Disclaimer: I don't own the boys or anything related to Devil May Cry. Check chapter 2 for more information!

Author's Notes: Well this is it the last and final chapter. I must say it has been fun and thank you so much for all of your support and lovely reviews! I hope you enjoy this final instalment… you should be warned though it is borderline songficish, but it's all for a purpose. Anyway, I am planning to do a sequel though I think I'll get it mostly written before I update it. Oh, if anyone knows anything about private airplanes and how they work as far as a need for going through customs and stuff, could you let me know! It would be really helpful. Also there is a quote at the end of the chapter just before the order and names of all the songs I used, that I'm sure everyone will recognize, though it isn't a part of the chapter. Also, all the lyrics will be in italics along with the usual flashback stuff. Okay? Thanks again to everyone! Adios!

Chapter 16: Music Mayhem

Warm water cascaded over Vergil's body in a delightful sensation of cleanliness. It was such trivial things that Vergil was really beginning to appreciate. In Hell, there was a deplorable lack of personal hygiene, something that he had been forced to grow accustomed to. Now with free access to all the simple luxuries of life, Vergil decided that he was entitled to a little indulgence.

He sighed in contentment, relaxing into the warm stream of water from the showerhead above him. Perhaps it was worth putting up with the human world if for nothing else than to be able to have a shower whenever he felt like it.

It had been almost a full month since he had been taken from his torture chamber in Hell. For the most part any lingering nightmares had dissipated, though every so often he would wake in the middle of the night dripping in sweat as his brain tried yet again to grasp reality. Funny how his little brother knew him well enough that even after all that had happened between the two of them, Dante had known how to get his mind off of the past. Vergil smirked softly as a scene from the Transformers movie played over in his mind, reminding him of his youth.

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"Me Grimlock! Me king!" Dante growled, keeping his arms in close to his body in imitation of the Dinobot.

"Die Autobot!" Vergil screeched in a high-pitched voice, running past his younger brother and using his hands as guns, shot at him repeatedly.

Dante made a grab for him, but missed by mere inches. "Stand still!"

"Ha ha ha! You can never catch me!" Vergil laughed in the same high-pitched voice and jumped up onto the back of the couch.

"Grimlock catch nasty Decepticon!" Dante growled and caught a hold of Vergil's leg.

"Hey!" Vergil snapped in his own voice, annoyed with his younger brother again. "I'm flying! You can't catch me while I'm flying."

"That's not fair! You're always flying!" Dante whined in his own voice. "I wanna be Starscream then."

"No! If you want to fly than you can be Swoop or Thrust." Vergil said, angrily trying to shake off his twin's grasp on his leg.

"No, they suck!" Dante whined again. "I wanna be Starscream!"

"No! You are too slow and dumb to be Starscream." Vergil stated matter-of-factly, balancing precariously on top of the back of the couch on one leg and still trying to vigorously remove his other leg from his twin's hand. "Let go!"

"MOM!" Dante screamed without letting go. "Vergil is being mean again!"

Growling at his tattle telling little brother – he was always calling for mom – Vergil listened for any sound from the kitchen. Hearing none he smirked, but his smirk was short lived as Dante also hearing nothing decided to take matters into his own hands. A sharp tug had Vergil careening backwards onto the couch, nearly hitting his head on the coffee table. Thankful that he had been facing his twin behind the couch and not the other way around, thus making his landing a little less painful, Vergil snarled in fury. More in anger at nearly being injured than because he was, he righted himself and leapt back over the couch, tackling his brother.

A short scuffle broke out between the two and within short order Dante was screaming for their mother again.

"Sparda! Your sons are destroying the living room again." Vergil paid his mother's voice little heed as he yanked on his brother's white hair.

Therefore he was just a little shocked when he was suddenly lifted off his brother and his father's voice spoke in a mixture of sadness and amusement. "Why can't you boys just get along?"

"It's all Vergil's fault!" Dante whined and pointed a chubby finger at Vergil from their father's opposite arm.

"It is not!" Vergil growled defiantly.

Their father chuckled and shook his head, carrying them back around the other side of the couch. "Well, do you think the two of you can put your differences aside for half an hour?" he asked, setting them down on the couch and situating himself between the two siblings.

Vergil paused in his next torrent of defensive accusations as his father turned the TV on and flipped through the channels until the opening song of their favourite show came on.

Gasping softly, Vergil realised that he had nearly forgotten about Transformers and consequently would have missed the show.

Dante was glued instantly to the television, with Vergil providing the screen most of his attention. When his father placed an arm around his shoulders, Vergil smiled softly and relaxed against his father's side, willing to forget his spat with his twin for at least a little while.

