Hello Sinners I'm back to give you another chapter for all of you. Now I know some of you didn't care for the last few chapters. But I am trying and I know where you are coming from. The Generals of Mundus are what many called watered down. But I'm trying to make it as entering as possible. Heck, some wanted DMC demons in this fic, well this is the result. But I will say this, this will be the last minor battle before we get to what I call the big 3. If you don't care for it much that's fine but as I said, I am trying. Now with that out of the way, let's dive right into Hell!

P.S. If some of you are wondering "why am I not getting chapter notifications?" Well recently, made an update so that reviews and chapter notifications will be on their app instead of via email where they won't be spammed upon. You still get follow and Favorites on the emails. But that's about it. Anyways, Diving into Hell!

Mission 26: Gladiator Battle

Somewhere on the streets of Pentagram City, the royal army was being led by Lucifer, his wife, and his trusted commanders. They made their way through the city to keep it under control or if they could find any survivors. The King of Hell fired off his holy shotgun at a Blitz demon that tried to attack him, but the fallen angel held his own as he considered those things a minor nuisance. "How much longer do we have to keep this up," Lucifer asked anyone that was surrounding him.

"I am not quite sure, my king. But I have to say that this is getting to be a bit too long for my tastes," Paimon said as he shapeshifted into his owl form. "Do you think relying on Sparda's son is wise?"

"If there is anyone that can defeat Mundus, it's Dante," Lilith told the grand owl that was the father of Stolas. "Or are you doubting my husband?"

"Oh no. Never my Queen," the second king of the Are Goetia said. "Just what makes you think he'll be able to kill him?"

"So far, Dante has never failed me on one of his missions. And he has become much more powerful than his father was in the past," Lucifer told the demonic owl.

"If he truly is, then I suppose we shall see," Paimon said as a demon beneath his feet began to choke when Lilith stomped on its throat. "Cease your bitch crying," the Goetia demon said before the Queen of Hell stepped harder and snapped the monster's neck.

Lilith then turned to Lucifer after she secured her kill, only to see he was suspiciously hiding his lap from view. "Thought of something new, Lu," she asked her husband with a smirk.

"I don't know what you're talking about, my love," Lucifer lied as he avoided eye contact. 'That woman drives me wild sometimes,' he thought to himself.

"If you two are done flirting," Paimon snarked as he rolled his eyes.

"NEVER," immediately responded the King and Queen of Hell.

"We have a scout returning," the Goetia king told them as he continued what he wanted to say.

The scout ran up to the royals of Hell out of breath as he was covered in his blood, but still alive enough to give his report. "Scouting report… your highness…" he said while saluting weakly. "The hotel the Princess runs is secured… however…"

"What," the King of Hell asked the scout as he looked impatient.

"... the-the Princess wasn't there," the scout told the King.

"WHAT!?" Both Lucifer and Lilith shouted in unison as their demonic features flared up.

"Where is she," the King of Hell demanded. Even though he wasn't entirely supportive of his daughter's business because he remembered what Heaven was like before he became a fallen angel, Charlie was still the daughter he loved since she was a baby and he would destroy everything that was in his path if harm were to befall his princess.

"R-r-reports say that she was spotted riding a strange horse that had armor unlike anything we've seen," the scout replied in fear.

Hearing that, Lilith smiled as she remembered that description. "Zephyrus is with her. Looks like Dante's far stronger than his father was all that time ago. Anything else?"

"She was carrying some strange sword. It looked like it had flesh and bones alongside the steel blade," the scout continued.

"She's bringing him Sparda's sword… she's going to deliver it to him," the devil muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose and dragged his hand down his face. "I want all troops to push their way into Hell Cable Inc's main building. I don't care what it takes, I want that building fucking stormed and torn to the ground after we finish with it," he yelled at the scout who couldn't question Lucifer's rage. Instead, the scout ran off with only the adrenaline keeping him awake to spread the word, fearing he would be burnt to death. 'Dante, you better protect my little girl, or else I'll hunt you down myself.'

Charlie and the members of I.M.P. were inside Hell Cable as they were fighting off the demons blocking their way to the top. "Do these things even take a break," the Princess of Hell asked out loud before slicing down a Nobody with Sparda. "They're endless!"

"That's what your boyfriend gets for fucking around with one of the most powerful demons to ever exist," Blitzo shouted as he fired a set of revolvers from the bag he and his employees carried as they gunned down anything that was in their way.

"Well, that same demon is killing everyone like it's the purge multiplied by cancer," Loona told her foster dad as she was slaughtering several Blades.

"Really, Looney," Blitzo asked discarding his twin guns for a shotgun. "You're taking her side on this?"

