadn't slipped into one of his happy places but thankfully there were two elements of the person in front of him that quickly told him he wasn't dreaming.

First was the fact that she had a cat-o-nine tails in her hand that was made of a living flame that swayed back and forth lazily like a cat's tail. As much as he liked babes in very little leather he was not into the whole S&M thing or the pain that the flamin' whip could probably cause him if he wasn't careful. After all it was bad enough just being hit by a normal whip but one that could burn as it lashed through your skin would be agony. Sure you likely wouldn't bleed to death since any cuts or lacerations would be cauterized but it'd be painful as hell. All in all not something he'd dream of even on his worst day.

The other fact was that the woman was definitely a demon with long literally flaming red hair, cat eyes and sharp teeth that definitely belonged in the jaws of a feline rather than a person. Top it all off with orange skin and you had a woman that was literally on fire and most definitely of the demonic no matter what way you looked at it. Given his past experience with demon women he had a pretty good idea how this was going to start out and mentally prepared himself for it.

"Well, well, well if it isn't a half devil piece of trash!" she said in a predatory tone of voice that held a mix of lust and malice in it, "Oh and you have the taste of that traitor Sparda in you. This is going to be even more pleasurable than I thought it'd be!"

Sparda? He thought before asking, "Well I'm all for giving a pretty lady some pleasure but somehow I doubt it'd be mutual pleasure so I'm afraid I'm gonna have to take a rain check on that. Maybe next time?"

"Oh and I went to all this trouble to get you hot under the collar!" she said saucily gesturing provocatively at the wall of flame that surrounded them, "I'll make it a quickie then. After all I doubt a half-breed like yourself has the stamina to last very long once I get started."

"Insulting my manly endurance?" he asked rhetorically with a bit of a frown at the demoness' questioning of his ability to last with a female, "I think NOT!"

Charging headlong towards the girl cat demon he hurried to put his 'get in close so she can't use her whip' strategy into action. He got to about the halfway point before the female demon lashed out with the whip and tore two gashes into his chest with her whip causing him to instinctively retreat to get back outside of the range of the weapon. Hissing a bit as he pressed a hand to the vaguely X shaped mark the whip had made he watched in a kind of amazement as the wounds rapidly began to heal. However that was about as much as he could do before he sensed an approaching source of heat and had to go all 'how-low-can-you-go' backwards to avoid being whipped across the face by the demonness.

"Bad Boy! Don't you know it's not nice to ignore a lady like that?" Firecat asked playfully as she twirled the whip about her like one of those ribbon things female gymnasts use during one of their routines.

"Sorry babe! Let me make it up to you." He replied before sheathing his kodachi and drawing his guns to let loose a hail of bullets in the demon woman's direction.

Unfortunately that appeared to be just the response she was looking for because with a combination of limber acrobatics and efficient use of her cat-o-nine tails whip she managed to either avoid or destroy the bullets he was firing at her. She laughed like she was having the time of her life before sexily coming to a stop and taking on a sexy but dominating pose while looking at him.

"A bit better son of Sparda but still not the… trick… I was hoping to get out of you." She said as she used a finger to trace an outline of her sexy curves, "Then again what more can I expect from someone whose only half the devil Sparda was when he was still alive."

"Oh c'mon now! Don't you know that a smart guy always saves the best tricks for last!" he said before making it look like he was charging her head on again.

The truth of the matter was that this initial play was just a ruse to make her cocky because he knew what she'd do then and was prepared for it. Just as he reached the point he'd been at beforehand the flamin' lioness lashed out with her whip intending to add another criss-cross of slash marks on his chest to replace the ones that had faded away moments ago. Instead though he twisted out of the way of the slash and kept on running towards his target while holstering one gun in order to unsheathe a kodachi. Diving into a roll in order to avoid another attack from the whip he got back to his feet quickly in order to fire two shots at the arm that wielded the whip. Just like he planned the she-demon dropped the whip in pain leaving her wide open for the second part of his 'by-the-seat-of-his-pants' plan. Closing in he had to slide to the side to evade an attempted slashing by her with claws the popped out of the fingers of her uninjured arm but all that did was give her a couple more moments of peace before he parried a second slash and rammed his kodachi as far into her gut as he could. To this all she could do was look down at the blade was stuck in her gut and gape for a moment in surprise. Then she did something that was kind of unexpected in that she smiled like most people do after eating a particularly satisfying meal or had a real good roll in the sack.

"That was exquisite Son of Sparda." She said as the fire that was her hair began to slowly dim, "Let me show you my thanks."

With that she laid a kiss on him that was, fortunately, only metaphorically searing hot before her body turned into a glowing orange sphere of light and floated down to his belt. With a brief flash of light a whip handle appeared on the belt tucked neatly into its own little holster-thingy with a ruby embedded into one end that glowed with an internal fire. Sheathing his kodachi and holstering his gun he took the whip handle off of his belt and examined it for a moment before he did the first logical thing he could think of and willed the fire tendrils of the whip to appear. As if the weapon was now an extension of his body the tentacles of flame shot out from the handle and danced a little in mid-air before falling to the ground like a normal whip. Deciding to give this new weapon a test drive he began to lash out at the surrounding landscape using every move he had ever seen either Zorro or Indiana Jones use in their movies or TV shows. To top it all off he spun the whip over his head to build up the maximum amount of momentum before bringing it crashing down to the ground hard enough that the shockwaves of flame it produced snuffed out the wall of flame that had been erected by the she-demon.

"Nice! Ms. Fire Cat might have been a pain to deal with but she left me a great parting gift." He said as he willed the ropes of flame to vanish and then put the whip handle back on his belt, "Hope they're all as good lookin' as she was cause that's about the only thing that'll make this little adventure enjoyable."

With that he walked up and entered the tower of evil that had been his destination from the moment it popped out of the ground and announced itself as the demonic equivalent of Grand Central Station.