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Vergil smiled softly in remembrance. There had only been a few times in his life where he could honestly admit that he had been truly happy. Watching the old Transformers cartoon with his father and brother certainly ranked among his personal favourites.

Finishing up his shower, Vergil stepped out of the tub and grabbing a towel, quickly towelled his hair before wrapping it around his waist. Wiping the condensation from the mirror, Vergil gazed at himself critically. His blue eyes had returned to their chilly disposition. The sharp features of his face had once more hardened leaving only a few lines near his eyes that bespoke of the torture he had lived through. His hair that at the moment was slightly dishevelled from the towelling, shone once more with health, making it seem as if it were made of the purest platinum.

Perhaps it was time, he mused silently, slipping a hand through his still damp hair. After a quick search of the cupboards, Vergil found the styling products he would need.

Five minutes later, Vergil smirked at the reflection of himself, his hair once more standing on end in his former hairstyle of choice.

"Much better." Vergil murmured in satisfaction and then set about dressing in the fine clothes Dante had ordered for him. Determined though to not owe his brother any more than he already did, Vergil decided he would have to make a shopping trip of his own yet and build on his wardrobe. That was of course only if his accounts were still intact and some bank manager hadn't gotten overzealous with his funds.

Exiting the bathroom, Vergil started down the hallway. He paused outside of Lady's room, the resonating feel of Yamato's power calling to him. Gazing into the room, he studied Lady momentarily as she sat on her bed reading a book.

There was something about her that bothered and yet caught his interest more than any woman ever had in his past. And if he had still been the young man of his past he would have found her an interesting challenge. Just another woman to break to his will. But now there was a nagging doubt at the back of his mind that she would not break nor even bend, along with an even more ingrained uncertainty that that wasn't what he really wanted anymore.

Shoving the thought angrily aside – he would deal with the return of his sword when he had all his annoying feelings and doubts sorted out or obliterated – Vergil continued once more down the hallway.

He paused yet again to admire his brother's room. He had to admit he was rather impressed that Dante had managed to repaint and restore his room to its original décor in less time than it had taken four of them to alter it in the first place.

Continuing once more on his way down into the office, the sound of slightly familiar music reaching his ears, Vergil paused one last time to watch his little brother.

Dressed already in his red leather hunting gear, Dante sat at his desk pouring over paperwork. If there was one thing that Vergil had never thought to see his twin doing, was sitting down and actually working with paper and pen. Dante had always been more hands on.

Suddenly Dante stopped in his work and lifted his head, sang at the top of his lungs, "What I've done! I'll face myself to cross out what I've become! Erase myself and let go of what I've done!"

Instantly recognizing the song from the Transformers movie, Vergil listened a bit more carefully to the lyrics. He frowned softly as he realized that the song was nearly a mirror for his current situation and life. He had done many horrible things, all in pursuit of power and revenge, and achieved nothing. He had failed at every turn, until in the end, there was nowhere else to turn, nowhere else to run. His own little brother had been able to accomplish more in his life than Vergil had, when it should have been the other way around. He was the elder; it should have been Dante turning to him for help and not the other way around.

The song continued, "I start again and whatever pain may come! Today this ends! I'm forgiving what I've done!"

Vergil debated that line. He had never apologized for anything he had ever done and had no intention of starting, but he was now faced with an interesting opportunity. He could use this second chance at life to continue on his quest for power, or he could start anew, work alongside of his brother, fix the mistakes he had made and when the time came to once again seek revenge on Mundus… he would be fully prepared.

Pursing his lips, Vergil nodded. The song was right; today he would start anew.

Descending the last of the stairs, Vergil walked toward his brother as the music shifted to another song that he did not recognize.

"Evening!" Dante greeted cheerfully, the pen in his hand still moving.

"It seems you weren't joking. You really have changed." Vergil stated humorously, coming to a stop just before the thick wooden desk.

"Yup. Paperwork sucks, but someone's got to do it." Dante glanced up with a smile. "You talk to Lady yet?" he asked, returning to his work.

"At the moment I see no point in that." Vergil answered coldly.

Dante sighed and shook his head. "You can't avoid her forever, you know. She is an important part of this getup, not to mention she does live here."

"I am aware of that." Vergil returned, not at all impressed with Dante's prying. Before Dante could continue with the current topic of conversation, he questioned, "Where is Lucia? I told her I would assist with research."

"Oh, ah…" Dante scratched his head with the end of the pen. "Either making coffee or in the library."

Vergil nodded and headed past Dante, aiming for the door that led to the kitchen.

"So I never asked you, did you meet up with our 'dear' uncle?" Dante questioned without turning toward Vergil, his tone bitter.

