AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't own anything from Bayonetta or Final Fantasy 7. Platinum Games and Square Enix do (That's-a spoiler)
Vigrid never changes.
Bayonetta reflected on the town's unofficial motto as she walked through its streets. Sure, technological advancements were in place, like trams, electricity, cars, the train that brought her here and the like, but it was just like it was as she had visited and fled from it twenty years ago in her quest to find her identity. If the reports she had also read were correct, the town was also exactly identical as it was 500 years ago when the Umbran Clan was the main seat of power. The town hall was made of the same stone, the shops were the exact chains as they were 500 years ago, the housing district was identical right down to the family living in its walls.
It's probably why they don't take too kindly to strangers. She thought to herself as she admired a piece of jewellery in a store window whilst the clerk inside glared angrily at her. It's too difficult for them to adapt to change.
"This stone clashes with my eyes." She finally said aloud, fully knowing and making sure the clerk could hear her. Tilting her head, she continued. "Looks like you lost a customer."
The glare's ferocity doubled, and Bayonetta merely smiled back as she turned and began to explore the city more. What she really needed was transport, and she hadn't had a clue as to where to find it. Isla Del Sol and the Ithavoll company were much further inland, and her small amount of research had told her there was pretty much zero routes to those without guaranteed transport there and back. There was a walking track that lead through the Umbra Mountains and to airport outside of Vigrid, but that was five full days of solid walking, and she really did not feel like doing that.
She got the funny feeling that maybe, perhaps the smallest maybe, that the people of Vigrid didn't want to have tourists exploring the country. Or even beyond the city itself. No wonder their tourist revenue was one of the lowest in the world.
A small disturbance got her attention. A chair randomly fell over, falling perpendicular to her. Frowning slightly, she followed its's direction, trying to confirm her suspicion. As she expected, another chair fell over in the same direction, and then someone got pushed to the side further up. It could not be a coincidence, as there was no wind. The familiar aura of Paradiso washed over her, and the presence of angels filled her senses. A potted plant was then hurled down the street, breaking apart in mid-air. The Vigridians gasped at the seemingly divine occurrence, whereas Bayonetta's eyes narrowed.
Something was happening in Purgatorio. Glancing at a window, she saw the trace of an Affinity hurtling down the street. Rolling her eyes in mock disappointment, she folded her arms.
"And to think I wasn't invited…" Bayonetta pouted slightly, then stepped into Purgatorio. She was unaware of the mortal's eyes that followed her in, and the click of a camera.
Immediately she was knocked to the side by an Affinity that was storming past her. Gracefully recovering, she frowned and saw as a pack of the angels chasing after something or someone. Being careful not to attract their attention, she followed behind, climbing to the rooftops to pursue from above. A small red glow briefly caught her attention, but she ignored it and filed it away for her memory later.
The figure in rags was running into an alleyway, one with a dead-end too. She noted that it appeared exhausted, as if it had been running for a long time. The Affinities, however, looked fresh and ready to kill.
It was undoubtedly, completely and utterly fucked. Unless she wanted to play hero, which she was unsure of. She had other objectives that required her attention, but her conscience was eating at her. And it would be a good sacrifice for the demons and some halos for bargaining with Rodin later…
"Oh, fuck it…" She whispered to herself, then launched herself off the roof and landed behind the angels.
"Hello boys! Why don't you play with me instead?" Bayonetta taunted as she stood up. "That toy looks rather exhausted, and I'm sure you want something new, something fresh, to play with…"
The Affinities, to her relief, turned and faced her. One of them stepped forward, and began to speak in the angelic language of Enochian:
"Our business doesn't involve you. Allow us to reprehend the Father's experiment, and we will let you live."
She laughed at the absurdity of the claim. "Darling, angels are always my business…"
And with that she launched herself at them. The fight was short, ugly and brutal. Weaponless, Bayonetta was forced to use her fists and feet, breaking bones and ripping flesh to kill the angels as fast as possible. She might have enjoyed the flow and rush of lethal combat, but she didn't find it nearly as appealing when her opponents suffered. The true art of battle was not to take time, but to maximise efficiency with as many flourishes as she could throw out.
