Hello Sinners, here we are! One of the Big 3's fights. And I assure you, it will be significant. Well, without any delays, let's dive right into Hell!

Mission 27: Alastor vs Arkham

Dante just passed the 30th floor of Vox's tower as he noticed that many demons were sliced, stabbed, or torn to pieces. "Looks like the others are way ahead of me. Not too surprised since I was dropped to the very first floor," the demon hunter said to himself as he passed the dead bodies. "If I had to take a wild guess on who started this, my money is either Smiles or Vags."

As Dante ascended to the higher floors to the 33rd floor, Demon Hunter started to hear the noise of wild animals screaming and a certain Latina cursing loudly. "Pedazo de mierda!" (Piece of shit!)

"You really should watch that mouth of yours, my dear. Charlie may not like it too much," Alastor said as he cut down a Blitz demon in two with a blade of shadows.

"Choke on a limb, why don't you," Vaggie growled at the Radio Demon as she stuck her spear right into the membrane of a Blade.

"Good to see you two, even if you're at each other's throats," Dante approached them as the moth demon reflexively pointed her spear at him. "Easy, Vaggie. It's just me," he said as he put his finger on the top of the blade and moved it away from him.

"Where the fuck were you when we all got separated," Vaggie spat. "Out of all the people I got stuck with, I was with this jackass!"

"I was sent to the first floor, where I had to shoot and slash my way up the stairs and took a few elevators. Damn, there were so many stairs," Dante admitted. "But now, here I am with the both of you. You didn't see the others, did you?"

"I'm afraid not, my dear boy. We have been together ever since and fought our way through tooth and nail," Alastor told the white-haired hunter as he fixed his monocle. "Since they weren't behind you, they must be scattered around the building."

"I bet they ran into trouble," Dante said as he walked by the pile of bodies the two left.

"You mean Mundus sent out some powerful demons after the others," Vaggie asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"That's my guess," Dante remarked. "And if I'm right, there should be some tough guys upstairs that we have to deal with. Come on." The three of them began to climb up the next stairwell and head to the upper floors.

Dante, Alastor, and Vaggie fought their way up the higher levels as they reached the 40th floor. Standing right in front of them is a stone door that had several skulls on it with eyes glowing red and chains hanging. "Well, this seems kinda familiar," Dante muttered.

"Can they get even more cheesier," Vaggie rhetorically asked as she rolled her good eye.

"Cheesy as they come," Dante said as he pushed open the door with both Vaggie and Al on either side of him. After opening the door, the three of them were in surprise as they saw Angel, Cherri, Terry, and Lechuza laying on the floor beaten up and very bloody. "Shit."

Both Vaggie and Dante ran up to them. "Hey Angel, what happened here? Who did this to you," the one-eyed moth demon asked as Angel's body was bloody to the point his fur was stained red.

"Hey, Vags…" Angel coughed as he took deep breaths heavier than the last. "You don't have a chance of fighting this guy yourself… it was a four-on-one and still kicked our ass into next week."

"Yeah, that cabrón (bastard) is no laughing matter," Lechuza said as her feathers were caked in dried blood.

"Do you know what he looked like," Dante asked as he got his answer sooner as the sounds of a high-pitched laughter rang from the room. "I should have known." As if out of nowhere, a familiar jester was right behind Dante. The demon hunter didn't dare look behind him and started to shoot.

The same jester dodged the bullets easily as if he were dancing to them. "Brings back old memories, doesn't it? Hello, Devil-boy," said the clown-like demon.

"Should have known you would have ended up here after Vergil and I killed you," Dante remarked. "I'm surprised you came down here looking like that. Maybe Mundus needed a fool for when he decided to become King of Hell."

"Very funny," the jester said before transforming into the sinner form of Arkham. "If there is one thing I know, it's that Lord Mundus will easily defeat Lucifer's forces since they were too laidback and haven't seen action in centuries. So they're more than rusty."

"Hate to break it to you pal, but times changed and so has Lucifer's army," Dante told the demonic priest. "Time to dance, clown," he said as he drew his pistols to shoot Arkham, only for him to turn into his jester form and avoid taking damage from the shots aimed at his feet.

"That sure was a close one," the jester joked, fanning himself before Vaggie tried to stab him in the back. However, the clown dodged at ease as he moved to his left. "That's a naughty thing you did, dear. It's time you got a spanking," he said, getting into her face before teleporting behind her and striking her with his marotte.