Pausing with his hand on the kitchen door, Vergil turned back to look at his twin's back. "I did." He answered softly.

"And?" Dante asked, looking over his shoulder now with interest.

"I killed him and took his power." Vergil answered without emotion.

Dante nodded, "I suppose he took that well."

It was a statement, but none the less it had Vergil looking more thoughtful for a moment. "In fact he did. He said he was proud to meet his end at the hands of one of his nephews." Vergil murmured, remembering the confusion his uncle's words had left him in.

Dante frowned and then shrugging went back to his work. "At least that explains why you looked like a backed up toilet as Nelo Angelo."

Vergil snorted and was about to push his way into the kitchen, when a sudden odd feeling settled over him. Despair and fear, the dark feelings that could only be associated with the presence of demons, assaulted Vergil's senses and he narrowed his eyes at the front door. He could feel the anger and hatred of the seething masses just beyond the door.

Dante's head lifted from his paperwork as he too sensed the presence of the demons. His pen remained poised over his work as he critically studied the door across the room from him.

As the door burst open, Vergil had been fully prepared to see the darkness of Hell's denizens flood into the room. Instead a short, fat, middle-aged man stumbled in, quickly shutting the door behind him. He moved quickly for a man of such wide girth, nearly running toward Dante.

"I'm so sorry Dante! I didn't mean to do it! She was just so gorgeous and she was gonna give it up for Free! But… God, I'm so sorry Dante!" The man was practically in tears as he quickly spitted out a host of apologies.

"What did you do Enzo?" Dante stood from his chair, clearly nervous with the current situation as the pen he had been holding fell to the top of the paperwork.

Vergil's gaze went from the man, to the object he was holding in his hands. Concealed as it was by the man's large flabby hands, Vergil wasn't able to get a good look at it, but it wasn't necessary as the object began to glow, softly at first, then growing in brilliance.

Stepping away from the door, Vergil could feel the intensity of the demonic energy beyond the front door growing with each passing moment.

Dante's question was never answered as the object in Enzo's hands exploded with light and there was a resounding shatter around the office, as the artefact destroyed all of the careful inlaid demonic wards. "Ah, Enzo." Dante sighed in disappointment and moved quickly toward the weapons rack. "Get behind my desk before you get killed."

Dante never even made it halfway to the weapons rack, as the door burst in, a chill wind blowing in through the opening followed by a thick impenetrable fog of darkness that Vergil remembered all to well.

The darkness congealed forming into a beautiful blonde woman dressed in a shear mesh night blue dress with long thigh high black boots. Her demonic red eyes found his and held them with a smirk dancing across her full red lips.

A shiver of fear traced its way up Vergil's spine as he faced his former tormentor, but only his stead fast determination and will to keep his emotions and resulting weaknesses from his enemy, kept him rooted in place.

"Weren't you supposed to be dead?" Dante asked cockily, still stealthily moving toward his weapons.

The demonic witch never shifted her eyes nor did she acknowledge Dante as she spoke, "Well, General, it's good to see you survived. The Master has asked me to bring you home."

Dante growled, "Ain't no way I'm goina let you take my bro anywhere!"

Vergil ignored his brother, wondering for himself if he should return to Hell. He did not belong in the human world, but neither did he enjoy the idea of becoming Mundus's errand boy once more. Home… that word stood for a place that had long ago ceased to exist.

"What if I say I'm not like the others? What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays? You're the pretender! What if I say I will never surrender?"

Vergil listened to the lyrics of the new song and debated exactly that. What if he never surrendered again? This was his chance to change and if he returned to Hell it would be with power and on his own terms, not on Mundus'. "Tell your Master that I will no longer be ruled."

"Yeah!" Dante agreed vehemently. "The sons of Sparda don't bow to anyone!" Finally making it to the weapons rack he grabbed his twin pistols and spinning the weapons in his hands pointed them at the blonde. "Now I suggest you turn that pretty ass around and go right back to where you came from!"

"Is that your final answer, General?" The blonde asked seductively. Still ignoring Dante she cocked her head to the side, darkness flowing more thickly around her ankles.

Beating his fear back down and stomping on it angrily, Vergil moved forward a few steps and pointing a finger, waggled it at her. "You should know that I do not repeat myself, Melpomene. As my brother said, you are nothing more than an uninvited guest."

"Is that so?" Melpomene asked, tossing her long blonde hair over a shoulder. "Well the Master never specified whether you were dead or alive." She chuckled evilly. "And it matters little to me." With that she raised her arms in the air and promptly disappeared, the swirling mass of darkness spreading outward and forming into numerous lesser demons.

"Hey, Verge, I think your old girlfriend is a real pain in the ass." Dante growled, removing a set of red and blue serrated swords from the wall.