Within minutes, she was the last left standing. Quickly surveying around to make sure nothing else was there to interrupt her, she turned to face the figure to check on them.
She didn't expect a fist to meet her.
Reeling back from the blow, she felt another slam into her stomach, driving the air from her. Gasping in pain, she saw another fist fly towards her in an uppercut. Grabbing it before it could connect, she pulled the figure over in a judo-style throw to the ground using the momentum of the punch, and then pinned them down by straddling them.
"What the fuck was that for?!" She exclaimed. "I was rescuing you, fucking idiot."
"You're Jeanne!" An undoubtably male voice rasped back at her. "You're the one who helped him!"
Bayonetta was confused. This one recognised her as well? And had another name for her? His next words surprised her even more but refuted her theory.
"You're the one that made me this freak!"
Recovering quickly, she smiled. "Darling, if I had made you anything, I would have made you a freak in other, much more fun, ways."
The man snarled, then coughed in pain. "You did this to me! Don't deny it!"
"I did nothing. I don't even recognise this fabric." She grabbed the hood and pulled it down, revealing a sickly, thin face crowned with blonde hair and golden eyes that burned holes into her. "And I certainly don't recognise you."
"You're all the same to me." He hissed. "Your face might've changed, but your power is the same!"
Ah, that cleared things up. "There's more than one Umbra witch, darling. You've seen us both, maybe you should try to find her. Better luck next time!"
He continued to stare with unabated anger at her, and she continued to smirk at him. "You know, this is the second time I've been in this position in less than twenty-four hours. A new record, if you are keeping score."
"You kidnapped me twenty years ago, wiped my memory and changed me for the worse." He accused, ignoring her attempt to lighten the situation. "And now you've found me to bring me back to him."
"Darling, I only woke up from a long sleep twenty years ago." She replied to him. "I would have no time to kidnap anyone. And besides, did I not just slaughter a bunch of angels that were going to bring you back to this... father, person?"
A loud screech interrupted the pair. An Applaud, flank by numerous Affinities, had found the alley and the two. Gracefully climbing to her feet, Bayonetta faced the newcomers.
"Give us the experiment or burn, witch." The Applaud gestured towards the figure behind her that was struggling to climb to his knees. "The Father wishes for it to be returned."
"Well, I have to say that sounds like a tempting deal." She pretended to ponder for a second. "But I think killing you all and sending you to Inferno sounds like a much better one, don't you agree?"
"We will have unfinished business, witch." The man said behind her. The angels wasted no time and immediately launched onto the offensive. Dodging past the strikes of the pole-arm the Applaud carried, she slowed down time briefly and launched a barrage of punches into its abdomen, launching it into the alley's wall when time resumed. Throwing out kicks, she began to battle her way through the Affinities, feathers and angelic gore filling the air. Watching the man from the corner of her eye, she saw how uncoordinated, how graceless his style was. What made up for it, however, was the explosions of blood as each hit he landed tore through them.
Something brushed into her mind, and she jolted. Slamming one Affinity into another, she noticed his eyes glowing slightly, and she ascertained that he had somewhat read her mind, or at least the briefest parts of it. Ignoring him, and his attempt, she refocused on the dance of battle.
As she cleaned up the last of the Affinities, she turned and watched as he clumsily fought against the Applaud, trying to tear it apart instead of whittling it down with his strength. Luckily for him, the Applaud didn't expose his weakness and stayed on the defensive. Eventually he broke through and ripped the angel in two, separating the torso from the hips.
"You know, you could probably learn a thing or two about finesse." She said, crossing her arms and leaning against a pole as he breathed raggedly and heavily, leaning over in exhaustion. "Your style is completely lacking in anything."
"It gets the job done…" He panted. He turned and looked at her. "I was mistaken; you aren't her."
"Of course, I'm me." Bayonetta shook her head in annoyance. "I'm guessing your little trip into my mind had something to do with that?"
He nodded. "Yeah, something like that." He began to sway. "For what it's worth now, I'm sorry for attacking you, and I'm deeply grateful for you saving me."
