Authors Notes: A nice meaty action chapter, we've all seen and loved it when Dante rips through a horde of demons with stylish ease, but for characters less powerful than the son of Sparda it's a much riskier business. Thanks to my first reviewer Saddened Soul for the feedback, I'll try and keep the sentences from over-complicating and I'm glad you're enjoying the story :D, I hope this latest chapter entertains you and anyone else who reads it.
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At the base of the Temen-Ni-Gru, the three unlikely heroes, a vampire, an angel-devil hybrid and a hamster, had just entered the tower. The heavy iron doors closed behind them with an unnecessary air of finality, considering they could walk in and out as much as they liked.
The room they now stood in was a tall cylinder, with stairs curving around and away from them along both sides, doubling back on themselves and zigzagging up the entire room as such. At the back was a statue of some kind of twisted angel, and a small glowing button-like platform lay in the middle of the floor.
The three looked around with interest, Arson admiring how high it went and Zone just enjoying the decor, while Reiko spotted something behind one of the staircases. He walked over to it, Zone and Arson following, the latter seeing how far he could lean backwards while looking up without falling over. They came to what could be described as an arcane elevator, tucked in neatly behind the left bank of stairs.
Uncharacteristically, Reiko allowed himself to grin as recognition dawned. He had not looked forwards to fighting a path to the summit as the son of Sparda had, as it would be time-consuming as well as even more dangerous for them than Dante. However as luck would have it, it seemed that on his way the half-devil had activated this elevator, which would take them almost all the way to the summit of the Temen-Ni-Gru.
"This should get us almost to the top" Reiko surmised, turning around to realise he was only addressing his furrier ally. "Where's Arson?" The vampire asked, Zone shrugging in response and the both of them looking round. Suddenly Reiko heard the hamster stifle a chuckle, and looked down to see him pointing a paw up to the room's higher areas, Reiko following the rodent's gaze into the seemingly empty dark space.
Unexpectedly Arson came tumbling out of the shadow-shrouded heights in ecstatic freefell, cartwheeling and doing all sorts of crazy aerial aerobatics stunts as he plummeted towards the stone floor. Zone had spotted him first since being so short he usually looks up anyway, and as they watched Arson crashed to the ground in a handstand, landing on the glowing panel. Grinning, he yelled out "Action replay!", and a moment later was fired meteorically right back up into the darkness, whooping and spinning nauseatingly.
Zone continued to laugh into his paw as Reiko sighed in exasperation and walked to the button. Watching Arson descend again, he judged the moment carefully and then caught the hyperactive youth's ankle in a flawless Dante mimic, suspending him dangling with his head a few inches above the magical springboard.
"What did I do mister lifeguard?" Arson asked, putting on a cute, innocent and wobbly-eyed expression. Reiko was used to this tactic however, and sternly replied "You can play later, Arson". "But it's fun" Arson whimpered, making the vampire try a different tact, since time was crucial. "True, but there's an elevator over there which is even more fun" he said, prompting Arson to lapse into an intense Zen-like contemplation, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he dangled upside down by one leg.
"OK!" The hybrid suddenly decided, smiling and nodding at Reiko, who smiled back encouragingly, glad they could move on. However before he could set down Arson away from the spring, the excited hybrid grinned wider and said "But one last go first". With that he reached down and poked the glowing platform with one finger, Reiko's eyes widening as a moment later Arson shot up into the air again, dragging the vampire along by the arm as he was still holding onto him. Zone, who was watching this from the lowest step of one staircase, fell onto his back laughing and holding his stomach. Eventually Reiko managed to remove Arson from his new toy and shepherded him and the still-snickering hamster into the elevator.
They took a little while to ascend the tall tower, which Zone secretly suspected had been the designer compensating. Finally they reached the top of the shaft and exited the circular vessel, Arson inexplicably spitting out a few pieces of some arcane device. Pausing a moment to admire the impressive shiny, golden-hued room they'd entered, they proceeded to the only visible exit. Arson in a fit of inspiration opened the doors, with his head, then held them open and bowed Reiko and Zone through like a top-notch door-waiter.
Slipping through after them the hybrid entered the new room last, which was a stark contrast to the bright gold-like one they'd just left. This room was dead, literally. It looked like some kind of bizarre morgue, strange coffins stacked on shelves in a semi-circle facing the three. Everything from the coffins to the stone was a skeletal-grey dead colour; the place was like the skull of a dead building.
Suddenly a distant moan disturbed the silence, and the three looked about warily. They were not alone.
