Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to either Devil May Cry, the Percy Jackson series, or the Heroes of Olympus books. These belong to their respective owners.

Everything going to Hell in a handbasket was not one of the things Nico had expected out of tonight. Then again, talking with a sentient, tripartite frost nunchaku was not on that list either, but he supposed that one couldn't predict something like that happening on a 'normal' day for a demigod.

As he pulled himself up onto the shelf of concrete he had been standing on before it was smashed in half, Cerberus growled from its spot on his belt. 'Keep vigilant.' its three voices echoed in his head. 'I sense powerful devils nearby, three or four in number.'

"Thanks for the tip." Nico said, drawing his sword as the building shook several times, presumably from whatever had just smashed through the floor and wall behind him bludgeoning into other areas of the parking deck. He took slow, cautious steps in order to maintain his balance as he moved onwards, towards the large and stable shelf of concrete up the ramp to his left.

As he walked, he remained on the lookout for life auras in places they shouldn't be. The feedback he received was overwhelming at times, as looking down would show so many different types of demonic auras that he would become disoriented once he looked away, but overall, there was no immediate threat in his area. Sure, the giant-sized shape that flew past his vision every so often would scare him shitless every time he saw it, but it never seemed to make an active attempt to harm him, so he left the thought of it in the back of his mind.

As he reached the crumbling end of the ramp ahead of him, he watched the other side closely as he took a few steps back. "I can't make that..." he muttered to himself, his shoulders sagging in despair as he realized he might have to brave the treacherous levels below him. Looking over the edge of the gap, he saw hundreds of Hell Caina, Sins, and other unknown demons below him, waiting for something to enter their midst so they could gleefully rip it to shreds.

'I can help you.' The voices of Cerberus echoed within his head, causing him to look down at his belt in surprise. 'All you need to do is jump and swing me outwards. I will do the rest.'

"Are you crazy?!" Nico screamed at the demonic weapon, not caring in that moment how much attention he drew. "You want me to jump over a pit of demons and trust my life on the word of a sentient weapon I only met a few minutes ago?!"

'Keep it down, Nico! They will hear you!' Cerberus shouted in the demigod's head. 'And you've trusted my word so far! Why would now be any different?'

"Because I wasn't putting my life in your nonexistent hands before!" Nico replied in a barely-restrained shout.

'Nico, listen,' Cerberus calmy spoke, and Nico felt the tension leave his body, replace by a cool and pleasant feeling of level-headedness. 'If I believed you would die from this, I would have just as much reason to avoid this alternative. If you were to die, you would at least be granted Hades for your afterlife, but I would still be stuck in this Devil Arm until the world burns to ash. I would be trampled by every demon below you, cracked, broken to pieces but unable to die. So, you must trust me when I say this: I have no intention of letting you die.'

Nico took a moment to ponder over the 'Devil Arm's' words, putting a hand through his hair as he did. On the one hand, all of the points Cerberus had made held up. What was the purpose of killing one demigod if it meant being thrown under the feet of your own kin to be kicked around, without any way to fight back? On the other, Cerberus was a demon, and as far as he was taught, demons were never meant to be trusted, much less trusted with one's life. Besides, Nico didn't know what kind of demon Cerberus used to be. What evidence was there to say that the nunchaku wasn't lying about all of this?

"...I swear, if you get me killed, my dad's going to throw you so deep into Tartarus that not even Mundus will be able to find you." Nico growled, pulling Cerberus off of his belt regardless and taking a few more steps back.

'I would expect no less from him.' Cerberus joked, both humor and dread present in his tone.

Nico nodded, then rushed forward, taking a running start and jumping towards the other side at the last possible step. He jumped an impressive distance, but only cleared just under half of the gap at the apex of his jump. He raised Cerberus, swinging it over his head twice before gripping one of the chains and extending his arm forward as if he was throwing a lasso. The two free chains of Cerberus shot out, vanishing behind the cracked concrete edge as Nico fell towards the mass of demons below. Before Nico could panic about the demons below suddenly becoming aware of his presence, Cerberus pulled taut and yanked him upwards, away from the wave of slashes and projectiles that would have spelled his end had he fallen any farther.