"Are you alright?" She asked, tensing slightly, ignoring his apology for the moment. "You look awfully horrible."
He didn't answer. Instead, he collapsed and fell to the ground. Catching him before he broke his own face, she carried him, half running and half sprinting, to the Gates of Hell entrance she had seen earlier.
You better be worth this wasted time. She silently cursed her conscience. Stupid do-gooder conscience. Can't you tell me not to save damsels in distress?
…
"To be completely honest, I'm kind of surprised he is still alive." Rodin looked up from the screen of the hospital wing of the Gates (as ever a successful businessman, he decided to try and monopolise everything he could). "There's so much shit in him that have no business being in a mortal body, and not enough shit that should be."
Bayonetta peered at the screen and tried to make sense of it. "The only thing I'm interested in is whether he will live."
The man lay naked on a surgery table, tubes of all sorts attached to him. Upon arriving at the Gates, Rodin had seen him, and then immediately carried the poor kid to the hospital wing. After tearing off the rags that covered him, both were sickened, but slightly curious when they saw a frail, sickly body that was covered in scar tissue. There was a single black wing fixed to his back, seemingly deliberately hidden amongst the rags, explaining the lump, and evidence that someone had torn off a second one.
"Oh, he'll live. I'm the best doctor there ever will be." Rodin smiled cockily. "The real question is what the fuck happened to him."
"All he told me was that he was an experiment from twenty years ago." She replied. "What have you found?"
"Well, this poor kid has been injected with so much shit; I've found evidence of Umbra blood and cells, Lumen Sage blood and cells, angel and demon blood and souls." The smile disappeared from his face. "The cells keep trying to obliterate each other, the souls are in constant battle and adding on top of that the fatigue and undernourishment, he is probably in constant pain from simply living."
Bayonetta stared with somewhat newfound respect at the unconscious man. "The cells are incompatible, you mean?"
"Yeah. Angels and demons are understandable, but Lumen Sage and Umbra Witches are surprisingly incompatible, even though both are the same species. It's probably got to do with the light and dark powers. I haven't researched the technicalities; I don't do unethical stuff to mortals." He explained, looking intensely at the screen before turning to her.
"Biology-wise. Money and transactions come with the territory, and it's easy as fuck to do." He added before she could open her mouth to refute his claim. He refixed his sunglasses back to his head, hiding his blood-red eyes from the world again. "Apparently someone managed to get the cells to play nice."
He beckoned to Bayonetta, standing up from the screen. "Come. There's nothing more we can do for him until he recovers and wakes up. And I've made a weapon you might be interested in."
"They better not be like the last couple of toys you've tried to sell me on." She teased. Rodin's weapons were of the highest quality, but she had a penchant to breaking them easily.
"No, this one is something you'll enjoy. I made these babies personally."
"This new toy sounds promising. Also, since when were you a doctor?" She smiled as they walked back into the gates proper. "I've never really had the opportunity to ask."
"It's boring to just be a bartender and weapons supplier for millennia. Gotta change it up somewhere." He answered as he flipped over the sign to 'Do not Disturb'. "Have a good rest, kid. You're gonna need it."
…
Four days passed…
…
He was in pain. He knew that much.
The Affinities outside were discussing his abilities, and the various one-of things they had seen him do; basic magic, basic healing, the ability to traverse into Purgatorio, his former ability to fly and his ability to read minds.
He almost smiled. They hadn't learnt about the one he was practising at the dead of night, where no one was watching.
His arms were aching again, and his back was flaring up. Grimacing, he turned his attention back to outside of the glass tube he was in.
He reached out, grabbing one of the monitors. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on lifting it. One inch. Two inches. One foot.
No one had noticed, of course. They wouldn't think that he was telekinetic.
He held it in position as he began to reach out for the rest of the objects in the room.
"What is this?" One of the Applauds had finally noticed what was going on. "Experiment 10978, explain yourself!"
He smiled as he opened his eyes and threw everything randomly. Monitors and filing cabinets smashed into the Laguna, the scientists and other objects, including his cell. The glass imprisoning him shattered, and shards flew in all directions.