Arson noticed it first. The door behind them seemed to shimmer, and suddenly a moving wall of screaming phantasmal faces appeared across its surface, a sliding montage of terror and agony. Sensing the threat he dove into Reiko and tackled him away from the door, just before the sheet of faces formed into a giant hand that reached out to crush their former position. Getting to his feet quickly Reiko saw the apparition dissolve back into a barrier, and suddenly realised Zone was unaccounted for. Worried something had happened to the small rodent, his concerns didn't last as he saw the hamster standing in front of the door and, laughing?
Sensing a soul before it, the hand once again reached out in an instinctual effort to snare it, only for the attempt to go clean over Zone's head due to his small size. "Haha, you guys suck!" the laughing furball taunted, recovering from his humoured incapacitation enough to stick his tongue out at the normally fear-inducing phantasmal force. Reiko just stared for a moment; he could barely believe it, Zone's cocky prowess and ability to mock or ridicule appeared to extend even to the supernatural.
Mentally brushing off the absurd situation, the vampire focused again and looked round, knowing the apparition was a sign, a trap set by demons to snare victims. Sure enough, as he reached for his bo-staff, Arson back on his feet with blades already in hand, demons began breaking through out of the air around them. Realising there were enemies to fight, Zone stopped toying with the door-spirit and ran between Reiko and Arson, drawing and activating his lightsabre. "Finally some real action" he grinned eagerly.
Hearing this, Reiko glanced down at the rodent holding his weapon in a ready, eager poise. The vampire was hesitant, sure Zone had taken out on demon with a surprise attack but this was a whole different ball game. "This is going to be pretty dangerous" he warned as the demons closed in on them. Zone looked back up at him, and after a moment gave a confident, eager grin. "Sounds fun" he replied surely, hungry for the challenge. Reiko wasn't very convinced by that, but he didn't have time to debate with the rodent, rather they'd find out the hard way as the humanoid, cloaked and scythe-armed Hell Prides attacked.
Reiko held his bo staff up, waited patiently and as the two demons nearest him lashed out, he shifted forwards and blocked both blades with each end of his staff. Spinning it he parried the attacks and lunged at the recoiling demons, knocking them back with a wide swing.
Arson didn't even wait, as soon as the Prides were in reach he leapt forwards right into them in a storm of blades and kicks. Catching them off-guard he ripped two apart before they could even gather themselves to retaliate with brutal tearing slashes, kicking another incoming blade aside by the handle and wading in.
Zone meanwhile, fumed. He supposed he should have seen this coming, but it still aggravated him that even though there were Prides who couldn't engage either Reiko or Arson for the press of their fellow demons already doing so, he, Zone, was being completely ignored. Spinning his lightsabre deftly and holding it ready, he growled "Ignore this", and charged the nearest free target.
The demon in question failed to pay any attention to the incoming rodent, but a sudden burning pain slashing up its lower leg managed to reorganise its priorities. Dropping to one knee it turned to look at Zone, who was now taunting it with some show-off sabre-twirls, before audaciously flipping it off. This sight was utterly bizarre to say the least, but Hell Prides are neither very normal nor very intelligent creatures, so any and all brief confusion gave way to insulted fury as the demon lashed out with its weapon. Zone jumped to one side, successfully dodging the strike, and the scythe rebounded off the stone floor. As the Pride reeled back from the impact on the hard surface, the rodent leapt a good couple of feet into the air and cut a slash across his opponent's gut with his lightsabre as he spun, landing neatly on his paws.
Zone was exhilarated, to him this was more than a fight, this was a chance to truly prove himself. He was far from Arson or Reiko's strength and he knew it, though he wouldn't easily admit it out loud. However he did have a fair bit of agility and speed, which he honed with regular self-training, and was further aided by his low weight and small size. Also his energy-based weapon, which he also practiced hard and frequently with, relied on skill not strength. Between these assets, despite being a tiny, cuddly rodent, Zone was in fact a fair force to be reckoned with, though nowhere near his friends' ability of course. He'd been waiting so long to prove himself, to show he was more than empty talk and cocky bravado, and could fight and strive to accomplish goals. After all he believed, if you could do that, you could in essence, realise dreams.
Despite his confident front Zone had actually been worried he couldn't hold his own against these demons, but he refused to be cowed by that fear, and was now fighting and defeating it. The Pride lashed out again with a horizontal swing so as not to strike the ground. It was rewarded with a slash across one forearm as the rodent simply ducked under the swipe, making the limb go limp. Zone took this opportunity and jumped onto the scythe, scurrying up the handle on all fours as the blade lay against the floor, Zone's own weapon in his mouth. Before the enraged Pride could think of a way to stop him, the hamster leapt at its robes and hanging on with three paws, took his weapon in his fourth and slashed out at everything in reach.
