A/N: I'm BACK! Guh. Whoever invented higher education should be hung, drawn and quartered. Honestly. How am I supposed to wallow in my obsessive fandom cravings if I have homework? Egads…

Anyway. Please enjoy!

Chapter 6

The departure of Jester made their situation less aggravating, but no less perilous. Granted, they could now concentrate on fighting rather than on tearing apart the hateful clown, but the so called 'preliminary challenge' Arkham had left them was formidable.

The Medusa demons were not simply snakes; they looked more like some kind of cross between a dragon and a lizard, their bodies covered with serrated, razor sharp scales which rippled and glinted in the dim light. They dragged themselves languidly on stubby legs, their bellies scraping along the ground and making a nasty screeching noise.

"Snakes." Dante groaned aggressively, his hold on Rebellion tightening "Why did it have to be snakes? Why not spiders? Spiders are cute, with their little hairy legs and the beady eyes…"

Vergil gave him an incredulous look, and he swallowed thickly, heart beating painfully fast, cold sweat trickling down his neck "on second thought, bunny rabbits. I would've definitely preferred bunny rabbits."

"Speak for yourself." Vergil said coldly, grimacing, repulsed as he was by all things cute and fluffy. Personally, he'd rather take on the entirety of Hell. Speaking of which…

He eyed the creatures' slitted crimson eyes and bared fangs with composed disdain, standing perfectly still, waiting patiently for the boldest of the creatures to strike. Despite the fact that slaying the things wouldn't be too much of a challenge, he was a little concerned about the sheer numbers which they were pitted against.

A steady stream of the demons swarmed from every archway, closing in, surrounding them. Vergil pursed his lips and pressed his back inadvertently closer to Dante's. He would have to trust that his brother would guard him from one of the Demon's taking a bite out of his back.

Which was unfortunate, because he harbored severe doubts that Dante was aware of anybody but himself at the moment.

"Then again, they could have been evil demonic albino bunny rabbits." Dante rambled on, trying desperately to bury his panic by distracting himself "Y'know, like the ones in that old movie, with the glowy red eyes and the fangs? Man, they were creepy-"

"Dante, you're babbling." Vergil stated testily, clearly unamused by Dante's lack of verbal control "Desist."

"Or maybe even Reaper demons." Dante blundered on, his hands beginning to shake violently "Anything. Anything other than snakes…I don't wanna die in the belly of an evil demonic python!" adrenaline flooded his senses, screaming at him to run "Besides, I'd taste terrible, and I'd be really hard to digest, me being stubborn and all –OW!"

He clapped a hand to the back of his head and looked over his shoulder, to see Vergil holding Yamato aloft, looking quite pleased with himself. From the large bruise that was rapidly healing and the throbbing in the back of his skull Dante correctly deduced that his brother had whacked him with Yamato's handle.

Momentarily, his fear vanished in the wake of his fury "What the Hell was that for!"

"For being an idiot." Vergil muttered distractedly, then pointed at the Medusa Demon which had opened it's mouth wide to take a chunk out of Dante's foot "Oh, look, Dante, I think that one likes you."

"Die in a hole!" Dante spat, hastily stomping on the demon's neck "That goes for you too, Slinky!" he then sliced its head off with a quick downward strike, grabbing the severed head in one hand and glaring at it. His eyes widened when the decapitated head continued to hiss, flexing its jaw and baring its fangs threateningly "What the-"

"Hey Vergil…" he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, holding the head gingerly at arms length as it continued to writhe in his grip "This decapitated snake head is trying to eat me." He blinked and frowned "That's just weird."

While Dante mused, Vergil dispatched the nearest group of demons with some well executed maneuvers. Next to Dante's foot, the stump of the Medusa demon's severed neck began to glow with dark energy.

"Although I admire it's perseverance." Dante commented, completely oblivious to the three snake heads that were now growing grotesquely from the severed neck "Stubborn like me, you know? I almost like this little guy."

"You astound me, Dante." Vergil said wryly, sheathing Yamato and summoning his dark magic swords to dispatch some of the stragglers "I wouldn't advise cutting off their heads, by the by."

"Why?" Dante glanced down, to find that once harmless body of the Medusa Demon was rearing up, three sets of fangs bared viciously "JesusGodandHolyGhost! That…it…what the HELL?"

"That's why."

"Alright then, genius, what am I supposed to do? Stomp on them?" Dante proceeded to do just that, jumping up and down on the demon's three necks "Down, boy!" he eyed the six narrowed crimson eyes glaring up at him "Y'know, they're almost cute when you look closely. I think I'll call him Stumpy."

Thankfully, Vergil did not hear this particular oddity, engaged as he was with the horde of Demons which seemed only eager to get a piece of him. Dante, it seemed, was beneath their interest unless he attacked them. Why was that?

"We got our tetanus shots, right?"

"Will you shut up and just kill the damn things!"

"Aw, fuck. I forgot, we're on a time limit!"

