DISCLAIMER: Capcom and Square-Enix own DMC and FFXIII respectively, and all references and characters from Ninja Gaiden are owned by Tecmo and Team Ninja. Other references to the God of War series is owned by Sony and Santa Monica Studio, and references to the Metal Gear series are LEGALLY owned by Konami, but were CREATED by Hideo Kojima . This story was written for the enjoyment of reading and writing purposes only. No profit is being made out of this.

The cover art was made by The Epic Legion.

Revised: 5-9-19

Prologue: The Fal'Cie

The hums of distant booms and wind colliding against the structure were the only things audible in the chamber.

It wasn't before long, however, when a loud voice shattered the silence. "HEY, JACKASS! WHERE'RE YOU HIDING?!"

Six figures, each different in appearance and from separate walks of life, walked into the chamber that housed the fal'Cie.

One of them, a boy, spoke up with a shaky voice. "So this is... the fal'Cie?"

The boy was light-skinned, with short-length platinum-colored hair, and bluish-green eyes. He wore a short-sleeve orange and yellow jacket that hid a black shirt under it, while a green detailed neckerchief covered his collar. Black gloves with white palms were on his hands, with a yellow wristband over the left glove. He also wore deep green pants, with a black storage pack hanging from his belt. A pair of green shoes were on his feet.

"Yep. That's it, all right," said another man.

This man was middle-aged and dark-skinned. He wore an olive coat which hid a white buttoned-down shirt underneath, as well as beige khaki trousers, with two brown leather gun holsters on the side - a gun strapped in each one - and black buckled engineer boots. His most noticeable feature was the large, black afro on his head. It housed a round, golden-feathered baby chick.

The other boy, the one who had broken the silence, looked upon their surroundings with frustrated confusion. "Where the hell is it? I can feel something, but I can't see a damn thing in here!"

He had blue eyes, light skin, and short-length platinum-colored hair like the timid boy's. He wore a long blue coat with red symbols on both shoulders. Under his coat was a red, sleeveless zip-up hoodie which hid a navy muscle shirt under that. The lad also wore blue pants, with a brown leather pistol holder on the left, and a pair of brown boots. His left arm held a black band over his wrist, and a silver ring - a rose design on its face - on his ring finger. His most noticeable - and somewhat shocking - feature was his right arm. It was disfigured, and nearly draconic. His claws, palm, and forehand illuminated the room with its blue skin, with a large blue crack in the middle of his forearm. The rest of his arm was covered in red organic flesh, with a spike protruding from his elbow. Purple strap-like flesh covered the top part of his arm, where he human flesh met its cursed counterpart.

Another man stepped up to the being. He was light skinned, with stubble beard growing on his chin, and wore a black bandanna which hid his light, shoulder-length blond hair. He wore a long beige trench coat, which hid a light blue vest under it, as well as a pair of dark grey pants. His blue eyes looked at the being with defiance, his black gloves squelching as they clasped in anger, stepping forth with his large, gray combat boots.

He called to the fal'Cie. "Serah's a crystal now. You gave her a Focus, and she did it! You got what you want! Now let her go!"

The group waited for the creature to respond, but they were only met with silence.

Suddenly, the man fell on his knees. "Please... Turn her back! I-I'll...!" Without warning, he rose up, putting a hand to his chest. "I'll be your l'Cie, instead! Just let her go!" he pleaded loudly.

The blue-coated boy groaned in annoyance. He knew that simply asking it to free their peer was getting them nowhere. "Yeah... No offense, Hero, but I don't think crying to shit-for-brains here's gonna get us anywhere."

Then, as if in response to his statement, one of them - a young woman - stepped forward. Her right hand reached for the black weapon case strapped behind her. She wore a white sleeveless overcoat, with a red cape attached behind her left shoulder, and a brown turtleneck-like shirt with a zipper underneath. A green metallic pauldron with yellow stripes covered her left shoulder, while a long black sleeve covered her left forearm. Two blue finger-less gloves with golden bullet holders on the forehand were on both of her fists. A pair of brown boots with gray straps was on her feet, while a red ammunition pack was strapped to her left thigh, and brown mini-skirt over high-topped shorts right above it. She had clear skin, and shoulder-length rose-colored hair, which was her most noticeable feature, that went over here left shoulder.

The girl glared at the being pale aqua eyes, bringing out her weapon, a prototype gunblade. "Fine, you go on begging. Like this thing gives a damn what we want!"

She charged at the fal'Cie, and struck her sword against it. Despite the ferocity and force of her swings, they seemed to have little effect on it.

"Lightning!" the man called out as he got up.

Everyone turned their attention to the woman, Lightning, who was heavily breathing in frustration. "It's this thing's fault that the Purge started, and its people who are dying. Serah told us to save Cocoon, which means that this thing needs to die!"

"Tch...'Bout damn time I heard somethin' that makes sense," the older boy hissed. He wiped his nose with the thumb of his left hand, before reaching for the weapon strapped to his back, a customized Durandal sword.

In moments, the fal'Cie responds to the group.

The other silver-haired boy panicked and ran away from the group. He was about to reach the exit, but was cut off by a magical field with an ominous symbol on it.

The boy fell on his rear, but was helped up by a girl with bright red hair that was tied into curled pigtails, her green eyes looking over him with worry. She wore a light pink halter top and an orange-yellow skirt with a bear pelt around her waist. She wore a pair of beige boots, with fur around the opening socket. Around her neck were three beaded necklaces, which had various beaded extensions surrounding her attire.

"You're not fighting this alone, Sis!" exclaimed the trench coated man, getting into a brawler's stance of his own.

"Don't call me that! And don't get in my way, Snow!" Lightning snapped.

"Come on, now. You really think you can kill a fal'Cie?" the afro-haired man tried to reason.

"Do what you want! I'm doing this for Serah!" she exclaimed.

"You don't need to get involved in this, old man. Back off. We've got it covered," the older boy waved off.

The man, Sazh, then had a solemn look on his face, as the reason he had bothered to come to this chamber raced through his mind.

"...Dajh..." he whispered.

The baby chick on his afro suddenly popped out of his hair, and chirped encouragingly.

Hearing it, his solemn look became one of determination. "I'm in," he affirmed. "Hope you guys don't mind amateurs." The man pulled out a pair of black pistols from the holsters on the sides of his trousers. "I've got these things. Might as well use 'em."

The other man, Snow, smiled in appreciation, raising his fists towards the being in defiance.

Lightning only looked over her shoulder. "...Thanks."

The boy watched the fal'Cie as he placed his sword over his shoulders. "Hope you had fun while it lasted, tin can, 'cause I'm puttin' you outta everyone's misery."

Snarling in anticipation, the boy then twisted the sword in his hand before piercing the ground with its tip, following up with a twist of the top part of his blade's handle. This caused a loud engine noise to erupt from the mechanism around the weapon's handle.

"LET'S ROCK!"

Looking back, I realize that our fight with that thing was the day our fates were intertwined permanently. We didn't even know it yet, but that was the first of many battles we would take part in. It all started that day, when we were marked and became l'Cie.

But even that wasn't what connected us. No. It happened way later, on that starry night. That night, we made a promise to see everything through to the end. To make sure we made it together. But the road to that end wasn't gonna be easy. We had to overcome monsters, weapons, and, ultimately... ourselves.

My name is Nero. I'm a descendant of the demon warrior Sparda, and a l'Cie. And this is my story. The story of how the battle within began.

Devil Fantasy XIII

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