With an unearthly groan the demon shuddered and fell back, starting to disintegrate into sand, defeated. Zone kicked off of its body and landed clear of the dusty mess, an expression of exhilaration and joy spread over his furry face. He felt electrified, the thrill of facing obstacles and challenges and the elation of overcoming them, driving towards great aspirations and goals, it was what he lived for, and he was actually doing it. Savouring the feeling for just a moment, the energized hamster eagerly rejoined the fray.
Meanwhile, Arson and Reiko were dealing with their respective partners in combat effectively, having taken down a few each already. The hybrid blocked three incoming scythes from the front with a cross-guard of his swords, and stepped on another one coming in and up from low down, pinning the blade to the ground. Sensing another Pride coming up behind him he kicked out and booted it in the masked face, knocking it back. Using the momentum he spun up and over the Hells he was deadlocked with, landing on one and impaling it into the ground with Phoenix. Quickly rising he deflected another incoming attack with Dragon and was driven back slightly, unable to properly brace against the impact. Focusing, he put the blades together horizontally tip-to-guard and channelled flames around the sharp edges, then ripped them apart, pulling from both ends like a Christmas cracker. A wave of fire tore forwards and cut one demon clean in two, flooring another one either side of it and immolating them where they lay.
Pausing to recover from the attack, Arson glanced over to Reiko, and saw that he was taking care of himself, the vampire ducking a slash and sliding one foot backwards, ramming his elbow into a demon approaching him from behind. Following up with a vertical thrust kick to the jaw he launched the failed assailant into the air. Spinning his staff to drive back the enemies in front of him, the vampire turned and swung it into the back of the falling demon. Something made a painful cracking sound as Reiko whipped the body round into the crowd in front of him, killing the thrown demon and flooring the rest. Not wasting the advantage he rushed forwards and rammed his staff into the chest of the nearest downed opponent, then literally kicked the wounded demon's head off. Moving on to deal with the rest he spotted Zone going the other way, glad the furball was still alive, and even it seemed enjoying himself, oddly enough. Reiko gave a small shrug and continued the fight.
The rodent was battling a Pride and to his extreme delight, actually driving it back. He had realised that while strong and fast, these demons were not intelligent or skilled fighters, but jailors who relied more on numbers and fear than technique to defeat their opponents. So Zone was goading the Pride into attacking, evading the blow, and landing a fast, light strike of his own as the demon recovered. Despite its repetitive failure the Hell just wasn't learning and kept repeating its mistake. Eventually it dropped to its knees as Zone jumped a scythe swing and with a show-off backflip, upwards-cut the latest of a dozen wounds into the demon. Unable to take any more it crumbled to sand before the ecstatically celebrating rodent.
As the hamster moved to another target, a Pride that Arson had just used as a springboard and flattened against the wall, The hybrid flipped backwards and while upside down, spun his body and blades round and created a small tornado of flame. The attack started several small fires in the group directly under him, and distracted them as he landed among their ranks, lashing out like a fiery buzz saw all around him. Several demons were reduced to flaming dust and one was ejected from the group with a powerful kick.
The burning creature went sailing across the room, only to be axed-kicked from the air by Reiko. The vampire had jumped over a slashing scythe, stomped the head of its owner and used it as a platform for elevation. Seeing the projectile Pride coming towards him he'd acted, slamming it down into the ground and destroying it. As he landed he used his staff to vault himself forwards into a shoulder-ram, tackling another demon back. He let go of his staff, proceeding to break its body apart inside with a series of rapid, heavy punches to the torso. Catching the end of the toppling weapon in the arch of his foot he kicked it back up and spun, snatching it from the air and blocking another incoming attack.
Zone meanwhile was literally tearing apart his latest target. He'd scampered up its leg and before it could react cut right through the thin, bony knee, severing the limb. The demon had grabbed him but he had stabbed its wrist before it could squeeze him to death, making the demon recoil and throw him up. Landing on the Pride's back he'd evaded some grasps for him and, struggling to climb the thrashing form, had stabbed between the shoulder blades, if it even had those he thought briefly. The demon threw its head back and wailed in agony, giving Zone all the opportunity he needed as he scrambled up the back of its hood an scaling the top of its head, drove his lightsabre directly into the forehead of the creature's precious mask.