Nico had the wind knocked out of him as he slammed into the concrete edge, flying over it and letting go of the ice nunchaku as he hit the concrete and began to roll. As he came to a stop, he clutched his ribs, certain he would have a nice, purple bruise in a few minutes. He felt like throwing up from the impact, but he held it in, closing his eyes and swallowing as he rolled onto his back.

An odd, half-cackle and half-roar sounded as Nico became aware of the fact that he wasn't alone. Heavy footsteps sounded in a very odd four-step pattern, making Nico aware of its disproportionately-sized limbs and its possibly unbalanced weight. Nico struggled to sit up, turning his head and blinking his eyes to refocus them on the very ugly-looking demon that was padding towards him.

Standing on it's back 'legs', this thing would have been about six meters tall, but as it was now, it was about ten feet tall. It resembled an insanely disfigured man, but instead of legs, it had another pair of grey-white arms protruding from its hips. Bits of its grey flesh had been torn off all over its body, revealing blood-red muscle underneath. A fifth, disproportionately large arm protruded from its back, almost completely stripped of its skin as it grabbed and snatched at nothing. Its face was akin to a human skull, but was all wrong in proportions, with a long and wide mouth and very small eye sockets. It moved in a very awkward manner, moving its limbs in irregular patterns and struggling to keep itself facing Nico. He might have laughed, had he been behind several feet of reinforced glass and with it locked in an impenetrable cell.

Right now, however, he was trying not to scream.

This thing stomped towards him as he scrambled to his feet, gnashing its teeth and letting out it's weird, croaky cackle once more. Nico reached for his sword, but the demon was faster, lunging forward and slamming him in the chest with its fifth hand, causing him to double over and stagger backwards. The creature wasted no time, leaping onto him and pinning him with all four of its hands. He looked up as it stretched its mouth open, no doubt trying to eat him, but he wasn't about to let it. He reached out, stretching his fingers to grab at one of the frosted grips of Cerberus, failing a few times before managing to catch it. He flicked his hand, and the demon inside the weapon responded, wrapping itself around the limb of the creature. It screeched in response, pulling itself off of Nico and recoiling as it rubbed its now frostbitten arm.

Nico leaped to his feet, spinning Cerberus between his hands as he had seen some martial arts experts do in movies before. "What the hell is this thing?" he wondered aloud, settling into a battle stance without realizing it.

'These are scum, worthless demons made from vile slop dredged up from the depths of the Abyss.' Cerberus replied with a snarl, venom practically dripping from the words and into Nico's brain. 'They are so low in the rank and file that we have no name for them, and they serve no purpose but to be the front-line charge for when the forces of the Demon World spill into your own.'

"That's… a very strange way of saying that they're essentially nobodies within your hierarchy." Nico said, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat.

'Nobody? Is that your common word for "utterly worthless wretch who wouldn't even make a good meal"?' Cerberus asked without a hint of sarcasm within his questioning. 'Seems rather… lackluster, if I do say so.'

Nico would have replied, had the creature- the Nobody, he'd decided to call them- not pulled an eyeball the size of a bowling ball from within its own body and threw it in his direction. Nico's hands moved before the rest of his body could react, spinning Cerberus like a fan in front of him and smacking the eyeball off course. The projectile sailed into the side of a red SUV, where it promptly exploded and covered a good third of the car in horrible, fast-acting acid. Nico didn't have time to watch the car begin to dissolve, though, as the Nobody leaped towards him and attempted to grab him with the hand on its back once more.

'On your guard, Nico.' Cerberus snapped, as if he was Nico's drill instructor in the army. 'If you continue to act like you've never fought in your life, you will get the both of us killed.'