"For once, I have to agree with her, Sir. This is the demon that almost caused armageddon on Earth and made the planet into a war zone. Then again, they didn't have the angelic weaponry we do today, so it was much harder. Now that we have more access…" Moxxie rambled on while shooting at Sin Scythes as the taller Imp was blocking his employee's every word he said.

"Yeah, yeah, Moxx. Tell the history lesson when I give a shit," Blitzo said as he got stabbed in the arm by one of the Sin Scythes. "You daddy fuck," the former circus imp yelled shooting the floating masked being in the face as he clenched his shoulder.

"Blitz, you okay," Millie asked as she was blocking a Blade's attack, then circled around and snapped its neck.

"I'm fine," Blitzo told the imp woman as he pulled the scythe off his shoulder. The former circus performer hissed as he clenched at his shoulder as fresh black blood dripped off him. 'The son of a bitch got me good.'

"Here, let me look at that," Charlie told the imp as she sat in front of Blitzo seeing the black blood stain his white undershirt. The Princess of Hell tore his outfit to take a look at the wound. "Okay, this shouldn't hurt an imp," she told him as she pulled at what was left of his suit to make bandages and summoned a small flame to cauterize the wound. The taller watched as the princess closed up his wound and wrapped it up with the makeshift bandage. "There. That should do it. How does it feel?"

"Like I got a new hole," Blitzo commented as he moved his arms a bit, trying not to open it. "But thanks, I guess," the assassin said to Hell's princess. The taller imp was a little nervous but looked her in the eye and decided to ask. "Why did you do that? Patch me up, I mean?"

"You were hurt. Imps may be low in Hell, but you're my people and you're going through a lot to help me. I just don't want any of my citizens to suffer more than you need to. We get enough of that during the Exterminations," Charlie told him as she got up from sitting down and held out her hand. "So, ready to kick Mundus in the nuts?"

"Oh, you know it," Blitzo grinned as he took her hand with his good arm and loaded a pistol. "Let's lick some ass!"

Down in the basement, a low moan echoed through as Bullet rubbed the back of his head as he searched where he was. "Damn that snake. I can't believe I fell through something simple like a trap door." He looked around the place and saw that he was in a narrow tunnel. "Where the fuck am I? The basement," Bullet asked himself, walking through the pathway. The hellhound kept his guard up in case he ran into any demons that weren't so friendly. A noise was heard not too far from him and Bullet readied his claws and fangs. But before he could use his natural weapons, he smelled something familiar. "Grease, rubber, steel, and… monkey?"

"Oh, hey there," said a familiar voice as Cruiser stepped into view and combed his hair. "I thought me and Frankie were the only guys down here," he remarked.

"I'm glad to see a familiar face," Bullet said before his hearing picked up something else. "And it looks like we're not alone," the hellhound informed the greaser as he bared his fangs once more. "This guy is not like the other low lives we fought. This one's stronger."

"Dammit. And here I thought since we were at the bottom, it would be easier aside from the walk up," Cruiser said as he stopped combing his hair and looked toward the Hellhound. "What can you tell from your hearing alone?"

"Let's see… average height, seems to be riding on something. I hear horses…about eight legs…pulling on something…a chariot?"

"Horses? Chariot? Oh shit. If I know my history, whoever this guy is, he's either an ancient Roman gladiator or was some sort of racer back in the day," Cruiser said as he took out his baseball bat with Frankie on his shoulder howling in front of them. "I'm going with my first guess."

"Whatever it is, we have to face it," Bullet said to the greaser as he stepped forward. "Besides, it's our only way back to the ground floor."

"Right behind you, fuzzball," Cruiser told the hellhound as he ran right behind him with Frankie hanging onto his shoulder.

All three of them ran down the hall as the noise was getting louder and the passage was becoming brighter. Bullet and Cruiser passed an archway, seeing that they somehow stepped into what looked like a small stadium with many stone benches that went all around the arena with the ceiling to the next floor hugging the structure like it was supporting it to not collapse on top of them and keeping the building standing. Instead of stone-cold floors, it was replaced with dust and sand beneath the boys as Bullet's hind feet dug into the sand. Phantom screams and cheers were heard throughout the stands high above the arena.

"Where the fuck is that noise coming from," Bullet asked out loud as he sniffed the area for any signs of their foe. Seconds afterward, the horses charging at them were heard as the cheers got louder and louder. Both demons heard the horses as they came to a stop. Both Bullet and Cruiser noticed that the horses were not demon horses born in Hell, but were statues made out of copper and bronze which pulled a chariot of the same metals. The being in the chariot looked like a living statue made of stone and covered in a bronze lion skin over his head and around his hips. He had a stone beard, a spear in his left hand, and a short sword strapped to his right hip as he held the reins of the chariot with his right hand.