He relished this pain. This pain was what was going to get him to escape.
Vaguely aware of the klaxons and sirens in the background, he tore apart the tubing holding him in place and launched himself out, telekinetically grabbing everything and throwing it at the weakest part of the wall. Angels and items alike smashed into the wall, leaving a huge dent in it. Pain was wracking his body, but he was determined this time.
He would not fail due to himself. He was going to escape, and he would not fail a second time.
He gritted his teeth and grabbed everything again and repeated the throw. This time, the wall gave out and it exploded outwards in a symphony of flesh, concrete and metal, revealing the outside world to him for the first time in his life.
…
The man with no name woke up in an unfamiliar place, his eyes flickering open from his memories.
It was white, yet red, sterile yet dirty, peaceful yet chaotic. Groaning, he tried to recall why he was where he was.
He remembered running from angels as they found him again. He got cornered, then someone saved him, and it felt a lot like the witch that had torn his memory from him. After seeing her fight, and seeing her with his mind, he realised that it wasn't, and then it was all a giant blank. He had probably collapsed, that he was certain. Whether he was back in his clutches was another story.
Groaning, he sat up. He saw that he now looked a lot healthier than normal, and that he was naked. Glancing around the room, he tried to find his clothes. A set of clothes did lie stacked on a small table on the other side, along with a note on top of it. Awkwardly and slowly, he walked over and read it:
This here is for you. Don't worry, it's on the house. Come to the bar when you're decent, and we'll talk.
R and B
So, this R and B people were responsible for him, he guessed. Pulling on the clothes, he knew immediately that they were perfectly fitted to him and contoured around his wing instead of hiding it. Shamefully, he tried to stuff it behind the shirt, but it seems that the tailor had accounted for the possibility of him doing that. Or simply made them to fit exactly.
Fuck them, whoever they were. He did not need that reminder hanging over his shoulder.
Moving stiffly, he walked out of the room, trying to keep his wing as low and compressed as possible.
…
Bayonetta admired her new set of guns, named collectively as the Scarborough Fair. As Rodin had promised, these guns were weapons she could consider using for any other angelic skirmishes, and potentially greater enemies if they were to appear. They felt more alive than anything she had ever held, and she recognised the power they contained. When she asked Rodin what the secret was with them, he shrugged and mentioned that four individual demons were now missing from Inferno permanently. After testing their potency in a few skirmishes around the Vigrid entrance to the Gates, she could now say she had a proper weapon worthy of herself.
And she had never felt as complete as she did.
Rodin had convinced her to stick around until the man she had rescued had regain consciousness, so she could have a hand in his future. She had agreed, and the pair had spent the better part of several days discussing the events of the previous twenty years, the potential future of the man and how they would impact her plans.
He did charge her for all of it. Without dashing a sweat, she had handed over several thousand halos, with the promise of more to come.
"It looks like sleeping beauty has finally awakened." Rodin mentioned whilst he was cleaning a glass. Bayonetta turned and saw the man standing awkwardly at the entrance of the bar. He looked a hell of a lot healthier than before, and was wearing black pants, trousers, shirt and a long overcoat. His wing was tucked back and looked like it was attempted to be concealed behind him. The size of it, however, made it stand out and made him stand out. A couple of patrons fell silent at his appearance, and openly gaped at him.
"You know, it's a lazy fashion designer' choice to make all the clothing the same colour." She replied, watching with a small amount of sympathy as he awkwardly tried to find whoever he was looking for, looking around like a lost puppy.
"I don't make style my forte, unless it's requested." Rodin answered. "Practicality, that's where it works for me." He put down the glass and addressed the man with a shout. "Over here, stranger!"
Clearly embarrassed, he walked over to the pair and took the empty seat one away from the witch. Frowning slightly, she made no mention of it.
"I'm guessing you're this 'B' character?" The man asked. His voice had a soft, melodic quality to it, not dissimilar to a being of Paradiso, but laced with the same venom that the denizens of Inferno carried. It was certainly an upgrade to the scratchiness that it was when she met him, she figured. She decided it wasn't a bad voice to listen to; it certainly wasn't the worst thing on the planet she had heard.
