The little cafe in New York was relatively peaceful. The few customers in attendance quietly enjoyed their drinks while for the most part ignoring each other and the world around them, focused on their own issues. The one customer that was an exception to this was also the only one not lost in her own thoughts. Then again, it was hard to drag one's eyes away from a tall, curvaceous woman dressed in only a skintight black bodysuit, heeled boots, gloves, a cape-like shawl, and butterfly patterned glasses.

Bayonetta herself had little patience for the world around her at the moment, as her focus was on the worlds around the world around her. As she sipped at her tea without really tasting it, she kept her focus on Purgatorio, the reflection of Earth that acted as a gateway to Paradiso, the land of angels, and Inferno, the land of demons. She'd received information that the energies of the four dimensions were interacting oddly in the area, and she was less interested in the taste of local delicacies than in the cause of that discord.

Her attention was dragged back to Earth, however, as a tug on her outfit pulled her gaze down. As her outfit was actually made of her magically controlled hair, any pull on it was rather uncomfortable. Turning her eyes to the source, she saw a tiny little girl - 2 at the absolute oldest - looking up at her in hopeful hunger. She had bright blue eyes, olive skin, and - most surprising of all - a shock of bright purple hair that seemed almost to writhe in the air around her head in the breeze. She was clad only in a red smock and what looked like a gold tiara with a red gem in the front, which held her hair back from her face.

"Well aren't you adorable," Bayonetta commented dryly as she looked the child over. Despite her odd hair color, she saw nothing else unusual about the child, and no connection to Purgatorio. "Where is your mother? Shouldn't she be looking after you?"

The girl's eyes dropped, and she sank onto her rear as she slumped forward. Bayonetta didn't need the girl to speak to recognize what that meant. Now that she could remember her past, she remembered the pain of losing a parent all too well.

Thinking quickly, Bayonetta reached into her shawl and pulled out a few wrapped lollipops. "Care for a sweet?" she offered as she held out the green and purple treats.

The little girl gasped happily and grabbed one of the purple lollipops. Pulling the wrapper off, she stuck the butterfly shaped sweet into her mouth and began to suck on it, her whole body seeming almost to glow as the energies within the treat filled her.

"So you do have some magic in you after all," Bayonetta murmured as she watched the girl enjoy her treat. At that moment, however, her attention was dragged back to Purgatorio. The bright flash of white and gold could only be one thing. Grabbing the child in her arms, she dove to the side just as the severed angel wing flew through the air, landing on the echo of the table she'd been sitting at in Purgatorio. Those who could not see the other dimension were shocked to see the table collapse with no explanation.

"Stay here," she instructed the child as she set her down in what she hoped was a safe spot, inside the cafe behind the counter, well past the range of easy danger unless the angel fighting was particularly large...though the wing size suggested it wasn't. With that, she turned and leapt into Purgatorio.

It didn't take her long to reach the site of the battle, where she saw a cerberus-looking demon tearing into an angel that somewhat resembled a griffon, which was giving as good as it got as it attacked with multiple wings and beaks. "Well, look who's making quite the mess," Bayonetta purred as she strolled in, immediately getting the attention of the beasts. "Don't you know better than to mess up the lawn when you play? Mommy's very disappointed in you." Drawing Kulshedra, she cracked the demonic whip in the air. "Now come here and get your lashes, bad boys."

The demon immediately broke off from the fight and lunged for Bayonetta. The angel, however, tried to dash past her, which led to the demon trying to pursue it while ignoring her.

Bayonetta quickly flipped out of the way of the charge, lashing out with whip cracks and gunshots as she danced between the two, tearing into them until she was able to trap them in a conjured iron maiden, crushing halos and orbs out of them. "Odd, they didn't even fight back," she murmured as she slipped out of Witch Time, heading back towards the cafe while still in Purgatorio. "What could be so important to demons and angels that I'm ignored? Quite unusual-"

A shriek of fear snapped her out of her musings, sending her racing back for the cafe. There she saw an angel shaped like a clock having crashed through the side of the cafe reaching for the little girl, only to be forced to pull back when a horse shaped demon drove a horn into its belly while trying to grab the back of the girl's smock with its teeth.

Lunging in, Bayonetta lashed out with Shuraba, her demonic katana. Cutting down the angel, she drove the demon back with shots from the guns at her heels before scooping up the little girl. "So angels and demons both want you, do they?" she purred as she shifted the girl to her back, directing her hair to hold her tight against her in a make-shift papoose. "Well, that's reason enough for me to make sure they don't get you." As she sensed an aggressive approach, she leapt out the nearest window.

A massive gold and white winged serpent smashed into the cafe, its jaws closing right behind Bayonetta's heels. The child is ours, Witch! the voice of the angels echoed in the fabric of Purgatorio, a shaping of will more than spoken words.

"I think not," Bayonetta chided calmly, leaping out of the way of another attack before leaping onto the creature's back. "I think she'll be staying with me." Racing up its back, she lashed her whip around its throat and hauled back. "You don't know how to treat a lady properly-"

A streak of purple lashed past Bayonetta's head, driving into the beast's skull before pulling back. The golden light in the angel burst from the strike, sending the winged serpent crashing into the ground to scatter into Halos.

Turning, Bayonetta saw the girl's hair pulling back to behind her head, weaving itself into a long ponytail. "Well, well, looks like you have some talent," she murmured in a pleased tone. As a demon arose to attack, Bayonetta idly lashed out. Her sleeve withdrew, shaping a portal as her Wicked Weave called forth the power of Madama Butterfly, her patron demon. The Infernal Lady's massive fist lashed out of the portal, leaving the offending creature a paste against the nearest wall. "Something I'll need to investigate. Good thing the Gates are nearby." Seeing that most of the demons and angels had been dispersed, she ducked into a nearby alley and slipped out of Purgatorio. Smirking, she headed for a nearby bar, the sign above proudly declaring it to be "The Gates of Hell".

Bayonetta smiled to herself as she stepped into the smokey atmosphere of the somewhat otherworldly establishment. The tables, carpet, and ceiling curtains were all in various shades of deep blue, giving the impression one had stepped into a piece of the night sky. At the back of the large chamber was the bar, a tall, well built black man standing behind it as he cleaned a glass idly. The kimono he wore seemed somewhat out of place, and yet he looked perfectly natural in it. "Quite the ruckus out there," he called out as Bayonetta approached the bar. "Any idea what it was about?"

"As best as I can tell," she said as she took a seat on a stool, slipping the child off her back and into her arms, "beasties from both sides were fighting over this little one. All I know about her for sure is that she has some sort of magic, and some command of her hair. Could she be Umbrum, Rodin?"

Rodin leaned forward towards the girl, staring for a time. He then lowered his shades, golden light visible in his eyes as he examined her. "No...definitely not Umbrum," he said nervously. Pushing his shades up, he turned to stare at Bayonetta. "Where did you manage to find a Genie Child?"

As the little girl playfully tugged on the rings Rodin wore on his hand, Bayonetta arched her sculpted eyebrows. "A Genie child? Are you serious?"

"Dead serious," he replied as he idly patted the child's head to calm her. "And the fact she's even here is even worse...and needs to be dealt with."

"This sounds like quite the story I need to hear," Bayonetta observed as she idly let the little girl bat at her shawl...only to turn in surprise as she suddenly transformed into a tiny purple monkey and attempted to climb her. "The sooner the better," she added a trifle nervously.

"I'll explain what I know," Rodin promised. "Just let me mix up something for her to eat to hold her attention before she figures out how to break into my weapon's cabinet…"