"Thanks for the vote of confidence…" Nico growled, lunging forward and swinging the form of Cerberus to strike the Nobody. It, however, had very different plans in mind, as instead of taking the hit directly, it jumped about seven feet straight upwards, twisting its body to land two hard punches on his back as it landed behind him. It's strikes sent Nico tumbling forward into an impromptu roll, from which he recovered after fifteen feet of movement.

'Nico!' Cerberus was getting mad at the boy, evident by his tone and the growing frost on the nunchaku. 'This is no time to be messing around!'

"I'm not messing around!" Nico growled, turning back to face the Nobody. "I have no idea what to do with you! I've never used a set of nunchucks before!"

'Then do not think of using me like a weapon!' Cerberus barked back. 'Do not think at all, except to react or to strike! We will work better together if you just let your instincts take over!'

Nico's face hardened into a scowl, but nevertheless, he closed his eyes and began to focus. He let his mind clear, and his muscles relaxed slightly as he became aware of the chill that exuded from Cerberus. He took a deep breath, then opened his eyes, face set into a look of steely coldness that was not all that unlike his father's as he let out a battle cry and charged towards the Nobody.

Out of all of the weird shit he'd seen before, both tonight and across his whole life, Percy had compiled a list of things that no one would believe if he told them, not even the most experienced demigods. There were just some things, he'd come to understand, that people would just flat out refuse to believe unless they had been there to experience it.

As of this moment, Dante had just made this list four times tonight.

"Come on now!" The old demon hunter shouted as the electric demon who he was currently riding on like a horse at the rodeo thrashed, flailed, clawed, and kicked at its back where he was sitting. "Wooohoooo! Yeah! Giddyup, little horsie!" He was obviously having a wild time as the demon beneath him roared and tried to kill him, but even still, he wasn't having too much fun to avoid the stray claw swipes that came his way. Percy wasn't even sure that Dante had meant to jump onto its back after it attempted to spear him with the large horn it had, but once he did, he rode out the sudden confusion the demon had experienced as it awkwardly tried to dispose of its rider.

The son of Poseidon parried several incoming scythe swipes from a group of Hell Caina as his attention was dragged back to the fight at hand, riposting with a stab that cut the shoulder off of one and a slash that decapitated it and two more before Percy pulled his sword back to guard himself. Percy was forced to leap backwards as one demon decided to mix things up, aiming for his legs instead of his chest, which made it much harder to parry than the other swings. Percy landed and dashed to one side, slashing the leg off of one as he passed and met up with Thalia, who had just finished taking down the first of several rounds of what Dante had referred to as "Assaults".

"What's the matter, Percy?" the Hunter of Artemis asked as she shouldered her bow. "All this fighting too overwhelming for you?"

"Nah, just looking for a change of pace." Percy replied, looking over to the Assaults that were quickly taking the place of the dead ones. "Besides, don't joke about me getting overwhelmed when you've got it easy. I don't see you in there dodging claws and scythes like I was."

"Psh," Thalia waved him off, drawing her twin silver knives as she smirked in his direction. "I'm a Hunter of Artemis, Percy. I could win a fight like this with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back."

"Is that a challenge?" Percy asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her.

"I don't know. Do you accept?" Thalia retorted, which caused Percy to chuckle.

"Oh, you're on, Thalia." The son of Poseidon said before he turned and charged towards the second wave of incoming Assaults. Although he couldn't see her, he knew that Thalia was smiling wide as she picked up where he had left off with the Hell Caina.

A sound like the boom of thunder echoed from behind him as Dante flipped off of the demon and landed beside Percy, rolling his shoulders and neck even before his feet had fully touched the ground. "Have fun with your rodeo, old man?" Percy quipped, sidestepping a tail stab and grabbing the scaled tail as the Assault tried to recover.

"Meh, wasn't the best one I've ever been in, but it was fun while it lasted." Dante replied, drawing Ebony and Ivory and firing both ahead of him and to his left as he spoke. "I see you've got things under control over here?"

"I'll manage." Percy huffed as he slashed the tail clean off the Assault, causing it to scream and flee from him.