The feeling of the so-called weapon stung Vaggie's back as she tried to jab at him again, only to have it be deflected by Arkham's scepter. With her weapon sent back, he summoned a flurry of energy spheres to attack Vaggie, knocking her right into Dante's arms. "I'm starting to fucking hate this creep," she grumbled.

"Yeah, he's a real annoyance. Felt like I could have skipped fighting him those extra times when I first met the guy," Dante agreed as the trio was attacked with more magic orbs.

"Care to tell the peanut gallery, my dear boy," Alastor asked as he stepped up he simply caught the balls of energy Jester threw at him. He casually tossed it aside and the energy sphere exploded, damaging part of the wall.

"Since you nicely asked, that clown is actually some scholar named Arkham who made my brother open the Temen-ni-gru and unleash parts of Hell where I was setting up my shop. Made me and Vergil fight one another while he stood on the sidelines in order to get Dad's power. But it corrupted him and turned him into a blob. He looked better that way if I'm being honest."

"Quite the mouth on you as always, Son of Sparda," Arkham said as he fanned himself. "Perhaps we should test your regeneration as I cut out your tongue."

"No thanks," Dante bluntly said. "I kinda need it. This guy's cooking is actually pretty good," he remarked as he pointed a thumb at Alastor.

"Why, thank you, Dante," Alastor smiled as he took the compliment well. "How about you and Vagatha here go on up to the top floor while I enjoy some… entertainment," he told the Demon Hunter as his voice began to gain a staticky echo when he emphasized his words. "After all, you have a prize fight to win. Otherwise, things won't be like simpler times. Mundus and his forces have no respect for those of fairer means. I find it distasteful… like it's bad meat."

"He's all yours, Smiles. Just don't underestimate him too much. He's a slippery eel," Dante warned the Radio Demon as he grabbed Vaggie by the arm and pulled her to the door leading upstairs.

"Don't even think about it," Arkham exclaimed as he was ready to intercept them, but the demon was pushed back by many long, black tentacles that popped out of the floor. The shadowy tendrils flailed toward the jester and made him jump back a few times to avoid being crushed like the nearby furniture.

Alastor wriggled his fingers in one hand to control the tentacles attacking Arkham while the other hand was pointing his microphone cane at the defeated clients of the hotel. "I might not be able to get us to the top immediately, but I can at least bring you all down to safety," the Radio Demon said as he transported Angel and the others to a previous floor of the building while the attack on the enemy demon continued.

Arkham may look like a fool on the outside, but he knew better than to fool around with someone that was a top-tier Overlord. Seeing Alastor playing his own game with him, the jester demon snapped his fingers and sliced the black tendrils with energy waves. "Bravo! Bravo! I never expected less from the infamous Radio Demon of Hell," he said clapping for the demon in red. "Lord Mundus sees great potential in you, Radio Demon. He would like for you to be one of his own. Think about it. If you were to switch sides, you could easily have all the power you desire."

"Hmmm…nope," Alastor bluntly stated. "As I said to our dear friend, I'm betting on him to kill Mundus when they meet each other. After all, Dante's the reason he was sent here in the first place."

"So you'd rather risk it all on him than accept my lord's offer," Arkham asked.

"Indeed," Alastor said. "Besides, I don't wish to become one of those Devil Arms he collects after defeating a powerful demon."

"I'll be sure to make you into one after your death," Arkham threatened as he laughed and opened a portal out of thin air, sending magical spheres of energy out of it.

The Radio Demon was not phased by these small-time attacks as he snapped his fingers and created a portal for himself, sending balls of hellfire out from the portal at the clown. The attacks from both demons meet as they exploded when collided. Alastor's shadow manifested itself as a copy of the deer demon and summoned a shadowy hunting rifle out of thin air. Arkham dodges many of the shots that Alastor's shadow fired, but one bullet did get the jester in the chest. "Oh! I'm dying! Oh, what a cruel world. I had so much to live for," the clown said as he reenacted a scene similar to The Mask. "So cold… it's getting dark… I…I… I'll make sure you get a proper spanking! Jester's gonna spank your butt! Spank you in the butt," the jester demon laughed as he got up in perfect health and taunted Alastor by spanking himself.

