Disclaimer: Joss, WB, UPN, et al. own Buffy. May they keep her post Season 7. Devil May Cry and DMC2 are owned by Capcom. I own neither of these things.

Title: Elysium

Author: Paradigm Shifter

Feedback: You have to ask? Of course! Please?

Crossover: Devil May Cry

Rating: R. Something different, I feel?

Continuity: Better the Devil You Know. If you haven't read that, do so, or this will make no sense whatsoever.

Notes: With the abrupt end to Better the Devil, I decided to write a sequel. I can't leave a good fic down…

*

PREVIOUSLY:

*

Adam nodded to the vampire. "I was programmed to kill demons, but my last order was to 'Kill Everything'. Since you do not have a heartbeat, you cannot be considered 'alive'. Therefore, it is not required of me to kill you. Seek parameters: live prey."

Spike smiled widely. "You only seek out things with an 'eartbeat?" Then he grinned maliciously. "Come with me, mate… I've got jus' the targit for you…"

*

"Go ask you're master, apprentice." Dante whispered harshly.

Angelo vanished with an anguished scream.

*

Xander launched Ragnarok up into Phantoms unprotected belly with both hands, embedding it to the hilt, and forcing it further.

The whole sword vanished inside the monster, Xander's hand following it, and quickly his arm. As the burning of the lava hit his exposed skin, he Triggered involuntarily, forcing the blade deeper still with his change.

Mundus, aware of his new servants failure, called Phantom back to the Hell he had come from.

…

…

With Xander along for the ride…

*

"NOOOO!!" Dante's scream rent the air, the sounds carrying for miles, and continuing in people's ears long after Dante had become silent.

Giles and Buffy stood shell-shocked, unable to fully comprehend what had happened. They watched, in awe as Dante Triggered involuntarily, his pain becoming a physical thing that battered their minds as he took to the air and spiralled into the sky.

Then he, too, was gone.

*

AND NOW, THE CONTINUATION:

*

*

"You LIED TO ME!" The words cut the air, or they would have, had there been any air to breath in the intense heat of Mundus' Lair.

Mundus seemed unimpressed. "I told you want you needed to know. I even told you what you wanted to hear. But never, for one second, little 'Black Angel', think that I, the Lord of All Hell, will allow you to rebel against me. You serve, or you die."

Angelo ground his teeth inside his helm. Finally, he spat out, "Very well," and stalked off.

Mundus mused to himself in the privacy of his chambers. "In many ways, humans are learning from the Darkness without truly knowing it. But even God knows that only Death is the fit price for Traitors."

If someone deserted from Hell, they would forever be marked as a target. The same happened in Heaven. An Angel fell, and its Death Warrant was out before they had even walked through the gates.

Xepto entered the chamber. "What of my son, master?"

Mundus smiled. It was not a pleasant sight. "He will be entertained by our Indoctrinators for a time, my dear… and if that does not work, then… he will be thrown into the endless pit."

No emotion flickered behind Xepto's dark eyes, and she, like Angelo turned away and walked out.

Mundus clicked his fingers, and immediately a small servitor Devil appeared at his side. "Watch them. I do not trust them."

"Does any Devil trust another?" asked the Devil, before wincing away at the flash of anger Mundus aimed at it.

"Fetch me Nathan. He has a lot of explaining to do…"

*

Ethan Rayne was extremely unhappy. He had received a communiqué from his brother, Nathan, that he was going to be in Sunnydale and wished to see him. After his last visit to Sunnydale, he had no wish to be anywhere near that town, perfect location for Chaos magic or not.

When he had finally arrived, he could not find his brother anywhere. He did not look at the lower quality motels, as he knew for a fact that his snivelling Watcher Twin would never lower himself to sleep in anything but the best. After hours of waiting in the hotel bars, he had grow despondent, and given up.

Then, he had felt the biggest surge of power since his misguided- yes, he thought of his Halloween stunt as misguided, mainly because of Ripper showing him the error of his ways- summoning of Janus.

He had driven to the centre of the surge out of interest, and he been forced to beat a hasty retreat when he saw the carnage. The fact that his old roommate and his Slayer were standing, shell-shocked at the destruction only increased his want to get as far away as possible.

He had felt the power fading away as he drove from Sunnydale, but then, inexplicably; it began to rapidly… too rapidly for Ethan's liking, get stronger.

That was how he found himself in his current situation:

Hanging by the scruff of his neck, like some flea bitten mongrel dog, as his attacker soared into the sky.

Ethan began to feel ill as they continued to climb… he had never been a good flier, even in a plane, and frankly, the seating for this trip was far below his usual standard.

Dante, still Triggered, had sensed an aura similar to Nathan's, and had pounced. He had been in the ionosphere, the very edges of the atmosphere, but he was on Ethan's hired 4x4 in seconds. The roof, as reinforced as it was to survive rolls without crumpling, was not designed to repel angry Half-Devils out for vengeance, and took Dante a blink of an eye to tear through, and drag Ethan out from inside.