"You have no idea." Vergil grumbled, his eyes remaining focused on the demons still forming out of the darkness, searching for Melpomene's blonde hair. He would be damned if he ever let her so much as lay a finger on him again.

"Trish! Lucia! Lady! We've got a shit load of unwanted company!" Dante yelled and then ran forward, the swords making short work of any demons in his path.

Vergil was forced to pay attention to his own health as numerous demons suddenly appeared around him. With no weapon, he resorted to using his own body as a weapon, quickly reminding himself of the destruction he could create with such simple tactics.

A swift kick lifted the scythe of a lust demon into the air. Catching the weapon in his hands, Vergil smirked at the demons around him. The beat of another unknown song continued to pound out of the stereo speakers, and using the tempo, Vergil swung the scythe in his hands around in deadly precision.

"Just how deep do you believe?Will you bite the hand that feeds?Will you chew until it bleeds?Can you get up off your knees?Are you brave enough to see?Do you want to change it?"

Trish and Lucia suddenly burst through the kitchen door; a frying pan in Trish's hand clobbered an unwitting demon out of the pack surrounding Vergil.

"Dante! What the hell?" Lady's voice sounded out over the office from on top of the metal landing.

"Nothing like a party to kick start the evening!" Dante paused in massacring the demons around him to look up at Lady and shrugged.

"Dante has brought his work home again." Lucia answered helpfully, a large kitchen knife held in each hand as she moved toward the weapons rack, disembowelling demons with each step she took.

"Actually I think it's Vergil's fault this time!" Trish corrected, bludgeoning another demon on the head as she followed Lucia. "Hey Enzo." she greeted passing by Dante's desk.

Growling defensively – it was hardly his fault, he had warned Dante that something like this would happen – Vergil spun the scythe in his hands decapitating anything that stood around him. Seconds later the scythe in his hands disintegrated into dust as its former owner met its end.

"Well, General you surprise me. I didn't think you still had it in you to fight." Melpomene's voice spoke sweetly from somewhere behind him.

A sharp fast kick backwards – made only more powerful and more swift by a deep ingrained fear of this woman that he simply could not control – that Vergil used as momentum to swivel around, brought him face to face with the blonde queen of the succubus' that had kept him at their every whim for the last seven years. "You will find that I am more than capable." He answered her stiffly, firmly beating back his fear.

Fear was a weakness, and weakness could not be tolerated. He would prove inescapably to himself that fear had no hold over him with the death of Melpomene. "What ever mistakes my brother made in your death, I will be sure to rectify."

Melpomene laughed richly, throwing her perfectly sculptured head back as though he had said the funniest thing in the world. "Your 'dear' brother," Melpomene sneered, tilting her head back down so that her bright red eyes meet his cold blue. "Made no mistakes in my demise. But because I was such a 'good' girl, the Master revived me."

"Well, than 'my dear'," Vergil returned with his own sneer. "You will quickly find out that 'the Master' does not tolerate failure for very long." With that he struck out at her.

Another swift kick, forced her backwards to avoid being hit. Melpomene infuriatingly dodged everything he sent her way, by mere inches until she suddenly caught his fist in her smaller hand, long red painted nails curving over the back of his knuckles. "I have no intention of failing!" she spat venomously.

Her free fist flew toward him in an uppercut meant to smash into his chin and take him off his feet. Instead her fist smashed into the blue leather of his upraised arm.

"And I have no intention of becoming your play thing once more." Vergil snapped, he would watch Hell freeze over before he'd ever allow that again!

With her current nearness to him, she could not avoid the kick he delivered to her midsection and with a scream she was sent flying away from him, disappearing again before she hit the office wall.

The music on Dante's jukebox changed once more to an old Lover Boy song, and grimacing in slight distaste, Vergil looked around himself, once more trying to locate Melpomene.

He found Trish, noticing that she had upgraded her weapon. Now equipped with a glowing gold sword that nearly dwarfed her; she cut her way through the swarms of creatures, heading to Dante's side. Where she then proceeded to fight along side the younger son of Sparda with a familiarity born from many years of working together.

"Hey!" Dante shouted, pausing and pointing at a few demons close to the juke box and drum set. "Get away from my drums!" Leaving Trish he drove forward, cutting the offending demons into dust with the fiery whirlwinds of his swords.

"Lucy! Nevan!" he shouted at the red-haired huntress standing near the weapons rack, her kitchen knives having been traded off in favour of two wickedly curved daggers, slashing and disembowelling any demons daring enough to face her. She paused and grabbing the odd guitar off the wall, tossed it toward Dante who caught it with expert flourish and after a few notes, a tall red-haired woman with red eyes stood before him. "Do me a favour babe, protect the drum set and keep the rock rolling!"