"Alright, suit yourself." Dante said, tossing both of his guns into the air and drawing Rebellion from his back, launching it towards one of the electric demons that was blitzing in his direction in a very straight, dagger-esque throw that speared the demon in the neck. The demon roared, zapping through the space between Dante and Percy as both of them leaned backwards, Dante catching his guns in his hands as he straightened up and Percy tried to take a slash at its armored hide. The boy was rewarded with a surge of electricity that was conducted by his sword, causing him to scream and drop the blade with a jolt.

Dante chuckled, flipping the sword up into his hand with the toe of his boots and handing it to Percy grip-first. "Careful." The devil hunter chuckled as Percy took his sword back with his off-hand, still shaking out his now soot-covered hand, which sported several new and nasty-looking burns all over its back.

"I'll be fine, Dante." Percy huffed, flexing the fingers of his hands a few times to make sure he wasn't in too much pain before taking hold of Riptide once more. "You've got bigger fish to fry at the moment, and we've taken enough of a break as it is."

A loud clang sounded as Clarisse was launched over the horde of Assaults that was scattering around them, her shield flying out of her grip as she impacted with the ground and a grunt escaped her mouth as burns similar to those Percy sported sizzled and hissed under her shield arm. The same demon that had just passed the two of them landed above her, Rebellion still embedded in its neck as electricity sparked across its body once more. The daughter of Ares growled, sending a hard punch into the face of the demon which only served to make it more angry as she tried to stand. The demon roared, slamming her to the ground with one claw and then raising it's other to smash her head flat against the pavement.

That's what would have happened, at least, if Rebellion didn't suddenly tear through its body like a buzz-saw through butter.

The steel claymore went from the neck of the demon to flying through its tail in under one second, and was spared from most of the spray of blood that followed as the demon's two pieces fell to either side. The lightning dissipated, and as Clarisse, who received a facefull of demon entrails from the exchange, shoved one side of the dead carcass off of her shoulder, everyone bore witness to Rebellion returning to the hand of its owner, who had holstered his guns and wasn't even looking in the direction of the demon as it died. Dante slowly raised the blade above his head, then flicked it downwards in a fast arc that left the blade at a 45-degree angle from his body, which created a gust of wind that caused the loose debris on the ground around him to fly away as his coat rustled in the breeze.

"So, who's next?" Dante questioned at all of the demonic beasts who's attention was settled on him, resting Rebellion on his shoulder and placing his other hand on his hip. "Come on, I'm warmed up and ready now, and I'd hate to have been riled up for nothing!" The demon hunter's eyes narrowed slightly in anticipation, scanning the demonic horde once more as they began to roar and charge once more. "Well, if you're ready, then let's dance, boys!" With that said, he lunged forward with the blade levelled to stab, leaping back into the fray after the moment of silence.

"Showoff." Percy sighed, shaking his head as he walked over to help Clarisse back to her feet. "You alright?"

"I've been through worse, Jackson." The daughter of Ares said, taking his hand and using him to pull herself up. "The thought is appreciated, though." she added over her shoulder as she grabbed her shield from the ground, looking around for her spear before cursing and drawing a sword from a sheath by her belt.

"You've- uh, you've got something on your armor," Percy said, noticing the bits of demon flesh covering her armor as she turned back to face him. "Something there-" he pointed to a large chunk of reddish meat hanging off of her shoulder guard, "-and something else here-" he pointed to another spot by her belt, "-and a little more-"

"Oh shut it, Jackson." Clarisse growled, using a hand to wipe off the bits of demon before taking hold of her sword once more. "You're not the one who was stuck under a bifurcated demon, so don't act so smug about it until you've been there."

"Okay, Clarisse." Percy looked over, seeing that the demons had gotten over their shock and apprehension and had begun to fight back against Dante. However, a good portion of the demons had begun to break away from the fight against Dante, seeking out the seemingly weaker targets instead of going against the overwhelming force that was Dante.

"You coming, Jackson, or are you just gonna stand there and look dumb?" Clarisse asked, nudging him with an elbow and turning her head to face him.