"Rodin's the name." The bartender replied with a small chuckle. "What about you?"
The man hesitated, then shook his head. "I have no name. The best thing I know myself is by the number 10978."
Rodin shared a glance with her. "Why is that?"
"That was my experiment number they gave me." He replied in a simple tone. "That's all I have known myself as."
"Well, stranger, it has come to my attention that you probably need help living and being around in this fucked up world." Rodin said. "Bayonetta here has volunteered to take care of you for a small period."
Bayonetta felt it was her cue to interject. "I think you just need some training and you'll be set to leave into the wild."
The man shook his head. "I don't want to bring the wrath of heavens onto you as well. I would prefer if you didn't."
Rodin frowned. "Look kid, I know you're trying to act tough in front of the pretty lady-"
"She is an Umbra witch, just like that other one." The man smiled bitterly. "And I punched her in the face rather easily."
"That is tru- Wait, he punched you?" Rodin asked incredulously.
"He got lucky, that's all." Bayonetta defended. "I wasn't expecting to be punched by the person I risked life and limb to rescue." She placed a hand on her forehead in mock horror. "I can never be taken seriously again, right?"
"That's some ammo I got for later. Thanks kid." Rodin smiled, then turned serious again. "Look, the both of us are wanted by Paradiso for reasons other than having knowledge of you, so it honestly doesn't bother us that more angels will come."
"And I need to kill the fuckers anyway." Bayonetta continued. "It's a win-win situation for me, no matter what." She placed a hand onto his thigh and added sultrily: "And you get to travel and have some fun with me as a bonus."
To her expectations, he went bright red and turned away from her. "Ah, um, errrr…"
Rodin smiled at his stumbling. "I have heard that Bayonetta is very lively in bed and in combat, of which I've witnessed one; you can choose which. You'll be dumb to turn her down for either one."
"Only until the end of Vigrid." He answered after he regained his composure. "Then I leave. I don't want to be more trouble than I'm worth."
Rodin nodded at Bayonetta, who returned it. "Seems fair enough. You have your own business to attend to anyways."
The man then groaned slightly, and grabbed onto his stomach. Both bartender and witch leaned forward, ready to help if need to be.
"Jesus, kid." Rodin warned as he re-straightened himself up, seeing that it was just a minor flare. "You aren't ever going to be one hundred percent; so don't push yourself unless you need to."
"And what?" The man replied. "Be nothing more than a charity case?"
"You should know we aren't going to treat you as an invalid." She grabbed his shoulder gently and pulled him upright. "But if you are going to accelerate your little bouts of pain as fast as you can, then we are both going to take steps."
He nodded, pain still evident in his eyes. "It's hard to not accelerate everything when everything hurts."
"Are you sure you have nothing?" She turned to Rodin. "No lollipop or anything to help?"
"Look; this is all new territory for me; I've never seen a Lumen Umbra hybrid, or a demon angel one for that matter. God knows what is going to help him." He shrugged. "But I'll look into it as a favour – I don't want my patients dying on me."
The man smiled gratefully. "Thank you."
"You can't just be referred as 'darling' or 'kid' all the time." Bayonetta said, changing the subject abruptly. "What name do you want?"
"How did you name yourself?" Rodin asked her.
"Combining languages and looking at a gun." She replied and turned to the man. "How about… Seraphim?"
"Seems too poignant." He shook his head. "What about Adraxon?"
"Too demonic. Lucas?"
"Too normal…"
The pair went at it for several minutes, throwing names that even Bayonetta had trouble pronouncing at each other, before the man straightened up. "Sephiroth."
Rodin and Bayonetta fell silent, their minds whirring over the suggested name.
"I like it." She said. "Combining Seraph of Paradiso..."
"... with Roth of Inferno." Rodin finished. "Real similar to that video game character from years back, but who's gonna remember that shit anyway?"
The man smiled. "Sephiroth is who I will be."