Melpomene's seductive voice had Vergil swivelling once more in an effort to find her. "I thought you liked being my play toy? Your moans and cries certainly had me fooled then."

Snarling in absolute fury at having been reminded of that shame, Vergil swung around blindly, trying to find the invisible succubus. Her laugh only served to further frustrate and infuriate him.

"Hmm, maybe I'll have some fun with your human lover first. She was such an irritating nuisance when we last met." Melpomene's voice drifted away, and Vergil turned again to look toward Lady, further annoyed by the demoness' comment.

Lady jumped back using the metal staircase as a jungle gym to both avoid and destroy the demons chasing her. There was a flash of steel as she cut through a few demons and then with another jump she was once more standing on the landing, spying him she shouted. "Vergil!"

There was another flash of steel as she propelled something in his direction. Reflexively catching the object he looked down at the bright katana, flashing dangerously in his grip, its power sending waves of pleasure through his arm. Smirking Vergil flipped Yamato up, examining it critically as the demons began to converge on him now that their mistress had grown bored of him.

"Everybody needs a second chance. You want a piece of my heart… you better start from the start. You wanna be in the show… Come on lets go!"

Listening to the lyrics of the song playing, Vergil nodded, "Alright."

He jumped as the demons leapt for him, Yamato's blade flashing downward, slicing through heads and bodies of the highest leaping creatures. Vergil landed neatly on his boots, his long coat swiping outward behind him.

The music changed to one that Vergil remembered well from his youth, practicing his sword fighting techniques together with his brother. Seemed this morning would be full of pleasant memories.

"Blood will follow blood! Dying time is here! Damage Incorporated!"

Tapping his foot lightly to the tempo, Vergil watched as the lesser demons slowly picked themselves up and reorganized to attack him. All it took was a few quick flicks of his wrist and the demons closest in proximity were writhing at his feet as they slowly turned to dust. Yamato's blade moved in prefect precision to the beat that the music was setting.

Slashing one enemy up into the air, Vergil followed it, cutting it into ribbons while it helplessly wailed about in the air. Descending before the demon, Vergil thrust Yamato upwards, impaling the demon on the blade through the simple force of gravity.

An abrupt switch in music, nearly had Vergil stumbling as he tried to deduce what it was that Dante was listening to now.

"Cause I am your lady. And you are my man. Whenever you reach for me… I'll do all that I can!"

By all that was dark and unholy, was Dante seriously listening to… Celine Dion?

Apparently he wasn't for an angry shout issued from near the front door. "What the hell!" Dante yelled, almost getting run through by a Doppelganger's sword as he paused to look toward Nevan.

"It wasn't me." The vampiress replied, sending a swarm of electrified bats off toward a few approaching demons before turning to address the defunked jukebox.

"Who's been messing with Dante's juke box?" Trish yelled out, obviously just as pleased about the slower love proclaiming music as Dante was.

"What? It's a good song!" Lucia cried defensively from the weapons rack.

"It is sooo not!" Dante yelled, half heartedly continuing his battle with the Doppelganger.

Vergil had to agree with his twin, the music was defiantly putting a damper on the battle.

"Don't mess with Dante's juke box!" Lady shouted from the top of the metal staircase where she was fighting with Melpomene. Unfortunately though, the tiny interruption was all Melpomene needed as she knocked Lady off the landing. Lady swivelled midair, her guns pointing back at the blonde demoness and fired rapidly, Melpomene disappearing once more before any of the bullets could find a mark.

"What would you like me to do?" Nevan asked uncertainly.

Lady landed neatly and her voice was quickly added to Trish and Dante's as they shouted in unison. "SWITCH IT!"

"Enter the arena and hit the lights. Step up now you´re in for a ride.This is war, ain´t no fun and games.We get it up, you go down in flames!"

As the song was thankfully switched, Vergil went back to work slicing up anything that came before him. Turning at one interval, he found Lady running toward him, a rather large ugly demon hot on her tail. Catching a look in her eyes, Vergil did something that he had never done before, he knelt down on one knee, Yamato's blade cutting an arch behind him as he descended, amputating a demon's legs. Lady didn't hesitate in her charge as she placed a foot up on his raised knee and vaulting off of it, flipped back over the demon's head her guns firing multiple rounds even as Vergil stood and thrust Yamato deep into the chest of the formidable demon. Flipping his blade out of the demon, Vergil faced Lady as she landed, glacial blue eyes meeting burning sapphire and ruby. He truly was surprised at himself for having been able to work with her, as he had only ever been able to work with his twin.