"New challengers for my crowd to witness my upcoming victory," the gladiator's voice boomed as the crowd's roar was heard.

'What is with this guy? Does he think he's Hercules or something,' Cruiser thought to himself as Frankie shared the same look of confusion as him. "Look here, Humorodicus. We're trying to get back to our friends and you're in the fucking way! Or do we have to get physical?"

"You dare insult the great Emperor Commodus!? If so, I will see to it that you are killed off," the gladiator, now known as Commodus, charged at the greaser demon on his chariot.

"Seriously? You're just going to charge at me? That seems too easy to dodge," Cruiser smiled as he was ready to take a duck and swing at the former emperor of Rome, but Bullet tackled him to the ground as the chariot got close to him. The greaser demon slid on his back as the hellhound was right on top of him. "What the fuck, man!? I had his stone ass ready for a beatdown!"

"You're welcome for saving your life," Bullet told him as Cruiser looked at him in confusion. The hellhound pointed at the bat, showing a lone arrow was sticking into the wood like a nail driven into it. "If you ever read history, you should know that this guy was a cheater. Fair fights were non-existent to him."

"Wait? You know about this guy?"

"I heard his name once. Emperor Commodus loved to compete in gladiator battles, but cheated in them as he would threaten the combatants, injure them before fights, or send animals at them first before he showed up," Bullet told him.

"If this asshole likes to cheat so much, I say we cheat back," Cruiser told the hellhound as he cracked his knuckles. "But how are we gonna cheat a cheater?"

"By catching him off guard," Bullet said as he went on all fours and ran towards the gladiator. He zigzagged across the field to avoid the many arrows that were coming his way from seemingly nowhere. Soon enough, Bullet reached Commodus and dodged the gladiator's spear, biting down on the weapon and trying to pull it away from him.

"Let go, you ungrateful dog," Commodus shouted as he tried to shake the Hellhound off of him. He whipped his horses to make them go faster, trying to make Bullet get dragged along the chariot. However, the pitbull hellhound proved to be stubborn and did not let go of the weapon, keeping his jaws on the spear like it was a juicy steak he stole from the dinner table. "Very well, you leave me no other choice," the gladiator hissed as he raised his free hand in the air. As he made the gesture, pits opened up from the sandy floor and bus-sized lions made of iron leaped out from the holes. "Kill them!"

The lions made a loud roar before one of them sunk its fangs into Bullet, making him yelp in pain as he let go of the spear and whimpered as the hellhound scratched the giant cat in the face making it let go before it could crew him in half.

"I got you," Cruiser said as he swung his bat at the large cat, only for his bat to break in half with a loud crack. "You have got to be shitting me! How the hell are we gonna beat these guys now," the greaser asked as he was looking at his broken bat.

Frankie chittered as he got off of Cruiser's shoulder and grabbed a piece of splintered wood beneath the sinner. The monkey then started climbing the living lion statue and shoved the piece of wood right into the beast's eye. The giant cat let out a roar of pain as it dropped Bullet on the sandy floor. Before the rampaging cat could attack in its angered state, Cruiser swooped in and pulled Bullet out of the way. "Bastard got me good," the Hellhound said as he was going to fall forward, but was caught by the greaser demon. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"You can thank me later once we kill this motherfucker and get back to the others," Cruiser told him. "I hate to admit it, but this piece of shit is not making things easier on use." Suddenly, they both heard a painful screech as they both saw that Franky was thrown onto the colosseum wall, painfully sliding down. "Frankie," he shouted as he looked as Commodus gave off a hysterical laugh. "You fucking bastard, I'll kill you!"

Cruiser charged with only a raised fist as he wasn't thinking straight. The former Roman Emperor smirked as the greaser demon was in the open for one of his sneak attacks. With a raised hand, arrows started to fly and hit him in the back. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he felt about seven arrows strike his back. Despite the pain, the adrenaline kept Cruiser moving until he reached the stone-like demon. With what strength he had, he swung the broken bat like it was a wooden sword, hoping to strike the gladiator in the face. But Commodus only countered by backhanding the demon aside.

"Is that really all you got? I thought I was facing warriors, not weaklings," Commodus laughed as he saw the two lying on the sand.

"You're the real weakling. You're only relying on tricks and rigging the fight," Bullet said as he got up on his feet, barely standing. "You're no warrior, just a cheap fighter who hasn't won a fair fight in his entire life. You were so bad, the senate didn't like you that much and tried to kill you. Even your mistress didn't like you and when her attempt failed, your wrestling partner drowned you."