"As if I'd let you take all the credit for killing these guys." Percy grinned, getting a firm grip on Riptide before following Clarisse back into the fight.

Far from the parking deck where all hell had broken loose, there sat an abandoned apartment building, dilapidated and condemned by the officials of New York City. Boards of plywood covered several broken windows, and the doors were chained shut, blocking out any of the teens that decided to use this place to drink or smoke something without their parents' knowledge. However, that was not to say that the building was empty.

A figure sat on the edge of the roof, facing the roof access door with his eyes closed. Black bangs fell across his right eye, and despite the cold, he wore a sleeveless black leather coat with a leather vest underneath, as well as black pants and sandals. A black-leather glove with no fingers was fitted around his right hand, which gripped an old brown book with a golden embroidered "V" across the front cover, but his left wrist had a leather bracelet and a spiked wristlet wrapped around them instead of the glove's pair. A silver, elaborately decorated cane laid by the feet of the young man, but he paid it no mind as he silently mouthed phrases from his book, the tattoos that covered his arms rippling as he breathed out incomprehensible words.

As he finished, he snapped the book shut with a loud sound, the old tome disappearing inside his coat as he snatched his cane from the ground. Green eyes opened as two presences, both demonic in nature, moved swiftly in on him, though he showed no surprise or anticipation. He placed both hands on the top of his cane as a shadow parted from the rest and became three-dimensional, taking the shape of a wild cat as its solid red eyes became visible. Moments later, there was a rustle and the wind shifted as a huge blue bird flew past the figure, doing one loop in the air before perching itself on one of the powerless generators nearby.

"You rang?" the bird said in perfect English, shifting its wings slightly as it cocked its head toward the figure.

"Griffon, what is the situation with Atropos?" The figure replied, ignoring the bird's question. Griffon sighed as best as a bird can, then rolled his eyes and looked at the figure once more.

"Straight to the point, as always." The bird said. "But I'm glad I'm out of there. Things were getting a little out of hand when I left, and I don't think things are going to pan out in the way we want."

"Really?" The figure asked, intrigue trickling into his poetic voice. "And what is causing these problems, do you think?"

"I know what's causing them, okay?" Griffon squaked, eyes narrowing in a way that seemed human. "It's a bunch of the half-bloods from that camp on Long Island, the one I flew by a few days ago. A few of 'em were wearing shirts with the camp logo on 'em. But that's not all." The thunderbird took a moment to shift the way he was 'sitting', then continued. "Doppelganger's back, and he took one of the kids and is messing with her plan. I don't know how he came back, I don't know when it was, but I know I saw him there."

"Hmmm…" The figure hummed, putting a hand to his chin in contemplation. "I see. Now, Shadow, how goes our other operation?" With this, the figure turned to face the shadow panther, which purred in a manner similar to a growl before relaying a series of snarls, grunts, and roars to the figure.

"He says things aren't going as planned either." Griffon translated, turning back to Shadow as he spoke. "Says that Dante's friend Trish was in when they first attacked, and a few minutes later, Dante's other lady friend showed up and forced them to retreat. They're not enough in numbers for a full-on bullrush, but Shadow says that they're planning on trying to attack from all sides, all at once."

The figure's face twisted with slight irritation and annoyance, and he rose to his feet with obvious help from his cane. "Very well." he said, before looking to Shadow. "Return to your position, and keep at your assault. If we do not claim the blade by the morning, you will be punished severely, and we will be forced to pull back." Griffon translated and the shadow cat visibly shuddered, discorporating into a two dimensional shadow once more and slinking into the darkness once more.

The figure's gaze locked onto the thunderbird as Shadow retreated, the irritation not leaving his face. "Return to Atropos. Remind her of our bargain, and make sure the Son of Sparda remains alive. He is still of use to us." The figure said, leaning against his cane as he stood.

"What do ya want me to do about the half-bloods when I get there, V-" Griffon was cut off by a hard and piercingly cold look from the figure, causing the bird to widen his eyes and back up a little. "-I mean, V? Do you want me to get rid of them or what?"