She stepped forward abruptly, coming to his side and shooting the demons that had been behind him even as he returned the favour for her. "So," he murmured, "You still insist on using those toys."

A resounding click of her reloading met his ears before she replied, "Guns are fun! Besides I've learned to use other things." She answered cheerfully.

"Heads I win, tails you lose. Out of my way I´m coming through. Roll the dice don´t think twice. And we crush, crush´em!"

Lifting an eyebrow, Vergil glanced to her to see her holster her guns and kick a scythe out of a demon's hands. Catching the weapon she twisted it around. "Duck." She suggested helpfully as she twirled the scythe about her body, eliminating all the demons around them in one fell swoop.

Glad he had taken her advice, Vergil touched his hair, insuring that it was all still there before straightening and looking around at the devastation around them. "Impressive. But hardly conclusive evidence of your skill."

She growled angrily, flinging the scythe away from her where it lodged in the chest of a Vanguard that Lucia was fighting. "Hey!" The red haired huntress cried indigently as the Hell Vanguard dropped to the ground.

Lady opened her mouth to snap at Vergil, but was kept from saying anything as a Sin Scissors appeared before her, screaming wickedly.

Wrapping an arm around her waist, Vergil pulled her back against his chest, an odd familiar feeling descending over him. Thrusting Yamato through the Sin's mask, the creature screamed again.

Lady caught the dropped scissors midair and flipping them around cut the Sin's head off. "You shouldn't play with scissors." She stated to the remains of the Sin.

Vergil chuckled, enjoying the comforting presence of the woman in his arms. Unlike last time though, she was the one to pull away and leave him wondering why the loss of her presence made him feel so empty. He didn't have time to debate on it though as numerous demons required his attention, and Lady went running off to deal with some of her own.

In no time at all Vergil found himself standing beside his brother in the centre of the now cleared office, Lady at his side, with Lucia and Trish at Dante's.

"Good to have you back, bro." Dante grinned at his side.

Vergil met his brother's bright gaze, "I could hardly allow you to take the credit for saving my 'butt' again, as you so eloquently put it last time." Dante's grin widened at that and Vergil continued coolly, "Besides, I owe Melpomene some pain."

Dante laughed heartedly; "So you wanna finish this then?" he asked when he had calmed slightly.

"Indubitably." Vergil responded, his icy gaze returning to the front door in which darkness still seemed to float around with a life of its own.

"I second that!" Trish announced. "Some one's gonna pay for this mess!"

Lucia nodded, "Count me in. It will take weeks to repair the wards."

"Same here!" Lady added, "I think Melpomene needs a taste of her own medicine." Then she added in a soft grumble, " Teach her to think twice about bitch slapping with me."

Vergil caught Lady's grumble and tilted his head to look at her curiously, it seemed that both Melpomene and Lady had taken a new kind of offence towards each other that went beyond the simple demon and demon huntress. It unfortunately reminded him of Dante's taunting a few days earlier after the Transformers movie. Great. Just great.

"Well let's get on with the show then! Come out! Come out! Where ever you are!" Dante shouted, intending to draw the blonde succubus out of hiding.

"Melpomene. The game is over. Show yourself!" Vergil commanded sternly, pushing his thoughts on Lady firmly away.

"You dare to presume to order me about?" Melpomene snarled from behind them. All five of them turned in unison to face the blonde demoness who sat on the top of Dante's desk, one leg crossed over the other further hitching the bottom of her dress up her thighs. "I answer to no one save the Master, 'General'!" she hissed, spitting out Vergil's former title with disgust. "Look at you, joining 'human' scum. Nothing but five lambs being led to the slaughter."

Vergil allowed her sharp words to just roll off him; Dante however took offence. "Jeez! What the heck is it with all of Mundus' cronies. None of them have any respect! I tell you Verge; you'd think after a good couple of ass whoppins they could at least treat us like equals! But nooo! Can't do that!" Dante complained unhappily, gesturing toward Melpomene in emphasis.

"Perhaps you go about teaching your lessons in the wrong manner." Vergil suggested helpfully, keeping his eyes on Melpomene.

"Maybe." Dante coincided thoughtfully. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked, a smirk finding its way onto his lips once more.

"Quite." Vergil murmured watching as Melpomene's red eyes narrowed and she lowered her head deceivingly, blonde hair falling into her face.

"Good." Dante broke out into a grin. "Hey slut! Get your dirty ass off my desk!"

Melpomene growled angrily and disappeared, her voice sounding from the other side of them once more. "If anyone will be receiving a lesson in manners, it will be you!"

The five of them spun toward her once more, and Dante shook his head. "Sorry, but you've no idea what lessons my brother and I are capable of giving. Right, Verge?"