"No wonder Dante is so irritated by you," the Radio Demon said as his eye twitched. He then looked at his shadow double' hunting rifle and hummed in thought. "I should use something with more kick to it," he told himself as he snapped his fingers and the rifle was changed into a double-barrel shotgun. His shadow cocked the weapon in his hands and blasted hellfire to scorch the clown.

Arkham was shot back and a gaping hole was in his abdomen after the attack. "That really hurt you know," the clown said, shaking himself off as his body started to repair itself at a rapid pace. "Super healing, you got to love it. But now I think it turns to bring out the big guns," he laughed as he jumped into the air and summoned a giant ball with a face on it. It had two different eyes, one blue and one red, as half of its face was purple and the other white with a toothless smile across its face. Arkham stood on the ball with perfect balance as it started to bounce around the arena. It then jumped right at Alastor to flatten him and Arkham couldn't help himself but laugh as the Radio Demon was about to be crushed.

"That seems to be like fun. Mind if I have a go at it," Alastor asked as he somehow invaded Arkham's personal space. "I have to say that this was quite the show, but I'll admit it was nothing more than an opening act." Arkham looked confused before he shoved Alastor off the ball and had it bounce once more to crush the Radio Demon. "I feel like you need to get some new tricks. But I have plenty more if you want to see them," he said before his shadow turned into sharp needles that punctured the ball and made it blow up.

Arkham was sent flying as the ball exploded, then landed on his back. The clown still had a smirk as he still had a trick up his sleeve. As soon as the ball exploded, another one took its place and started to laugh. As it did, it exploded into a swarm of energy spheres that rushed at Alastor, knocking the Radio Demon back and scorching his suit. The clown demon put his foot in the air as he transformed into his normal self. "This foul play has gone for too long. I will finish you once and for all, Radio Demon," he said as the room started to change around them both as it was darker and Arkham's body turned to shadows.

Alastor stood back up and felt a tingle of pain as he received new wounds as they bleed through his suit that was torn. "What a shame. This was one of my favorite suits," the Radio Demon said to himself as he snapped his fingers, which healed his wounds and mended his tattered clothes. "With this, I do believe that the time for fun's over," he remarked as his voice was filled with an echo of static and his eyes turned to radio dials. The Radio Demon's antlers began to grow and become sharper, looking like they belonged on a prize-winning buck.

Al then looked as he saw his shadow form into another version of himself, ready to fight more. However, his shadow suddenly attacked him as it formed a knife and slashed at him, cutting up suit again. Alastor retaliated as he summoned his proper shadow and the two forms cut one another as both of the shadows began to bleed, sending the ichor scattering across the walls.

"You should know that it is pointless since this is the trick I used to deal with your friends," Arkham stated, explaining that the shadowy doppelganger of Alastor was the technique used to injure Angel and the others.

"My dear fellow, I'm afraid that it won't do me in too hard," the Radio Demon laughed as his shadow stabbed its doubleganger through the chest. Then, it went behind its counterpart and slit its throat out as shadowy blood sprayed against the walls like a fountain. "The art of shadow work happens to be in my domain."

"That makes both of us," Arkham said as he created shadow versions of Angel, Lechuza, Cherri, and Terry. All four of them surrounded Alastor as Terry's doubleganger charged first, sending the Radio Demon flying to the wall. Cherri's shadow took the opportunity to throw small bombs at Al, causing more burns and punctures from the explosions. The shadow of Angel summoned a baseball bat to strike Alastor's head, only for the extended antlers to catch the weapon and deflect it.

"I'm getting disappointed, good sir," Alastor said before he impaled Angel's shadow double with an assortment of spear-tipped red and black tendrils made from his own shadow. The dark spider soon dissolved and melted like liquid, showing it was truly defeated. The Radio Demon got out of the wall he was pinned into and adjusted his monocle as his grin started to grow larger than before. "My turn," he said as he stepped forward. Arkham saw many shadows behind the deer-like demon, each wearing a smile on their face.

The shadow of Cherri threw more bombs at Alastor, but one of the shadowy beings caught them all and threw them back at the cyclops. The shadow grew larger and showed its ginormous teeth, towering over the shadow of Cherri before it took a bite out of her upper half as the lower half ran around before melting like Angel's. The shadow of Terry stomped the ground and flared up his nostrils before charging at all again, but two of Al's shadow minions grabbed the bull by his horns and lifted him before pulling him in two like he was a wishbone.