The demon thrashed spasmodically and expired, Zone hanging on so as not to be thrown off, dropping into the cloud of evaporating sand as a result. Coughing and waving his paws around to clear his vision, when the dust finally settled he found himself face to ankles with another Pride. The demon was bringing its scythe round in an uppercut-like arc, aimed to skewer him by the tip with deadly accuracy right through his furry torso. Time seemed to slow as the blade cleaved towards him like a pendulum of inevitability, Zone wide-eyed with mortal dread, but managing to raise his lightsabre up in a guard, not having time to evade, fearfully clenching his eyes shut and bracing with all his minimal strength for the strike.
The scythe swung round, and connected with the lightsabre, the rodent not standing a chance of repelling the strength of the demon. But the blade could not actually cut through the red beam of energy, so instead the hamster was catapulted into the air by the golf-like swing. Disorientated by his tumbling ascent, his whole body numb from the impact that travelled up his arms, Zone struggled to clear his head. Reaching the pinnacle of his journey the temporary lack of momentum let him regain his senses, and looking down he saw far below him Arson cutting through a group of demons like a spinning top, looking dizzy when he finally stopped and toppling onto his behind. As the hamster began to fall he saw Reiko battling a few Prides also, and with a glint in his eyes the rodent streamlined himself as he dropped towards that skirmish.
Reiko jabbed one demon in the stomach before pulling his staff back so the opposite end smacked into the mask of another. Having stunned these two threats he turned to deal with a third that had raised its scythe to strike him. However before he could act, for the second time that day his sharp eyesight caught a tiny orange and glowing-red blur rapidly descending towards his target. With a cry of exhilaration Zone zipped past the demon's head, turning and thrusting his lightsabre into its back. Swung round by this anchor he braced his hind paws against the creature's back as he abseiled down it, his momentum making his lightsabre tear down through its spine. The demon froze, weapon still raised, gave a spasm, and disintegrated, revealing to the vampire a proudly smiling Zone casually dusting himself down, looking very satisfied. Reiko stared, for a moment, then quickly turned and deflected the attacks of the demons he had stunned. They recoiled and suddenly Arson lunged out of nowhere and in a flurry of movement cut them down, a ripped piece of the demons' clothing in his mouth. The cloth turned to sand and made the grinning hybrid cough and spit it out as the vampire looked around, seeing that all the demons were vanquished.
"What a disco!" Arson remarked, which roughly translated as the hybrid saying he enjoyed the fight. "Oh man, that was so cool! How comes you guys never invited me to this stuff before!" Zone agreed, high on success. Reiko shook his head slightly, there was he admitted a certain thrill to a good fight, but it wasn't the point, you fought for something meaningful, not just for the sake of it. Then again, they were doing it for a cause, so he hesitantly joined in, giving a simple "Yeah" to Arson.
Arson nodded at him happily, "I got 16, how about you Reiko?" he asked out of curiosity as Reiko replaced his weapon on his back. The vampire tilted his head, doing a quick mental count, and replied "I got, 13", not being the kind to get a wounded pride over being outdone. Glancing down, Reiko noticed Zone's buzz seemed to have been dulled. Thinking it was because he didn't answer his earlier question, he tried to make amends by including him. "How about you Zone, how many did you get?" he asked, not knowing that was the very thing bothering the rodent as Zone looked at the floor and sheepishly mumbled "Uh... 4".
Reiko hesitated, seeing now why Zone had gone quiet, and trying to think of a response, since he for once hadn't been trying to put down the rodent. "Well done" he tried after a bit, Zone looking up at him and giving a half-hearted smile, thinking it was only pity-praise. Reiko thought a little more, then added truthfully "Pound for pound that makes you the deadliest of us". Zone perked up somewhat more at this, a genuine smile crossing his face. "Hehe, thanks" he replied, scratching his head and adding "I try".
Arson watched on silently as the two exchanged an actual peaceful moment of togetherness, without any animosity or awkwardness. "We should get going, time is vital" Reiko said after the small pause, Zone nodding in agreement. "Good point, plus I want to do that again" he chuckled, the two heading for the other door, the one they hadn't entered through side by side, the screaming face barrier now dispelled with the demons defeated. Arson trailed along, shaking his head and smiling amusedly, "Those two legitimately getting along, now I've seen everything" he muttered under his breath. Through the door they came to a T-junction, and went left since the path was inclined and rose that way, leading them to another door flanked by two short stone pillars with glowing blue skulls in them. Pausing briefly, Reiko admired the deathly motif, Arson the shininess and Zone the cool colours, then they open the door and passed through.