DSM 8

As to why Menma can just go through the short-cut without the Master Key, he can tear apart the bars to Anastasia's cage, he can pull of a rickety metal door. Besides I don't think anyone wants a recount of the full Blighttown in a written format.

"It's shit, it's shit, it's shit, fuckin' lag, it's shit"

There you go. Repeat that for about 10 Word pages and you've got your segment on Blighttown.

All kidding aside I'm not doing it ever.

Please enjoy this chapter, we meet Quelana, and a surprise comes around for out protagonist.

Start

Menma once more stood before a large gaping cave-hole-thing, the mere scent of it made his stomach churn, but he had to press forward, had to ring that damned bell. "The things I do for you Oscar, wherever you are you better be friggen happy." Grunted the Uzumaki. Casting a sideways glance at the hilt of the sword that rested upon his back, from the corner of his eye.

"I have a feeling I'm going to hate this place…" Menma sighed once more and went to brush his hands through his hair only to find it knotted, "Oh great…Now it's even rattier. Just my luck." Unsealing a small string of leather the Uzumaki summoned up a clone and pulled his hair into a tail, the clone went about tying it up tightly, knotting the string and dispelling.

His hair pulled back revealed all of his face, "I feel so exposed." Once more stepping into the jaws of possible death, Menma began his journey into Blighttown. The first creature he encountered was a large, fat dark skinned creature, small mounds of dirt clumped across its skin while a ratty leather covered only its lower regions, clasped in its hand was a thick wooden club, though the club seemed to secrete some kind of purple ooze, Menma did not want to be on the receiving end of anything that oozed.

"I better stick to ranged combat, just in case." Said the Uzumaki, flipping through a few hand signs, "Raiton: Gian!" The burst of blue lightning shot from his clasped hands and towards the creature, it exploded on contact with the powerful burst, Menma stuck up his arm to shield himself from any possible fleshy debris, but it all quickly dissipated into the familiar dust, its body quickly forming into souls and flushing into his sign.

A second came barrelling out, Menma blinked quickly as he didn't see it; perhaps it blended well with the slimy walls? It made about as much sense as anything else in this damned place. It readied itself for an overhead swing, Menma merely hopped back a few feet before once more weaving signs, "Katon: Gokakyu No Jutsu!" The white searing fireball shot forth and ploughed into the beast, incinerating it on touch, the ball went further and exploded against a wall, for a flicker of a moment Menma saw yet another one of those creatures go up in smoke as the white flames enshrouded its form.

Menma strolled forward, ignoring the smoking remains of the wall as he passed it, he stepped into a brighter section, it was almost like there was daylight in this hell-hole, the scent got much stronger, Menma almost gagged but composed himself, breathing deeply a few times to get used to it he pressed forward, stepping onto the rickety wooden platform, looking down he could see several levels, this place…He really didn't like it. But then again he was used to the sun above his head and a moderately pleasant smelling breeze in his lungs, taking a second glance he found his target area, a wheel-elevator combination, much like a waterwheel actually but with sections jutting out for one to stand upon. Rubbing his chin in silent contemplation Menma's senses picked up something quite familiar.

Unknowingly the Firekeeper Soul emerged from his Sign, Menma was confused momentarily before a streak of realisation struck him, "There's another nearby perhaps? How on earth do I sense it?" He mumbled running his sensory skills over the one in his hand, it felt like a constantly fluxing source of humanity, Menma tilted his head in thought for a moment before expanding his mind and scouring the area.

Below him. Within the mountainside. Behind several small souls.

"I'll have to get it later…On my way out, I've got shit to do at the moment. Now…Should I go down the ladders…Or jump from platform to platform…They look pretty rickety, so that might not be such a good Idea." Though the Uzumaki aloud, frowning, the Firekeeper Souls was sucked back into his hand as he began jogging towards the nearest ladder down, a small chest was there, kicking it open he saw there only was a key, touch it the Orange Text appeared.

New Londo Ruins Key

Frowning he thought for a moment, tucking the key into the pouch on his hip, closing the flap he began to descend down a level, a low shrill cry alerted him, his eyes fell to a creature on the other side of the ladder, it looked like a maggot with fly-wings and legs, dyed a rusty red colour, with a gaping mouth.