"That is because few have lived to speak of it." Vergil smirked in memory.

"Yeah! Hey Nevan, how 'bout a little Superbeast, eh?" Dante looked to the red haired sorceress.

"You want a little superbeast?" Melpomene cocked her head suggestively. "I'll give you a superbeast."

Vergil's smirk grew, remembering well the song that Dante had declared as their personal anthem when it had come out.

"Shriek the lips across ragged tongue, convulsing together. Sing violently, move the jaw, cry aloud, bound up the dead triumphantly."

Listening to the beginning of the song, Vergil watched in slight detachment as Melpomene's body shifted, bones cracking and muscles tearing as her body slowly transformed into a hideous apparition. Fur, scales and ooze covered her body in a disgusting combination. Tentacles grew to replace her arms, even as large dog like legs replaced her lower body and a long wolf like face formed over her once pretty one.

"The ragged they come and the ragged they kill! You pray so hard on bloody knees. The ragged they come and the ragged they kill! Down in the cool air I can see."

"Talk about fuugly!" Trish stated in disgust, her huge sword held out before her without wavering, as the large demon grew before her.

"Not to mention the stink." Lucia added, one knife held before her and the other slightly behind, ready for anything.

"Not much of an improvement, Melpomene!" Lady shouted, holding her ground and waving a gun in the direction of the beast.

Vergil waited for the cue in the music, and just as Melpomene completed her transformation, bending to roar at them with slavering jaws, it came.

"Hey, Yeah! I'm the one that you wanted! Hey, Yeah! I'm your SUPERBEAST!"

The twins moved together as one, little more than a blue and red blur as they avoided Melpomene's flaying tentacles. Crossing paths just before the huge monster, Vergil and Dante's swords crossed inches over each other as they preformed an x-strike, cutting deep into the creature's thick body.

Lucia and Trish were quick to follow up, diving in under Melpomene's snapping jaws and hacking at the tentacles. Lady wasn't one to be left behind, and she rapidly began firing at the creature before her, rolling out of the way and reloading as necessary.

Dante and Vergil came to a stop behind Melpomene, careful to avoid the thrashing reptilian tail. Dante quickly returned to attacking, jumping over the tail and helping Lucia to sever as many tentacles as possible. Vergil on the other hand took a moment to watch Melpomene's movements. The tentacles that served as her arms were hacked to bits by Lucia, Trish and Dante, only to regenerate seconds later. The thick clawed feet stomped and tried to kick out at anything within range, managing finally to give Trish a swift kick that sent her flying toward Dante's drum set and if it hadn't been for Nevan's swift catch, it would have been a particularly ugly mess. The large jaws snapped this way and that attempting to bite and possible devour anyone foolish enough to get within range.

Stepping back slightly and holding Yamato back, Vergil focused his demon energies, summoning his phantom swords to strike Melpomene. Two of the three swords caused severe damage to both her body and limbs, saving Dante from being slapped by one such tentacle, the final sword struck Melpomene's jaw just as she was to snap up Lady.

Forgetting Lady, the ugly beast roared in pain and began to turn toward him, but Vergil didn't give her the chance. Instead moving forward swiftly, he moved in under the tentacles, tail and legs, slashing at any exposed flesh, until he once more stood behind the large creature.

The whole time, Melpomene snarled and snapped trying in vain to locate and eliminate him. In her thrashing she managed to toss Lucia into the wall with a tail swipe. Another angry random swat sent Dante flying toward Vergil.

Seeing his twin hurtling toward him, Vergil lifted Yamato horizontally, much like a bat. Dante quickly assessed what it was Vergil was planning, and swivelling, his boots landed on the broad side of the sword. Using both the force of his brother's swing and his own push, he ricocheted off the sword.

"Fly, little brother!" Vergil commanded, launching Dante back toward Melpomene.

Before Dante reached the beast's backside, the red aura of his shifting form engulfed him. Seconds later he was completely within his demon form, and twisting with both his swords held out before him, he drilled into the ugly monster's scaled side as it attempted to turn toward him, the flames of his swords whirling about him in a firestorm.

Shifting himself, Vergil lifted off, intending to finish Melpomene before she could cause any more damage.

Flying above her, Vergil noticed both Trish and Lucia back up and aiming to cripple the large hell beast. Lady on the other hand was caught by surprise as a tentacle wrapped about her leg and tossed her high into the air.

Her multicoloured eyes met his glowing orbs, and she reached out a hand even as he reached out his clawed hands to catch her. He was amazed by her lack of fear. In Temen-ni-gru she had been horrified and revolted by the sight of his shifted form, now years later only acceptance and trust burned in her eyes. It seemed Dante wasn't the only one that had changed.