V raised a hand to his chin, tracing his thumb and forefinger against his tattooed flesh in thought. "...Do not involve yourself any more than you must." He finally replied. "But their lives should not be of your concern, nor should they be of hers."

Griffon nodded, spreading his wings and taking to the air with a clap of thunder. V watched him go, the book he had been reading through earlier emerging from it's cloth confines once more. As the shape of the bird disappeared above the rooftops, the young human opened the pages of the book once more, flipping to a page and reading across the well-worn text as he had done so many times before. His eyes scanned the page, finding the inked verses once more and reading across it even though he could recite the words in his sleep. His silent chanting resumed, and as he sat against the edge of the roof once more, his eyes closed again and he fell into his trance once more.

If one looked closely at his form, one might be able to see the tattoo ink bleeding off from his skin and out into the air around him.

Nico's breaths came heavily as Cerberus fixed itself against his belt once more, the Nobody he had been fighting melting into toxic slag a few meters in front of him. "Oouuugghh…" Nico grunted, leaning against the wrecked doors of a car nearby as he waited for the adrenaline in his system to lose its effect on him. That was, by far, one of the hardest fights he had been in, and he was almost sure he had broken a rib and bruised several other muscles at some point during it.

'Why do you linger, boy?' Cerberus growled in his head. 'There is no guarantee of your safety here, and I suspect you drew more than a little attention from that whole stunt.'

"Juss…lemme…catch my...breath…" Nico huffed between sharp breaths, feeling his heartbeat begin to slow down as his body realized that he was no longer about to die. "Hoooohh… Alright, I think I'm good now."

Nico pushed himself off of the car, taking slow, labored steps past the pile of toxic sludge that the Nobody had become as he made his way further towards safe and solid ground. A pain in his chest made itself known as he walked, becoming very burning and hard to bear within a few seconds. Regardless, Nico marched onwards, forcing himself to keep walking until it was safe to take a break.

As soon as he made it a few dozen meters from the area he had fought the Nobody in, he collapsed onto the sidewalk and began to pat down his pockets for some ambrosia. Finding a small square of it that he must have taken at some point on his earlier adventures, he pulled it out and took a small bite, feeling his broken rib and bruises and scratches all begin to heal as the delicious (if slightly soured) taste of the ambrosia flowed through his body.

The exhaustion that flowed across him as the pleasant feeling faded almost dulled the sound of shadow-travel behind him.

Nico drew his blade and whirled around, just barely managing to catch the forceful swing of the shadowy claymore that came his way. The impact of the two blades meeting caused a shockwave to slide the two away from each other, putting the two about ten feet away from the point where their blades had met. Nico's feet dug into the pavement as he slid, and as he sidestepped to pull himself free, he shook his hands so that he could fight through the pain of jarring his wrists. Brown eyes met dark crimson ones, and Nico settled into a fighting stance as Doppelganger leveled his sword towards the Son of Hades.

"I told you there would be consequences for disobeying, boy." Doppelganger growled, fists closing around the grip of Rebellion's shadowy clone. "And it seems you've acquired the obedience of the Ice Guardian, somehow. But the games are over, boy. No more holding back on you."

"Good." Nico growled back, preparing himself for the fight that was to come.

Both of them paused as Nico finished, staring each other down as they both waited for the other to act. Then, suddenly, they both charged, Nico holding his blade to the side as he charged and Doppelganger hurling out its shadowy claymore towards the Son of Hades. Nico ducked under the blade, going in for a slash at the demon's open flank as the two came face to face. Doppelganger swung his arm down, interposing it between the blade and his side as he brought a knee up towards Nico's stomach. Nico twisted, the attack missing him as he tried to get himself maneuvered behind the demon. Doppelganger saw this coming, however, and his sword rematerialized in his hand as he swung towards Nico, forcing the boy to step back and hurriedly block the strike.