Menma frowned and quickly drew the Uchigatana from its resting place on his hip, stabbing the creature through the eyes, letting go of the grip and reversing his grasp he pulled it free, the creatures warbled death-rattle sounded as it fell to the ground, like all its joints turned to jelly.

Flicking the blade the small amount of blood flicked off onto the ground, in a single fluid motion Menma sheathed his blade and began once more, jogging towards his destination.

A Short Time Later

After running into several giant mosquito's that spat sickly smelling blood and a few more of those maggot-things. He moved quite quickly through the area, doing his best to avoid coming into contact with too many enemies.

As he finally found footing on the muddy floor of Blighttown Menma stepped onto the poisonous swamp, his feet aglow with chakra as he hovered millimetres atop the bubbling brown waters, Menma looked around, to his right, was a large webbed area, covered with roots, the blackened roots sharply contrasted the pale webbing, spider webbing to be exact.

The other end had a massive tree shooting out of the ground, the sheer width of the tree was startling, "That's gotta have something interesting in it." Said Menma, making a mental note to visit the tree at a later time. Turning around once more he began his way towards the webbed area, the creatures of Blighttown seemed to stay away from him, the sheer ominous force he gave off was enough to cow them all.

Menma silently contemplated their passive nature, he hadn't killed that many. Perhaps they knew to finally stop throwing themselves at a much more powerful target. He wasn't flaring his chakra or anything, though he wasn't exactly complaining it saved him time, he didn't imagine coming down here again anytime soon unless he had a really good reason.

Menma's senses prickled once more, "A person..? Down here?" He asked himself curiously, passing around one of the many pillars that stuck up from the earth and rose to the 'ceiling'. Turning his head he spotted a woman, clad in a ashen grey robes they fell to her elbows yet covered the rest of her body almost entirely, feet notwithstanding. A pair of almost skin-tight gloves covered her exposed arms, running from elbow to the back of her hand, the palm exposed while the glove itself fell just short of her middle finger knuckle, the thin cloth decorated with golden embroidery. Only her pale hands could be seen, for someone sitting on the ground in a dingy looking set of robes, her nails were clean as a whistle, no dirt on her hands whatsoever.

"Uh…Hi." Greeted the Uzumaki, honestly a little shocked.

The woman looked up at him, amusement lining her thin lips, revealed as she lifted her head, "Oh? An undead who can see me? How interesting…" She said quietly, Menma had to admit he liked the sound of her voice, taking a few more steps forward he knelt down to her level. "And quite tall at that…" She added thoughtfully, once more a shining of amusement on her face.

"Name's Menma Uzumaki. What about you, Miss?"

"And polite too, I am Quelana of Izalith, not often am I revealed to walkers of flesh. You have a gift…Are you too one who seeks my Pyromancy?" Asked the woman, now identified as Quelana.

"You're a Pyromancer?" Asked Menma, surprised. The name Izalith was so incredibly familiar…It remained on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't remember for the life of him, unfortunate. "Then yes, I suppose I do seek your teachings, I've been meaning to find a Pyromancy teacher." Said Menma, nodding.

"Oh? You are not one yourself? How curious that you could have found me then…Are you perhaps a sorcerer then? Gifted in any form of magic, perhaps?" She prodded now extremely curious.

"Nope. Though I am able to do this." Standing up he turned his head skyward, bringing his hands together and flipping through several handsigns, "Katon: Gokakyu No Jutsu!" A great white fireball left his lips and rapidly expanded in size, Quelana's eyes widened as her mouth hung ajar slightly.

"Not Pyromancy but from where I come from Fire Style is still pretty decent."

'Decent!? That Fireball was bigger than almost any I've seen before!' Were the thoughts of the witch, she conjured her Flame; the flickering orb of fire had dots of much darker orange within it, 'Chaos...Escaping was the best choice, yet you still haunt me.' She cursed, dismissing the flame she caught the Uzumaki looking at her hand.

"That fire…I've never seen one of its colour before." Said Menma, taking her hand into his own and inspecting it, Quelana rose a brow at his boldness, "Normally I hate orange, but that was pretty pleasant on the eyes…" He mumbled fiddling with her hand as though trying to summon the flame once more, Quelana actually laughed, it had been a while since she'd done so, but this young man was quite odd, and such oddness wasn't unwelcomed.

