Alucard juked left, another burst of bullets clipping the marble next to him as he sprinted upwards. He swung his pistols upward, or rather, outward, and fired his own fusillade towards the witch, who managed to dodge them just as well as he had hers. They continued exchanging gunfire and running until the pillars began to curve together into the vaulted ceiling. They once again faced each other, although they were upside-down by any observer's standards. Bayonetta never ended her charge, barreling towards the vampire at full speed. She collided with him in a series of kicks and pistol whips, which Alucard countered with his own. Occasionally, one of the two would punctuate an attack with a few shots from a weapon, but since every move failed to meet its mark, the rounds tore into the walls instead of flesh.

"Keep this up any longer, and we'll ruin the place," cackled Alucard, slinging his Casull towards her face.

"Isn't that what we want, dearie?" Bayonetta cooed, deflecting the weapon with her wrist and causing it to pepper the altar below with silver slugs.

Alucard's grin only widened. "You always know what to say!"

He turned his pistols upwards, which was really downwards, and fired on the remaining unscathed pillars, sending chunks of stone crashing into the pews. Bayonetta joined him, and together they covered the floor of the cathedral with gravel.

Bayonetta fired her last few shots with a descending laugh. "Now, that's fun."

"Yes, it is," agreed Alucard. "It's just a shame it has to end."

Before Bayonetta could react, he discharged the few remaining rounds from both of his weapons towards her. As soon as he had done so, he remembered why he had stopped- the world gleamed purple as the witch batted the bullets away like a pair of flies. "So close," she sneered, sprinting to the near-frozen vampire. Incapable of moving fast enough to defend himself, Alucard was forced to take the flurry of strikes that followed. She finished her assault by cramming her hand-held pistols into his stomach and firing until her purple field faded away.

Alucard stepped backward, then lost his footing and fell upwards- or downwards- to the floor. Bayonetta pursued with an explosive jump, her impact with the floor unsettling the fresh layer of debris that had accumulated. The vampire feebly attempted to rise to his feet, but somewhere along the line, one of his legs had been broken. His opponent stood across from him, canting herself slantways.

"It has been just a blast, dearie. But you're right, this had to end somewhere." She began to tap her foot, as if to an unheard beat, and began to swing her arms and legs to the rhythm in a complex, yet silent dance routine. As she moved, a dark circle began to form beneath her feet, as it had earlier. Alucard managed to turn to see the exit portal appearing on the ground behind him- it was very, very large.

With a final strut, Bayonetta cried out "Avavago!" Her suit, which Alucard remembered was made of her hair, entirely unraveled itself, twisting into an uncoiling spiral that disappeared into the occult portal at her feet. It streamed out of the larger portal, and began to weave itself into a hulking serpentine form. Tombstone-sized fangs appeared in row after row underneath vicious horns and multiple hot-coal eyes.

"You've been such a treat," mused the witch, "that I'll take you out for dinner! Gomorrah, suppertime!"

The huge draconic beast surged forward, its jaws clamping down on Alucard's body. Its neck pulsated as it tossed him into the air, and brought its teeth back down on him in a single, final chomp.

"Oh, I'm missing him already," Bayonetta lamented. "He was the most fun I've had in centuries."

The Infernal Demon Gomorrah nodded in agreement.

"Oh, you too? Was he tasty, or something?"

The creature shook its silky head.

"Then- what..." Bayonetta was going to continue to query the demon, until she realized that it was most certainly not responding to her. It was shaking its head in an attempt to keep something in its mouth. "Oh, bollocks."

Gomorrah thrashed in place another time, before its head burst into loose strands of hair. Its remaining body quickly sunk back into the portal it had come from, weaving itself back onto Bayonetta's body as her suit. A red streak fell back to the floor, ethereal black mist congealing into hands to adjust broken sunglasses.

"Okay, then, when's dinner?"

"You- you survived?"

Alucard produced new magazines from inside his coat, slamming them into the grips of his pistols. "No, this is a hallucination. What do you think?"

Bayonetta frantically kicked a leg forward, firing a barrage from both of her handheld weapons and a single foot-mounted one. The bullets hit nothing but the far wall of the church, her target having suddenly disappeared.

"Where-"

"Right here," said the vampire from behind her, lazily draping an arm over her shoulder and placing the barrel of one of his pistols on the small of her back. "Dodge this."

Bayonetta could not do as Alucard commanded, and all five of his shots tore through her body as intended. Stunned, Alucard lifted her off of her feet, cradling her in his arms.

"You've got a few seconds to live," he explained. "Normally, I'd let you die, but I'm in the mood to make a very bad decision regarding the application of my powers. What do you think about being a thrall?"

"I think… I'd like to have my lolly."

"Go ahead."

Weakly, Bayonetta drew a green candy from inside one of her gloves and placed it in her mouth.

"So… Thrall? Or no?"

She crunched down on the sugary orb, and ran her tongue over her teeth.

"I'd have to say… no."

The gaping holes in her stomach healed in mere moments, and she sprung out of Alucard's arms to land on her feet.

"You are just ticking all the boxes, right now," laughed the vampire, crossing his pistols over one another in an impractical-looking fighting stance.

"You can talk to me about it, if you feel the same way once you're dead," smirked Bayonetta.

"Yes, please," said Alucard, as the two sprinted towards each other again.