Gripping her arm, he pulled her close against his scaled body, her arm moving simultaneously around his waist to steady herself.

"Nice meeting you up here." Lady smiled, her heavy breathing clearly indicating her exhaustion and yet her eyes and face were still filled with the exited fire of battle lust.

Flipping Yamato so that it was pointing directly down at Melpomene's exposed and vulnerable back, he grinned at the woman at his side. "Ready?" he asked, his voice coming out in a growl, barely heard over top of Melpomene's screams of pain as Dante continued to drill through her body.

Lady smirked, grasping the idea of his plan as quickly as Dante had. "Whenever you are!" she responded, wrapping her free hand around Yamato's hilt, her eyes shining.

Looking back down at his target, Vergil tightened his grip on Lady and flexing his dark blue wings, he gave a mighty flap that sent them plunging toward the monster that was focused on both of the women slicing at its limbs and the red demon burrowing through its body.

Pulling her arm away from his waist, Lady lifted a gun up above them and shot upwards into the ceiling, the recoil of the gun lending even more speed to their descent.

Wrapping his wings around the both of them, Vergil prevented any air resistance, further assisting their momentum until they may as well have been a bullet shot from one of Lady's guns.

Yamato pierced Melpomene's thick slimy hide just behind her neck, just as Dante emerged out of her chest. Instantly shifting once more into his human form, Dante pulled out his twin pistols and aiming them at Melpomene's hound like head, he smirked. "It's been fun!" Bullets flew from his weapons, even as the momentum and force behind both Lady and Vergil drove Yamato further into Melpomene's body, continuing downward.

Only coming to a stop on the wooden floor of the office, Vergil watched with slight detached glee as Melpomene's monstrous body split lifelessly in twain, and then fell to the floor in a shower of black blood.

Feeling much better about himself, now that his former tormentor was dead, Vergil looked around himself. Trish stood on the outer rim of the mess that was quickly pooling around the centre of the office. She looked over the mess with a disgusted and slightly annoyed face. "Great! Look at this mess! Stupid demons, always making such a friggin mess." She grumped, shaking her blonde head.

Lucia and Dante had moved over to his desk. The red-haired huntress was examining the artefact that Enzo had carried in, while Dante leaned over his desk talking to a rather terrified Enzo that was peeking over the top of the desk. "You know Enzo, if they're offering it for free, it's usually a good sign to run away. Really really fast and really really far."

Over by the juke box, Nevan had resumed her old form, and the odd purple guitar now rested against the juke box as a new song spilled out of the near by speakers.

"Together, we can live! Together, we will thrive! Together, we can break down walls. That got dragged in our way. Together, everything will be okay!"

Vergil mused over that for a moment, it had taken all five of them working together to eliminate Melpomene.

Shifting back into his human form, Vergil looked to Lady still standing at his side. Although her clothes now clung to her in a provocative manner, she was covered in black blood and other noxious fluids immediately gaining a look of disgust from him.

She however noticed the look and returned it with a sarcastic one of her own. "So much for that shower."

Frowning, he lifted a hand to his hair and immediately let it drop as he found much to his own displeasure that his hair was plastered to his head by the same junk that covered her.

"Oh, here." She expertly changed the subject and reached for something that was strapped to her side.

Handing him a mostly clean leather sheath, he looked it over. "This is not mine." He told her simply after a quick examination of the worn leather showed him an engraved phoenix, something that had never decorated his old plain sheath.

"I know. But yours was so soaked full of blood there was no way that I could get it clean." Lady responded evenly and then began picking her way out of the mess. "I call dibs on the shower!" she announced.

Vergil watched her go, and flicking the blood and goo off of Yamato expertly; he sheathed the sword, not for the last time wondering about his feelings. Even standing as he was surrounded by the remains of a demon, he felt more at peace than he had in a long time. It was a peace that settled over him from not only his surroundings and the companionship he had found with not only his brother, but also with the women that worked and lived with him, but perhaps most importantly it was a peace that grew up out of his very soul. Maybe Dante had been right. Maybe this was where he belonged.

Home. It was a word he had not considered since his mother died, but now he felt the word suddenly applied again.

"Together, everything will be okay!" The song continued.

Yes. Perhaps finally he had found that sacred place once more.

Home.

"The End? Don't bet on it…"

1: What I've Done by Linkin Park 2: The Pretender by Foo Fighters 3: The Hand That Feeds by Nine Inch Nails 4: Working for the Weekend by Loverboy 5: Damage Inc. by Metallica 6: The Power of Love by Celine Dion 7: Crush em' by Megadeath 8: Superbeast by Rob Zombie 9 Together by Jet-Set Satellite