"How dare you speak to me, you lowly mutt. Those people were nothing more than traitors to the republic and to me," Commodus yelled as he lost his temper and whipped his horses to charge right at Bullet with his spear at the ready to pierce him. The gladiator aimed for the heart, but the hellhound stepped to the side and the weapon only grazed his side as he bit into it once more. His fangs dented the handle of the weapon as he refused to let go. As Commodus struggled to pull the spear away, he gave the signal to bring the lions back on the hellhound. However, Bullet was smarter this time around and let go of the spear. As the weapon smacked the gladiator in the face when he pulled too hard, Bullet slid underneath the chariot and clung to the bottom of it. Just like a piece of game hiding in a hole, the lions ran at the chariot for their target, knocking the former emperor around. "No! Stand down, you beasts! I said stand down!" He tried to steer the chariot away from the statues, but it was too late. The lions collided with the chariot and flipped over with the gladiator as the hellhound held onto the underside.

Bullet smirked as his plan worked and jumped away from the chariot before it crashed. The hellhound looked around and saw that the stone horses were shattered and the metal lions were in pieces, but he didn't see Commodus in the wreck. "Where is he," Bullet questioned before he caught the scent of his opponent to the left.

Commodus weakly stood with black blood dripping from his left arm, right leg, left hip, and forehead as part of his stone body was cracked in different places. "You arrogant mutt," the gladiator yelled as he limped towards the hellhound with his sword drawn. "You ruined my chariot! My game! Now you will die a dog's death!"

Bullet tried to move, but he couldn't move his legs from the damage dealt to him earlier. Clawing away at the dirt, he tried to crawl away from the gladiator and wasn't getting anywhere fast. 'So this is how I'm gonna die—killed by this bastard? No! I refuse,' Bullet thought to himself as he dragged himself, hoping he would find the spear since Commodus didn't have it on him. He dug his claws through the sand while getting away, but his strength was failing him and he was losing too much blood.

The Hellhound lay prone on the sand as he couldn't get any further. Commodus stepped forward and towered above him as he held his sword ready for the final strike. "So long, mutt," the emperor said while pointing his thumb down before he went for the final blow.

Blood splattered across the sandy floor with blood dripping from the tip of the weapon responsible. But to the surprise of Bullet, it wasn't his own blood spilling as he looked up to see Commodus was impaled. The gladiator looked to see that his spear was sticking out of his stomach. Looking behind him, he saw an injured Cruiser driving the spear into his gut. "Get the hell away from my buddy, you shitlord!"

Commodus felt the spear pull back in as Cruiser twisted it to deal more damage, making more black blood ooze out from his body. The gladiator turned towards the greaser and tried to stab him, but couldn't get a fatal blow in and only got the sinner's shoulder. Cruiser fell limp as he stumbled backward with blood dripping down his arm. The gladiator was ready to deliver the killing blow, but Bullet jumped from behind the former emperor and bit down on the gladiator's arm, ripping it off and shaking the limb around like it was a chew toy. The gladiator screamed and moaned in pain as he dropped his sword. Taking the sword, Bullet thrust the blade forward and stabbed the back of the gladiator's head, killing him on impact.

Seeing he was victorious in his fight, Bullet fell down on the sand looking up at the ceiling. "Hey Cruiser? Still with me?"

"Yeah, barely…" Cruiser said as he lay on his own pool of blood. "Never thought this would end like this. Killed by some cheep-ass golem wearing a toga. At the least, I'm not coughing up blood."

"Well, we lasted longer than he did," Bullet said laughing lightly as the pain was taking over his body. "Looks like we're not gonna be able to see Dante kicking Mundus's ass."

"I have to agree with you there, pal. I just hope they take care of my bike if we don't make it out of this," Cruiser said as he and Bullet felt cold as it was hard to keep themselves awake. As their minds were slipping in and out of consciousness, they saw demons in armor come to them and lift them up. The next thing the greaser knew, he and Bullet were carried out of the building with Frankie on his chest. 'Looks like the calvary came just in time,' the biker demon thought to himself as the last thing he knew was they were being treated.

Well, there you have it folks, the chapter before the big three. Big Thanks to WaterDragonMaverick for editing and suggestions. Instead of picking a Devil May Cry boss, I choose a historical figure to be literally demonized. You may know Commodus as the Roman Emperor in the movie "Gladiator" played by Joaquin Phoenix. I will say that the movie is not historically accurate. Commodus really did ruin Rome to its last golden age and spent a lot of his time on gladiator games and competing in some and cheating in them.

Anyway, the last fights will be fun ones. We still have Alastor, Vaggie, and Dante to fight against the remaining forces of Arkham, Cu Chulainn, and Mundus himself. I do hope those chapters will be more brilliant than the last ones. Please Follow, Favorite, and Review and I will see all of you in Hell.