Menma was brought out of his musings by her laugh, "Ah…Apologies, I get side-tracked when I'm curious about stuff." Said the black haired male with a chuckle, "But the answer is whilst I have skills involving fire I do not possess Pyromancy. Can you teach me?"

Quelana collected herself before nodding, "Of course, but to learn you must give something up."

"I'm guessing souls?" At her nod he shrugged, "Fair enough. Can we start now or?" Quelana took his left hand, pulling off his glove and turning it so his palm faced up, so mirrored this with her own right hand, her flame appeared once more.

"Pyromancy is the art of casting flame, a Pyromancer must be in-tune with nature. One must allow it to flow through you in order to manipulate the flame to its full potential. This flame is much like a bonfire in truth, but instead of humanity one sacrifices souls to increase the potency of their flame." Menma nodded, listening intently, but being acutely aware of the fact that her, rather dainty, fingers ran along each crease in his palm, as though trying to avoid his eyes.

"By giving you this flame, I give you a part of myself…" She glanced up to see a small lining of red across the Uzumaki's cheeks, once more she let out a small laugh, "Almost romantic in a way. And remember, always keep yourself in check, never surrender to the flame I've seen it happen far too many times." Said the Witch staring intently at her new pupil. He just nodded he wasn't exactly used to having attractive women so close.

He could just barely see her face, messy raven locks, though it seemed like it was meant to be like that, in an odd way. She had bright ruby red eyes that seemingly pierced through him, "And don't you ever go hollow, lest my time on you be wasted."

"Yeah, I don't exactly plan on it. And I'll try to pay attention." Quelana nodded, she took his hand into hers, holding it. Closing her eyes the flame within their joined palms glowed brightly, Menma was a little shocked when it didn't burn him but assumed it was just part of the little ceremony.

As their hands were separated the flame slowly floated over Menma's open palm, he could feel it sinking into his skin, like it was a new artery, connected to his veins. The veins in his arms pulsed as the flame flickered, Menma's eyes were glued to the flame, like it was a small creature that had just caught his interest.

'Why are his veins do that..?' Wondered the Witch, a pit forming in her stomach.

Menma let out a small hiss of pain as a prickling sensation took over his arm, "Is it supposed to sting a little..? A lot…Uh." The low numb-pain slowly began to pick up.

"No…It's not you should feel a strong warmth. Not…Pain, your veins look like they're on fire." She said, alert and worried.

Menma grasped his elbow, his knees buckled as they smacked against the ground with a wet thud, it felt like his whole arm was on fire, like it was being torn apart with burning needles, "Sweet fucking Sage this hurts so much!" He growled, red eyes deepening in colour.

Within Menma's Mindscape a certain fox's eyes opened abruptly as it's chakra was sapped to heal the host, Kurama's eyes darkened, he could already see this turning out horribly.

The reaction was near instant. Menma's own fire chakra, the chakra from Kurama, the Chaos Fire within the Flame conflicted against one another, and Menma's skin began to burn, literally. His whole left arm from fingertip to elbow was set aflame; pain tore through all the way up to his shoulder. One second he was in nothing but pain, and the next it was all gone. The pain, the fire, all of it.

The gasp of his new teacher caught his attention, looking down his eyes widened in shock, Menma's arm was greatly changed, red 'armour' had formed all over, his elbow sported a wicked looking spike whilst the outer edge of his arm had small barbs running along it. The centre, where his bones would typically be, was coated with a brilliant blue flame that seemed to be constantly moving under the smallest of 'shells'. His fingers were similar yet solid instead of liquid-looking, they each sported a sharp claw and screamed 'demon'.

Panting Menma looked at his teacher, her mouth opened in possible horror, he really couldn't guess at the moment. "So…if that's not…normal. What the fuck just…happened, huh?" Asked the black haired male, his eyes returning to their previously dark red, his pupil no longer slit.

"Crazy shit. That's what." Came the voice of his Bijuu.

End.

So on a purely cosmetic level Menma's arm is the Devil Bringer from DMC4. He will not spontaneously get abilities of the Devil Bringer; I just thought it would be an interesting thing to have happen, the small remnants of Chaos Fire mixing with Bijuu Chakra and Shinobi Chakra. To me that would make something happen. So this is that thing.

Next chapter we meet Quelaag and the Fair Lady. So look forward to that.

Raxychaz!