Doppelganger stepped back, holding his blade with the grip up by his eyes as black and purple lightning crackled up and down the blade. Nico attempted to lunge for the large opening in his guard on his opposite side, but one of the demon's shadowy fists pulled away from the blade and struck the boy hard across the face, causing him to stagger backwards. Nico recovered just in time to roll out of the way as a wave of explosive, corrupting, purely dark demonic energy tore through the spot he had just been standing. The wave traveled at blinding speeds, slashing across the ceiling, ground, and several cars until it impacted with the far wall of the parking deck, leaving a smoking black gouge in its wake.

Nico looked back to see the shadow demon reduced in size and stature, looking more human as he panted and huffed from the effort. The shadow claymore was laced with white cracks, looking mere seconds from shattering into shards as Doppelganger placed it across his back. Nico took the opportunity to land a solid strike against his head, causing the demon to scream in real pain and stagger backwards. Doppelganger regained his footing, the demonic appearance he had before recreating itself as he began to surge with power.

Nico was forced to parry several punches very quickly as the shadow demon began to move faster and faster, being driven backwards so as to not be pummeled into the ground. Several times, he received a glancing blow or was clipped by an attack that he hadn't managed to parry all the way, and he knew that he would have a palette of bruises come tomorrow. Regardless, he held strong against the forceful strikes Doppelganger threw out, finding an opening and ducking out of the barrage.

Nico rolled to his feet, stabbing at Doppelganger's back as the demon staggered from the punch that Nico had just avoided. The Stygian Iron blade raked off of the shadowy scales as if they had been solid stone, but the force was obviously applied, as Doppelganger staggered forwards a little from the brunt of the swing. The shadow demon retaliated with a roundhouse kick that Nico just barely sidestepped, then flipped backwards and landed in a low, battle ready stance.

"I underestimated your speed and resilience." Doppelganger said, voice low and angry. "It will not happen again."

With that, the shadow demon's limbs began to change shape, expanding and becoming more bulky as if natural gauntlets, greaves, and vambracers had formed from his skin. Long, hard spikes emerged from the toes of the greaves and the knuckles of the gauntlets, and solid plated of shadow shifted like metal across the shins and forearms of Doppelganger, forming a thick, protective shell around the targets that would be easiest to hit in melee range. Doppelganger cracked his knuckles, then struck the ground hard, creating a crater where he struck and sending a short-range wave of shadow outwards.

Nico put away his sword, as he knew that it wouldn't do him much good unless he could somehow break the thick armor encasing the seemingly less resilient form within. He pulled Cerberus from his belt, the icy nunchaku releasing a cloud of rigid mist as he gripped it tightly and shining in the dim light around them. The two stared each other down, almost exactly as they had a few minutes ago, but when they lunged for one another, something changed.

Doppelganger's lunge changed into a forward dive as a loud sound like metal striking concrete echoed across that entire floor of the parking deck as a fifteen foot tall scythe made entirely out of black, shimmering metal came smashing through several cars, passing straight through the spot where the demon's head would have been. The scythe continued flying, slashing through cars, concrete, and support beams before it erupted through the other side. Doppelganger and Nico's eyes travelled back towards where the massive weapon came from, seeing the massive shadow-cloaked form that had been circling the parking deck rocketing towards them. Six pale, bone-thin arms extended from the sides of the shape as it lunged for the spot where Doppelganger was, the demon that was Dante's shadow only half an hour before punching away each and every frenzied swipe from the arms as it passed by.

The form looped up, phasing through the ceiling and vanishing from sight for a second before it came back down, coming to a stop as it hovered just above the ground in front of the two. The cloak of darkness parted, revealing six arms emerging from underneath the folds of the top of the cloak and an old Victorian dress composed completely of darkness. A hand reached up to part the veil of darkness that covered its face, revealing a white, ceramic mask that bore the visage of a beautiful and haunting woman with three empty eye sockets carved through the mask. Nico took a step back, his free hand reaching down to his sword out of instinct.