At which point, Dante thankfully ceased gossiping and got down to some (less enthusiastic than usual) business. The battle was long and tedious; the Medusa demons only truly died when their necks were utterly mutilated. That, and the fact Vergil also had to cope with Dante's perpetual whining, and his refusal to fight to his full potential. Indeed, currently his brother was simply staying as far away from the demons as he could and emptying Ebony and Ivory into them.

It was pathetic, Vergil thought. Phobias were for those with absolutely no mental discipline. Rational fear was bad enough; irrational was practically unforgivable.

With a final sweep of Yamato, the last of the creatures was defeated and slumped bonelessly to the ground. Vergil smirked, re-sheathing his precious blade with elegant finesse. Dante came cautiously to stand beside his brother. "Are they all gone?"

"Yes, Dante." Vergil replied scathingly, more than a little annoyed at his brother for reasons he didn't want to explore "No thanks to your efforts."

"Yeah, well…" Dante made a feeble hand gesture, making a lame attempt to defend his bruised pride. When no excuse was forthcoming, he hastily changed the subject "Uh…nevermind. Which archway do you think we should take?"

"You're a fool, Dante." Vergil said scornfully, disgusted with his brother's naivety "Do you really believe one of these passageways leads to an exit?"

"Right little ray of sunshine, you are." Now the snakes had gone Dante was rapidly regaining his obnoxious humour "There's naught wrong with a bit of good ol' positive thinking, you fanatical pessimist you."

"All the positive thinking in the world won't change the fact that none of these archways lead to an exit."

"But we could make it lead to one."

"Since when was there a we?"

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, and he immediately regretted them. It wasn't that he wanted to spare Dante's feelings…it was simply that it was such a human thing to say. It implied that he cared in the first place. He hated the way fighting along Dante felt so right. He hated the way Dante's presence made his heart ache when it had been cold and lifeless for so long. He hated that he couldn't hate Dante as much as he wished he did.

"What, would you rather ally with the snakes? Or Arkham?" Dante seemed oblivious to his twin's mental struggles "Or Slinky?"

He waved the decapitated snake-head (now apparently christened 'Slinky') in front of Vergil's nose, grinning unrepentantly as Vergil wrinkled his nose and slapped the thing away. Something white-hot spattered his face, tiny flecks of some sort of liquid burning the skin around his eyes and bridge of his nose. He growled and brushed it off distractedly "Dante." He fixed his twin with a serious gaze "I never said I wanted to escape."

Silence.

"You're shitting me." Dante said, quietly. Cold fury seeped in his tone, his eyes smoldering with a murderous rage which surprised Vergil "Seriously, you have got to be fucking kidding me. You're still going on about this power trip crap?"

Vergil did not reply. He felt as though something was stuck in his throat, strangling his voice. He couldn't tear his eyes away from Dante's. In a sudden flash of clarity, he realized that he had no idea what he wanted anymore. Rage reared and burned in his stomach.

"You stay here, and you're dead." Dante said angrily, clearly enraged by his twin's stupidity"Do you understand me? Dead. Gone. Or worse, Mundus will make you his slave-"

Vergil laughed a loud, scornful, somewhat despairing laugh. He had to. He didn't know why, but it was amusing. The irony of this whole situation. The fact that Dante had no idea what lay in store for them. A wise person once said knowledge was a curse, and never was the truth of this more evident to Vergil than now.

"You truly are a fool, Dante. You came into our Father's realm, the Demon realm, with absolutely no knowledge of what awaited you. You're ignorant. An ignorant fool."

Dante's eyes narrowed "Maybe I am." He murmured, quietly "But at least I'm not a coward."

"I. Am. No. COWARD!" Vergil roared, a tumultuous hoard of emotions overpowering his senses "How dare you call me coward! You could never understand! You, who Mother always loved the most! She chose you! She-"

He physically choked the words back, breathing heavily, horrified. He was shaking. His entire body felt numb with rage and despair, emotions he had suppressed for what felt like centuries flooding his mind with poisonous thoughts.

"What?" Dante looked about as shocked as Vergil felt, confusion making his face look younger than his features should allow "Vergil, what are you talking about?"

Human woman! Tell where is other fledgling, or elder Spardaling dies!

Vergil barely heard him. He clapped his hands over his ears as her screams reverberated within his skull, visions of golden hair drenched with blood and darkness and fire and flames so intense it seemed they scalded him even now. The stench of her death, the derisive laughter, the hot slick of her blood on his hands…

No, please! I'll do anything, anything at all! Don't hurt him! Vergil!

"I hate you." He spat at Dante, the blessed twin their mother had chosen to spare "I hate you from the bottom of my heart."

And then he was running.

&&&

A/N: Oh noes, Vergil! What does he know of their fate? Why does he think Eva loved Dante more than him? Are M&M's nicer than skittles? Can the authoress come up with anymore annoying questions?

Anybody who can tell me how to change Dante or Vergil's costume in DMC3 (preferably without completing an entire game…in fact, definitely without completing an entire game) can have a gift oneshot. Because although I'm sure it's a lot of fun to run around hell with no shirt on, Dante, you're going to catch your death of cold.

ANYWAY. Here beginith the angst! The brotherly love! The concern! The gratuitous injuries! Huzzah. Review and I'll make the boys hug! There's motivation for you.