Lechuza's copy was the only shadow that was still standing and she decided to keep fighting. Taking to the air, the shadowy owl harpy prepared her talons and swooped down toward the deer-like demon. But before she could even land a single digit on him, the shadow of the Radio Demon shot her out of the air like she was a duck, spearing her wing and sending her into a spiraling fall. When Lechuza fell, Alastor's shadows all swarmed the copy and ripped her to pieces, devouring whatever they could get their hands and teeth on.

Seeing the gruesome sight, Arkham was admittedly unnerved before he steeled himself and was ready to keep fighting. "I expected no less from you. However, since you and I have power over shadow, you should know that they also hold a weakness to the light," the former scholar said as he hit part of the wall that shot out a ray of light. The light was so bright that it forced all of Alastor's shadows to disintegrate and retreat into the darkness.

The deer-like sinner grinned as he titled his head and looked on at the Arkham. "Very impressive, my good sir. Not many know that trick."

"You can thank Dante for that when he defeated a demon called Doppelganger," Arkham told the red-clad demon as he hit another part of the wall to shine on Alastor, keeping him from summoning more shadows easily.

"I have to say, you're battle strategy is improving. But it's still not enough to hold me down," Alastor chuckled as he fixed up his monocle. "And before you ask why the reason is because of this," he said as he slammed his fist on part of the wall, creating a series of portals around Arkham. With beams of magical energy firing through each portal, the scholar was bombarded with energy blasts equal in power to his energy spheres. Alastor then summoned out his cane and struck the ground with it, unleashing a powerful sonic wave that stunned Arkham before he was engulfed with hellfire. The Radio Demon watched as the flames reflected in the glass of his monocle. But while he watched the flames, Arkham started laughing. "Did I miss a joke?"

"Something like that," Arkham said as he looked at the Radio Demon with a smirk that could match his own. "Did it ever occur to you why I was in Dis?"

"Now that you mention it, I was wondering that myself. As far as I've seen, you aren't even worthy of being the servant of Mundus," Alastor said as he continue to burn the bald demon with mismatched eyes. But the attack wasn't doing damage to him and the next thing Alastor knew, he was flung across the room as the demon before him was surrounded by a deadly purple aura.

"If you were listening to Dante earlier, I stole some of Sparda's power while he and his brother fought one another. But little did they know, after they defeated me, I kept a sliver of Sparda's power and used it to challenge Lucifer himself," Arkham admitted as his body started to morph into shape as it grew in size his skin started to turn purple. "But I was defeated and sent to that accursed place where I could be tortured for the rest of my days," he said as his body started to morph into something that was a much more blob-like creature with his arms and legs sticking out in different places. His red and blue eyes were popping out in different directions, his face became warped and went in different directions, and razor-sharp teeth started to pop in and out of the blob. "Now, witness the power of Sparda!"

"Power of Sparda, you say? Ha! Everyone knows that Sparda never looked anything like that. However, I'm always happy to dance," Alastor said as the blob walked forward and started to cover the entire area in its purple slime-like substance. The blob of Arkham slammed himself into the wall, trying to hit Alastor. But Al was able to get out of the way and his opponent missing entirely. The blob starts to fire off bullets of the slime like a machine gun, which then hit the Radio Demon a little as he was nailed in the stomach and shoulder.

Alastor pulled out the slime and fought back with his shadow circling Arkham. Alastor's shadow surrounded the blob, but the shots from the shadowy hunting rifle weren't doing anything. The shadow then summoned a double-barreled shotgun and fired. But just like the rifle, the attack did very little. 'Looks like absorbing all of that power did more than just make him look hideous. I'll have to come up with something else.' the Radio Demon told himself as he watched his shadow get its head bitten off by Arkham.

"That trick won't twice," Arkham laughed as Alastor's shadow was spit out and disintegrated. "It's time I let my pets have some fun of their own," the corrupted blob said as he flung his slime in all directions. When the slime hit the walls and floor, it rippled before it popped right back up to eel-like creatures with horns on their head surrounding Alastor.