The 4x4 in question had gone over the edge of a cliff when its driver vanished. Ethan had only been able to watch, and wonder how on earth he was going to explain the loss of the vehicle to the rental company. If he survived this encounter, anyway.

He finally found his voice. "Have you any particular reason that you have kidnapped me, or was this purely a social visit?"

Dante, his Devilish features twisted in a snarl, looked down at the snide question. He did not reply, except to shake Ethan violently for a while, to remind him exactly who held the man's life in his hands while they were in the sky.

The Chaos mage quieted. His mind ran though all the possible scenarios that could come from this predicament.

Finally, three words came out of his mouth, without him thinking about them.

"This… is bad."

*

Giles and Buffy approached the crater left from Phantom's disappearing act with nervousness in their every action.

"Where… where did they go?" Buffy asked Giles quietly.

Giles shook his head slowly in wonder. "I have absolutely no idea."

"How will we be able to find out?" Buffy whispered. She was still awed by the fight she had seen.

"I don't know that, either." Giles admitted.

Something glinting in the rubble caught Buffy's eye. "Giles, what's that?"

Giles looked into the crater, and followed Buffy's arm pointing to the item when she raised it to help. "I'm… not sure. Shall I go and have a look?"

Buffy shook her head. "Nah… I'll go. On account of being younger." She grinned cheekily at him.

Giles cautioned her. "Be careful. The ground may still be warm in places. Especially since it was demonic."

"Ah… I'll be fine."

Buffy began to make her way carefully down the edge of the crater, slipping at one point, and from then on, going along on her hands and knees.

"Careful, Buffy!" Giles hissed as he saw her slip.

She reached the area where she thought she had seen something, and looked up at Giles. She gaped as she realised that the crater was a lot deeper than she thought it was when she had been looking down it from the edge.

"Is everything alright?" Giles asked as she gaped up at him.

Buffy was nonplussed for a moment. "Uh… yeah. It's just that this is way deeper than I thought it was!"

"It looks about 15 feet or so from up here. What does it look like to you?"

"Um… only about… uh. The same. But in metres." Buffy turned away.

Rummaging through the bits of tarmac and concrete, Buffy eventually uncovered the item that had caught her eye. "Giles!" she called up. "Uh… it's a gun."

"A gun?" Giles repeated.

"Yeah. In fact; two."

"So pick them up, and we'll get back to the Magic Box." Giles said.

Buffy nodded. "OK."

The next thing Buffy knew, she was flying backwards away from the guns, screaming at the top of her lungs. She landed with a pained thump on the rubble behind her, and picked herself up slowly. "Oh…" she moaned, "so you don't want to come, eh?"

"Buffy!" Giles hissed again, "be careful!"

Buffy gave a dismissive wave over her shoulder, "yeah, yeah… I heard you the first time…"

She approached the guns again. This time, she did not pick them up, but kicked them gently.

No response.

"Giles?" she asked, "throw me a rag, or something."

Giles rolled his eyes. "I haven't got a rag, Buffy. You can borrow my jacket, if you wish." He shrugged out of his tweed jacket, and threw it down the hole to her.

"Thanks." She mumbled distractedly.

"No problem." Giles replied.

Using the sleeve of Giles jacket, Buffy picked up the first pistol, and jammed it into one of the pockets. She did the same with the second, and shrugged the jacket on to climb back out.

*

"What happened?" Dawn snapped as Giles and Buffy tried to explain what they had seen, and what Giles had been involved in.

Giles had to consciously stop himself from shrinking back at the anger Dawn was radiating at the two of them.

"I get in a fight with some vampires in an alley, and get rescued by this incredibly cute guy, who, by the way I think for a while might actually be another vampire, only to get these," Dawn gestured to her back, and the ugly gouges in it from the Blood Goat, "when I stop my rescuer from becoming a scythe decoration, and then get thrust into the arms of another guy I don't know by the rescuer… who, coincidentally, is Xander… a hard, heavily armed Xander who doesn't take no for an answer, but Xander nonetheless… and dumped here, where Willow and Tara patch me up…"

Dawn turned to the two, "which, in case I haven't said, I'm extremely grateful for," she turned back to Giles and Buffy, "and then, yadda, yadda, yadda, you lose THEM?!"

"Not to mention the 50 foot deep hole in Park Drive, that I'm sure the authorities will really enjoy…" muttered Giles.

Dawn held a finger und his nose. "No, that's not the topic of the day! The topic of the day is, and let me recap this one more time: how did both Xander and the extreme hunk go missing at the same time, and only minutes after said white haired hunk dropped me here?"

"Dawn," snapped Buffy sitting forward, "I hope you aren't getting a thing for older guys!"

Dawn fixed her with a withering glare. "Oh, please! Like either of them are going to be as old as Angel? Or had you forgotten him already?

Buffy sank back into her chair, "Dawn, you know that isn't fair…"

Willow stepped in. "Buffy, this isn't about Dawn. We're trying to find out how you brought two guns that no one can touch," she gestured to the table on which the two guns had been hastily dropped with Giles jacket still around them, "here, and where the owner or owners went. And I want to know what happened to Xander!"

"Xander isn't important here!" Buffy almost shouted as she began to stand.