The masked demon raised another hand, and the sound of metal slashing through concrete sounded once more as the scythe made an arc and came flying back into her hand. As soon as she had a grip on it, she gripped it with two hands, spun it above her head, and brought it down in a diagonal slash on her other side. The blade sizzled with green energy, and as Nico's gaze fell upon it, he realized that it had become a war scythe in her hands.

"Doppelganger." She snarled without moving her lips, her voice deep, furious, and feminine-sounding. "You should have stayed in the Temen-ni-gru, for the kindest fate I can offer you now is death."

"What do you care, Atropos?" Doppelganger snarled back, eyes narrowing and fangs parting into a sneer. "Until now, I had never guessed you would leave the confines of your delusions, but here you are. On this rock, in the world of light, with a few hundred lowly demons answering to your beck and call. What in Mundus's name would bring you here?"

"That is none of your concern." The now-named Atropos snapped, leveling the blade of the war scythe towards the shadow demon. "Just know that you are interfering in matters that are out of your control. I give you one chance; Turn around and run with your tail tucked between your legs, and I might consider sparing you once all of this is over."

"In your dreams, seer." Doppelganger said, the shadowy, demonic imitation of Dante's coat that wrapped around his body parting into a set of wings. These wings unfurled, revealing purple rune-scribed undersides, the wings themselves being almost bat-like in shape but with large, needle-like tips near the union between wing membrane and bone. Doppelganger flapped these wings, taking to the air and drawing the now-solidified shadow double of Rebellion from his back.

"So be it." Atropos replied, her tone monotonous. "Then en garde, Deathvoid!"

Sorry if this chapter seems disorganized. The holidays messed with my brain a lot (stress, food, and exhaustion will do that to you), and I'm working on this alongside the next chapter of my other story, so my thoughts are a little messy and jumbled. I apologize. I'll probably be taking a break from this for a little while in order to foucus on my other story, but I will be back eventually.

Reviews:

Treyalexander63917: Thank you for all of your kind words! I did think that while Cerberus never speaks as a Devil Arm, he can speak in his normal form, and Devil Arms have been shown to be able to communicate with their wielder without being able to speak. Also, that's an interesting idea about Nero, but I don't see why Dante would tell them about Vergil. After all, he and Nero are the only descendents of Sparda that aren't MIA (as of this moment).

Red Raven 007: I did not expect you to return and reply to this story again, so congrats for taking me by surprise. And this kind of writing is something that I am aware that I do, but I am not a fan that joined on after the E3 trailer. I've been a fan since about the summer of 2017, because that's when my friend introduced me to DMC4, but as of right now, I have only played DMC 4 completely and part of DMC1 (the friend who owns the HD collection I was playing on had to move, and I had to help him with it), so some of what I write may not be of the level of someone who has played every game and knows everything about the lore. I have watched as much as I can about the other games, though, so I know what goes on in them.

Kamencolin: I have a feeling that the Divinity Statue would be a little weird to see, as they just seem to show up at random places in the world (It makes sense for things like the Temen-ni-gru and Mallet Island, but I don't see why they can be found in the middle of the city in Fortuna or on Dumary Island) and don't really serve some kind of purpose other than upgrading (something that I'm not sure the demigods need and that Dante wouldn't need, save for new moves and items, which he doesn't really need in this story). But if you can find a way for them to fit, then I'd be glad to input them.

Ptl: He does, but he'll eat them on pizza regardless, at least by DMC 4. And thanks for your support!

Guest: Thank you! I'm not sure how I'll include Nero if I do decide to put him in, but I do have plans for the end, where he will make an appearance. Nero's the first character I was introduced to when I got into the series, and he's kinda stuck with me across the whole time I've been a fan, so I'm just as excited to include him as you are.

Anyways, If you like this, why not show me some support? I'd love to hear feedback, as well as tips on how to write any of these characters, as I'm still kinda feeling unsure about my portrayal. Reviews are always appreciated, and I love hearing your feedback, whether positive or negative.

That Random Demon, signing off!