"Well, this is quite interesting," the deer-like demon said as he was suddenly attacked by the legion of Arkham's minions. Alastor watched as the new monsters exploded when they impacted against something, then worked to avoid damage before he was hit by one and the blast caused his monocle to break. "Okay, no more playing around," he said as he unleashed an aura that was red as blood, destroying the eels and showing Arkham what he was truly capable of. The infamous Radio Demon changed himself into his full demon form when his antlers grew, his body stretched and became thinner, and his eyes became black as night. "How about we end this show once and for all," he said with an unholy staticky echo in his voice.

"I concur," Arkham agreed, condensing his chaotic form into a solid mass to function as armor.

Both of the demons clashed with one another, tearing each other's flesh with each strike. The blob demon's arm got ripped off him courtesy of Alastor's jaw, but the severed arm slapped the Radio Demon in the face before crawling back to its owner and reattaching. Alastor rammed himself at the blob as the purple demon wailed and hit the Overlord. The Radio Demon pulled away as one of his horns broke off into Arkham, but it grew right back in seconds as the old one was still jammed inside the blob's gut.

"Was that the best you could do? I had much worse from the Sparda brothers," Arkham laughed off the attack.

"Not exactly," the Radio Demon laughed as he bleed his hand and started to chant as symbols began to appear out of thin air. Arkham's blob-like body started to feel pain as the antler that was inside him started to expand tearing him from the inside as the severed bone continued to grow inside Arkham.

Arkham tried to separate the antler that was inside him, but it expanded so much that it prevented him from taking it out of him and moving, rooting into him like a tree branch around a pole. Within moments, the antler stuck out his skin and began piercing him from the inside. The former scholar reverted back into his original demon form as the entire battlefield returned to normal. Arkham was lying on the ground as he coughed out the pieces of the antler that was inside him. Seeing as the demon was now weakened, Alastor walked up while still in his full demon form. "How? How can someone like yourself defeat me?! I have the power of Sparda," Arkham coughed.

"My friend, just like in the past. Sparda's power rejects you," Alastor said in his static-filled demonic voice. "But I wonder… If you stole a little of Sparda's power, what would it taste like," he asked himself as he growled before he bit down on the former scholar. Arkham's screaming echoed through the room along with the tearing of flesh and crunching of bones. After ten minutes, Arkham was nothing but a splatter of blood. "Hmm, tastes like complete and utter garbage," the Radio Demon told himself as he reverted back to his normal self. "But then again, it's just a cheap version of the real thing. Very low quality, if I say so myself. But it did have some kick thanks to that power he stole," looking at his hands as he could feel his own powers increase at a larger rate.

But his train of thought was interrupted as he heard the door behind him open to reveal Charlie and I.M.P. entering. "Alright, you pieces of shit! Get ready for the- wait, no one's here. What the fuck!? IS THAT THE RADIO DEMON," Blitzo said as he aimed his pistol, but saw the carnage from Alastor's 'snack' before noticing the Overlord himself.

"I'm so glad you see you here, Al," the Princess of Hell sighed with relief to see a familiar face. "But where's everyone else? Are they up ahead?"

"Not to worry, my dear. I teleported everyone we know back to the ground floor where they're safe and sound. Dante and Vagatha went on up to confront Mundus and whatever remaining threats there are," Alastor told her as he snapped his finger to summon a new monocle and placed it in front of his right eye.

"Dante and Vaggie are ahead," Charlie asked the Radio Demon.

"Of course. If you run along now, you might be able to catch up to them," the Radio Demon told her and the assassins.

"Thanks, Al," the Princess of Hell told him and she and I.M.P ran up ahead and then stopped. "Are you coming with us?"

"Oh no, you go on ahead. Someone has to check up on the others," he waved at them. The Princess of Hell couldn't waste any more time as she, the imps, and Loona ran ahead. Once they were completely gone, Alastor started to cough as small amounts of blood exited from his mouth and into his hand. "Oh dear… It looks like that clown did a lot more to me than I expected," he told himself as he made a portal to the lower level of the building. "Hope the others are holding their ground," he said walking through and closing it behind him.

And that should do it. We are getting close to the finale as all that is left is Vaggie's fight and Dante's. I want to thank WaterDragonMaverick for editing and suggestions. And before anyone asks questions about the shadow part of Arkham and that "you copied it from the Doubleganger boss who is not Arkham." I know, it's from my own creation, and thought it would intensify the fight more. Anyway, follow, favorite, and review (No flames), and until then, I will see all of you in Hell!