Willow gestured, and Buffy's rear landed painfully on the chair. "Stay." Willow commanded, like Buffy was a dog.

"Like Hell I will! Willow; let me go! Right fucking now!"

Willow looked unimpressed. "Be silent, unless either I or Dawn ask a question."

Buffy's mouth clamped shut so fast she bit the tip of her tongue.

"Much better." Willow said with satisfaction.

Tara touched her shoulder nervously. "Um… don't you think that was a bit much?"

Willow looked back at Buffy, who was sitting ramrod straight and perfectly still and silent on her chair. The situation hit her in the face. "Oh, Buffy! I'm sorry! I overreacted!" With one and movement, the spell was released, and Buffy flew out of her chair, eyes wild and scared.

She stood with her back to the counter of the shop, and panted, her eyes fixed on Willow. "Don't do that again."

Willow nodded miserably. "I'm sorry."

Tara stepped in. "Buffy, this isn't about Dawn or Xander. This is about what happened."

Buffy seemed to calm down as Tara took over. "I don't know what happened."

"Giles?" Tara asked quietly.

Giles shook his head. "I am afraid I do not know, either. We brought those guns back, because they were where Xander and that Phantom vanished. What happened to Dante, I don't know either. He screamed,"

"We all heard that," Dawn said with a smirk, "it broke some of the glassware."

Giles shot her a glare for interrupting, but softened it, "and then he simply flew off into the sky."

Tara frowned. "Um… flew off?"

Giles looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Yes… Dante is a… Half-Devil. His father was one of the Devil-Knights."

A chorus of "huh's?" and questioning looks met this revelation head on, except for Buffy, who looked up hopefully.

"So I can Slay him, right?" She asked hopefully.

"NO!" Giles snapped, before looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Dante doesn't like his secrets to spread. Even if you don't understand what I just told you, never tell anyone."

"So… who can we get answers from Giles?" Dawn asked. "If neither you nor Buffy know where they went, who would know? Who might know?"

Giles slipped back into the mindset of Ripper, the only one that would allow him to survive what he would need to do to get answers. "I don't know," he lied easily.

"Great!" Buffy said sarcastically. "So we might as well all go to bed?"

Giles nodded. "Yes. I'll stay here to tidy up some of the glassware."

As they all left, his eyes had a strange glint to them. And an odd smile graced his face.

*

The hand hit the bottom of the receiver, flicking it out of the old cradle that Dante insisted on using, and causing it to spin in the air. It was plucked out of its fall by a dainty hand, and held to an ear hidden by a fall of blonde hair.

"Devil May Cry?"

"Hello, is that Trish?" Giles asked.

"No. It's the Energiser Bunny." Trish said down the phone, annoyed, before demanding, "Who is this?"

"My name is Rupert Giles, ma'am…"

"None of the 'ma'am' shit, OK? You know my name." Trish sighed

"Certainly, Ms. Energiser Bunny…" Giles cracked.

"You're a funny man, are you?"

"I assure you, Trish, that I need your help." Giles said quickly, in case she decided to put the phone down.

"Yeah, you and the rest of this shit sandwich of a world, mister."

Giles took a breath. "Dante's gone missing."

Silence reigned. Both of them got wet. [A/N: rain? Get wet? Get it? Or is it lame… don't bother to answer that, by the way…]

"He's what?" Trish's deadly quiet voice asked.

"He's gone missing." Giles repeated.

Trish bluffed down the phone, "Dante's always going missing… it's his second hobby! What makes you think this time it's serious?"

Giles held the earpiece of the phone away from his ear. "Because he soared off into the sky in Devil form, after seeing what I assume to be the death of his partner."

The absolute silence told Giles that he had hit a nerve. Finally, Trish's voice came back to him, "where was this?"

"Sunnydale." Giles answered.

"Oh… no…" Trish breathed, "the Hellmouth…"

"Quite."

"Are you sure Xander is dead?" Trish asked quietly.

"He vanished, after he killed a giant spider. He was underneath it at the time."

"Phantom?" Trish snarled, "how many times are we gonna have to kill you, Phantom?"

"But I believe him to be dead," Giles continued.

Trish sighed. "Nah… he's not dead, just having an all expenses paid trip to the other side of the Hellmouth."

"Oh my…" Giles breathed, "How can we get him back?"

Trish shrugged, knowing full well that Giles wouldn't be able to see it. "Pray?"

"Luck?" Giles countered.

"I don't think so, Mr. Giles. You work with Dante long enough, and you find out one very painful fact: when you want Lady Luck to smile on you the most, you find out she is not a Lady. She's anything but. Normally, you find out that she's a hooker… and you've just run out of cash…"

"And on that enjoyable note, I shall have to hang up. I thought that you would want a heads up on Dante, though. He told me that you'd want to know if anything ever went wrong…"

"Thank you, Mr. Giles." Trish held the phone to her ear until she heard the click.

"Damn it, Dante… what on earth possessed you to do that? And Xander? If you can hear me, you idiot, you'd better be all right…"

*

In the chamber, Xander screamed.

*